CBS 42 Exclusive: Former AL governor Don Siegelman speaks

[L. Coyote]

Tonight on the CBS 42 News at 5, 6 and 10

Link to tweet

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WIAT) — “You know God’s message came through real clear. You know what’s wrong, now fix it. So I plan to spend the rest of my life or as long as it takes, fighting to balance the scales of justice,” reflected former Alabama governor Don Siegelman in an interview with Sherri Jackson.

Siegelman was just released from parole yesterday, and is telling his story in his words only to CBS 42.

It’s an interview our team secured after repeatedly being denied by the Federal Bureau of Prisons the opportunity to interview the former governor, who maintains his prosecution was a political hit.

When politics led to prison, Siegelman made it clear from behind bars he was a political prisoner. Now after six years in Louisiana prison, including solitary confinement after guards caught him trying to tell his story to a radio station, and repeated denials by the prison warden for CBS 42 to interview him behind bars, we sit down for a one on one, no holds barred conversation with Don Siegelman. Join me for a CBS 42 News Exclusive Report: Siegelman Speaks, tonight on the CBS 42 News at 5, 6 and 10.

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

[L. Coyote]

1. Some VIDEO here:

http://wiat.com/2017/08/09/cbs-42-exclusive-report-former-alabama-governor-don-siegelman-speaks/

[PatSeg]

2. They should make a movie out of his story

It would be a compelling one.

[Qutzupalotl]

5. They are:

https://www.gofundme.com/DonSiegelmanFilm

[PatSeg]

14. Wow, thank you

I had a feeling, but I wasn't sure if I was remembering or hoping!

[elleng]

7. They have done so,

and have had to fight to have it aired in Alabama.

[yallerdawg]

11. Locking up governors and other leaders is a cottage industry down here.

If Siegelman wasn't so much like all the other politicians we've locked up or tossed out of office, I'd have some sympathy.

It's a good "story."

But everyone keeps forgetting - we locked up the quid (Richard Scrushy) when we locked up the quo (Don Siegelman). Scrushy was as corrupt as they come, and you can judge a lot from the company you keep.

There are lessons here, but some down here are afraid the right people aren't learning them!

Don Siegelman gets out, and Alabama still doesn't get it

[Whiskeytide]

17. I have acquaintances on both sides ...

... of the aisle that were active in Alabama politics then (some still). More than one told me that Siegleman's real problem was that he had made enemies of not only the republicans in Montgomery and DC, but also many democrats. Broken promises, revenge politics - that kind of thing.

I was told he likely would not have been sentenced to the term he got, or would have been pardoned, or perhaps at least would have had his sentence commuted - but for the fact that everyone abandoned him, and the "right" people were not inclined to make it happen.

That is all rank hearsay, of course, but I heard it independently on quite a few occasions, and from folks I don't think were BS'ing me. FWIW.

[L. Coyote]

18. Gov. Don Siegelman, the Roughly $3.6 Billion, ExxonMobil, and Pissing Off BIG OIL.

Siegelman's problem is his honesty. He didn't know how to look the other way and take money away from school kids for Big Oil.

Deja DU:

L. Coyote - Mar-27-08
https://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x3070446

GRRREEAATT NEWS!!! Don Siegelman is being released from prison, albeit only on appeal.

This, of course, means he cannot be kept from the press! What are the implications?
Is it time to dig deeper into the Siegelman political prisoner saga? How did it start?

There is a story little told, from before the 2006 prosecution,
before the illegal campaign contributions to Riley from Abramoff and his felonious pals,
before the 2002 AL election theft stole victory from Dems in the middle of the night.

Siegelman's administration sued BIG OIL. ExxonMobil committed fraud and underpaid Alabama
in a contract for natural gas pumped from Mobile Bay. Alabama won that litigation, and a
jury awarded the state a judgment against ExxonMobil of roughly $3.6 billion. Not chump change!

Is that where it starts? This incident is certainly a BIG possible!
Or was this gambling corruption? Or just felonious politics?
How about defense contractors corrupting politics? Possible.
Or, it it another case of "ALL OF THE ABOVE"? Your opinions?

============================
ExxonMobil’s Alabama Paydirt
Scott Horton - Nov 4, 2007 - http://www.harpers.org/archive/2007/11/hbc-90001584

Back in 1904, Ida Tarbell published what ultimately was to be seen as the seminal work of the muckrakers, The History of Standard Oil. It appeared first in nineteen installments in McClure’s Magazine, a rather less successful competitor of Harper’s, and shortly after the last installment appeared, Tarbell published the work in book form as well. In her work, Tarbell exposed the dark underside of corporate deal-making, the series of interlocking directorates and manipulations which had allowed John D. Rockefeller to build the oil leviathan and dominate the American market. Tarbell demonstrated that Rockefeller’s success came not so much from business acumen (though she never contested that he had plenty of that) as through a thorough understanding of how to game the system. John D. Rockefeller was a power unto himself. Politicians around the country were made and broken to suit him.

But Tarbell’s disclosures fueled the drive for antitrust legislation and a fairer and more competitive business environment—a drive which was, in its time, championed by progressive politicians of both parties, but particularly by Theodore Roosevelt. By 1911, Standard Oil was broken into thirty companies.

But over time, like the liquid-metal monster in the “Terminator” series, Standard Oil pulled itself back together again. It was aided in this process by a change in attitudes across the political spectrum, but most particularly it was aided by America’s campaign finance system in which politicians standing for election require increasingly larger sums of money to pursue their campaigns, and support from the corporate till is essential. The final act of rebirth occurred when the two principal surviving pieces of the company, Exxon and Mobil, merged at the close of 1999. The resulting behemoth, ExxonMobil, is the largest publicly traded integrated petroleum and natural gas company in the world. It is also the world’s largest petroleum and natural gas company by revenue, with revenues of $377.6 billion in fiscal year 2006.

The State of Alabama believes that it was victimized by ExxonMobil. According to the state’s complaint launched by the Administration of Governor Don Siegelman, ExxonMobil committed fraud and underpaid the state in a contract dispute over natural gas pumped from Mobile Bay. Alabama won that litigation, and a jury awarded the state a judgment against ExxonMobil of roughly $3.6 billion. Not chump change .....

...... http://www.harpers.org/archive/2007/11/hbc-90001584 ..............

===============
More. Follow past DU Siegelman threads from this post:
Political Prisoner Don Siegelman: Will the 60 Minutes Spotlight Make a Difference?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2909551

[PatSeg]

15. In this day and age,

I suppose it doesn't matter. People can stream movies. With the Internet, it is hard to keep the truth from people who are receptive to it. Then there are the others who watch Fox News.

[elleng]

16. It does indeed matter, PatSeg. (HI!)

People 'can' stream movies, but the info (and drama) provided from seeing movies 'advertised' on 'main streets' at local movie houses is important, and lines of interested movie-goers? Nothing like it, imo.

[PatSeg]

20. This is true

Hard to believe that a state could have that kind of influence over art and the media. It smells of totalitarianism. I had no idea that Alabama was that corrupt, until the conviction of Governor Siegelman. It is like a throwback to the 1950s. I can't believe what they got away with.

Hi to you too!

[sandensea]

3. "What I've decided to do is to follow my new purpose, to advocate for criminal justice reform."

What a beautiful thing to say, and a beautiful person.

Can you imagine Jim Bentley or Roy Moore even contemplating a think like that? Had they gone through even one tenth of what Siegelman's been put through, they'd advocate for civil war.

Hell, they already do.

[onit2day]

4. Welcome home. Stood by you from day one

Accountability comes in unpredictable ways. You will always have my vote and support

[elleng]

6. ''I plan to spend the rest of my life or as long as it takes, fighting to

balance the scales of justice.”

[zentrum]

8. Welcome Home!

[Initech]

9. Oh he was absolutely a political prisoner.

The fucking assholes in charge would lock up all liberals if they knew they could get away with it.

[DK504]

10. Since his so called "crime" ha nothing to do with national security

he should have been allowed to say what ever the hell wanted. Punitive damage like solitary is illegal and all involved should be indicted. I wonder how long was he original sentence supposed to be for an appointment that was as normal as pulling on your pants? He was a political prisoner and the Feds allowed this to happened allowed it to continue and they have given him the great "privilege" of parole. Was he given a fucking life sentence?

He has been in jail illegally for over a decade, WTF? He needs to be on every single media outlet available.

[Chasstev365]

12. Karl Rove will rot in hell for this and his other vile deeds......

[Scarsdale]

13. Karl Rove

was instrumental in this fiasco. I hope he lives long enough to pay for his sins against the country and certain people.

[L. Coyote]

19. Abramoff and Kark Rove Linked to Prosecution of Ex-Alabama Governor and Campaign Finances

L. Coyote --- Jun-01-07

Abramoff and Kark Rove Linked to Prosecution of Ex-Alabama Governor and Campaign Finances
https://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1023111

Rove Linked to Prosecution of Ex-Alabama Governor
By ADAM ZAGORIN/WASHINGTON
Friday, Jun. 01, 2007

In the rough and tumble of Alabama politics, the scramble for power is often a blood sport. At the moment, the state's former Democratic governor, Don Siegelman, stands convicted of bribery and conspiracy charges and faces a sentence of up to 30 years in prison. Siegelman has long claimed that his prosecution was driven by politically motivated, Republican-appointed U.S. attorneys.

Now Karl Rove, the President's top political strategist, has been implicated in the controversy. A long time Republican lawyer in Alabama swears she heard a top G.O.P. operative in the state say that Rove "had spoken with the Department of Justice" about "pursuing" Siegelman, with help from two of Alabama's U.S. attorneys. ..............

========================
From June 3, 2005 by the Boston Globe
Gambling, GOP Politics Intertwine
Casino Payments Seen as Influential
by Michael Kranish - http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0603-08.htm


WASHINGTON -- George W. Bush gave the nation's gambling industry plenty of reason to fear his presidency. .... He wooed religious conservatives by boasting in a presidential debate about his ''strong antigambling record."

But as president, Bush has not spoken out against gambling. .... as Republican lobbyists and activist groups collected tens of millions of dollars from Indian tribes seeking to preserve their casinos. Now those payments are the focus of Senate and Justice Department investigations.

... White House ... annual sessions over a four-year period that were arranged by antitax crusader Grover Norquist ... After Bush dropped his antigambling rhetoric, lobbyists touted their access, and fund-raising from Indian tribes grew exponentially.

...Norquist('s) ... organization received $1.5 million from tribes and fought a tax on Indian casinos; lobbyist Jack Abramoff, a top Bush fund-raiser who earned millions of dollars in fees as a consultant to gaming tribes; and Ralph Reed ... allegedly used some money from Indian gaming tribes to fund his efforts to close down rival casinos and lotteries

.........Bush worked closely with religious conservatives, especially Reed....

..... Tiguas poured tens of thousands of dollars into the campaign of the Democrat running against Bush in 1998 .... Bush redoubled his earlier efforts to shut down the Tigua casino. ... special appropriation ... for the state's attorney general, John Cornyn, now a US senator, to take legal action against the tribe.....

Abramoff, who helped arrange for the rival tribes to give the money to Reed's group, turned around and offered his services to the Tiguas -- for $4.2 million in fees split between himself and a partner

..... Abramoff and his partner in Indian gaming consulting would receive more than $60 million in fees from six different tribes seeking to advance their gambling interests ... Abramoff also told the tribes to give money ... the tribes gave $3 million, two-thirds of it to Republicans

.... Abramoff and Norquist .. worked (for) ... candidate ... following year, Abramoff and Norquist came to Washington together to lead the Republican Party's national effort to recruit college students. Reed soon joined ...


In 1999, Don Siegelman, the Democratic governor of Alabama, proposed a lottery that would have pumped hundreds of millions of dollars into public schools and even provided free college education for most Alabama high school graduates.

Reed, rallying religious conservatives, set out to try to defeat it ... quickly raised $1.15 million .... money came from Norquist's group, Americans for Tax Reform. Norquist ... got the funds from an Indian gaming tribe ...At the time Reed raised the money, he was working for Abramoff ... and Abramoff represented the Mississippi tribe.

Siegelman ..."'I don't know how they can sleep at night taking money from the Indian casinos to deny Alabama schoolchildren...."

.... Abramoff, meanwhile, appears to be the central focus ....Bush has not spoken on the matter.