If a Democrat is elected President of the United States, former
Alabama Governor Don Siegelman, a Democrat, might be pardoned.
There might even be pressure on a President Barack Obama or Hillary
Clinton to appoint this former Alabama Attorney General as a
federal judge or a U.S. Attorney. In 2005, jurors in Montgomery
found Siegelman guilty on seven counts of bribery, conspiracy, mail
fraud and obstruction of justice.
This was related to HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy giving a
Siegelman campaign $500,000 to win a seat on Alabama’s Certificate
of Need board. The board makes decisions about hospital expansion
and equipment needs. When Scrushy was on the board, decisions often
favored expansion and more expensive equipment at HealthSouth
hospitals. Jurors also convicted Scrushy on all seven counts of
bribery, conspiracy, mail fraud, and obstruction of justice.
Siegelman was sentenced to seven years in prison. He is held at
a minimum security federal prison in Oakdale, Louisiana with other
white-collar criminals including former Louisiana Governor Edwin
Edwards, former Worldcom CEO Bernard Ebbers, and former Enron CFO
Andrew Fastow.
It would be an understatement to say Siegleman’s conviction hurt
him as a candidate. After conviction but before his prison term
started, he sought another term as governor. His comeback attempt
was crushed in the June 2006 Democratic primary by Lieutenant
Governor Lucy Baxley. She won about 60 percent of the vote to 36
percent for Siegelman. In the general election, incumbent
Republican Governor Bob Riley beat Baxley by a wide margin to win
another term in 2006.
JOURNALISTS AND DEMOCRATIC activists have concocted an “inside job”
theory about the Siegelman conviction. In this theory, Karl Rove
personally intervened to make sure U.S. Attorney Leura Canary
convicted Siegelman.
Canary is the wife of Republican Bill Canary, who is head of the
Business Council of Alabama and close to Bob Riley. This theory
combines everything the Democratic base hates: President George W.
Bush, Rove, U.S. Attorneys and a Republican Governor who resembles
Ronald Reagan both in appearance and governing style. They argue
that Riley stole the 2002 election, when he toppled Siegelman by
only 3,200 votes.
60 Minutes suggested Siegelman was railroaded to
prevent a Siegelman-Riley rematch. In articles for
Harper’s, “Human rights” attorney Scott Horton threw in
convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff and Swift Boat Veterans for Truth
as somehow being part of the plot. Syndicated columnist Cynthia
Tucker has chimed in. Liberal bloggers call Siegelman a political
prisoner. Of course, there are never calls to spring corporate
executive Scrushy, who is thought to have bilked investors.
If there were an inside job, conviction of Siegelman might have
waited until after the 2006 election. If the prosecution had not
proved beyond reasonable doubt that Scrushy paid Siegelman $500,000
for a seat on the Certificate of Need board and that both tried to
hide it, the jurors would not have convicted both despite a
spirited defense and public relations offensive.
Conviction of Siegelman by jurors does not matter to conspiracy
theorists, however. They see shadowy plutocrats they dislike
conspiring to throw the 2006 election to Riley despite Republican
misfortunes in other states. And they hope shadowy plutocrats they
like will conspire to free Siegelman.
