Needed: LTTE in response to this 2/27 Birmingham News editorial! (Siegelman)

[EFerrari]

Siegelman's siege
Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Former Gov. Don Siegelman is waging a two-front war on a public corruption conviction that sent him to prison - one in the courts, the other in the political arena.

A recent segment about the Siegelman case on CBS' "60 Minutes" contained ammunition on both fronts. The show focused on Siegelman's claims to have been the victim of a partisan prosecution pushed by Republicans at the highest levels of government.

There was former Arizona Attorney General Grant Woods, who said he didn't believe Siegelman had committed a crime in taking $500,000 from HealthSouth's ex-CEO, Richard Scrushy, for a seat on a state board. Although a jury concluded otherwise, Woods said the case wasn't valid because the money went to Siegelman's lottery campaign, rather than to him personally. Though a Republican, Woods contends the case against Democrat Siegelman smacks of politics.

Then there was Dana Jill Simpson, a Rainsville lawyer who has been lobbing would-be bombshells for months about the Republicans' alleged vendetta against Siegelman. On "60 Minutes," she claimed Republican strategist Karl Rove personally asked her in 2001 to try to get evidence Siegelman was cheating on his wife.

http://www.al.com/opinion/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/opinion/1204103872251760.xml&coll=2

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[Kolesar]

1. B-News avoided the subject that the judge was a hand-picked RW apparatchik

However, this part is the kernel of the story, and thanks to the Birmingham News for iterating it:

After the "60 Minutes" segment ran, Siegelman's defense lawyers seized on the show's less glamorous claim that former-aide-turned-witness Nick Bailey had made notes about his testimony that weren't furnished to his former boss' legal team. Prosecutors denied knowing of any such notes, but if the claims were borne out, they could provide a legal hook for Siegelman to win a new day in court.

Free Don Siegelman!

[EFerrari]

2. Here is the lame position we need to rebut, imho.

Even if he is unsuccessful through the courts, Siegelman could win on the political front. What's happening now could be the groundwork for a pardon or other relief if a Democrat wins the White House.

That wouldn't be good. Politics should not play any role in launching a criminal investigation, or in ditching a case, either. Unless there is more evidence Siegelman was prosecuted for the wrong reasons, or that he wasn't provided a fair playing field, there's precious little reason to believe justice wasn't served when a jury found him guilty

[L. Coyote]

3. LIES! There is a false premise in the article. It is

not true that Siegelman was "taking $500,000 from HealthSouth's ex-CEO, Richard Scrushy..." In fact, the money retired a debt of a campaign for an election of a state lottery.

The money went to retiring the debt of a campaign seeking to finance Alabama education!

[EFerrari]

5. Replying to this editorial is like shooting dead fish in a barrel.

Have at it! :)

[EFerrari]

4. I more quick point. They are following the Rove / AL GOP line

on Simpson:

"The problem is Simpson. She has dribbled out damaging allegations in such a way as to undermine her credibility. A statement issued months ago recalled secondhand references she'd heard about Rove's alleged conversations about the Siegelman prosecution. In her later testimony to a congressional committee, she went a little further, claiming she'd heard Rove went to the Justice Department about the Siegelman case and "had it taken care of." Yet until now, she never revealed the interesting tidbit that Rove had personally asked her to get some dirt on Siegelman. How can that be?"

And, it's a silly line. Simpson told Dan Abrams yesterday that she did "reveal" knowledge of Rove's involvement but it wasn't REPORTED. That's very different. So, why didn't the media report it, Birmingham News? :)

[Kolesar]

6. "Obama didn't put his hand over his heart during the pledge"

B-news is trying to deflect the thesis. B-news had NO mention of the 52* former attorneys general who demanded an investigation. That's the real story.

*I recall 52?

[EFerrari]

8. It was 52. n/t

[EFerrari]

7. Mine:

Editor:

This week the whole country is wondering what in the world is going on in Alabama. At a distance, it looks like your prosecutors rely on extortionists like Nick Bailey as star witnesses, your courts can't produce transcripts and your television stations seem to censure the news.

Does that happen in other local media venues as well? Because it would seem that Ms. Simpson is not the "problem" as your editorial("Siegelman's siege" 3/27)suggests. Ms. Simpson told Dan Abrams in her interview of the same date that she had discussed the involvement of Karl Rove before her "60 Minutes" interview but that it hadn't been reported. So, it looks like the Alabama media is "the problem" here, not Ms. Simpson, for failing to report this part of the story in a timely fashion.

Like The Birmingham News, the Alabama GOP is disparaging Ms. Simpson and is calling for CBS to provide evidence of her story. That may turn out to be a mistake because apparently she has records. Similarly, Karl Rove is also denying her story. He's unwisely asking why he would have been interested in Don Siegelman when it is common knowledge that the short answer to his question is Jack Abramoff.

I sincerely hope Don Siegelman doesn't have to wait until after the November elections for due process. But, considering the politicized shambles our Justice Department is in, who would be surprised.

[EFerrari]

9. Kick

[EFerrari]

10. Siegelman story raises questions (Pro Siegelman editorial 3/28

Siegelman story raises questions


(Updated: Thursday, February 28, 2008 7:29 AM CST)
Bob Martin, The Alabama Scene

I watched the 60 Minutes piece on the Don Siegelman trial Sunday night. It started with footage of the former governor emptying pails of dirty water at the federal prison where he is incarnated in Louisiana.

Reporter Scott Pelley then revealed the first public allegation from Rainsville lawyer and Republican activist Dana Jill Simpson that she had spoken directly to Karl Rove in 2001 and he had asked her to catch the former governor cheating on his wife with one of his aides.

*
Simpson said she “spied on Siegelman, but saw nothing.” She also said that she had received other requests from Rove for intelligence and opposition research.

After a federal court in Birmingham had tossed a Medicaid fraud case against Siegelman, Simpson told 60 Minutes that Birmingham attorney Rob Riley, the son of Gov. Bob Riley, told her that Siegelman would have to be re-indicted. She said that happened in four months after the first case was dismissed. Rob Riley told 60 Minutes he never spoke to Simpson about that.

http://www.hartselleenquirer.com/articles/2008/02/28/opinion/oped4.txt