Abramoff/Siegelman - "Amazing Coincidence" (Scott Horton)

[kpete]

Scott Horton March 3rd, 2008 at 12:22 pm

It’s clear that the Abramoff query trailed off into Alabama, where we say a sizeable eight-figure sum pumped into G.O.P. election efforts. Michael Scanlon who was Abramoff’s “evil twin” was formerly a key staffer to Bob Riley, the man elected as governor of Alabama. When I started tracking the Siegelman matter I kept noticing an amazing coincidence. The people pushing the attack against Siegelman and apparently taken as highly credible by federal prosecutors in Alabama, were individuals who figures as suspects in the Abramoff investigation. Moreover, the two U.S. attorneys in Alabama who should have been pursuing the Abramoff case were off doing other things — in fact, the Siegelman case emerged as their major “public integrity” matter. I don’t think this was a coincidence. Much of the “steering” that goes on at DOJ is “resource allocation,” and this was a heavy allocation of prosecutorial resources for a corrupt purpose — taking down the former Democratic governor — and keeping attention away from the Abramoff debacle, which had the potential of compromising the Alabama G.O.P. hierarchy.

more at:
http://firedoglake.com/2008/03/03/first-monday-the-siegelman-case-a-political-prosecution-exposed/#comments
#31

[suffragette]

1. Riley looks to have employed quite a few people who

have been linked to Abramoff. http://www.scrushy-report.com/siegel_names2.html See names in the following section of the chart : "Miscellaneous People Related to the Political and Financial Aspects of the Scrushy-Siegelman situation"

Scott's making a great point about the "Abramoff debacle, which had the potential of compromising the Alabama G.O.P. hierarchy."

I noticed Scott says Siegelman's lawyer told him the transcript is now complete in Reply 7:

Scott Horton March 3rd, 2008 at 12:10 pm


I was notified by one of Siegelman’s lawyers on Saturday that he had been told that the transcript was now finished. So evidently, it could be wrapped up almost immediately after it became a focal point of reporting critical of the Judge, Mark Fuller, on MSNBC’s Live with Dan Abrams.

The court reporter who sat through the trial was suffering with cancer and died shortly thereafter. This would have caused some delay. But I believe it was taken as cover to delay Siegelman’s appeal for half a year or longer. Given the technology available to court reporters today, this transcript could have been completed in a couple of weeks. And it was Judge Fuller’s responsibility–not to actually prepare the transcript, but to be sure that it was done. This was consistent with a series of other steps that Fuller took to slow down the process. The objective: be sure that Siegelman served as many weeks in prison as possible, before his case is reviewed and, quite possibly, thrown out.

[jody]

2. Riley had one of the worst attendance records of any congressperson. His track record was essentiall

blank for his tenure in congress and I could figure never out why Alabamians voted for him other than the vicious, dirty campaign helped by Rove operatives.

[nashville_brook]

3. someone needs to email this to Dan Abrams at msnbc -- in addition to me -- :)

i'm using his online email form... http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22610959/

anyone have a better address for the show?

[SpiralHawk]

4. The K and the R

Good reporting. Republicons are Totally Corrupt. Doing everything they can to destroy America. Ptoooey.

[seafan]

5. Land deals in Florida and Alabama point to Rove, Abramoff network

It's time to scrutinize Karl's little beach house in the Florida panhandle, once again.