Hen's teeth

Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. - Philip K. Dick

Sunday, June 03, 2007

Oh what a tangled web

Riddle:
What do Karl Rove, a contested election, US Attorneys, criminal prosecution of a Democrat, and a singing Canary have in common?

Answer:
They are all mentioned in an affidavit obtained by TIME magazine about the 2002 Alabama Governor’s election.

The White House scandals have spread so extensively, they are beginning to interact with each other. Some of the threads have been brought together in the May 21, 2007 affidavit made by Dana Jill Simpson.

Time article

The Players:
Karl Rove – Political consultant
Don Siegelman – Governor of Alabama 1999-2003
Bob Riley – Governor of Alabama 2003-present
William Canary - Riley adviser
Leura Canary – wife of William Canary, and US Attorney for the Middle District of Alabama
Alice Martin - US Attorney for the Middle District of Alabama
Dana Jill Simpson – Lawyer and volunteer in Riley's 2002 campaign

History:
The 2002 Alabama Governor’s election, was between Don Siegelman (incumbent) and Bob Riley. The initial returns showed Riley narrowly losing to Siegelman. A recount of the Baldwin County votes, after Democratic Party observers had gone home for the night, put Riley in the lead. Siegelman requested a recount. The recount was rejected by the Alabama Court System. Siegelman considered appealing to Federal courts, but decided to concede.

Don Siegelman was the subject of various corruption investigations. One ended in a one-day trial. Charges were dropped after the judge, the third one assigned, threw out most of the evidence. In September 2005, Siegelman announced that he was running for governor in 2006 election. The next month Siegelman, and others, were indicted on new charges of racketeering, bribery, and extortion. On June 6, 2006, Siegelman lost the Democratic primary to Lucy Baxley. On June 29, 2006, he was convicted in 7 of the 33 counts. He was acquitted on indictment's most serious allegations of a widespread RICO conspiracy.

Allegations in the affidavit:
The affidavit describes a conference call on November 18, 2002, which involved a group of senior aides to Bob Riley. The call focused on how the Riley campaign could get Siegelman to withdraw his challenge to the 2002 results.

According to Simpson's statement, William Canary, said "not to worry about Don Siegelman" because "'his girls' would take care of" the governor. Canary then made clear that "his girls" was a reference to his wife, Leura Canary, the U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Alabama, and Alice Martin, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Alabama. William Canary also stated that he had the help of a powerful friend in Washington, Karl Rove. Rove had spoken to the Department of Justice, and they were already pursuing Siegelman on a variety of charges.

So now,
we have Karl Rove, election tampering, and US Attorneys implicated together in an affidavit given by a Republican political worker.
Can we impeach them yet?

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