New Evidence in Prosecution of Governor Don Siegelman

by Glynn Wilson

House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers once again made it clear that he and his committee are not going to allow the corruption of the Justice Department on Bush’s watch to be swept under the proverbial “let’s just move forward” rug.

There is still some serious business to attend to, and at the top of the list, in the lead of Conyers’ press release, is a brand spanking new subpoena for Mr. Karl “Turd Blossom” Rove, demanding that he appear in person before the committee and “testify regarding his role in the Bush administration’s politicization of the Department of Justice, including the U.S. attorney firings and the prosecution of former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman.”

The subpoena calls for Mr. Rove to appear for a deposition on Monday, February 2, 2009.

Mr. Rove has previously refused to appear in response to a Judiciary Committee subpoena, claiming that even former presidential advisers cannot be compelled to testify before Congress. That “absolute immunity” position was supported by then-President Bush, but it has been rejected by U.S. District Judge John Bates — and President Obama has previously dismissed the claim as “completely misguided.”

“I have said many times that I will carry this investigation forward to its conclusion, whether in Congress or in court, and today’s action is an important step along the way,” Mr. Conyers said. Noting that the change in administration may impact the legal arguments available to Mr. Rove in this long-running dispute, Mr. Conyers added: “Change has come to Washington, and I hope Karl Rove is ready for it. After two years of stonewalling, it’s time for him to talk.”

Click here for the page with the link to a copy of the subpoena.

Former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman reacted quickly from his iPhone via a Google Gmail account: “Chairman Conyers and the House Judiciary Committee’s subpoena of Karl Rove gives hope to those who want to know the extent of Karl Rove’s abuse of power and his misuse of the Department of Justice as a way to win elections.

“Chairman Conyers’ action gives meaning to the change that has been ushered in by the election of President Obama,” he said. “I am sure that I speak for millions of U.S. Citizens when I say that I am grateful for Mr. Conyers’ determination to seek the truth.”

“Those who abused their power must be held accountable, otherwise their misuse of power will be more likely to happen again,” he wrote. “Our democracy has been threatened by the use of the Department of Justice as a political weapon. Chairman Conyers’ action will serve to protect our democracy and restore people’s faith that no man is above the law.”

North Alabama attorney Jill Simpson, who came forward as a whistle-blower last summer and provided the key evidence for starting an investigation showing Siegelman’s case was political, said she was happy to hear about the subpoena.

 Loading ...

Read the rest of this entry »

Click here to make your nominations of the most influential people and organizations, good and bad…

Editors at the three Alabama newspapers owned by the New York Times company released their list of the 12 most influential people in the state on Sunday, and as one would expect, it’s all the usual suspects.

Interestingly, there’s no newspaper publishers or editors on the list, no scientists or TV personalities either. Maybe there should be. No women. One African-American.

Even though the papers don’t rank them, Dr. Paul Hubbert, the long-time leader of the powerful teachers lobby, the Alabama Education Association, tops the list, according to the report by Dana Beyerle in The Tuscaloosa News, the Florence Times-Daily and the Gadsden Times.

There’s also trial lawyer Jere Beasley; David Bronner, the investment wizard of the Retirement Systems of Alabama; Robert “Bobby” Lowder of Colonial Bank and the Auburn University Board of Trustees; Charles McCrary, president of Alabama Power Company, Jerry Newby, president of the Alabama Farmers Federation (better known as ALPHA); Malcolm Portera, chancellor of the University of Alabama System; Joe Reed, the only African-American on the list, the long-time executive secretary of AEA and leader of the Alabama Democratic Conference; Bob Riley, the governor; Dowd Ritter, chairman and CEO of Regions Financial Corporation, the state’s largest bank; Nick Saban, the football coach at Alabama; and last but not least, Richard Shelby, the state’s senior U.S. senator.

Noticeably absent from the list is Birmingham Congressman Artur Davis, who says he wants to be Alabama’s first black governor.

We’ve got an idea for a different sort of influentials list. On our list, there are not just a bunch of rich, powerful white guys for the most part involved in “economic development” and education, where Alabama usually ranks near the back of the pack nationally anyway, along with banks, electricity generation and freaking insurance. Boring…

Our list, which is now open for further nominations, focuses more on people who have actually made a positive difference in Alabama not just from some comfortable, corporate board room.

E.O. Wilson gets my vote for Most Influential Scientist from Alabama, as well as the Top Most Influential Person Overall, even though he doesn’t live here anymore. He was born and raised here and Time magazine named him to the list of Top 100 Minds of the 20th Century and for many years has been a biology professor at Harvard and head of the Zoology museum. He’s won two Pulitzer Prizes for Science writing.

If that basketball star from Leads, Charles Barkley, ever decides to run for governor, we’re going to run E.O. Wilson against him : )

But we may as well admit it. For Most Influential Sports Personality, Barkley’s name would have to be on the list. (Although that little DUI incident out in Arizona recently may taint his image a tad, although another one on the list, Kenny “The Snake” Stabler, got the charges dropped against him, so he may very well pop back up on the radio broadcasting Alabama football games again next year.

To get the ball rolling on taking your votes for these nominations, I asked Pam Miles of Madison, Alabama, to make the first nominations to kick off this contest, since I will be the first to place her name under consideration for the Most Influential Email List in Alabama.

Read the rest of this entry »