Holte's corner

Election Fraud and Jail terms for the victims

Elections have consequences -- especially fraudulent ones:

Congress is finally starting to dig into the allegations surrounding the politically driven prosecution of former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman, which is a case that shows why Democrats (and progressive people of all stripes) can't afford to be sanguine about the massive corruption of the past 7 years, nor the abuses of civil liberties involved with that corruption.

http://judiciary.house.gov/Printshop.aspx?Section=720
http://kerry.senate.gov/cfm/record.cfm?id=294236

It turns out all the usual suspects were involved: Karl Rove allegedly drove both the prosecution and some of the business involved, Abramoff drove the pecuniary financial motives involving efforts to derail a State Lottery initiative in Alabama in favor of Indian Gambling interests. The current (Riley) Governor's chief of Staff was Michael Scanlon who was later convicted along with Abramoff. The Chief Prosecutor in the case was Leura Canary, who had a financial interest not only in locking up Siegelman, but in derailing rival gambling efforts that would hurt her husbands interests.

Sounds like something out of Dallas. Come to think of it, the Bush Administration makes J.R.Ewing look like a mensch. The Ramban had a term for people like Abramoff, who keep the letter of "the law" but are still scoundrels: "Naval Birshut Ha-Torah" -- "Scoundrel within the bounds of Torah." What a shame.....

http://judiciary.house.gov/Printshop.aspx?Section=720

Riley pleads "Alzheimer's:"

http://judiciary.house.gov/Media/PDFS/RileyAffidavit071023.pdf

The alliance for justice testifies however;

http://judiciary.house.gov/Media/PDFS/All4Jus071023.pdf

"erasing the line between politics and federal law enforcement and eroding public
confidence in a Department tasked to “ensure fair and impartial administration of justice for all Americans.” Evidence has surfaced that politics infected not only hiring and firing but also federal prosecutions. Even more disturbingly, the allegations of misconduct surrounding selective and politically-motivated prosecutions do not stop at the Department of Justice. The prosecution of former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman raises a host of disturbing questions about partisanship in the judicial system, particularly concerning the involvement of three sitting federal judges: Mark Fuller, William Pryor and Noel Hillman. The impropriety allegedly occurred in some instances both prior to and after their confirmation to the federal bench, and only a handful of the allegations are described below."

"Judge Mark Fuller was nominated by President George W. Bush to the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama in 2002. Judge Fuller had formerly served as district attorney for Alabama’s 12th Judicial Circuit. When then-Governor Siegelman appointed Judge Fuller’s successor, Gary McAliley, Mr. McAliley launched an investigation into Judge Fuller’s accounting practices in the district attorney’s office. This investigation revealed evidence that Judge Fuller had undertaken salary spiking with the purpose of defrauding the retirement system of Alabama."

Naturally that didn't win Siegelman any friends in high places:

"Judge Fuller dismissed these allegations, and the entire investigation, as “politically motivated.” Judge Fuller then worked to defeat Governor Siegelman, a Democrat, in the next election, which Governor Siegelman lost in the closest gubernatorial election in Alabama state history. Shortly after his defeat, Mr. Siegelman was indicted in federal court."

And naturally:

"Judge Fuller was assigned the case, and he refused to recuse himself, despite motions by Mr. Siegelman’s lawyers to remove him from presiding over the case. Serious allegations have arisen that Judge Fuller conducted the trial in a manner favoring the prosecution. Whether or not accusations of actual misconduct by Judge Fuller during the trial are borne out, it is clear that hearing a case against the man Judge Fuller accused of conducting a politically motivated investigation against him undermined the appearance of impartiality required by the federal rules of judicial conduct."

Further reading:
http://www.harpers.org/subjects/AttorneysGeneralScandal2007
http://www.harpers.org/archive/2007/06/hbc-90000257

Posted by cholte at May 13, 2008 01:56 PM