February 25, 2008
Railroaded
Yes, Don Siegelman was railroaded into prison on trumped-up charges for political reasons.
Yes, the prosecutors broke lots of rules in the process.
The key witness in the case testified that Siegelman walked out of a meeting with his alleged bribor Scrushy with a six-figure check in his hand. Just one small problem: the check, which the proseuctors had, was dated several days after the meeting.
Yes, both U.S. Attorneys for Alabama and Karl Rove were part of the plot.
And yes, Democrats who voted to confirm Mukasey without even getting a promise for a speedy investigation of the case were played for suckers. The notion that DoJ should let an innocent man rot in prison while the appeals process works its slow way through the case was, and is, absurd. Justice delayed is justice denied.
This would be a good time to issue subpoenas for everyone mentioned in the CBS story and get them under oath before one of the Judiciary committees.
Fortunately, the statute of limitations on the crimes committed in the course of prosecuting this case — in particular, obstruction of justice — will not have run when the next President takes office. We may yet see Karl Rove behind bars.
Footnote And that's one (more) good reason why John Edwards would be an appallingly bad choice for Attorney General. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of Republicans to be tried for crimes committed in connection with politics. We need an AG who looks like a prosecutor, not a partisan.
Second footnote No one in Northern Alabama got to see this on television, because the Bass family — friends of the Bushes — own the local CBS affiliate and refused to run it.
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