Was Siegelman (D) targeted by Rove? Sentencing Hearing Begins Today

[babylonsister]

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/003527.php

Siegelman Sentencing Hearing Begins Today
By Laura McGann - June 26, 2007, 12:22 PM

Former Alabama governor, Don Siegelman (D), goes to court today for the start of his sentencing hearing which is expected to drag on for days. The former lawmaker faces up to 30 years in prison, while his his co-defendant, health care executive Richard Scrushy, could get 25 years -- both are ostensibly life sentences. Siegelman was convicted of appointing Scrushy to a public board in exchange for a donation to a lottery campaign.

Siegelman maintains his innocence and says the prosecution stemmed from a politically-motivated vendetta by Republicans. A Republican lawyer, Dana Jill Simpson, attested to this possibility in a sworn affidavit implicating Karl Rove in pushing the Justice Department to bring a case against Siegelman. (Simpson's affidavit is available here.)

Siegelman and others have called the prosecution's insistence on a long prison sentence further evidence of ulterior motives. As a contrast, Siegelman points to the last time an Alabama governor -- Guy Hunt (R) -- was convicted on political corruption charges, in 1993. A key prosecutor in that case, Steve Feaga, did not push for jail time. Now, that same prosecutor has fought for the 30-year term for Siegelman. From an editorial in the Birmingham News :

"The government doesn't contend I ever put a penny in my pocket, and they're asking for a life sentence," Siegelman said. "For the Republican governor who actually stole $200,000, Mr. Feaga did not ask for a day in prison, not a day."

The Los Angeles Times pointed out today that a 30 year sentence is longer than the average term served in Alabama for murder.

The Times also has the first White House acknowledgment of the case:

White House spokesman Tony Fratto waved away the controversy, saying: "Someone is always making some baseless charge about Karl. Unfortunately I can't comment in this case while legal proceedings are ongoing."

Rove himself has also given a vague comment (with a smile) on the accusation that he had a hand in the case.

[MNDemNY]

1. Even if he pocketed nothing...

Did he make the appointment in exchange for the donation?? If so,:nopity: :nopity: :nopity:
Sentence may be a bit harsh, but still..:nopity:

[angstlessk]

2. You mean like boosh and his crony Fox? that sort of thing?

why aint boosh in jail?

[MNDemNY]

4. Good question, but still...

:nopity: We must keep our own house clean.

[Robbien]

8. who is this "we" you keep talking about

not foolin' anyone

[MNDemNY]

10. Democrats. (foolin about what?)

[Robbien]

15. yeah right

not buying

[MNDemNY]

16. not sellin'

[DU9598]

3. You mean like half of Bush's cabinet?

I mean seriously ... aren't at least a half of them former Rangers or whatever his campaign called them? Don Evans was Sec. of Commerce (I think) because he raised so much.

[MNDemNY]

6. Probably, but...wait for it...

Two wrongs don't make a right.

[Wildewolfe]

5. I read in another thread...

..that the person he appointed had served in that same position twice before and under different administrations... that would seem to make him at least most familiar with the job enough to disarm most of that you would think.

[MNDemNY]

7. I do not know the specifics here, but

WE must still try to act as if this is a nation of laws. If the Ds and Rs were reversed would you still care?

[angstlessk]

11. I read the entire Harpers article..and he WAS railroaded...

sorry to burst your DEMOCRATS ARE CROOKS mantra...this was a political hit. Even a REPUBLICAN exposed the hit!

[MNDemNY]

13. So,what is your mantra..A democrat can't be a crook?

Jefferson D. LA ??? or are you in his corner as well? Don't be an idiot.

[trof]

17. Read this and see if you think he's 'guilty'.

http://www.locustfork.net/blog/jill_simpsons_affidavit/jill_simpsons_famous_affidavit.html

[babylonsister]

9. Ex-Governor Says He Was Target of Republican Plot

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/06/26/2098/

Ex-Governor Says He Was Target of Republican Plot
by Tom Hamburger / David G. Savage,

MONTGOMERY, ALA. - As Don Siegelman, the former Democratic governor of Alabama, goes before a federal judge today to fight a recommended 30-year prison sentence, he’s telling anyone who’ll listen that his prosecution was engineered by White House strategist Karl Rove.

It may be a long shot as a legal argument, but at least one influential Republican and a number of Democrats are questioning whether politics may have played a role in the case.

All but a handful of more than 100 charges against the former governor were rejected, his defenders point out.

And the bribery charge on which he was convicted did not involve pocketing money personally, but rather persuading a rich business executive to put $500,000 into a campaign for a state lottery to support education.

Prosecutors said Siegelman, 61, named the executive to a state board, though the executive had held the same position under three previous governors.

The other charge on which Siegelman was found guilty, obstruction of justice, centered on trying to conceal a $9,200 deal involving a motorcycle he said he was trying to sell.

The 30 years in prison that prosecutors are asking U.S. District Judge Mark Fuller to impose could be a life sentence, his lawyers say, and more than the average meted out to murderers in Alabama.

more...

[Dhalgren]

12. I don't particularly care for Don Siegelman, but this whole episode has

the smell of a witch hunt to me. They had the opportunity to put this Democrat though the meat-grinder and they jumped on it. What Siegalman did may have been less than savory, but it was not out of the ordinary - and it was not done for personal financial gain by either defendant, at least as far as I can tell. This is just a political killing, that's all...

[symbolman]

14. As posted on another thread about this

This poor bastard has been railroaded by the very mechanism that Congress is screaming about ala Gonzales and a White House creation of Political Appointees in the DOJ.

Here is the FRUIT of that endevour, and on top of it his election, or the SELECTION of RILEY by COMPUTER FRAUD, was the TEMPLATE for how the right wing would DEFRAUD America (outside of the BUSH installation)..

If someone like WAXMAN or CONYERS was to speak up it would come in Very Handy, this guy has had it ALL Thrown at him, and WHERE the hell are the DEMOCRATS on this?

We've got the FILM, an interview with this poor sap, a Very NICE MAN. I don't believe a single Charge, and for more than one reason.

I was RAIL-ROADED in the same place. One of the most, if not THE, CORRUPT places in America.

My wife interviewed this poor man while I was enjoying the GrayBar Hotel's amenities for something I DID NOT COMMIT.

Thank god I didn't get thirty years for it, but if THEY say you get Thirty years, then THAT'S what you'll get, the hell with Evidence, or PROOF, or JUSTICE.

It's a terrible shame, and what's worse it that Congress is clueless. THIS is the PERFECT Case to be hauled before an Investigatory Committee, with a HOLD on him serving until it's all figured out and the RIGHT people are in jail.

Like that Traitorous PIG, KKKarl Rove, and his henchmen.