| Topic: |
Science > Abortion |
| User: |
"james g. keegan jr." |
| Date: |
02 Jun 2007 10:40:52 AM |
| Object: |
Rove Linked to Prosecution of Ex-Alabama Governor |
Friday, Jun. 01, 2007
Rove Linked to Prosecution of Ex-Alabama Governor
By Adam Zagorin/Washington
In the rough and tumble of Alabama politics, the scramble for power
is often a blood sport. At the moment, the state's former Democratic
governor, Don Siegelman, stands convicted of bribery and conspiracy
charges and faces a sentence of up to 30 years in prison. Siegelman
has long claimed that his prosecution was driven by politically
motivated, Republican-appointed U.S. attorneys.
Now Karl Rove, the President's top political strategist, has been
implicated in the controversy. A longtime Republican lawyer in
Alabama swears she heard a top G.O.P. operative in the state say that
Rove "had spoken with the Department of Justice" about "pursuing"
Siegelman, with help from two of Alabama's U.S. attorneys.
The allegation was made by Dana Jill Simpson, a lifelong Republican
and lawyer who practices in Alabama. She made the charges in a May 21
affidavit, obtained by TIME, in which she describes a conference call
on November 18, 2002, which involved a group of senior aides to Bob
Riley, who had just narrowly defeated Siegelman in a bitterly
contested election for governor. Though Republican Riley, a former
Congressman, initially found himself behind by several thousand
votes, he had pulled ahead at the last minute when disputed ballots
were tallied in his favor. After the abrupt vote turnaround,
Siegelman sought a recount. The Simpson affidavit says the conference
call focused on how the Riley campaign could get Siegelman to
withdraw his challenge.
According to Simpson's statement, William Canary, a senior G.O.P.
political operative and Riley adviser who was on the conference call,
said "not to worry about Don Siegelman" because "'his girls' would
take care of" the governor. Canary then made clear that "his girls"
was a reference to his wife, Leura Canary, the U.S. attorney for the
Middle District of Alabama, and Alice Martin, the U.S. attorney for
the Northern District of Alabama.
Canary reassured others on the conference call ‹ who also included
Riley's son, Rob, and Terry Butts, another Riley lawyer and former
justice of the Alabama supreme court ‹ that he had the help of a
powerful pal in Washington. Canary said "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," the Simpson affidavit says. Both U.S.
attorney offices subsequently indicted Siegelman on a variety of
charges, although Leura Canary recused herself from dealing with the
case in May 2002. A federal judge dismissed the Northern District
case before it could be tried, but Siegelman was convicted in the
Middle District on bribery and conspiracy charges last June.
William Canary called the allegations "outrageous" and "the desperate
act of a desperate politician." Terry Butts said, "I do not recall
this telephone conversation ‹ this whole story must have been created
by a drunk fiction writer." A White House spokesman told TIME that
since the case of former Governor Siegelman remained before the
courts, it would have no comment.
Rob Riley said, "I do not recall making the statement attributed to
me." He added: "Neither I nor anyone on our campaign staff have been
involved...in a conspiracy to bring a criminal case against Don
Siegelman." Lewis Frankling, who prosecuted Siegelman, said he did
confer on several occasions with Justice Dept. officials in
Washington, but that "nobody ordered me to bring this case, and we
handled it just like any other."
Canary was appointed by President George H. W. Bush to serve in the
White House as special assistant for intergovernmental affairs, and
then named chief of staff of the Republican National Committee. Later
in the 1990's he also worked closely with Karl Rove in a successful
series of campaigns to get Republicans elected to Alabama's state
courts.
In an interview with TIME, Simpson confirmed that the "Karl" cited in
her sworn statement was Karl Rove. "There's absolutely no question it
was Karl Rove, no doubt whatsoever," she said. She also said she has
phone records to back up the date and duration of her phone calls.
Though Simpson's legal work primarily involved research for companies
seeking federal government contracts, she says she also did
"opposition research" on Siegelman as a volunteer in Riley's campaign
in 2002. A lifelong G.O.P. supporter, she says she has long been
friendly with Riley's son, Rob Riley, whom she met at the University
of Alabama and worked with on various legal cases.
In her interview with TIME, Simpson said the participants in the
conference call expressed growing concern that Gov. Siegelman would
refuse to give up his challenge to the vote count. According to
Simpson, Rob Riley said, "Siegelman's just like a cockroach, he'll
never die, what are we going to do?" At that point Canary offered
reassurance by citing Rove's news from Justice Department.
Simpson said she had long been troubled by the conference call
conversation, and even consulted an official of the Alabama State Bar
Association to determine whether she could disclose it publicly
without violating her obligations as a volunteer working for the
Riley campaign. She was told, she said, that she was free to speak of
the matter.
Simpson said she grew more concerned about the matter after
Siegelman's conviction last June. She says she told several friends
about the conference call ; one of them, Mark Bollinger, a former
aide to a Democratic attorney general in Alabama and in the Alabama
Bureau of Investigation, has given his own affidavit, obtained by
TIME, swearing that Simpson had told him of the conference call and
Rove's alleged statements.
The federal investigation of Siegelman culminated in a criminal
prosecution that became public not long after Siegelman announced
that he would run again for governor of Alabama in 2006. Partly
because of the investigation, Siegelman failed in his bid for the
Democratic nomination.
Siegelman, together with former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy, was
convicted on bribery and conspiracy charges and faces sentencing June
26. Lawyers for Siegelman and Scrushy told TIME they were considering
whether to use Simpson's affadavit in expected motions to dismiss
charges against their clients, or in some other phase of what is
likely to be a protracted appeals process.
Siegelman was convicted of appointing Scrushy to a hospital
regulatory board in exchange for a $500,000 contribution to a
campaign for a state lottery to fund education. Defense lawyers have
argued that Siegelman drew no personal financial benefit from
Scrushy's donation to the lottery campaign, and they note that
Scrushy had served on the hospital regulatory board under three
previous governors, before Siegelman reappointed him. The
reappointment, they have argued, offered little of value to Scrushy
except more work.
* Find this article at:
* http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1627427,00.html
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get real. like jesus would ever own a gun or vote republican.
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| User: "Docky Wocky" |
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| Title: Re: Rove Linked to Prosecution of Ex-Alabama Governor |
02 Jun 2007 04:03:08 PM |
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from james g keegan jr:
"At the moment, the state's former Democratic
governor, Don Siegelman, stands convicted of bribery and conspiracy
charges and faces a sentence of up to 30 years in prison. Siegelman
has long claimed that his prosecution was driven by politically
motivated, Republican-appointed U.S. attorneys..."
_________________________________
On the other hand, maybe Seigelman might just be another criminal Democratic
party hack who got his hand caught in some cookie jar or other, and got sent
to jail by a jury of Alabama people who got to see what he was.
I think this Rove character is highly overrated as a villian - except, maybe
to the liberal Democratics who are always using him as an example of evil
incarnate.
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| User: "james g. keegan jr." |
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| Title: Re: Rove Linked to Prosecution of Ex-Alabama Governor |
02 Jun 2007 05:55:52 PM |
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In article <gWk8i.277$t84.275@trnddc04>,
"Docky Wocky" <mrchuck@lst.net> wrote:
I think this Rove character is highly overrated as a villian
not many so freely admit their ignorance.
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get real. like jesus would ever own a gun or vote republican.
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