IT IS a story from back in the bad old Bush era. This dredges up the accusations pointing to Karl Rove and U.S. attorneys scandal, which is the subject of a new book by Carl Unger. Rove got his man in Alabama. For anyone who followed the story it’s finally roosting for Siegelman, who has turned himself in to the federal detention center in western Louisiana.
A jury convicted Siegelman in 2006 of doing political favors in exchange for campaign donations. Specifically, jurors found he gave a non-paying job on the state hospital regulatory board to a health care CEO who donated $500,000 towards Siegelman’s campaign for a state lottery fund for universal education.
… Despite the rulings, Siegelman maintains he is anything but a criminal. He continues to press his oft-stated claims that he is the victim of a selective prosecution by the Bush administration because he was a threat to the establishment in the Republican-dominated state.
[...] “The people who have been keeping up with the case I think are certainly aware that there was sworn testimony that put Karl Rove at the center of this prosecution during the time that he was firing U.S. attorneys for not prosecuting Democrats,” Siegelman says from the road. “It was his best friend’s wife who brought this prosecution. There’s no doubt in my mind that this started out as a political dirty trick just to smear my name and hopefully it would lead to my defeat in the 2002 election.”
Siegelman hopes for a reprieve at some point, but on his way into prison he is still pointing the finger at Karl Rove, who Siegelman contends still has a lot of friends in the Justice Department.
Siegelman should have been pardoned on January 21, 2009. His persecution has been an absolute disgrace, ginned up by Karl Rove and his cronies- and this President has (surprise, surprise) turned his back and pretended it’s not happening.
From all I’ve read, this is a real injustice, much of which was allegedly concocted by Karl Rove.
Glad someone else remembers this as vividly as I do.
My recollection was a bit fuzzy, but back then I wrote that the Siegelman prosecution appeared to be a selective one – he may well have been guilty, but there were some Republican politicians in the state whom the “Rove appointed” (my words) declined to prosecute who were doing the same sort of thing.
Rightly or wrongly, I don’t feel much sorrow for Siegelman. The country, however, clearly has reason to feel sad for itself.
The country, however, clearly has reason to feel sad for itself.
Well said.