The case of former Alabama governor Don E. Siegelman just keeps getting "curiouser and curiouser." Remember-the "crime" that Siegelman was convicted of was appointing a campaign contributor to a position he had already held previously. If this is a crime, then probably every governor in the country over the past half century is a criminal, too.
Now Time is reporting that a whistleblower has turned over some internal prosecution e-mails (pdf) to the Justice Department and the House Judiciary Committee, revealing two types of forbidden communication during the investigation and trial, which have remained hidden until now. First, they show that Leura G. Canary, the conflict-ridden US Attorney who began the investigation, but then recused herself, did not remain uninvolved in the case, as recusal requires. (Canary's husband, was a close friend of Karl Roves and top GOP operative in the state.) Second, they show that there was communication between the jurors and the prosecutorial team, facilitated by the U.S. Marshalls.
In an eight-page letter to Attorney General Michael Mukasey, John Conyers, chair of the House Judiciary Committee wrote:
This information, including the attached documents, raises serious questions regarding possible misconduct by the Siegelman prosecution team, including the aparent failure to disclose to the Court or to defense counsel communications received from one or more members of the Siegelman jury while the trial was underway, and also the fialure of United States Attorney Leura Canary to fully honor her recusal from this case."
Siegelman says that new revelations about his prosecution amount to "outrageous criminal conduct in the US Attorney's office and the Department of Justice," and are "more frightening than anything that has come before." And he believes that his case is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of politicized prosecutions by DOJ.
At the same time, however, an article by Charlie Savage at the NYT raises questions over whether this and other investigations really will proceed vigorously under an Obama Administration.
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