bill Canary

===

boss rove

KR invited to Ala to redo tex judic makeover; used u ala law school; w/ scotus, can do favors for big corps

bill canary pol op paratrooper, wife Leura Garrett C power couple 53 did tort reform 8:1; alice marin and leaura AG

Don Siegelman protege of anti-war, star of anti-wallce dems; won gov landslie, only dem; 1st gov to back gore;

Dana Jill Simpson built law practice on storm gypsies; did ops res for KR; she tailed DS; he had been invest in bid rig but dropped; leura reoopened; clear conflict of Intr; Riley gop gov opp raed about indictments (theree were none?); FBI invest DS donors; b2 and DC stumped for riley; AP called for DS, 99% precinct reporting; rove aide and rnc kelly mccullogh caled riley and said no concede; vote # changed; law said wait period to cert, but AG Pryor did anyway, and said anyone who broke seal broke law (obscure), no point in going to gap state scotus; riley worried about rematch, but canary said his girls wd take him out 61 w/ KR, who called simpson a lunatic; said his name was not in 143pp depos, but actually in 50x

=<p style="border: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 24px;"> trio of reporters at Raw Story has just published <a href="http://rawstory.com/news/2007/The_Permanent_Republican_Majority_Part_III_1216.html" style="border: 0px; color: rgb(0, 51, 187); background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">further details</a> relating to the involvement of Karl Rove in the campaign of Alabama Governor Bob Riley and in the effort to eliminate his chief rival, former Governor Don E. Siegelman, through a criminal prosecution. The story traces Rove’s involvement, largely via his long-time friend William Canary, in the 2002 Alabama gubernatorial race. Canary had initially advised the campaign of Lieutenant Governor Steve Windom, and only after his primary defeat turned to the Riley campaign. Raw Story reports:<blockquote style="quotes: none; border: 0px; color: rgb(52, 52, 52); background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 60px 15px; line-height: 22px;"><p style="border: 0px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; line-height: 22px;">According to the Alabama RNC source, Rove met regularly with operatives for the Riley campaign. The source’s allegations are confirmed in part by campaign disclosure forms, which show that Windom paid Canary as a consultant between 1999 and early 2001 and later received large contributions from Canary’s business partner, a pattern that is duplicated with Riley and Canary.<p style="border: 0px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; line-height: 22px;">According to public records, Windom paid Canary’s firm $38,022 for consulting and polling between 1999 and 2001. At the same time, PACs associated with Canary’s business partner, Patrick McWhorter, donated heavily to Windom’s campaign, contributing $149,000 in 2001 and another $75,000 in 2002.<p style="border: 0px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; line-height: 22px;">After Windom lost the primary, PACs associated with McWhorter and Canary switched their donations to Bob Riley, giving him $85,000 in the days immediately preceding the November election. After the election victory, Windom emerged immediately as a close confidant of Riley’s, advising him on the appointment of a new Insurance Commissioner, Walter A. Bell, and other matters. Canary also emerged as a key Riley advisor.<p style="border: 0px; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 24px; line-height: 22px;">Public records also show that at the same time Canary was consulting for Bob Riley’s campaign, his lobbying group, the Business Council for Alabama, donated $678,000 to the campaign of his client. This was the third largest donation the campaign received, exceeded only by those from the Republican National State Elections Committee, for $2,475,000, and from Bob Riley himself, who contributed $1,070,000 to his own campaign.</blockquote><p style="border: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 24px;">Rove’s linkage to this campaign has been reported before and belongs to the insider’s account of Alabama politics—but Raw Story brings in considerable additional detail. The Rove involvement is unfolded with a flow chart showing the complex relationships. As Dan Abrams noted on his MSNBC report recently, Rove’s extensive campaign dealings in Alabama involve a large team, and the central figure in the process is certainly William Canary, the husband of the U.S. Attorney who brought the Siegelman prosecution. Rove and Canary go way back, certainly to Canary’s days on the Republican National Committee. Canary’s move down to Alabama seems to have been one of the factors that led Karl Rove to become much more deeply engaged in Alabama politics.<img class="size-full wp-image-1940" src="http://harpers.org/wp-content/uploads/rovecanary.gif" alt="rovecanary" title="rovecanary" width="" style="border: 0px solid rgb(221, 221, 221); color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 15px 15px 0px; margin: 0px; vertical-align: top; height: auto; max-width: 100%;" /><p style="border: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 24px;">A great deal of this article lines up with what I have learned in six months of research on the Siegelman matter. For instance, two well-known Alabama Republicans described to me Rove’s involvement in the campaign to elect Perry Hooper to a judgeship. One of them detailed to me a meeting at which Hooper and Rove were present along with several Alabama G.O.P. operatives, including Mark Fuller (later to become the Siegelman judge), at which some very aggressive campaign tactics were discussed . . . but I’ll be reporting more on this later. Rove’s mastery of the Alabama political landscape was described as comprehensive and detailed. And a large part of Rove’s work consisted of advising his clients how to approach out-of-state funders. He believed that tort reform was the pivotal issue and that manufacturers’ associations would bring in the needed cash to fuel elections. On this as on so many electoral issues, Karl Rove was spot-on. His strategy worked, and the current Alabama Supreme Court, with 8 Republicans and 1 Democrat is proof of that. The Raw Story article also opens up the floorboards on some of this operation, especially as it unfolded into the time of the 2002 gubernatorial election, but this is a complex story yet to be fully unraveled. One thing certainly emerges both from this account and from the Senate probe headed by Senator McCain: Jack Abramoff and former Riley advisor Michael Scanlon, both now convicted felons, and both figures with ample connections to Rove, are right in the middle of it.<p style="border: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 24px;">Today a <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/12/17/visitor.logs/" style="border: 0px; color: rgb(0, 51, 187); background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">federal judge directed that White House visitors’ logs</a> were public records and could be turned-over. The White House is certain to challenge this ruling. Public access to visitors’ records has been a hotly contested issue for a number of reasons, and one of them is that Jack Abramoff claims to have paid hundreds of visits to the White House. President Bush has had a failure of memory with respect to Abramoff visits, but Time magazine says it has viewed a portfolio of portrait-style photographs with Abramoff and the President. Others in the White House have confirmed that Abramoff was a regular visitor. In law-enforcement interviews, Abramoff is said to have confirmed that he frequently met with Karl Rove outside of the White House so as to avoid being recorded in the visitors’ log. The Raw Story account details other meetings that Rove arranged outside the White House so as to avoid detection. <fn>Sources I have interviewed in studying the Siegelman story also place meetings with Rove in the offices of the Federalist Group and on street corners.</fn><p style="border: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 24px;">The Raw Story piece provides further detail of Rove’s involvement in the Riley campaign, as one of its chief strategists. One key element of that campaign was the use of a bogus federal criminal prosecution, undertaken by Leura Canary—the wife of Rove’s key connection, William Canary—and timed perfectly to match the election cycle. Republican operatives have now linked Rove directly to arrangements for that prosecution.<p style="border: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 24px;">Still open to question: the details of Karl Rove’s dealings with prosecutors and Justice Department officials to arrange the political prosecution of Don Siegelman. Does anyone at this point seriously question why the White House and the Justice Department are pursuing a scorched-earth policy to block Congress’s requests for documents relating to this case and to records showing Karl Rove’s communications? They would almost certainly provide further evidence of what the external facts demonstrate.<p style="border: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 24px;">But there is substantial additional evidence which will be shortly presented which will help to show why this prosecution was a complete farce from the beginning. Stay tuned, as the truth continues to seep out.<p style="border: 0px; color: rgb(34, 34, 34); background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 24px;">Update
Mark Crispin Miller has just put up a <a href="http://markcrispinmiller.blogspot.com/2007/12/siegelman-speaks-ex-gov-calls-02.html" style="border: 0px; color: rgb(0, 51, 187); background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; text-decoration-line: none;">fascinating interview with Governor Siegelman</a>in which he explains his grudge match with Karl Rove, the involvement of Karl Rove’s client, William Pryor in the theft of the 2002 Alabama gubernatorial election and how the Republicans launched a criminal prosecution to block him from seeking re-election

<div class="byline rights" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;"><a href="http://www.counterpunch.org/" style=" color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">CounterPunch</a> [1] / By <a href="http://www.alternet.org/authors/paul-craig-roberts" style=" color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Paul Craig Roberts</a> [2]</div>

<h1 property="dc:title" datatype="" class="node-title">Going to Jail for Being a Democrat: How Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman Got Roved</h1>

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<div class="story-date">March 2, 2008  |  </div>

Don Siegelman, a popular Democratic governor of Alabama, a Republican state, was framed in a crooked trial, convicted on June 29, 2006, and sent to Federal prison by the corrupt and immoral Bush administration.

The frame-up of Siegelman and businessman Richard Scrushy is so crystal clear and blatant that 52 former state attorney generals from across America, both Republicans and Democrats, have urged the US Congress to investigate the Bush administration's use of the US Department of Justice to rid themselves of a Democratic governor who "they could not beat fair and square," according to Grant Woods, former Republican Attorney General of Arizona and co-chair of the McCain for President leadership committee. Woods says that he has never seen a case with so "many red flags pointing to injustice."

The abuse of American justice by the Bush administration in order to ruin Siegelman is so crystal clear that even the corporate media organization CBS allowed "60 Minutes" to broadcast on February 24, 2008, a damning indictment of the railroading of Siegelman. Extremely coincidental "technical difficulties" caused WHNT, the CBS station covering the populous northern third of Alabama, to go black during the broadcast. The station initially offered a lame excuse of network difficulties that CBS in New York denied. The Republican-owned print media in Alabama seemed to have the inside track on every aspect of the prosecution's case against Siegelman. You just have to look at their editorials and articles following the 60 Minutes broadcast to get a taste of what counts for "objective journalism" in their mind.

The injustice done by the US Department of Justice (sic) to Siegelman is so crystal clear that a participant in Karl Rove's plan to destroy Siegelman can't live with her conscience. Jill Simpson, a Republican lawyer who did opposition research for Rove, testified under oath to the House Judiciary Committee and went public on "60 Minutes." Simpson said she was told by Bill Canary, the most important GOP campaign advisor in Alabama, that "my girls can take care of Siegelman."

Canary's "girls" are two US Attorneys in Alabama, both appointed by President Bush. One is Bill Canary's wife, Leura Canary. The other is Alice Martin. According to Harper's Scott Horton,a law professor at Columbia University, Martin is known for abusive prosecutions.

What was the "crime" for which Siegelman and Scrushy were convicted? Scrushy made a contribution to the Alabama Education Foundation, a not-for-profit organization set up to push for a lottery to benefit secondary education in Alabama, to retire debt associated with the Alabama education lottery proposal. Scrushy was a member of Alabama's Certificate of Need board, a nonpaid group that oversaw hospital expansion. Scrushy had been a member of the board through the terms of the prior three governors, and Siegelman asked him to serve another term.

Federal prosecutors claimed that Scrushy's contribution was a bribe to Siegelman in exchange for being appointed to the Certificate of Need board. In the words of federal prosecutor Stephen Feaga, the contribution was "given in exchange for a promise for an official act."

Feaga's statement is absolute nonsense. It is well known that Scrushy had served on the board for years, felt he had done his duty, and wanted off the board. It was Siegelman who convinced Scrushy to remain on the board. Moreover, Scrushy gave no money to Siegelman. The money went to a foundation.

As a large number of attorneys have pointed out, every US president appoints his ambassadors and cabinet members from people who have donated to his campaign. Under the reasoning applied in the Siegelman case, a large number of living former presidents, cabinet members and ambassadors should be in federal prison_not to mention the present incumbents.

How in the world did a jury convict two men of a non-crime?

The answer is that the US Attorney used Governor Siegelman's indicted young assistant, Nick Bailey, to create the impression among some of the jurors that "something must have happened." Unbeknownst to Siegelman, Bailey was extorting money or accepting bribes from Alabama businessmen in exchange for state business. Bailey was caught. Presented with threats of a long sentence, Bailey agreed to testify falsely that Siegelman came out of a meeting with Scrushy and showed Bailey a $250,000 check he had accepted in exchange for appointing Scrushy to the Certificate of Need board. Prosecutors knew that Bailey's testimony was false, not only because they had Bailey rewrite his testimony many times and rehearsed him until he had it down pat, but also because they had the check. The records show that the check, written to a charitable organization, was cut days after the meeting from which Siegelman allegedly emerged with check in hand.

It is a crime for prosecutors to withhold exculpatory evidence. The Washington Post reported on February 26 that Siegelman's attorneys have called for a special prosecutor after CBS quoted prosecution witness Bailey "as saying prosecutors met with him about 70 times. He said they had him regularly write out his testimony because they were frustrated with his recollection of events. The written notes, if they existed, could have damaged the credibility of Bailey's story, but no such notes were turned over to the defense, as would have been required by law."

In video documentaries available online, Bailey's friend, Amy Methvin, says that Bailey told her that he was going to parrot the prosecutors' line, "pay for play," "quid pro quo." Methvin says Bailey went into a speech about money exchanged for favors. "You sound like a robot," Methvin told him. "You would have it memorized, too, if you had heard the answers as many times as I have heard the answers," Bailey replied.

The prosecutors also had help from some jurors. On a WOTM Special Report hosted by former US Attorney Raymond Johnson, Alabama lawyer Julian McPhillips produced emails from two jurors about influencing other jurors in order to achieve a conviction. Jurors are not supposed to discuss a case outside the court or to consider information other than what is presented in court and allowed by the judge. The outside communication among the jurors is sufficient to declare a mistrial.

However, Federal District Judge, Mark Fuller, a George W. Bush appointee, ignored the tainted jury. Fuller's handling of the case suspiciously favored the prosecution. He bore a strong grudge against Siegelman. Fuller had been an Alabama district attorney before Bush made him a federal judge. Fuller's successor as district attorney was appointed by Siegelman and produced evidence that suggested that Fuller had connived with his former senior assistant in a "pension spiking" scheme, which some viewed as a fraud or attempted fraud against the state retirement system.

Despite his known animosity toward Siegelman, Fuller refused to recuse himself from Siegelman's trial. According to the WOTM Special Report, Fuller owns a company that was receiving federal money during Siegelman's trial. Fuller did not disclose this conflict of interest. The charges raised by 60 Minutes cast the trial as Karl Rove's effort to rid the Republicans of the candidate they could not beat. The strange conduct of the presiding Republican judge, who had recently become a rich man as the company he owned was awarded a mass of discretionary federal contracts, only raises more very troubling questions.

The Justice Department's answer to the accusation that it framed Siegelman is that Siegelman was indicted by career prosecutors and convicted in a fair trial by a jury of his peers. These claims are no more truthful than anything else the DOJ says. Horton reports that career prosecutors advised against the case, concluded it was a political vendetta and walked away from it. Canary's "girls" were "flailing about trying to find loyal troopers who would shut up and do what is expected of them," a category into which Scott Horton says Louis Franklin and his deputy Stephen Feaga fell. The jurors were presented with what Bailey's and Methvin's testimony indicates to be Bailey's perjury suborned by the US Attorney's office and misled about what the testimony actually meant.

Horton says the case was "pressed forward with brute political force." According to Horton, Leura Canary refused to recuse herself despite her obvious conflict of interest. After she was forced to recuse herself, she continued to control the case from her office. In Horton's words: "Her husband was managing the campaign against Siegelman and leaks from the investigation were emanating from someone at his address. But beyond this, her husband, Bill Canary, had a long, well established, close working relationship with Karl Rove covering work he did in Washington and Alabama over a period of more than 17 years. Leura and Billy Canary were close friends of, and socialized with, Karl Rove."

On his Bush League Justice program, MSNBC's Dan Abrams reported that a Republican attorney said under oath that "key Republicans on [Republican candidate for governor Bob] Riley's team discussed talking to Karl Rove about the case, quoting one of them who said, "Not to worry, that he had already gotten it worked out with Karl, and Karl had spoken to the Department of Justice.'"

The Bush Justice Department first went after Siegelman during his 2002 reelection campaign. When Siegelman was first elected in 1998, the Republican Alabama Attorney General, William Pryor, began investigating Siegelman. There was nothing to investigate, but his "investigation" was the entry for Leura Canary, who federalized the "investigation." Politically motivated leaks from the "investigation" were used in an effort to defeat Siegelman's reelection.

It almost worked, but Siegelman narrowly won.

Unable to defeat Siegelman even with leaks from a phony investigation designed to smear him, the Republicans decided to steal the election. After all districts had reported the vote count, Siegelman thanked the voters for reelecting him and went to bed. During the night the Republicans, with no Democratic voting officials present, "recounted" the ballots in Baldwin County. Six thousand Siegelman votes that had been reported disappeared in the recount. The next morning Republican Bob Riley declared himself the winner.

The theft was so hastily arranged that the thieves forgot to change any of the other vote outcomes on the ballots. All other races had the same totals as originally reported, a statistical impossibility had there actually been a computer glitch as the election thieves claimed.

The Republican attorney general Pryor refused a recount. The Bush Justice Department and Republican federal judges looked the other way, as did the Republican propaganda sheets that masquerade as news media in Alabama.

President Bush rewarded William Pryor for his service by making him a federal judge in a recess appointment as he could not be confirmed by the US Senate.

According to MSNBC and other reports, a prosecution witness against Siegelman also made charges against Pryor and US Senator Jeff Sessions (R, AL), but neither of the Republicans were investigated.

The case against Siegelman was drawn out in the media for two more years in the hopes of smearing him forever. When Leura Canary's false case was finally brought to court, Federal District Judge U.W. Clemon threw it out of court. Clemon cited an assistant US Attorney and an assistant state attorney general for contempt of court. All charges against Siegelman and his co-defendants were dropped on October 5, 2004.

Vindicated, Siegelman began his campaign for recovering the governorship in 2006. The word came from Washington to "take another look at the case," a phrase that could well be understood as "get Siegelman at all costs." Siegelman was indicted a second time on October 26, 2005, costing him the Democratic primary. The jury twice deadlocked and was twice sent back by Siegelman's adversary, Judge Fuller. With charges of jury-tampering in the air, Siegelman was acquitted of 25 counts and found guilty of "pay for play." Judge Fuller had Siegelman handcuffed and manacled and immediately whisked off to prison for a seven-year sentence. Normally a non-dangerous person is left at liberty while the case is being appealed.

The Siegelman case makes it clear exactly what Bush, Rove, and the disgraced Bush flunky Alberto Gonzales intended by firing the eight Republican US Attorneys. These eight refused to politicize their office by falsely prosecuting Democrats in order to achieve a Rovian political agenda. Apparently, there were only eight honest persons among the 1,200 Republican US Attorneys. Bush, Rove, and Gonzales had no problem with the other 1,192. Professors Donald Shields and John Cragan report that the Bush Justice Department has investigated seven times more Democratic than Republican officials.

Former Alabama Supreme Court Justice Terry Butts said that justice in America today is about political agendas, "not about convicting real criminals." Butts said that Siegelman's attorneys and allies expect reprisals from the US Attorney's office and Alabama's Republican establishment.

Siegelman has been in prison for over a year. His appeal cannot move forward, because Judge Fuller's court has not produced a transcript of the trial needed for appeal. In other words, Republicans are preventing Siegelman from being released on appeal by a higher court.

Karl Rove refused to testify about the case before Congress.

On February 25, 2008, Fox "News" gave Karl Rove airtime in which to deny the accusations and evidence against him, which he did.

The Department of Justice refuses to release Siegelman trial documents to Congress. It won't even let Congress see what Leura Canary had to say to her bosses about the ethics challenges brought against her, which they swept under the carpet.

Siegelman's family home was broken into.

Siegelman's attorney's office was broken into and ransacked.

Jill Simpson's house had a mysterious "electrical fire" and her car was run off the road.

Is a justice system that functions in this way worthy of respect? Can we believe any convictions obtained by federal prosecutors?

Author's note: Scott Horton, <a href="http://harpers.org/" style=" color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Harper's Online</a> [3], has reported extensively and courageously on the frame-up of Don Siegelman. <a href="http://rawstory.com/" style=" color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Raw Story</a> [4] has a multi-part report by Larisa Alexandrovna and Muriel Kane. The 60 Minutes broadcast is available from <a href="http://youtube.com/" style=" color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">YouTube</a> [5] as is the WOTM Special Report. YouTube also has a multi-part documentary on Richard Scrushy. <a href="http://bradblog.com/" style=" color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Brad Blog</a> [6] provides good coverage including a MSNBC broadcast on the Siegelman prosecution which traces it back to Karl Rove. Ernest Partridge's Online Journal account provides additional information including the study by Professors Donald Shields and John Cragan. <a href="http://www.thenation.com/doc/20071105/wilson" style=" color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">See also Glynn Wilson</a> [7] at The Nation.</div>

<div class="tags" style="">See more stories tagged with:

<div class="field-item odd"><a href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/injustice" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" style=" color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">injustice</a> [9],</div>

<div class="field-item even"><a href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/alabama" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" style=" color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">alabama</a> [10],</div>

<div class="field-item odd"><a href="http://www.alternet.org/tags/don-siegelman" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" style=" color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">don siegelman</a> [11]</div>

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<div class="print-source_url" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px;">Source URL: <a href="http://www.alternet.org/story/78407/going_to_jail_for_being_a_democrat%3A_how_alabama_gov.don_siegelman_got_roved" style=" color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">http://www.alternet.org/story/78407/going_to_jail_for_being_a_democrat%3A_how_alabama_gov.don_siegelman_got_roved</a></div>

Links:

[1] http://www.counterpunch.org/

[2] http://www.alternet.org/authors/paul-craig-roberts

[3] http://harpers.org

[4] http://rawstory.com

[5] http://youtube.com

[6] http://bradblog.com

[7] http://www.thenation.com/doc/20071105/wilson

[8] http://www.alternet.org/tags/gop

[9] http://www.alternet.org/tags/injustice

[10] http://www.alternet.org/tags/alabama

[11] http://www.alternet.org/tags/don-siegelman

[12] http://www.alternet.org/%2Bnew_src%2B

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<h3 align="center" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-align: left; margin: 3pt 0in;">Siegelman, South's Political Prisoner</h3>

<h3 align="center" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16.8pt; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-align: left; margin: 3pt 0in;">Timeline by: Michele Looney</h3>

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<div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19.2pt; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-align: left;">It is very important to note, Many Good Republican Americans despise the evil and corruption presently displayed by some of its party members. Neither party is perfect, and we all fall short of perfection.</div>

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<div style="text-align: left;">Curious as to the exact dates in late 1998 when Georgia's Ralph Reed, Jr. huddled with Washington and Alabama's Norquist, Rove, Abramoff and Canary. Was the meeting in Baldwin County? And the date of Leura Canary's appointment? In Kentucky, Steve Pence was appointed and took office as U.S. Attorney just after 911, soon to become Lt. Governor, under the first Kentucky Republican Governorship in many years. Georgia's Ralph Reed, Jr. was very well connected with the Strategum Group, who suffered three fatalities last August in a double murder/suicide, Orlando, Florida and the killer was connected to North Carolina. Political consultants, Strategum also handled several Alabama campaigns, including Alabama's Attorney General, Troy King. You may find a list of Strategum's clients further in this blog, or you can go to http://www.strategumusa.com.</div>

</div>

<div style="text-align: left;">Reader's input and investigations are extremely valuable in uncovering the truth, and again, many thanks to all my contributors:</div>

<div style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 19.2pt; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-align: left;">........"I don’t know of anyone in the history of the United States who has had the constitution torn up and thrown in their face, by all levels of the federal government like Siegelman has.</div>

</div>

<div style="text-align: left;">......the three largest newspapers in his own state have been a big part of this conspiracy. The newspapers are owned by the media giant, Advance Publications Inc.</div>

</div>

<div style="text-align: left;">In late 1998 Karl Rove and William Canary arranged money laundering operations with Ralph Reed and Glover Norquist, and worked a deal with Bush's campaign financier and Rove's good friend lobbyist Jack Abramoff to finance Alabama campaign financing of GOP candidates in return for political favors. Canary and Rove were working closely with Republican Attorney General William Pryor ...........</div>

</div>

<div style="text-align: left;">In 1999 Jack Abramoff and Michael Scanlon funneled millions of dollars from the Mississippi Choctaw Indians to be laundered by Ralph Reed's Christian Coalition........</div>

</div>

<div style="text-align: left;">In 2001 Bush appointed William Canary's wife as U.S. Attorney of Middle Alabama. Her prior job was working for Al. A.G. William Pryor.........</div>

</div>

<div style="text-align: left;">In 2002, Mark Fuller who was the district attorney for Coffee County was appointed By Bush to be U.S. federal judge in middle Alabama. His successor who was appointed by Siegelman found that Fuller had falsified the county payroll for his investigators who had been doing work for him on the side. Fuller who owed one senior investigator several thousand dollars attempted to falsify his income so that he could retire and draw an additional $1,000 a month for the rest of his life.........</div>

</div>

<div style="text-align: left;">Fuller owns 47% and is/was president of Doss Aviation of Colorado, Springs, CO. He was working both jobs. His uncle Everett Terry serves on several Congressional Defense Committees and made his nephew Mark Everett Fuller a wealthy man through military contracts.</div>

</div>

<div style="text-align: left;">Campaign Summer of 2002, Bob Riley used Goff's personal plane to fly to Washington to meet with Karl Rove to get a quick course in wearing $3,000 alligator boots and how to project himself as the Marlboro man riding a horse in his campaign ads.</div>

</div>

<div style="text-align: left;">Scanlon used to work for Riley before he went to work for Congressman Delay.</div>

</div>

<div style="text-align: left;">They [Scanlon, Rove, Abramoff] agreed to use scare tactics on the Indian Casinos making them pay large sums of money to block so called legislation to keep their casinos from having to pay taxes.</div>

</div>

<div style="text-align: left;">The money would be laundered by the National Republican associations. Scanlon created sham companies one of which was setup in Europe from which over a million dollars came.</div>

</div>

</div>

<div style="text-align: left;">2002 election night. All the polls had reported in and Siegelman won by over 6,000 votes. Dan Gans, who had programming, computer system administration training and trained to work on the Diebold Election Systems Inc and the ES&S central voting tabulator was about to be fired by Bob Riley when he decide to get online with Bay Minette located in Baldwin County, Al. He made several attempts to take votes from Siegelman’s total vote count and switch them to Riley’s; however, there was a third candidate that was running for governor that he forgot about. Gans had trouble making the total votes equal the number of voters that had voted. There was a count of the paper ballots which still showed Siegelman as the winner. So as a cover up, all the votes was sealed by AL AG William Pryor who issued a warning that he would prosecute anyone who attempted to break the seals. Siegelman tried to get a court order to have a recount but the Republican Judges wouldn’t issue one. Siegelman filed charges with the attorney general’s office attorney Troy King and talked with the FBI to no avail.</div>

</div>

<div style="text-align: left;">The FCC Chairman Kevin Martin who was appointed by Bush is attempting to allow large media companies to be able to acquire FCC licenses so that it would be possible for one media giant to own all media in a given city, county, etc.</div>

</div>

<div style="text-align: left;">The GOP under the Bush administration has managed to gain control of large communication and publishing companies through government contracts, appointments</div>

</div>

<div style="text-align: left;">The three corrupt newspapers in Alabama ran full page articles portraying him [Siegelman] as a modern day Al Capone.......</div>

<div style="text-align: left;">He was shamefully shackled and paraded....</div>

<div style="text-align: left;">........ended up being placed in a prison over 600 miles from his family.</div>

</div>

<div style="text-align: left;">The prison has been ordered by the U.S. Court In Montgomery. Al. to keep him isolated and to deny him interviews by 60 minutes and local news medias.</div>

</div>

<div style="text-align: left;">He [Siegelman] is Alabama's most respected lawyer, politician and lobbyist, because of his work ethics and the ability to communicate with working class and the poor.</div>

</div>

<div style="text-align: left;">Political corruption in Alabama has gotten totally out of control.</div>

</div>

<div style="text-align: left;">Out of the Millions of dollars of Mississippi Choctaw money that Jack Abramoff and Michael Scanlon laundered and sent to AL. to defeat Siegelman’s Education Lottery in 1999, to elect Bob Riley in 2002 and for Riley to oppress the AL. Poarch Indians, “not a single person has gotten investigated by the ABI or FBI under direction of the offices of the Alabama Attorney General or the U.S. Attorneys.”</div>

</div>

<div style="text-align: left;">Every article written on the 2002 Governors election verifies that the numbers published indicates that Electronic ballot stuffing was involved in Baldwin County to transfer votes from Siegelman to Riley.</div>

</div>

<p style="text-align: left; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px;">Alabama Attorney General William Pryor ordered that throughout the state that all votes be sealed.

<div type="" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102); text-align: left; padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px;">Mrs. William (Leura) Canary

U.S. Attorney in Montgomery

Leura Garrett Canary, daughter of the late Senator Eugene

Garrett and granddaughter of the late Senator Will Garrett, is a

Bush appointed U.S. Attorney in Montgomery. She comes from a

long line of Alabama politicians, some of whom are rumored to

have murdered their opposition. She is married to <a href="http://donsiegelman.org/Pages/topics/Players/GOP_Operatives/GOP_Canary.html" style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Bill Canary</a>

who referred to her as one of his "girls" commissioned to "get

Siegelman" in a conference call discussing the Siegelman re-

election. She worked on the corruption case against Democratic

Governor Don Siegelman first under Bill Pryor, and then as a

Bush appointed US Attorney.[1][3]

Leura Canary commenced an investigation into “certain state

employees” on corruption allegations in mid-2001. It soon

became apparent that the principal target of this investigation

was Democratic Governor Siegelman. The investigation had been initiated at the request of activist Republican William Pryor,

then Attorney General of Alabama when all efforts to prosecute

Governor Siegelman on the state level failed. Various

representatives of Mrs. Canary’s office have given conflicting

explanations of the source of the complaint that initiated the

investigation. Usually they attribute it to a <a href="http://donsiegelman.org/Pages/topics/Players/Journalists/journalists_curran.html" style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">newspaper reporter

from Mobile</a> in an effort to hide the highly partisan political

source. [1]

In March 2002 an attorney for Siegelman filed paperwork with

the Justice Department for her recusal. The attorney argued

that Mrs. Canary was conflicted under ethical guidelines binding

on U.S. Attorneys for two reasons: first, her husband, William

Canary, was then working as a paid political consultant for

Attorney General Pryor, the man whose complaints were driving

the case, and second, her husband was the paid political

consultant for Lt. Gov. Steve Windom, who had declared his

intention to oppose Siegelman for the governorship.[1]

</div>

<div type="" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102); text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px;">On May 16, 2002—roughly a year into the case, and nearly two

months after Siegelman's attorney complained to the U.S.

Justice Department about Canary's husband having ties to some

of Siegelman's Republican opponents”[2] — Leura Canary

issued a press statement:

</div>

<div type="" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102); text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 80px;">As to any matters pertaining to any current investigation

of [Governor Siegelman] which may be underway, the

Department of Justice has advised me that no actual

conflicts of interest exist. However, out of an abundance

of caution, I have requested that I be recused to avoid

any question about my impartiality.

</div>

However, Scott Horton's researchers were unable to find any

court filed recusal papers. So did Leura Canary actually recuse

herself? Mrs. Canary went to lengths to appear in the media and

state that she had withdrawn. But apparently she never really

gave up complete control over the case, turning the work over to

assistants Franklin and Feaga, career attorneys in her office

that report to her. [1]

Siegelman lost the Governor's seat in a close and <a href="http://donsiegelman.org/Pages/topics/QUESTIONS/fixed_elections.html">contested</a>

race in 2002, but polls in 2003 showed that he had a good

chance of recapturing the governorship. Then came the first

indictment from the U.S. Attorney in Birmingham, Alice Martin,

charging Siegelman with using his position to rig a state bidding

process. [4]

</div>

<div type="" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102); text-align: left; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px;">[1] Harper's 9/14/07

[2] AP, 5/16/02

[3] Alabama Congressional Resolution (HJR454)

CONGRATULATING WILLIAM J. AND LEURA GARRETT CANARY ON THE BIRTH OF

A DAUGHTER. 1998

[4]Selective Justice in Alabama? TIME?CNN 10/04/07</div>

</div>

<div type="" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px;">William J. (Bill) Canary

Republican King Maker, Special Assistant to President George Bush,

Chief of Staff  of the Republican National Committee and Riley

Advisor/Strategist

"Bill Canary is a political paratrooper." said former RNC

Chairman Rich Bond. "If you've got a problem that needs fixing,

you drop him in and it gets fixed."[4]

Bill Canary is a King-maker who hails from New York State, nick-

named the "carpet-bagger" in Alabama. His resume includes

being President of William J. Canary and Company, Inc., and

Chairman of the Board for the Capitol Group, L. L. C., and

former Special Assistant to President George Bush and Chief of

Staff of the Republican National Committee.[6]

Karl Rove and Bill Canary became pals during Canary’s days at

the White House in the 80's. They also worked closely in 1994in

Alabama when as head of the the BCA (Business Council of

Alabama) Bill Canary brought Karl Rove from Texas

to help a Republican takeover of the Alabama statehouse. The

mission was to replace the traditionally Democrat-held state

Supreme Court with Republicans.[1]

Karl Rove was instrumental in endorsing Bill Canary to serve as

chief of staff for the Republican National Committee, as chief of

staff to the 2000 G.O.P. Convention chairman Andy Card, as

National Field Director for the Bush-Quayle campaign in 1992

and in 1989, President Bush appointed him to serve in the White

House as special assistant to the president for

intergovernmental affairs.[1]

In 1994, Mr. Canary and his mentor Karl Rove put together a

grand strategy to turn around the court system in Alabama,

putting the G.O.P.’s handpicked candidates in control of key

Alabama appellate court races.  In a 1995 article, Time

Magazine’s Michael Kramer called Bill Canary a “legend in

Republican circles” and in the same article, former RNC

Chairman Rich Bond described Bill Canary as an “expertpolitical

paratrooper” and “someone you dropped into a state where

something needed fixing and it got fixed.” Mr. Canary was the

architect of a special relationship between the Alabama

G.O.P. and the Business Council of Alabama that proved the

finance lifeline for many Alabama G.O.P. election campaigns. He

was widely described as the G.O.P.’s Alabama “kingpin.” [6]

</div>

<div type="" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px;">In Alabama, Canary prides himself on being a well-connected

Republican strategist. He sees himself as a Riley adviser, tightly

wired into Riley's policy making who has no patience with

Democrats at any level. He is also involved in Riley’s policy-

making.[3]

</div>

<div type="" style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102); padding: 0px; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px;">Bill Canary apparently felt that one of Alabama's biggest

problems was Democratic Statesman Don Siegelman, and he

set out to "fix" that problem. Bill Canary received $40,000 from

Bill Pryor to be his political consultant in '98. Secure in a GOP

controlled judiciary, Pryor began investigating Siegelman almost

immediately after taking office .

In '01 Canary received $38,000 from Steve Windom to be his

consultant in the '02 Governor's race. Windom ran exclusively

on calling for an investigation of Siegelman. [5]

Steve Windom lost in the Republican primary to Bill Riley, but

during his campaign he continuously drew on the Leura Canary

investigation for political grist to support his “corruption”

accusations against Siegelman. The posturing, campaign

rhetoric, and advertising were arranged by William Canary. The

criminal investigations that fueled it were managed by his wife.[6]

This was an unorthodox strategy that led some to speculate that

Canary deliberately used Windom to help Riley. Campaign rule

of thumb is to attack your opponent - that would have been

Riley. In fact Windom did Riley's dirty work for him, helping Riley

appear to take the high road.

Rove and Canary maintained a friendly working relationship

when Karl Rove went to the White House, especially concerning

the "Siegelman problem". And in 2002 Karl Rove served as

Canary's white house connection to the DOJ, giving assurances

to Bill that Justice was pursuing Siegelman. And Canary gave

assurance to Rob Riley, son of Alabama Governor Bob Riley,

that "his girls" would "get Siegelman". His confidence was

grounded in the Bush appointment of Canary's "girls" (his wife,

<a href="http://donsiegelman.org/Pages/topics/Players/GOP_Operatives/attorneys_Leura_Canary.html" style=" background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Leura Canary</a> and Alice Martin) to US Attorney positions in

Northern and Middle District Alabama; each began immediately

to pursue the Siegelman prosecution upon their appointment. [1]

Bill Canary resides in Montgomery with his wife Leura and their

children. [2]

</div>

[1]U.S. Attorney Scandal—Birmingham, Cont’d - Scott Horton's "No

Comment" for Harper's.org, June 2007

[2]Business Council of Alabama Website

[3]Business Alabama, Ford, August 2004

[4]TIME, Cramer, 3/27/95

[5] Southern trilogy: how Republicans captured governorships in Georgia,

South Carolina and Alabama

Case Studies Campaigns & Elections, June, 2003

by David Beile

[6] Alabama Congressional Resolution (HJR454)

CONGRATULATING WILLIAM J. AND LEURA GARRETT CANARY ON THE

BIRTH OF A DAUGHTER. 1998</div>

</div>

<div style="">harpers  horton</div>

</div>

On a hill above Birmingham, Alabama stands a statue of Vulcan, the Roman god of the forge, a symbol of the city’s debt to the steel industry around which it grew. Today, however, little steel is forged in Birmingham, but scandals are coming aplenty. What continues to emerge from the former Pittsburgh of the south are more details in the unfolding allegations surrounding the politically driven prosecution of former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman, today in the form of <a href="http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1181377229254450.xml&coll=2&thispage=1" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; color: rgb(0, 51, 187); outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;">an article in theBirmingham News.</a> Or rather, perhaps the Birmingham News piece is itself the story. Under a headline stating “Two Siegelman Advocates Missed Out on State Contract,” the News reports:

The two people alleging that former Gov. Don Siegelman’s prosecution was tainted by politics are tied to a company that did not win a state contract from Gov. Bob Riley’s administration last year. Former Riley Chief of Staff Toby Roth said he believed the lost contract was a factor when the two people signed statements accusing Riley’s advocates of engineering the case against Siegelman, a Democratic rival. “I think it certainly raises suspicions about their accusations,” Roth said. “This has got a sour grapes aspect to it.”

</blockquote>

Now as my readers know, I am an attorney and an opinion-journalist, I teach law and journalism students at Columbia University, and as an attorney, I spend a good part of my practice representing and working for the media. My instincts tell me that this story was been peddled by Toby Roth – he may well have called a “marker” to get it run – and it aims to discredit the evidence for Karl Rove’s involvement by linking the sources to a failed contract bid. This is mighty thin gruel. But it all goes downhill from there. And you really have to read the story to its end. As in the Sherlock Holmes tale of “Silver Blaze” the really fascinating thing about the Birmingham Newsstory consists of the facts which are strangely missing. For instance:

<li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 15px; border: 0px; text-align: left; background-image: url("http://harpers.org/wp-content/themes/harpers/images/bulllet_img.png"); outline: 0px; list-style-type: none; background-position: 0px 9px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">Might there be any relationship between Toby Roth and Karl Rove? That would be another highly relevant entanglement, wouldn’t it? Well, before Mr. Roth served Bob Riley as chief of staff, he had a very long engagement in Alabama GOP politics. And among his clients was Harold See, a candidate for the Alabama Supreme Court. With whom did he collaborate in that long and hard-fought battle? Perhaps our friends at the News could have asked a question. Perhaps they could have invested 90 seconds on the internet. The answer would have been: William Canary and Karl Rove. That’s right, thethird man who together with Canary and Rove drove the <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200411/green" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; color: rgb(0, 51, 187); outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;">transformational campaign profiled in the Atlantic’s groundbreaking story</a> was Toby Roth. That’s a fact. It’s not mentioned.</li>

</ul>

Considering the fact that the Siegelman prosecution springs out of allegations of Siegelman’s involvement supporting a gambling initiative, that’s a very curious fact, especially when juxtaposed with Jack Abramoff and what we know about Mr. Abramoff’s practice of trying to suppress one gambling interest supposedly to benefit another and stirring up the “yahoos” (I am quoting Mr. Abramoff-related emails) to vote against casino gambling. Another of the Abramoff fortes was using his lobbyist position with the casinos to stampede money into the coffers of Republican candidates for office. Indeed, looking at this list of names, it suddenly occurred to me: I’ve seen them many times before: they’re all names that have appeared in connection with the Abramoff investigation – widely considered the “mother lode” of modern political scandals. Indeed, it dawns on me suddenly that this story and the Abramoff story intersect, and the point of intersection is Toby Roth.

The News story also contained a remarkably lame account of the allegations:

“Simpson said in her affidavit that, in a 2002 conference call, she heard Republican Bill Canary tell the governor’s son and lawyer that White House adviser Karl Rove had told him the Department of Justice was investigating Siegelman. Canary and other participants say they don’t remember such a conversation.”

</blockquote>

In fact the Simpson affidavit, which is readily available, but which the News reporters evidently couldn’t be bothered to actually read, provides a detailed specific account of what transpired, starting with Canary’s statement “not to worry about Don Siegelman that ‘his girls would take care of him.’” Then Riley’s son asked Canary if he was sure that Siegelman would be “taken care of,” and Canary told him not to worry that he had already gotten it worked out with Karl and Karl had spoken with the Department of Justice and the Department of Justice was already pursuing Don Siegelman.” “His girls” were Canary’s wife Leura Canary, who as U.S. Attorney in the Middle District of Alabama, did in fact start the investigation, only dropping off when objections were raised by Governor Siegelman’s counsel due to her obvious political bias and the U.S. Attorney in Birmingham Alice Martin. Ms. Simpson, who gave the affidavit, is a lifelong Republican and was a worker in the Riley campaign against Siegelman, and her account has been contemporaneously corroborated – all facts the News reporters have also suppressed. The statements denying the affidavit are extremely vague “non-recollections,” are unsworn, and in a law court would count for absolutely nothing.

Now going back through the Abramoff database and looking at the names lined up against Siegelman in this affair is a curious exercise indeed. There’s a hit every few seconds.

<li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 15px; border: 0px; text-align: left; background-image: url("http://harpers.org/wp-content/themes/harpers/images/bulllet_img.png"); outline: 0px; list-style-type: none; background-position: 0px 9px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">Governor Riley – the <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-adv/advertisers/economist/apr06popup/economist_popunder_wp.htm" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; color: rgb(0, 51, 187); outline: 0px; text-decoration: none;">McCain report found that millions of dollars from the Choctaw Indians</a> came into Alabama during the 2002 governor’s race – a fact denied by Riley until the report was released. In emails released by the Senate, former Riley congressional staffer Michael Scanlon partnered with Jack Abramoff to funnel Choctaw Indian funds into the 2002 Alabama Governor’s race, supporting Riley. The report contained emails detailing conversation regarding the 2002 race in which Abramoff tells Scanlon that he has been in touch with “Nell” (Nell Rogers) of the Choctaws and “had it not been for what you did in Alabama, we would have had to spend millions in Alabama over the next four years.” The conversation then details what “Nell” wanted Riley to do in return for the “help” he had received. The email states Rogers made it clear that she “definitely wants Riley to shut down the Porch Creek operation.” The Alabama Porch Creek Indians were competitors of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. Subsequently, Riley met with Attorney General John Ashcroft about the Porch Creek Indians, and Alabama Attorney General Troy King wrote a letter on behalf of Riley to the Department of the Interior requesting denial of Porch Creek Indians request for Class III gaming. A commission to evaluate the Porch Creek application for Class III (table game) license was created.</li>

</ul>

So what emerges from this Birmingham News article? We have two remarkably incurious and lazy reporters. I supervise J-School students up at Columbia from time to time, and this product would not get a passing grade. Which is a shame, because this is exactly the sort of story that any journalist worth his salt should dream of being assigned to write on. On the other hand, doing a quick fact-check on their story revealed a lot.

The real story is that the deeper one delves into this, the more convincing the Simpson affidavit becomes. We’re looking at one hell of a scandalous miscarriage of justice, the object of which is corrupt and patently partisan and political. Very powerful forces have been engaged to cover it all up. There are also unmistakable signs of corruption surrounding the Montgomery statehouse – it’s not Siegelman’s corruption, but rather that of his successor and opponent. Indeed, it seems very closely tied to the people who claimed to have launched an effort to “get” Siegelman, using the authority of Karl Rove and his reach deep into the Department of Justice. And at this point it’s simply impossible to dismiss these claims as hollow boasts – we have the sworn testimony of eight former U.S. attorneys saying just the opposite. And just think about it – while one tentacle of the Abramoff scandal, which is the subject of press coverage all around the world, was flailing about wildly in the Alabama political scene, the U.S. Attorneys in Alabama ignore it and instead pour massive resources into its victim. If you made this stuff up, no one would accept it as plausible fiction.

</div>

</div></div></div>