K
Kickin' Ass and Takin' Names
Guest
Upon his release from prison last week, former Alabama Gov. Don
Siegelman sounded like a man intent on figuring out why partisanship
apparently landed him behind bars for nine months.
Speaking by telephone in his first post-prison interview, shortly
after he had left the federal penitentiary at Oakdale, La., Mr.
Siegelman said there had been "abuse of power" in his case, and
repeatedly cited Karl Rove, the former White House political director.
"His fingerprints are smeared all over the case," Mr. Siegelman said,
a day after a federal appeals court ordered him released on bond and
said there were legitimate questions about his case. He was sentenced
to serve seven years last June after a guilty verdict on bribery and
corruption charges a year earlier.
In measured tones after spending nine months at the prison, the former
governor, a Democrat, said he would press to have Mr. Rove answer
questions to Congress about his possible involvement in the case.
"When Attorney General Gonzales and Karl Rove left office in a blur,
they left the truth buried in their documents," Mr. Siegelman said,
referring to Alberto R. Gonzales. "It's going to be my quest to
encourage Congress to ensure that Karl Rove either testifies, or takes
the Fifth."
Rove's lawyer, Robert Luskin, told the NYT, "There's absolutely,
positively, no truth to any of the allegations and literally no
evidence for any of it."
Really, Bob? "No evidence" at all?
I seem to recall Republican lawyer Dana Jill Simpson, answering
questions under oath from House investigators, offering at least some
evidence.
--------------------------
In an interview she gave under oath to House investigators, Republican
lawyer Dana Jill Simpson expanded on her previous statement about Karl
Rove's role in the prosecution of Gov. Don Siegelman (D-AL),
implicating Rove in using the Justice Deparment to stymie Siegelman's
campaigns in 2002 and again in 2005.
In the interview, first obtained by Time and released today by the
committee, Simpson explains the context in which she knew what Alabama
Republican operative William Canary meant on a campaign conference
call in 2002 when he said "Karl" had gotten the Justice Department on
Siegelman. Simpson told House investigators that the son of Gov. Bob
Riley (R), Rob Riley, had told her about the conversations between
Rove and Canary. From the transcript:
But I knew from conversations that I had had with Rob that Bill Canary
was very connected to Karl Rove. Additionally, there was some talk --
and that's not in my affidavit -- about Karl had -- about Washington;
that Karl had it taken care of in Washington.
Simpson also told investigators that three years later, during Bob
Riley's 2005 campaign, Rob Riley told her that Rove had intervened
again, this time going directly to the Public Integrity Section of the
Department of Justice. The intervention came after the US Attorney for
the Northern District of Alabama "messed up" a case against Siegelman
to keep him from running, Simpson told investigators. According to the
interview transcript, Simpson said Rove made sure all the bases were
covered to properly prosecute Siegelman:
Q: Okay. And did Rob give you the name of the person at -- I'm just
going to call it Public Integrity -- that he thought he understood
Karl Rove had spoken to?
[Simpson]: No, he said it was the head guy there and he said that that
guy had agreed to allocate whatever resources, so evidently the guy
had the power to allocate resources, you know.
Q: To the Siegelman prosecution?
[Simpson] Yes. And that he'd allocate all resources necessary.
Previously, Rob Riley has denied knowing Karl Rove, but Simpson
offered the House panel an email with a hand-written note which reads
"To Jill, I e-mailed this to Karl...Rob," from Riley that she argues
shows he did in fact know Rove at the time. (You can see the email
here.) Riley claims the Karl refers to a lawyer he knows, not Rove.
Nonetheless Time quotes one of Riley's clients saying that he had
mentioned "four or five times" that Rove could help with their
business in Washington.
Siegelman sounded like a man intent on figuring out why partisanship
apparently landed him behind bars for nine months.
Speaking by telephone in his first post-prison interview, shortly
after he had left the federal penitentiary at Oakdale, La., Mr.
Siegelman said there had been "abuse of power" in his case, and
repeatedly cited Karl Rove, the former White House political director.
"His fingerprints are smeared all over the case," Mr. Siegelman said,
a day after a federal appeals court ordered him released on bond and
said there were legitimate questions about his case. He was sentenced
to serve seven years last June after a guilty verdict on bribery and
corruption charges a year earlier.
In measured tones after spending nine months at the prison, the former
governor, a Democrat, said he would press to have Mr. Rove answer
questions to Congress about his possible involvement in the case.
"When Attorney General Gonzales and Karl Rove left office in a blur,
they left the truth buried in their documents," Mr. Siegelman said,
referring to Alberto R. Gonzales. "It's going to be my quest to
encourage Congress to ensure that Karl Rove either testifies, or takes
the Fifth."
Rove's lawyer, Robert Luskin, told the NYT, "There's absolutely,
positively, no truth to any of the allegations and literally no
evidence for any of it."
Really, Bob? "No evidence" at all?
I seem to recall Republican lawyer Dana Jill Simpson, answering
questions under oath from House investigators, offering at least some
evidence.
--------------------------
In an interview she gave under oath to House investigators, Republican
lawyer Dana Jill Simpson expanded on her previous statement about Karl
Rove's role in the prosecution of Gov. Don Siegelman (D-AL),
implicating Rove in using the Justice Deparment to stymie Siegelman's
campaigns in 2002 and again in 2005.
In the interview, first obtained by Time and released today by the
committee, Simpson explains the context in which she knew what Alabama
Republican operative William Canary meant on a campaign conference
call in 2002 when he said "Karl" had gotten the Justice Department on
Siegelman. Simpson told House investigators that the son of Gov. Bob
Riley (R), Rob Riley, had told her about the conversations between
Rove and Canary. From the transcript:
But I knew from conversations that I had had with Rob that Bill Canary
was very connected to Karl Rove. Additionally, there was some talk --
and that's not in my affidavit -- about Karl had -- about Washington;
that Karl had it taken care of in Washington.
Simpson also told investigators that three years later, during Bob
Riley's 2005 campaign, Rob Riley told her that Rove had intervened
again, this time going directly to the Public Integrity Section of the
Department of Justice. The intervention came after the US Attorney for
the Northern District of Alabama "messed up" a case against Siegelman
to keep him from running, Simpson told investigators. According to the
interview transcript, Simpson said Rove made sure all the bases were
covered to properly prosecute Siegelman:
Q: Okay. And did Rob give you the name of the person at -- I'm just
going to call it Public Integrity -- that he thought he understood
Karl Rove had spoken to?
[Simpson]: No, he said it was the head guy there and he said that that
guy had agreed to allocate whatever resources, so evidently the guy
had the power to allocate resources, you know.
Q: To the Siegelman prosecution?
[Simpson] Yes. And that he'd allocate all resources necessary.
Previously, Rob Riley has denied knowing Karl Rove, but Simpson
offered the House panel an email with a hand-written note which reads
"To Jill, I e-mailed this to Karl...Rob," from Riley that she argues
shows he did in fact know Rove at the time. (You can see the email
here.) Riley claims the Karl refers to a lawyer he knows, not Rove.
Nonetheless Time quotes one of Riley's clients saying that he had
mentioned "four or five times" that Rove could help with their
business in Washington.
