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Was Siegelman Prosecution Connected to Air Force Tanker Deal?

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mod mom Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Apr-07-10 09:20 PM
Original message
Was Siegelman Prosecution Connected to Air Force Tanker Deal?
via MCM:

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 7, 2010
Was Siegelman Prosecution Connected to Air Force Tanker Deal?

The prosecution of former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman was driven partly by efforts to secure a massive Air Force tanker contract for a European company, according to a new report at Huffington Post.

According to an article by veteran attorney and journalist Andrew Kreig, Siegelman was prosecuted as part of a broad, Republican-driven campaign to land the $35-billion contract for the European Aeronautic Defense and Space Co. (EADS).

How did Siegelman get caught up in a heated competition that pits EADS against U.S.-based Boeing? If it wins the contract, EADS has pledged to build a large assembly plant near Mobile, Alabama. And Kreig's sources say "pro business" forces in Alabama decided the state would stand a better chance of landing the assembly plant if a Republican was governor instead of Siegelman, a Democrat.

The Republican turned out to be Bob Riley, who defeated Siegelman in 2002 when votes for the Democrat mysteriously disappeared overnight in heavily Republican Baldwin County, near Mobile.

Why was the Riley victory important for EADS supporters? Kreig provides insight:

In political circles, Siegelman was . . . regarded as less adept than his Republican rival Bob Riley in the international clout needed to ensure an EADS victory and its commitment to an Alabama assembly plant.

Riley had been a leader in House military appropriations before narrowly defeating Siegelman in 2002 gubernatorial election. As a congressman and then as governor, Riley cultivated contacts with Russian and French suppliers who are major advocates of EADS.-snip

-snip
http://legalschnauzer.blogspot.com/2010/04/was-siegelman-prosecution-connected-to.html

HuffPo piece by Andrew Kreig:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andrew-kreig/air-forces-delay-in-tanke_b_523814.html
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Hawkeye-X Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Apr-07-10 09:22 PM
Response to Original message
1. Even better - the judge himself had stock on a defense contractor
more than 50% I believe, that landed a DoD contract.

That itself is highly illegal and needs to be investigated and the judge impeached, removed, and disbarred and in prison for the rest of his life, and finally assets taken away and given to Don Siegelman as reparations.

Hawkeye-X
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annabanana Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Apr-07-10 09:24 PM
Response to Reply #1
2. That sounds about right.
That State is messed UP.
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mod mom Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Apr-07-10 09:29 PM
Response to Reply #1
4. Fuller has declined to recuse himself for conflict of interest, saying not one reasonable person...
"Fuller has declined to recuse himself for conflict of interest, saying not one reasonable person in the U.S. would think it necessary"

This guy needs to be removed and indicted!
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midnight Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Apr-07-10 10:04 PM
Response to Reply #1
8. If this was done, it would restore my faith in our judicial system.....
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katandmoon Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Apr-07-10 09:26 PM
Response to Original message
3. Eric Holder's response: *SHRUG*
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Elwood P Dowd Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Apr-07-10 09:49 PM
Response to Original message
5. Obama and Holder could care less.
They have done absolutely nothing about this and will let these republican crooks send Siegelman back to prison. Obama and Holder haven't even replaced the corrupt US Attorney Bush/Rove put in place to perpetrate this travesty of justice.
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Canuckistanian Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Apr-07-10 09:57 PM
Response to Original message
6. EVERYTHING about Siegelman's prosecution and imprisonment should be investigated
The whole thing thing stinks to high heaven.

And why IS Leura Canary still a US Attorney? Alabama's legal system is severely fucked up as long as the status quo continues.
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pscot Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Apr-07-10 10:59 PM
Response to Reply #6
12. Even if there was nothing funny
about the Siegelman prosecution, which I don't believe, the fact that Leura Canary hangs on down there just screams out for an explanation. Why?
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jody Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Apr-07-10 10:01 PM
Response to Original message
7. Like many Alabamians I believe Siegelman was prosecuted for political reasons but I do not believe
the tanker contract was in any way connected.
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mod mom Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Apr-08-10 07:17 AM
Response to Reply #7
15. Have you read about Doss Aviation? Here:
Oct 19, 2007

Siegelman served as Alabama's Secretary of State from 1979 to 1987 and asAttorney General from 1987 to 1991. In his roles of registering corporations in Alabama and overseeing criminal investigations by the state, Siegelman had obtained evidence linking Fuller, Bush, and other top Alabama and Florida Republicans to drug trafficking and the beginning of election manipulation in Alabama favoring the GOP. Caylor claims that Mark E. Fuller, listed as Doss official in Montgomery, is the same person as Mark J. Fuller of Enterprise. Judge Mark Fuller's Enterprise residence was 10 Indigo Place.

Bert Barr, listed as Doss' registered agent, was Fuller's law firm partner in Enterprise. Fuller also inherited Cargo International, another drug running firm, from Wentworth.
Siegelman ran for Governor to go after the GOP mobsters who had bought their way into practically every state office, including the commissions that oversee and regulate dog and horse tracks, real estate, trucking, and business practices.

What we have discovered is that Judge Fuller inherited an extensive aircraft and money laundering network from one Clifford Wentworth who was busted for drug trafficking in the Drug Enforcement Administration's Operation Sunburn in 1981. In a deal worked out between then-Vice President George H. W. Bush, who was in charge of Ronald Reagan's "War on Drugs," Wentworth was sentenced by U.S. Judge for the Northern District of Florida Maurice Paul to 20 years in prison and a $25,000 fine with all but six months suspended. Wentworth, who served his short prison term at Eglin Air Force Base in North Florida, agreed to turn his entire air drug smuggling and money laundering operation over to Barry Seal, a contract CIA pilot, and the business network operated out of Enterprise, Alabama by current U.S. Judge Fuller. Wentworth was then ordered into the federal witness protection program and he continues to provide lucrative real estate and other services for top GOP officials in Florida and elsewhere. Seal was gunned down gangland-style at a halfway house in Baton Rouge after his conviction and agreement to turn state's evidence against the Medellin cartel and his U.S. government handlers, one of whom reportedly included Vice President Bush.

-snip
http://www.topix.com/forum/city/fort-payne-al/T2RH9JNLR0T90Q0NF


August 6, 5:14 PM, 2007 · No Comment · Previous · Next
The Pork Barrel World of Judge Mark Fuller
By Scott Horton

For the last week, we’ve been examining the role played by Judge Mark Everett Fuller in the trial, conviction, and sentencing of former Alabama Governor Don E. Siegelman. Today, we examine a post-trial motion, filed in April 2007, asking Fuller to recuse himself based on his extensive private business interests, which turn very heavily on contracts with the United States Government, including the Department of Justice.

The recusal motion rested upon details about Fuller’s personal business interests. On February 22, 2007, defense attorneys obtained information that Judge Fuller held a controlling 43.75% interest in government contractor Doss Aviation, Inc. After investigating these claims for over a month, the attorneys filed a motion for Fuller’s recusal on April 18, 2007. The motion stated that Fuller’s total stake in Doss Aviation was worth between $1-5 million, and that Fuller’s income from his stock for 2004 was between $100,001 and $1 million dollars.

In other words, Judge Fuller likely made more from his business income, derived from U.S. Government contracts, than as a judge. Fuller is shown on one filing as President of the principal business, Doss Aviation, and his address is shown as One Church Street, Montgomery, Alabama, the address of the Frank M. Johnson Federal Courthouse, in which his chambers are located.

-snip

http://www.harpers.org/archive/2007/08/hbc-90000762


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jody Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Apr-08-10 09:09 AM
Response to Reply #15
17. Yes. n/t
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mod mom Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Apr-08-10 10:55 AM
Response to Reply #17
18. Don't you agree he needs to be 1. investigated and 2. reuse himself from the
Seigelman case?
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jody Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Apr-08-10 10:59 AM
Response to Reply #18
19. IMO Siegelman was not involved in the tanker contract. n/t
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mod mom Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Apr-08-10 11:03 AM
Response to Reply #19
20. from Kreig's HuffPo piece linked in OP:
"In political circles, Siegelman was also regarded as less adept than his Republican rival Bob Riley in the international clout needed to ensure an EADS victory and its commitment to an Alabama assembly plant."


so I read this as although not directly involved, a possible obstacle to this contract going through,( & thus effecting Judge Fuller's bottom line through Doss Aviation)
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Octafish Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Apr-07-10 10:11 PM
Response to Original message
9. Foreign money in politics is a GOP Speciality.
The Boeing tanker deal has landed a Boeing exec and a former ranking procurement officer in the federal pen.
With all the billions flying around, who knows who they were taking orders from?

Thank you for the heads-up, mod mom. Outstanding information.
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Wilms Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Apr-07-10 10:45 PM
Response to Original message
10. k&r n/t
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pscot Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Apr-07-10 10:53 PM
Response to Original message
11. Why is Leura Canary
still US Attorney in Alabama, 16 months after Obama took office? Why? I'd really like to know why.
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starroute Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Apr-07-10 11:25 PM
Response to Original message
13. If Riley is complicit, then so is McCain
I'm digging out some old notes, since I don't remember the details precisely. But McCain was the one primarily pushing the Boeing/corruption story -- and he also had a number of EADS lobbyists on his presidential campaign staff.

The never-quite-reliable Wayne Madsen was claiming a McCain-EADS connection in early 2008. I'm going to quote a little here, with the usual caveat that Madsen can't ever be trusted without verification, because it ties in closely with these latest Riley allegations:
http://www.lebanonwire.com/0803MLN/08031013WMR.asp

The recent major Air Force award of the KC-45A tanker contract to European Aeronautic defence and Space Co., the parent firm of Europe's Airbus Industries, and Northrop Grumman involves political payoffs and dubious lobbying by top Republican officials, including GOP presumptive presidential nominee John McCain, according to knowledgeable sources who spoke to WMR on the condition of strict anonymity. ...

The background to the awarding of the contract to EADS lies at the very heart of the GOP corruption in Alabama that saw the political prosecution of former Alabama Democratic Governor Don Siegelman. The award of the Air Force contract to EADS-Northrop was the result of high-level collusion between Governor Bob Riley of Alabama, the White House, and John McCain. ...

The greasing for the EADS contract also involved Riley, who began cementing the EADS deal while he served until 2002 and his election as governor as a member of the House Armed Services Committee's Strategic Forces Subcommittee, the committee with oversight for the Air Force tanker contract. After Riley left the House to take up the governorship of Alabama, the nurturing of the EADS deal fell to Everett, who was also a member of the House Armed Services Committee. From the Senate side, Senate Armed Services Committee chairman McCain, knowing how much money from EADS-Northrop could end up in his 2008 campaign coffers, turned the screws on Boeing.

There's also a Sam Stein piece at HuffPo from about the same time that makes similar allegations:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/03/11/mccain-received-defense-f_n_90951.html

Critics on Tuesday questioned whether Sen. John McCain catered to special interests when he aggressively threw his support behind a $35 billion Pentagon contract for a European plane maker.

McCain, the presumptive GOP presidential nominee, played a crucial role in blocking the deal to build air tankers from going to U.S.-based Boeing, instead paving the path for EADS to score the loot. He framed his decision as an example of political integrity; Boeing has previously been exposed of contract abuse. But a review of campaign finance donations and lobbying records suggests that money and personal lobbying may have also been in play.

On January 15, 2007, McCain appeared at Alabama Gov. Bob Riley's gubernatorial swearing in ceremony and formally called for multiple bidders in the tanker deal. The push for an open process had only one true beneficiary, however, and that was the Northrop Grumman/EADS consortium, which was poised to be Boeing's sole competitor.

A day after McCain made his proclamation, the contributions began to flow. John Green, a lobbyist for EADS donated $2,100 to the senator's presidential campaign. Ten days after that, Michelle Lammers, the "Chief of Staff" for EADS North America, gave $250 to the McCain campaign. It was her first political contribution ever. Less than a month later, the long-time head of EADS' government affairs program, Samuel Adcock, made a $2,100 donation to McCain. And eleven days later, Ralph Crosby, the head of EADS North America, donated $2,300 himself.

However you cut it, there's some very deep dirt here and it would be wonderful to see it all come out.

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mod mom Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Apr-08-10 09:08 AM
Response to Reply #13
16. very interesting, thanks for posting star route
:hi:
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Nothing Without Hope Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Apr-08-10 01:25 AM
Response to Original message
14. K & R n/t
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leveymg Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Apr-08-10 12:48 PM
Response to Original message
21. Look who else was up to his neck in the EADS deal
McCain Still Receives Big $$$s from Keating S&L Figure Linked to ...
66 posts - 34 authors - Last post: Mar 27
leveymg's Journal - THE CRIMES AND COVERUPS OF JOHN McCAIN, ...... Did John McCain deny Boeing a $100 billion contract for an Alabama endorsement? ... EADS is the parent company of Airbus, which teamed up with U.S.-based ...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3833716
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mod mom Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Apr-08-10 01:02 PM
Response to Reply #21
22. not just Repubs but Dem connections as well:
The strongest connection between Shelby and EADS, however, may not involve campaign contributions. The senator's former legislative director, Stewart Hall, is a major lobbyist for the defense contractor -- he was signed up by EADS North America in 2006 while a member of the firm the Federalist Group. During that time period, the Federalist Group was given $240,000 to help advance the company's legislative interests. When Hall left for another major lobbying firm, Ogilvy, he brought EADS with him -- receiving $160,000 in compensation for his work for the company.

To be sure, Shelby was just one of many lobbying targets for EADS and Northrop Grumman -- both of whom are major players in the world of money in politics and influence peddling. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), for one, received a series of suspicious donations from the companies after he threw his support behind granting them the $35 billion Pentagon contract. Former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.), meanwhile, serves on EADS's board.

A host of prominent Democratic lawmakers -- from former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle to current Vice President Joseph Biden -- also had one-time staffers who, at one time, lobbied for EADS.


-snip
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/02/05/shelbys-blanket-hold-puts_n_450934.html
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mod mom Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Apr-08-10 01:39 PM
Response to Reply #21
23. McCain & Riley-let me get this straight:
McCain hid Riley's connection to Abramoff & killed the Boeing deal (which benefitted AL) for backing for his presidential run?



-snip

During his 2002 campaign, Riley viciously attacked former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman's state lottery proposal to fund schools and create jobs. But why wouldn't Riley want the stream of revenue from legalized gambling coming into Alabama?

Country Crossing Casino developer Ronnie Gilley has gone to battle with Riley's Task Force and told the Montgomery Advertiser, he believes the Governor's crackdown on gambling suggests ulterior motives to eliminate competition for the Mississippi Choctaw Indian casinos.

Gilley may not be too far off. According to a 2002 US Senate Indian Affairs Committee report, disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff boasted the Choctaw tribe spent $13 million to elect Riley in 2002. The report states Abramoff told William Worfel, the former Vice Chairman of the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana, that Mississippi Choctaw Chief Phillip Martin spent the money to protect the Choctaw's gaming enterprise.

"to get the governor of Alabama elected to keep gaming out of Alabama so it wouldn't hurt . . . his market in Mississippi."
The report further notes, convicted lobbyist Michael Scanlon, Bob Riley's former congressional press secretary, received $4.5 million over two years to protect the Choctaw's gaming interests through the scheme known as "Operation Orange."

Records show in October 2002, Scanlon sent $500,000 to Riley during his gubernatorial campaign. The funds were filtered through the Republican Governors Association and the Republican National State Elections Committee. Documents indicate the funds were increased to $600,000 when Riley received payment.

-snip
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rebecca-abrahams/governor-bob-riley-gambli_b_427328.html



Though John McCain has repeatedly claimed he took on Jack Abramoff and the
Republican culture of corruption, a recent story revealed that McCain covered
for his friend, Alabama Governor Bob Riley, who was fighting a tight
re-election battle at the time, by refusing to release key evidence that would
have linked Riley to the Abramoff scandal. Yesterday, Riley returned the favor
by endorsing McCain.

As chair of a committee conducting an investigation on Abramoff, McCain had
access to an incriminating email sent just one month after Riley was elected
to office detailing what Abramoff wanted Riley to do in return for the
contributions Abramoff's tribal clients directed toward his campaign. But
instead of including the email in his report on the Abramoff scandal, McCain
instead chose to withhold the email, shielding Riley from becoming implicated
in the scandal as he was waging a bitter fight to keep his seat, a race that
even Karl Rove became involved in.

-snip
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUS189664+04-Mar-2008+PRN20080304




Did John McCain deny Boeing a $100 billion contract for an Alabama endorsement?

Posted Mar 8th 2008 7:26PM by Peter Cohan
Filed under: Boeing Co (BA), Northrop Grumman (NOC)

As he stumps for President, Senator John McCain likes to brag about how he kept Boeing Inc. (NYSE: BA) from winning a contract to build Tankers -- in-flight refueling aircraft -- for the Air Force in 2004. Last week, the Air Force announced that the winner of the contract was Boeing's arch-rival, EADS, parent of Airbus which is based in Toulouse, France and Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC).

That decision is sitting very well with the governor of Alabama, where Northrop Grumman is based. Republic Governor Bob Riley endorsed McCain a mere three days after the Air Force contract was announced. The EADS-Northrop tanker, based on the Airbus A330, will be built in Mobile, AL, where The Associated Press reports it will produce 2,000 new jobs, and support 25,000 jobs at suppliers nationwide.

Is it just a coincidence that Riley endorsed McCain so soon after that contract was awarded? Boeing supporters in Congress may be wondering and they are angry with McCain "for scuttling an earlier deal that would have let Boeing build the next generation of Air Force refueling tankers." AP reports that Boeing now will miss out on a deal that it says would have supported 44,000 new and existing jobs at the company and suppliers in 40 states.

SNIP...

Did McCain have anything to do with awarding the Tanker contract to EADS-Northrop? If so, what was his role? Did the endorsement from the Alabama governor have anything to do with the decision?

CONTINUED...
http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2008/03/08/did-john-mccain-deny-boeing-a-100-billion-contract-for-an-alaba/

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