Comments (27)

Mrs P wrote on June 26, 2007 1:11 PM:

Steve Griles is scheduled for sentencing today, too.

jeffgee wrote on June 26, 2007 1:18 PM:

It won't be 30 years.

chisholm wrote on June 26, 2007 1:31 PM:

Re: JM's previous post on the FBI: All law enforcement agencies and authorities work to protect the administration, period. Does anyone doubt that Mueller is NOT an apparatchik of the highest order? He was selected for a reason.

gcs wrote on June 26, 2007 1:38 PM:

We need to stop using niceties like "politically motivated" when it comes to Rove's filthy bag of tricks. Instead, we need to use words the average Joe can understand - "enemies list," "revenge," "illegal," criminal" and the like. Otherwise, people get the impression that all this is some sort of Washington parlor game that both Dems and Reps play with one another. For God's sake, let's start calling Rove's criminal political assassination of an enemy whta it is.

Marshall wrote on June 26, 2007 2:01 PM:

I heard a piece about the sentencing on NPR this morning and was really surprised that no mention was made about the controversy surrounding the matter. I am also surprised that no major news outlets have picked up on the story that the lawyer who filed the affidavit about the phone conference related to setting up this prosecution has had her house burned down and her car run off of the road.

anon wrote on June 26, 2007 2:24 PM:

I'm a little suspicious of the Simpson affidavit but Scott Horton's articles at Harper's are a must read if you are interesting in the Siegelman mess. He's absolutely right about two things that are not quite on everyone's radar: 1. the Birmingham News and the Mobile Register look like newspapers but they aren't, and 2. the Siegelman investigation was built on leaks handled by Rove's office and then run by Rove cronies.

It's a little hard to find the right Horton articles on the Harper's site but it's worth tracking them down and reading them in order.

bwindrip wrote on June 26, 2007 2:34 PM:

I was going to post the same info as Marshall.

The account can be found in a Harper's article at
http://harpers.org/archive/2007/06/hbc-90000351

If this doesn't give you chills, you should look in the mirror for lobotomy scars.

Singularity wrote on June 26, 2007 3:02 PM:

So Siegelman is accused of appointing a donor to a government agency? How is this different from Bush's appointment of "Pioneers" to positions as ambassadors? By all accounts, Siegelman never received a dime for himself, so what crime has been committed here, exactly?

jane wrote on June 26, 2007 3:39 PM:

The motive of the person reporting the crime does not matter: whether you committed the crime does. It also matters if there is selective prosecution where only people of one persuasion are ever indicted while everyone is doing it. So one possible reason for the failure of MSM to react is that they think this is a simple case of one crook snitching on another crook.

However, it is ridiculous to convict someone of bribery simply because they appointed a then important business man to a relevant state board after the businessman made a contribution to a shared cause. The offense as recounted by Wikipedia was:

“In short, Siegelman was accused of trading government favors for campaign donations when he was governor from 1999 to 2003 and lieutenant governor from 1995 to 1999, and Scrushy was accused of arranging $500,000 in donations to Siegelman's campaign for a state lottery in exchange for a seat on a state hospital regulatory board. (The campaign was in debt for that much, and Siegelman, because he had co-signed the loan, was personally responsible for the debt.) Prosecutors also "claimed Siegelman and his chief of staff, Paul Hamrick, received gifts, including a Honda motorcycle for the governor that he allegedly tried to conceal from investigators. Hamrick reportedly received $25,000 for a new luxury BMW automobile."

The claim that Siegelman was personally on the hook is unconvincing to anyone who has ever seen a popular politician retire a campaign debtt.

The conviction looks suspect from several angles collected from above and elsewhere:

Siegelman lost his re-election bid to Riley after Riley forces conducted a recount at which no Democrats were present.

The attorney who gave the affidavit that Siegelman had been targeted by Rove had her house burned down and her car run off the road.

The first attempt to prosecute Siegelman was dismissed with prejudice by the Judge.

The defense has found suspect emails between two of the jurors.

SteveW wrote on June 26, 2007 4:48 PM:

No, like Tricky Dick Cheney, Karl is above the law. These men make and break the law at will and our ignorant president just sits by as his brain/Karl and his right and left hand/Tricky Dick tell him what to say and where to sign.

It's all quite surreal...isn't it? Up is down and down is up in America/Bizarro World we now inhabit

Anonymous wrote on June 26, 2007 5:04 PM:

Horton kinda implies this is going on but I'm surprised no one has mentioned that it certainly looks like journalists are an important part of the Siegelman take down. Perhaps the journalists involved are on the up and up, it's hard to tell but it is pretty clear that Rove and others used them to launder information, to leak information from the prosecutors, and in some cases to start up investigations. At a glance, the Newhouse papers involved all had/have GOP operatives in the news rooms and/or on the editorial board. Quinn Hillyer, for example, ran the Mobile Register editorial page throughout the Siegelman take down and then moved on to the American Spectator.

anon wrote on June 26, 2007 5:10 PM:

So, remind me again, did anyone look into Eddie Curran's home exapansion/renovation in 2003? Curran's the guy at the Mobile Register who had the inside track on the Siegelman investigation, indeed he's credited by the US attorney with starting the investigation.

parrot wrote on June 26, 2007 5:30 PM:

This one smells like it is going all the way to the Supreme Court...where it is hoped that the cancer has not spread so much that the 14th Amendment will be ignored along with other Bill of Rights Amendments. Those Amendments now depending on the word "right" for any sort of validity since they were "left" behind in the dust.

Rev. Bob Smith wrote on June 26, 2007 6:27 PM:

I am sick and tired of the Americam public down grading William Canary and Karl Rove. These two men have brought the Republican party to victory in the state of Alabama where the Democratic party was the majority for many years. They have worked to get most top GOP's elected including Alabama's Supreme Court Justices, the governor, Attorney General, etc. The GOP would not be where it is today if it wasn't for Karl and Bill. At an early age of twenty one, Karl was a major player in the Nixon campaign where he was trained by Donal Segretti until he was convicted as part of Watergate.

St. Augustine wrote on June 26, 2007 6:36 PM:

Rev. Bob Smith

You had me going for half a second....good one

A. Martin wrote on June 26, 2007 7:00 PM:

Siegelman is the only person to hold the top four offices In Alabama: (1)Governor (1999-2003) (2)Lieutenant Governor (1995-99) (3) Attorney General of Al. (1987-91) (4) State Secretary of State (1979-87)Siegelman was a popular democratic candidate. In order for GOP candidates to win they needed the help of Bill Canary and Karl Rove.Bill Pryer GOP was elected AL. Attorney General in 1998. The same year that Siegelman was elected governor..In March of 1999 Don Siegelman endorsed Al Gore and accompanied Gore on a campaign swing into Florida.Gore’s opponent, George W. Bush’s campaign was directed by Karl Rove.Twelve weeks into Siegelman’s term, Rove’s Alabama client, Bill Pryor began an investigation into the newly elected Governor’s administration.After Pryor’s investigation of Siegelman begins in 1999, it was elevated to a joint state-federal investigation directed by U.S. Attorney Leura Canary who was appointed in 2001 by George Bush. U.S. Attorney Canary is the wife of Bill Canary who worked with Rove in Alabama after they lost the 1992 Bush re-election campaign and Canary partnered with Rove in Alabama Republican state Supreme Court races beginning in 1994 and on Pryor’s campaign in 1998.I believe that Siegelman was targeted by these GOP top guns who then used Leura Canary to bring charges against him. It was coincidental that the court dates coincided with the last few weeks of the election

Roberto Gonzales wrote on June 26, 2007 7:07 PM:

Only 59% of the students in Alabama graduate from high school. Only 29% of those high school graduates attend college.. Siegelman was trying to get a lottery approved Like Georgia does where all it’s proceeds are made available for scholarships to H.S. graduates.. Defense lawyers presented to the court the following:(1) Siegelman drew no personal financial benefit from HealthSouth’s donation to clear the debt of $500,000 that was borrowed for promoting the lottery campaign. (2) Scrushy had already served on the state hospital regulatory board under two previous governors, before Siegelman reappointed him.The prosecution claimed that Siegelman appointed Scrushy to the state hospital regulatory board because Scrushy was HealthSouth’s C.E.O and he had authorized the donation.The jury came back with a hung vote twice and they were told by the judge not to come back again until they had a verdict.

Jim Robertson wrote on June 26, 2007 7:10 PM:

I have no idea whether Siegelman and Scrushy actually committed crimes. If not, we may have two innocent men who have been put through hell because they crossed the wrong politicians. They have lost their careers and could be imprisoned for the rest of their lives.If they are guilty, they now have grounds for appeal because of the evidence they were prosecuted for political reasons. They could avoid punishment for their crimes.Either way, we lose. There is no reason whatsoever why the White House political director should be putting pressure on the Department of Justice to prosecute anyone, let alone a political opponent. The husband of a U.S. attorney should never have any influence over who "his girl" decides to prosecute. Our justice system should never be used as a weapon against political enemies. Even the appearance that this is being done completely undermines the public's confidence in our system of justice. That's what the U.S. attorney scandal is all about.

Bob Goodner wrote on June 26, 2007 7:16 PM:

Bush, Cheney, Gonzales, Rice, Rove, and Libby all have contracted a brain disorder..Besides spreading throughout the Whitehouse it has spread as far south as Montgomery, Alabama where Governor Bob Riley, U.S. Attorney Leura Canary, her spouse William, and U.S. Attorney Alice Martin of Birmingham all have contracted it.. It is similar to Alzheimer's Disease except memory loss only occurs when the subjects are asked questions by the FBI, congressional committees or in witness chairs in Federal Court rooms.. This brain disease also causes the subjects to lie and make weird facial expressions when questioned.. The carrier is believed to Karl Rove who was the first to display symptoms during the Watergate investigation.. Instead of getting mental help and reporting unlawful activities that bring these conditions on,, they all are resigning and/or going to prison for reasons out of their control..

Richard Arrington wrote on June 26, 2007 7:23 PM:

After Riley almost lost the 2002 election, Bush was asked by Riley to promote the Republican party in Alabama. Bush turned this responsibility over to Karl Rove to target Democratic's holding U.S. positions, the list also included Don Seigelman who was considered to be a threat to Bob Riley in the 2006 governors race. Those who were considered threats were placed on FBI's and U.S. Attorney's lists for them to ask for stiff prosecutions. So that there would be no opposition by the Democrats after Siegelman's conviction, President Bush gave Riley his top Secret Service Agent Colonel J. Christopher Murphy. I believed that he was never been debriefed by the Secret Service and that he still has authority to contact and use agents at his discretion. II also believed that he has access to all top secret data bases. I belive that he has access to personnal records on ever U.S. citizen including IRS, bank records, realastate holdings, etc. II also believe that he has access to the NSA which can do domestic telephone and internet spying.

Richard Arrington wrote on June 26, 2007 7:35 PM:

After Riley almost lost the 2002 election, Bush was asked by Riley to promote the Republican party in Alabama. Bush turned this responsibility over to Karl Rove to target Democratic's holding U.S. positions, the list also included Don Seigelman who was considered to be a threat to Bob Riley in the 2006 governors race. Those who were considered threats were placed on FBI's and U.S. Attorney's lists for them to ask for stiff prosecutions. So that there would be no opposition by the Democrats after Siegelman's conviction, President Bush gave Riley his top Secret Service Agent Colonel J. Christopher Murphy. I believed that he was never been debriefed by the Secret Service and that he still has authority to contact and use agents at his discretion. I also believed that he has access to all top secret data bases. I belive that he has access to personnal records on ever U.S. citizen including IRS, bank records, realastate holdings, etc. I also believe that he has access to the NSA which can do domestic telephone and internet spying.

anon wrote on June 26, 2007 9:45 PM:

If that's really Richard Arrington, ex-mayor of Birmingham, well, I hope he's talking to the TPM guys.

Yes, there are some interesting rumors about J. Christopher Murphy. And, yes, I think Rove and Co. laundered intelligence to various AL reporters--many of whom are probably mostly legitimate and still don't know how/why they were used. They also laundered all sorts of money--and suspect academic work--through various think tanks. And, of course, there are quite a few outright criminals that Rove managed to place in the state bureaucracy and justice system. An amazing number of state contracts and appointments under Riley look suspicious (the same kind of stuff that they tried to bust Seigelman on during the "warehouse scandal") but just aren't investigated. And on it goes.

In a fashion, AL is/was Bush's vision for the future of the federal government. Untangling the mess in AL--and it's not going to be easy--is as much a national story as a local story. And I don' think culling though old Mobile Register and Birmingham News stories, or even reading though legal paperwork, is going to help untangle much of anything. These guys have been gaming the system for too long. (And, of course, there are Lieberman-like Dems involved at every step.) It's probably going to take on the ground legwork and a zillion affidavits to figure out the details.

internetjoe wrote on June 27, 2007 11:25 AM:

Will we ever get the details?

All news the last 2 weeks has been about Thompson,Hilton and crazy killer husbands.

Even the Chaney as Hitler story got less airtime/column inches then the oh please pardon poor Scooter garbage.

Until there is a massive change in News research forms
from PR - as copy press release -
to P.R. AS IN Proper reporting
this Infotainment as Hard news will be the only news most Americans can get.

molly wrote on June 27, 2007 11:54 AM:

Duke Cunningham got 8 years for stealing millions of tax payer dollars.

molly wrote on June 27, 2007 12:00 PM:

Duke Cunningham got 8 years for stealing millions of tax payer dollars. The people running our govt. are criminals of the worst kind. If our govt. had stayed out of the election in Mexico..Obrador would have been allowed to be their president. He wanted good jobs and benefits for his people. This is the heart of the immigration problem.Nobody wants to go to another country to work. US meddling in other countries and US elections for corporations. Fascism is not pretty.

Jane wrote on June 27, 2007 1:28 PM:

Good jobs in Mexico would help. Nafta did not work as envisioned.

As long as parents have more children than they can care for with local jobs and as long as young men see no future locally, there will be illegal immigration. If we close the land routes with the equivalent of a Great Wall we will have South American boat people.

The other thing is that without access to adequate contraception women will continue to be forced to bear more children than they can care for properly and a portion of these will flee to the United States.

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