Investigation of the Siegelman case is where to start the process that leads to impeachment of George W Bush, Alberto Gonzales and Karl Rove.
Forty-four former state attorneys general have asked Congress to investigate whether politics at the Justice Department influenced the prosecution of former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman on corruption charges. Siegelman, a Democrat, was convicted last year of bribery and other charges. He began serving a seven-year prison sentence last month.
Last month, a GOP lawyer who once worked on the campaign of Republican Gov. Bob Riley signed a sworn affidavit saying she overheard conversations among campaign officials in 2002 suggesting that the White House was involved in Siegelman's prosecution. She has offered to testify to any investigative agency or in court.
I ask, Senator, do we still live in a Constitutional Republic when the party in charge of the executive branch can use the power of the United States' Attorneys office along with the services of partisan federal judges to try, convict and imprison Democrats for everyday political activities?
The US Attorney's scandal was fundamentally about abusing the justice system to overlook Republican crimes and to prosecute Democrats for political gain even when no crime took place.
Senator, first they came for Georgia Thompson then they came for Don Siegelman. Next, could be you, Senator.
President Bush Karl Rove and Alberto Gonzales have grossly abused federal power to destroy a Democratic political opponent.
Today forty-four attorneys general from forty of the fifty states of the Union petition the United States Congress [PDF] demanding a formal inquiry into the prosecution of Don Siegelman, the former Governor of Alabama, who was falsely charged, tried and convicted in federal court proceedings in Alabama. These proceedings constitute an indelible stain on the reputation of our nation for justice, which cannot be purged until they are set aside and those who committed these crimes mockingly in the name of justice are held to account for their misconduct. .....snip...
(1) Governor Siegelman is currently incarcerated at a Bureau of Prisons facility, having been refused release on bail pending appeal. Indeed, he was even denied 45 days to report to prison to give him time to put his affairs in order, an opportunity which is commonly granted. This can only be understood in terms of the political theater orchestrated by the Bush Justice Department and the judge hearing the case, a Republican political activist.
(2) A lawyer who had worked in the campaign of Governor Siegelman’s opponent in the 2006 gubernatorial contest has sworn in a recent affidavit that the spouse of the federal prosecutor in this case stated that his wife and another federal prosecutor would "take care of" Mr. Siegelman and that he had talked with a political operative for the White House concerning such assurances. The name of the political operative is Karl Rove, and the political manipulation of prosecutions to "take care" of political adversaries is his calling card.
(3) In an unrelated but recent case, a low-level employee in another state administration was prosecuted and convicted by another U.S. Attorney before a U.S. Court of Appeals ordered her immediate release from prison and reversed the trial verdict calling the prosecution evidence "beyond thin." [ed note - Georgia Thompson case - see link above]
(4) Another former Governor of Alabama was convicted of corruption charges a few years ago in a case where he personally benefited from his action and was sentenced to probation. That case was handled by the same lead prosecutor as in the Siegelman case. There is a striking difference: the former governor actually secured personal gain from the alleged corruption, Siegelman did not—even accepting the allegations of the prosecution as true, but they are not. How to distinguish these two cases? One involves a Republican, the other a Democrat. This is Bush justice, of the same sort meted out in Bush’s commutation of the sentence of his felonious national security advisor, Scooter Libby.
(5) The sentence sought by the prosecutor in Governor Siegelman’s case–30 years–was excessively disproportionate, and the sentence imposed — 7 years, 4 months — was harsh.
(6) There are numerous apparently legitimate (and arguably compelling) appealable issues in this case, as confirmed by a number of legal scholars. There have been allegations of jury misconduct and the possible introduction of extrinsic evidence into the jury deliberation process that have not been fully investigated. For this reason, and because Governor Siegelman is not in any way a flight risk, the denial of a bond pending appeal appears inappropriate, and the shackling of the Governor in handcuffs and leg irons as he was taken out of the courtroom was shocking.
Senator, Congress cannot go about its business as usual while justice is abused and denied. If our Constitution and the rule of law is not followed by the executive branch we live in a police state, not a Constitutional Republic. It makes no sense to talk about passing new laws when the Constitution is not followed by the executive branch. There is no point in passing new laws if the rule of law is not followed.
It is imperative that the Siegelman case be investigated immediately. It is imperative that the executive branch provides all the evidence to Congress that it requests on the United States' Attorney's scandal that the Siegelman case is tied to tightly. Justice must be restored to the nation. All else is secondary, including the occupation of Iraq, to the rule of law in the United States.