February 26, 2008 5:37 AM

Politics as blood sport...or, if he didn't want to go to prison, he should have been a Republican

The Prosecution Of Governor Siegelman

(CBS) Is Don Siegelman in prison because he’s a criminal or because he belonged to the wrong political party in Alabama?

The question of Don Siegelman’s prosecution- or, perhaps more accurately, persecution- is one that raises a number of disturbing questions. First and foremost is the possibility that Siegelman’s prosecution may have been undertaken on the initiative of those at the highest levels of the Republican Party. It’s entirely possible that Siegelman was pursued so doggedly not because of any criminal misdeed, but simply because he was a Democrat in an overwhelmingly Republican state.

I watched this story on 60 Minutes Sunday night, and I can’t say definitively that Siegelman was persecuted as well as prosecuted. Nonetheless, there are enough red flags scattered throughout this saga that a reasonable person can’t help but wonder what the truth is. From the multiple investigations to the manner in which the judge ordered Siegelman handcuffed, shackled, and immediately hauled off to prison, it doesn’t take a Ph.D. to figure that this was personal. Customarily, someone convicted of a federal crime is given 45 days to get their affairs in order. Siegelman was immediately put on ice, as if someone wanted him out of the way yesterday. Gee, this couldn’t possibly be political in nature…could it?

The government’s case was based on the testimony of a former Siegelman aide. As it turns out, Nick Bailey was extorting money from businessmen in Alabama AND his testimony had more holes in it than a 12-year-old pair of undershorts. Yet the government built their case on the soft sand of Bailey’s testimony…and they were still able to convict Siegelman. Yeah, justice may be blind, but she’s certainly not unaware of political considerations.

[T]here was another problem with the prosecutor’s star witness: Nick Bailey was a crook. Unknown to Siegelman, Bailey had been extorting money from Alabama businessmen. Facing ten years in prison, Bailey agreed to cooperate with prosecutors to get a lighter sentence….

Bailey told 60 Minutes that before the Siegelman trial, he spoke to prosecutors more than 70 times, and he admitted that during those conversations he had trouble remembering details. He told 60 Minutes the prosecutors were so frustrated, they made him write his proposed testimony over and over to get his story straight.

If Bailey’s telling the truth, his notes, by law, should have been turned over to the defense. But Siegelman’s lawyers tell 60 Minutes they never saw any such notes and never had a chance to show the jury just how much Bailey’s story had changed.

No one at the Justice Department would be interviewed for this story, but they did send a statement which read, in part, “This case was brought by career prosecutors ‚Äö√Ѭ∂ based upon the law and the evidence alone. After considering that evidence ‚Äö√Ѭ∂ a jury of Mr. Siegelman’s peers found him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Right…and next you’ll be telling me that there really IS a tooth fairy. I can’t say that I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that Siegelman’s prosecution was politically-motivated. Still, there just ain’t enough lipstick to pretty up this pig. It’s ugly from start to finish, and there are enough unanswered questions and sloppy jurisprudence to give any reasonable person pause.

Perhaps Don Siegelman really is a crooked politician. Perhaps. We’ll never really know, because his persecution- and what else can it really be called?- has muddied the waters. When you put everything together, it’s not hard to draw the conclusion the GOP leaders- up to and perhaps above Karl Rove- wanted Siegelman out of the way. So they did whatever it took to accomplish their goal…and when you have the power and resources of the federal government behind you…well, God helps anyone who stands in the way. Don Siegelman never stood a chance.

WE DESERVE BETTER…and so does Don Siegelman, who by all indications was an honest and committed public servant during his time as Governor of Alabama. This sort of thing shouldn’t happen in America, but it does in Our Glorious and Benevolent Leader’s © Amerika.

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This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on February 26, 2008 5:37 AM.

To do or not to do: Hillary's thought process on going negative was the previous entry in this blog.

Some questions really are better left unanswered is the next entry in this blog.

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