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"A Stain on Lady Justice"..Siegelman in jail, Rove writing for Newsweek.

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madfloridian Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Nov-21-07 07:56 PM
Original message
"A Stain on Lady Justice"..Siegelman in jail, Rove writing for Newsweek.
The title was used by a columnist in Alabama, and he is right. More about the stain on justice that is shown in the Siegelman case.

A Stain on Lady Justice

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta has again asked the judge who sentenced former Gov. Don Siegelman for a more detailed explanation of why he refused to let Siegelman remain free on bond while the former governor appeals his conviction. In an apparent rush to throw Siegelman in shackles and denying the former governor the ability to even say goodbye to his family following his sentencing, the judge, Mark E. Fuller, a district judge in the Middle District of Alabama, failed to rule on the motion for release, gaveling down Siegelman's lawyer when she pressed him for a ruling.

Siegelman has applied to the appeals court for his release pending appeal and the appellate judges in reviewing the record, found that Fuller had never even made a ruling on the lawyer's motion. They sent the matter back to him for a ruling, asking an explanation for his decision. The two judges who wrote Fuller for the explanation were Stanley Marcus, a Clinton appointee and Susan Black, an appointee of George H. W. Bush.

......"Questions raised about Judge's business interests

While Judge Fuller was presiding over the Siegelman/Scrushy trial, a business, Doss Aviation, Inc., in which he holds a 43.75% interest as he sits as a federal jurist, received $200 million in contracts from the Department of Defense.

One, a ten-year contract which totals $178.22 million contains an annual renewal clause, which makes his company totally dependent on the U. S. Government, Recently I disclosed this contract, but since then I have found that Doss Aviation added an additional $21 million in DOD contracts during the time he was sitting as the judge in the Siegelman/Scrushy case.


Meanwhile one of the operatives mentioned as being involved in that case is earning a salary from Newsweek, and he seems to be directing the 2008 campaign from there. Amazing how that happens.

Rove's column for Newsweek in spite of his being linked to Siegelman's case...is staining our system of justice

Now Karl Rove, the President's top political strategist, has been implicated in the controversy. A longtime Republican lawyer in Alabama swears she heard a top G.O.P. operative in the state say that Rove "had spoken with the Department of Justice" about "pursuing" Siegelman, with help from two of Alabama's U.S. attorneys.

The allegation was made by Dana Jill Simpson, a lifelong Republican and lawyer who practices in Alabama.


More outrages about Rove:

While Karl Rove says he is resigning in order to spend more time with his family, the move comes while he is at the center of several Congressional investigations. Last month Senate Judiciary Chair Patrick Leahy subpoenaed Rove to testify about his role in the politicization of the Justice Department and the firing of nine U.S. attorneys. So far Rove has ignored the subpoena and has refused to testify, citing executive privilege. In addition, two weeks ago Rove skipped a Congressional hearing on the allegedly improper use by White House aides of Republican National Committee email accounts. Leahy has vowed to continue the investigation. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Rove said "I'm Moby Dick and they're after me."



Governor Siegelman's daughter has written a letter to ask people to contact the Judiciary Committee.

Letter from Dana Siegelman about her father in prison.

For those of you who have been concerned about my dad, I am writing to update you on his condition and to ask for your help again.

After visiting my dad in prison, I have observed: They do not feed him nearly enough; he has no privacy; he works as a janitor everyday from 7-4; he is allowed few personal belongings, and; he lives with real criminals. However, despite the negative conditions he is under, his spirit remains positive, and he retains his hope in coming justice.

Having my dad in prison has sharply awakened me to the many brutalities alive in this world. For years I tried to hide from politics and salvage my naivety. This was a futile attempt. Hiding from and denying the injustices served to our people and the world is anything but empowering. We have the ability to face these problems and do something productive to stop them. Please join me in encouraging this committee to fight for the truth, to seek justice with all its power, and to rekindle the hope that we ought to have in our government.

With all my heart I thank you for your incredible help, prayers, and love.


Contact info is given.

Democrats.com covers Jill Simpson's testimony to the Judicial Committee.

Jill Simpson's Affidavit Lifts The Veil on Bush Justice Department, Karl Rove Dirty Tricks

In a five part series, Jill Simpson tells the story of her affidavit filed in the interest of seeking justice against the Bush and Riley political machines in the case of former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman and deposed HealthSouth founder Richard Scrushy.

Locust Fork News


Looks like the appeal of Governor Siegelman is being held up because of a missing court transcript from well over a year ago.

The Case of the Missing Transcript

Now we learn from the Associated Press notes that Governor Siegelman’s appeal to the Eleventh Circuit is being held up because there is no transcript.

The bulky transcript from the two-month-long trial has not been completed and must be available before attorneys for Siegelman and Scrushy can appeal the convictions to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta. The delay was caused partly by the death earlier this year of Jimmy Dickens, the court reporter who recorded the trial, which included dozens of witnesses and mounds of physical evidence.

Siegelman and Scrushy have asked the appellate court to release them from prison while they are waiting for a final decision on the appeal — a decision Siegelman’s attorneys say might be a year or even two years away. Siegelman attorney Vince Kilborn said the delay in the appeal adds to his argument that the former governor should be out of prison while the sentence is appealed.

“I’m firmly convinced the 11th Circuit is going to reverse this case. The travesty is that we’ve got an innocent client sitting in federal prison with no hearing in sight on his appeal,” Kilborn said.

Whose fault is this? The answer to that question is simple: Judge Fuller.


It almost seems the media is seeing how many outrageous and disgraced people they can put on air....Tom Delay, Karl Rove. As far as Democrats, they are putting people who speak for the establishment party in DC...Carville for example.

Meanwhile, Governor Siegelman is still in jail in spite of pleas and committee hearings. We should be yelling out for that transcript from his trial a year and a half ago.

Oh, and Karl Rove is free and on TV and writing for Newsweek.


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annabanana Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Nov-21-07 08:18 PM
Response to Original message
1. BIG friggen kick for an outrageous miscarriage of justice!
I wish we had some honest media. Poor Keith can't do it all himself!

The GOVERNOR of the STATE OF ALABAMA was railroaded by a thoroughly and clearly corrupt Judge and there isn't so much as a PEEP on TV..

You would think that being the GOVERNOR of one of the States would afford you at least the semblance of a legitimate trial wouldn't you?
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Cha Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Nov-21-07 08:24 PM
Response to Reply #1
3. There ain't gonna be a
Edited on Wed Nov-21-07 08:25 PM by zidzi
"peep on tv" or anywhere near where the corporatemediawhores spew out their garbage. It's the corrupt culture of bushites with the cmw as their Pravda and Goebbels against truth, justice, and the bloggers.

KO is like a miracle..what if we didn't have him? Jon Stewart and The Comedy Central Gang are quiet cause all the Writers are rightfully on Strike, so that leaves KO and our excellent bloggers.

"You would think that being the GOVERNOR of one of the States would afford you at least the semblance of a legitimate trial wouldn't you?"

You would think! Do have to March in Alabama Again?

Rec'd!~

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L. Coyote Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-22-07 12:52 AM
Response to Reply #3
9. GUESS Again: "60 Minutes" preparing report on Siegelman case
Not to mention in TIME magazine a couple of times, and on their COVER!!

======
Source: The Tuscaloosa News
"60 Minutes" preparing report on Siegelman case
TUSCALOOSA - Nov 16, 2007
http://stevensonblog.tuscaloosanews.com/default.asp?item=700943


I'm getting reports from all over that CBS's "60 Minutes" is gathering information in Alabama about the case of incarcerated former Gov. Don Siegelman.

First I got an email from a friend who forwarded another email saying that a women who works for the program had contacted the Alabama Department of Archives and History "in an effort to locate the negative television ads that Steve Windom ran against Siegelman in 2002."

Next I heard from a local political operative that he had been contacted by a "60 Minutes" producer looking for insights into the players in the trial that sent the former governor to federal prison for seven years. There have been at least four such producers working on the story in Alabama the last few weeks he said.

Finally, I got an email from someone who was close to Siegelman and has been working diligently to get him out of prison by any legal means necessary. This is part of what he wrote:

"They started working on it about two months ago. They have conducted some15 or 16 interviews. They have talked to all the lawyers, some family, and have been unable to get permission from Justice to interview Don. .....

Read more: http://stevensonblog.tuscaloosanews.com/default.asp?item=700943


MORE on DU:

Political Prisoner Don Seigelman: UPDATES. The Curious Case of the Missing Transcript
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2252551

Previous thread with links to the series of these Siegelman link compilations

Political Prisoner Don Seigelman: TIME COVER STORY to be Political Prosecutions in Alabama
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1982675
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madfloridian Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-22-07 12:57 AM
Response to Reply #9
11. I hope 60 Minutes covers it fairly.
Hate to get my hopes up. I have seen them wimp out too often. Fingers crossed.
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Jim Sagle Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Nov-21-07 08:19 PM
Response to Original message
2. To paraphrase Nina Simone: Alabama goddamn.
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madfloridian Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Nov-21-07 10:02 PM
Response to Original message
4. Karl Rove and Jim Hightower....I never knew this. Rove is just plain rotten.
I don't know how I missed this. I admire Hightower so very much, and I very much resent that Rove is still spreading vitriol and causing damage. I think our Democrats are afraid of him.

http://www.washingtonspectator.com/articles/20071115siegelman.cfm

Most of this is concerning Siegelman, but part of it was how Rove may have damaged Jim Hightower's reputation.

This wouldn't be the first time that Rove used contacts within the Justice Department to destroy the career of a political adversary. Siegelman's prosecution bears a striking familiarity to the FBI investigation of Texas Agriculture Commissioner Jim Hightower in 1990, and the conviction of two of his aides.

Like Siegelman, Hightower was the "golden boy" of Democratic politics in his state. Until he decided to run for re-election, Hightower was his party's best hope to unseat U.S. senator Phil Gramm. He had cultivated a national following, national funders, and was an effective voice for the progressive wing of the national Democratic Party. In 1990, Hightower was an incumbent who couldn't be beat—until two federal agents with search warrants walked into his Austin office the same day he was kicking off his re-election campaign in a small rural town in the Panhandle. Hightower's Republican opponent was Rick Perry, currently the governor of Texas. Perry's campaign was directed by Karl Rove.

Indictments at the Texas Agriculture Department weren't announced by a Justice Department spokesperson or in a DOJ press release, but at a Washington, D.C., fundraiser by a political consultant. Karl Rove told reporters that Hightower and several aides "faced the possibility of indictment in June or July."

How could Rove have known? He knew because of his contacts with an FBI agent who began investigating statewide elected officials in Texas in the late 1980s, when all statewide offices were occupied by Democrats. FBI agent Greg Rampton moved from the office of one Democratic official to another, issuing subpoenas, downloading computer files, and photo-copying contributor lists. Rampton investigated the Democratic lieutenant-governor while Rove was working on the campaign of his Republican opponent, the Democratic land commissioner while Rove was working on the campaign of his opponent. The same was true of Democratic ag commissioner Jim Hightower; Rampton was investigating him while Rove was working for his opponent.


And this very Karl Rove was just hired by Newsweek. Oh, I think I mentioned that several times already.

The media is complicit in the outrages and crimes of this administration. I remember the Watergate hearings. They were not hidden away on some station like C-Span 3. They were on network television every day.

The media helped get the truth out, and Richard Nizon resigned.

How long will all our politicians fear this snide fat puffy little man?

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madfloridian Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Nov-21-07 11:40 PM
Response to Original message
5. Mukasey asked to remove the attorney who started this prosecution.
http://www.pacificfreepress.com/content/view/1894/81/

"Just as the new attorney general has removed the Karl Rove-connected U.S. Attorney in Minneapolis, Rachel Paulose, he has received a request that he take similar steps against the U.S. Attorney who initiated the notorious Siegelman prosecution, Leura Canary."

..."Those on the other side of Mr. Canary’s campaign efforts have a strange habit of finding themselves the target of a criminal investigation led by Mrs. Canary. Conversely, criminal allegations involving Mr. Canary’s clients seem to disappear down a sinkhole located somewhere in Mrs. Canary’s office. (William Canary’s office did not reply to an email requesting comment.)

And now, for the second time in three years, Mrs. Canary is being accused of improperly involving herself in criminal proceedings in which her husband has strong business interests.

In a 14-page letter dated November 16, 2007, directed to senior officials in the Justice Department including Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey, Montgomery attorneys Thomas T. Gallion III and Donald R. Jones, Jr. make the case that Mrs. Canary is abusing her office by launching a criminal investigation targeting persons who have recently raised corruption allegations against Alabama Governor Bob Riley and former Lieutenant Governor Steve Windom, clients of her husband. The letter is supported by 79 pages of exhibits.

The Montgomery lawyers state that they gave notice of their intention to take the depositions of Governor Riley, his son Rob, and Mrs. Canary’s husband, William. They were astonished to discover a response from Mrs. Canary in the form of a criminal investigation opened against their client."



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Dr.Phool Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Wed Nov-21-07 11:51 PM
Response to Original message
6. Thanks again, Madfloridian for your usual excellent research.
How do we get rid of this cancer on our nation?
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madfloridian Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-22-07 12:00 AM
Response to Reply #6
7. I am not sure we can.
Get rid of it, that is. That cancer on our country is entrenched deeply, and the media is filled with it now. Just when I think people won't believe the crap they put out....I hear someone who does believe it.

But then look where I live.

:shrug:
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Botany Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-22-07 12:40 AM
Response to Original message
8. once again ..... total corruption
The DoJ was used by Rove and the U.S. Attorneys were the button men

The NSA was used to spy on the opposition e.g. anybody who would vote
against bush, run against bush, speak or write against bush, or try to
make sure the vote was counted right. Any doubt that Kerry ws spied on
by the NSA? How about Michael Moore?

Rove is guilty of treason and numorous criminal acts.
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L. Coyote Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-22-07 12:53 AM
Response to Original message
10. K & R #10
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DeepModem Mom Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-22-07 01:21 AM
Response to Original message
12. K&R
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symbolman Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-22-07 04:03 AM
Response to Original message
13. Since this fine man is not allowed to speak for himself to 60 Minutes
We've used their contact information to alert 60 Minutes to the fact that we have footage from more than three years ago when we were interviewing him about the THEFT of his Office by Electronic means during his Election, which includes him revealing that Karl Rove was involved in abusing the system to Nail him.

We'll be more than happy to supply that footage so that the man is heard.

I, myself was run through the Alabama meat grinder they call a legal system and curiously enough left sitting in their jail at exactly the same time, and attacked by the same corrupt county as he was, while making a film about electronic voting fraud as my wife interviewed the man. I know all about their barbaric jail, which has been compared by Congress to South African prisons.

We also know that Baldwin County was the Crucible for Election theft and the model for subseqent election theft via computers and the prosecutors end of the deal to maintain the theft.

We are going to write to both him and his daughter and offer what we know. I've sent some of this information to Conyers office and will continue contacting them about this, we're willing to tell Congress what we know, and construct a timeline to show where the info we've investigated fits like a glove..

As another person who's been tortured by that corrupt system, I cannot stand idly by.

Those of you who know me and the work I've done fighting this Regime know that when I say I'm going to do something that I do with all of my heart and soul, and with all guns blazing - within the legal limits of the Law, of course.

This will not stand.
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madfloridian Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-22-07 11:35 AM
Response to Reply #13
16. Yes, symbolman, I do remember some of that...
it seems so long ago you posted about it. I hope someday Siegelman will be vindicated, and you as well. It is amazing how they have controlled the message all these years. Best of luck in getting contact.

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annabanana Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-22-07 04:23 PM
Response to Reply #13
17. You GO, symbolman !
I hope they hear you and take you up on your offer.
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blm Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-22-07 07:25 PM
Response to Reply #13
19. Hey symbolman, what did Terry McAuliffe's DNC tell you about this theft
and what the party was doing to support Siegelman against Rove's machinations?
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trof Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-22-07 08:45 AM
Response to Original message
14. Glynn Wilson kicks ASS! K&R
The Locust Fork Journal and the Montgomery Independent are the only ones covering this in Alabama.

Nary a word in any of the 'big city' papers.
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trof Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-22-07 08:47 AM
Response to Reply #14
15. Oh yeah, if you'd like to email Glynn:
fast2write@charter.net
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blm Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-22-07 07:22 PM
Response to Original message
18. The Dem Party LET the 2002 races get stolen and stood by doing NOTHING while
Siegelman was getting smeared. Terry McAuliffe gave Siegelman and the other 2002 candidates NOTHING in way of election security or backup after the stolen count.

2002 and what happened to Siegelman was dress rehearsal for 2004's theft and I believe Terry McAuliffe KNEW IT and CHOSE to do nothing.

WHERE was the DNC in defense of Siegelman when all these lies were being generated to convict an innocent man?

Why did Rove get the upperhand here? Where were powerful Dem voices like Bill Clinton on this situation? He HAD to know something criminal was afoot here against a Dem governor.
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symbolman Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Nov-22-07 08:11 PM
Response to Reply #18
20. That's what bothers me a lot
my view is that we hang together or we hang Alone.. A lot of this problem seems to stem from everyone trying to cover their asses.
If Bill Clinton had stepped up to the plate much could have been exposed..

I'll just do what I can, I'm all I've got, but I can't stand idly by, he actually IS a Political Prisoner for Christ sakes!
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blm Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Nov-23-07 01:19 PM
Response to Reply #20
21. Undoubtedly - and after all the defending millions of us did for Bill for YEARS
he could not be found ONE TIME to use his bank of microphones and camera time to defend any other Democrat being unjustly PERSECUTED by the Rove machine.

Frankly - one would have to be extremely naive to believe that Rove's machine was taking these actions to serve justice, and everyone knows Bill and TeamClinton is NOT naive - so......what WAS their role in all of this? Look the other way to protect 2008?
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