Emperor Wingnut Speaks
Foley Hearts Chuck
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Subject: Emperor Wingnut Speaks
Date: Mar 1, 2008 9:29 PM
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=45474§ionid=3510203
"What's lost by embracing a tyrant who puts his people in prison
because
of their political beliefs? What's lost is it will send the wrong
message,"
said President George W. Bush during a Thursday press conference.
(Oh.)
----------
Then there's me. I went to prison for being intelligent and was given
a gag
order not to "criticize the government."
http://www.actionlyme.org/GAUVIN_DEATH_PENALTY.htm
The "death threat" that was actually the act of reporting the
criminally
insane AAG Jessica Gauvin to the Department of Justice (but that was
before we knew).
That's about as retarded, tyrannical, insane, and un-American as it
gets.
==================================
Then there's everyone named in the class action, and many who came
later:
http://www.actionlyme.org/VIKING_INTERVIEWS.htm
http://www.actionlyme4.50megs.com/about.html
===================================
Then there's Siegelman, who, talk about a "bag-job," the term was
created for him:
http://www.counterpunch.org/roberts03012008.html
Weekend Edition
March 1 / 2, 2008
It Does Happen in America
The Political Trial of Don Siegelman
By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS
Don Siegelman, a popular Democratic governor of Alabama, a Republican
state, was
framed in a crooked trial, convicted on June 29, 2006, and sent to
Federal prison
by the corrupt and immoral Bush administration.
The frame-up of Siegelman and businessman Richard Scrushy is so
crystal clear and
blatant that 52 former state attorney generals from across America,
both Republicans
and Democrats, have urged the US Congress to investigate the Bush
administration's
use of the US Department of Justice to rid themselves of a Democratic
governor who
"they could not beat fair and square," according to Grant Woods,
former
Republican Attorney General of Arizona and co-chair of the McCain for
President
leadership committee. Woods says that he has never seen a case with so
"many
red flags pointing to injustice."
The abuse of American justice by the Bush administration in order to
ruin Siegelman
is so crystal clear that even the corporate media organization CBS
allowed "60
Minutes" to broadcast on February 24, 2008, a damning indictment of
the railroading
of Siegelman. Extremely coincidental "technical difficulties" caused
WHNT,
the CBS station covering the populous northern third of Alabama, to go
black during
the broadcast. The station initially offered a lame excuse of network
difficulties
that CBS in New York denied. The Republican-owned print media in
Alabama seemed
to have the inside track on every aspect of the prosecution's case
against Siegelman.
You just have to look at their editorials and articles following the
60 Minutes
broadcast to get a taste of what counts for "objective journalism" in
their mind.
The injustice done by the US Department of Justice (sic) to Siegelman
is so crystal
clear that a participant in Karl Rove's plan to destroy Siegelman
can't
live with her conscience. Jill Simpson, a Republican lawyer who did
opposition research
for Rove, testified under oath to the House Judiciary Committee and
went public
on "60 Minutes." Simpson said she was told by Bill Canary, the most
important
GOP campaign advisor in Alabama, that "my girls can take care of
Siegelman."
Canary's "girls" are two US Attorneys in Alabama, both appointed by
President Bush. One is Bill Canary's wife, Leura Canary. The other is
Alice
Martin. According to Harper's Scott Horton,a law professor at Columbia
University,
Martin is known for abusive prosecutions.
What was the "crime" for which Siegelman and Scrushy were convicted?
Scrushy
made a contribution to the Alabama Education Foundation, a not-for-
profit organization
set up to push for a lottery to benefit secondary education in
Alabama, to retire
debt associated with the Alabama education lottery proposal. Scrushy
was a member
of Alabama's Certificate of Need board, a nonpaid group that oversaw
hospital
expansion. Scrushy had been a member of the board through the terms of
the prior
three governors, and Siegelman asked him to serve another term.
Federal prosecutors claimed that Scrushy's contribution was a bribe to
Siegelman
in exchange for being appointed to the Certificate of Need board. In
the words of
federal prosecutor Stephen Feaga, the contribution was "given in
exchange for
a promise for an official act."
Feaga's statement is absolute nonsense. It is well known that Scrushy
had served
on the board for years, felt he had done his duty, and wanted off the
board. It
was Siegelman who convinced Scrushy to remain on the board. Moreover,
Scrushy gave
no money to Siegelman. The money went to a foundation.
As a large number of attorneys have pointed out, every US president
appoints his
ambassadors and cabinet members from people who have donated to his
campaign. Under
the reasoning applied in the Siegelman case, a large number of living
former presidents,
cabinet members and ambassadors should be in federal prison_not to
mention the present
incumbents.
How in the world did a jury convict two men of a non-crime?
The answer is that the US Attorney used Governor Siegelman's indicted
young
assistant, Nick Bailey, to create the impression among some of the
jurors that "something
must have happened." Unbeknownst to Siegelman, Bailey was extorting
money or
accepting bribes from Alabama businessmen in exchange for state
business. Bailey
was caught. Presented with threats of a long sentence, Bailey agreed
to testify
falsely that Siegelman came out of a meeting with Scrushy and showed
Bailey a $250,000
check he had accepted in exchange for appointing Scrushy to the
Certificate of Need
board. Prosecutors knew that Bailey's testimony was false, not only
because
they had Bailey rewrite his testimony many times and rehearsed him
until he had
it down pat, but also because they had the check. The records show
that the check,
written to a charitable organization, was cut days after the meeting
from which
Siegelman allegedly emerged with check in hand.
It is a crime for prosecutors to withhold exculpatory evidence. The
Washington Post
reported on February 26 that Siegelman's attorneys have called for a
special
prosecutor after CBS quoted prosecution witness Bailey "as saying
prosecutors
met with him about 70 times. He said they had him regularly write out
his testimony
because they were frustrated with his recollection of events. The
written notes,
if they existed, could have damaged the credibility of Bailey's story,
but no
such notes were turned over to the defense, as would have been
required by law."
In video documentaries available online, Bailey's friend, Amy Methvin,
says
that Bailey told her that he was going to parrot the prosecutors'
line, "pay
for play," "quid pro quo." Methvin says Bailey went into a speech
about money exchanged for favors. "You sound like a robot," Methvin
told
him. "You would have it memorized, too, if you had heard the answers
as many
times as I have heard the answers," Bailey replied.
The prosecutors also had help from some jurors. On a WOTM Special
Report hosted
by former US Attorney Raymond Johnson, Alabama lawyer Julian
McPhillips produced
emails from two jurors about influencing other jurors in order to
achieve a conviction.
Jurors are not supposed to discuss a case outside the court or to
consider information
other than what is presented in court and allowed by the judge. The
outside communication
among the jurors is sufficient to declare a mistrial.
However, Federal District Judge, Mark Fuller, a George W. Bush
appointee, ignored
the tainted jury. Fuller's handling of the case suspiciously favored
the prosecution.
He bore a strong grudge against Siegelman. Fuller had been an Alabama
district attorney
before Bush made him a federal judge. Fuller's successor as district
attorney
was appointed by Siegelman and produced evidence that suggested that
Fuller had
connived with his former senior assistant in a "pension spiking"
scheme,
which some viewed as a fraud or attempted fraud against the state
retirement system.
Despite his known animosity toward Siegelman, Fuller refused to recuse
himself from
Siegelman's trial. According to the WOTM Special Report, Fuller owns a
company
that was receiving federal money during Siegelman's trial. Fuller did
not disclose
this conflict of interest. The charges raised by 60 Minutes cast the
trial as Karl
Rove's effort to rid the Republicans of the candidate they could not
beat. The
strange conduct of the presiding Republican judge, who had recently
become a rich
man as the company he owned was awarded a mass of discretionary
federal contracts,
only raises more very troubling questions.
The Justice Department's answer to the accusation that it framed
Siegelman is
that Siegelman was indicted by career prosecutors and convicted in a
fair trial
by a jury of his peers. These claims are no more truthful than
anything else the
DOJ says. Horton reports that career prosecutors advised against the
case, concluded
it was a political vendetta and walked away from it. Canary's "girls"
were "flailing about trying to find loyal troopers who would shut up
and do
what is expected of them," a category into which Scott Horton says
Louis Franklin
and his deputy Stephen Feaga fell. The jurors were presented with what
Bailey's
and Methvin's testimony indicates to be Bailey's perjury suborned by
the
US Attorney's office and misled about what the testimony actually
meant.
Horton says the case was "pressed forward with brute political force."
According to Horton, Leura Canary refused to recuse herself despite
her obvious
conflict of interest. After she was forced to recuse herself, she
continued to control
the case from her office. In Horton's words: "Her husband was
managing
the campaign against Siegelman and leaks from the investigation were
emanating from
someone at his address. But beyond this, her husband, Bill Canary, had
a long, well
established, close working relationship with Karl Rove covering work
he did in Washington
and Alabama over a period of more than 17 years. Leura and Billy
Canary were close
friends of, and socialized with, Karl Rove."
On his Bush League Justice program, MSNBC's Dan Abrams reported that a
Republican
attorney said under oath that "key Republicans on [Republican
candidate for
governor Bob] Riley's team discussed talking to Karl Rove about the
case, quoting
one of them who said, "Not to worry, that he had already gotten it
worked out
with Karl, and Karl had spoken to the Department of Justice.'"
The Bush Justice Department first went after Siegelman during his 2002
reelection
campaign. When Siegelman was first elected in 1998, the Republican
Alabama Attorney
General, William Pryor, began investigating Siegelman. There was
nothing to investigate,
but his "investigation" was the entry for Leura Canary, who
federalized
the "investigation." Politically motivated leaks from the
"investigation"
were used in an effort to defeat Siegelman's reelection.
It almost worked, but Siegelman narrowly won.
Unable to defeat Siegelman even with leaks from a phony investigation
designed to
smear him, the Republicans decided to steal the election. After all
districts had
reported the vote count, Siegelman thanked the voters for reelecting
him and went
to bed. During the night the Republicans, with no Democratic voting
officials present,
"recounted" the ballots in Baldwin County. Six thousand Siegelman
votes
that had been reported disappeared in the recount. The next morning
Republican Bob
Riley declared himself the winner.
The theft was so hastily arranged that the thieves forgot to change
any of the other
vote outcomes on the ballots. All other races had the same totals as
originally
reported, a statistical impossibility had there actually been a
computer glitch
as the election thieves claimed.
The Republican attorney general Pryor refused a recount. The Bush
Justice Department
and Republican federal judges looked the other way, as did the
Republican propaganda
sheets that masquerade as news media in Alabama.
President Bush rewarded William Pryor for his service by making him a
federal judge
in a recess appointment as he could not be confirmed by the US Senate.
According to MSNBC and other reports, a prosecution witness against
Siegelman also
made charges against Pryor and US Senator Jeff Sessions (R, AL), but
neither of
the Republicans were investigated.
The case against Siegelman was drawn out in the media for two more
years in the
hopes of smearing him forever. When Leura Canary's false case was
finally brought
to court, Federal District Judge U.W. Clemon threw it out of court.
Clemon cited
an assistant US Attorney and an assistant state attorney general for
contempt of
court. All charges against Siegelman and his co-defendants were
dropped on October
5, 2004.
Vindicated, Siegelman began his campaign for recovering the
governorship in 2006.
The word came from Washington to "take another look at the case," a
phrase
that could well be understood as "get Siegelman at all costs."
Siegelman
was indicted a second time on October 26, 2005, costing him the
Democratic primary.
The jury twice deadlocked and was twice sent back by Siegelman's
adversary,
Judge Fuller. With charges of jury-tampering in the air, Siegelman was
acquitted
of 25 counts and found guilty of "pay for play." Judge Fuller had
Siegelman
handcuffed and manacled and immediately whisked off to prison for a
seven-year sentence.
Normally a non-dangerous person is left at liberty while the case is
being appealed.
The Siegelman case makes it clear exactly what Bush, Rove, and the
disgraced Bush
flunky Alberto Gonzales intended by firing the eight Republican US
Attorneys. These
eight refused to politicize their office by falsely prosecuting
Democrats in order
to achieve a Rovian political agenda. Apparently, there were only
eight honest persons
among the 1,200 Republican US Attorneys. Bush, Rove, and Gonzales had
no problem
with the other 1,192. Professors Donald Shields and John Cragan report
that the
Bush Justice Department has investigated seven times more Democratic
than Republican
officials.
Former Alabama Supreme Court Justice Terry Butts said that justice in
America today
is about political agendas, "not about convicting real criminals."
Butts
said that Siegelman's attorneys and allies expect reprisals from the
US Attorney's
office and Alabama's Republican establishment.
Siegelman has been in prison for over a year. His appeal cannot move
forward, because
Judge Fuller's court has not produced a transcript of the trial needed
for appeal.
In other words, Republicans are preventing Siegelman from being
released on appeal
by a higher court.
Karl Rove refused to testify about the case before Congress.
On February 25, 2008, Fox "News" gave Karl Rove airtime in which to
deny
the accusations and evidence against him, which he did.
The Department of Justice refuses to release Siegelman trial documents
to Congress.
It won't even let Congress see what Leura Canary had to say to her
bosses about
the ethics challenges brought against her, which they swept under the
carpet.
Siegelman's family home was broken into.
Siegelman's attorney's office was broken into and ransacked.
Jill Simpson's house had a mysterious "electrical fire" and her car
was run off the road.
Is a justice system that functions in this way worthy of respect? Can
we believe
any convictions obtained by federal prosecutors?
Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the
Reagan administration.
He was Associate Editor of the Wall Street Journal editorial page and
Contributing
Editor of National Review. He is coauthor of The Tyranny of Good
Intentions.He can
be reached at: PaulCrai...@yahoo.com
Author's note: Scott Horton, Harper's Online, has reported extensively
and
courageously on the frame-up of Don Siegelman. Raw Story has a multi-
part report
by Larisa Alexandrovna and Muriel Kane. The "60 Minutes" broadcast is
available from YouTube as is the WOTM Special Report. YouTube also has
a multi-part
documentary on Richard Scrushy. Brad Blog provides good coverage
including a MSNBC
broadcast on the Siegelman prosecution which traces it back to Karl
Rove. Ernest
Partridge's Online Journal account provides additional information
including
the study by Professors Donald Shields and John Cragan. See also Glynn
Wilson at
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20071105/wilson. More information is
available online
for interested readers.
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