Larisa Alexandrovna Has 2 Questions For Alabama Prosecutor Who Wants To Keep Gov. Siegelman In Jail

[Hissyspit]

http://www.atlargely.com/2008/03/alabama-prosecu.html

Alabama prosecutor continues the Siegelman hunt...

Louis Franklin, who works for the corrupt Alabama prosecutors office (See here) is arguing that Don Siegelman should stay in prison during his appeal. Franklin argues that Siegelman has no chance of winning the appeal, so therefor, no point in letting Siegelman out of prison during the appeal process.

"Prosecutor Louis Franklin said the government believes Siegelman's attorneys have not shown that the former governor has a substantial chance of winning his case on appeal and therefore should remain in federal prison."

What Franklin does not tell the court is that he wants Siegelman to remain in jail and out of sight so no on asks tough questions of Franklin himself (emphasis mine):

"A U.S. Justice Department lawyer opposed efforts to continue the investigation of former Gov. Don Siegelman and argued to end the case in 2004, but he was overruled by Montgomery prosecutors, according to the lead government lawyer in the case.

Acting U.S. Attorney Louis Franklin, the Montgomery prosecutor who managed the government's case against Siegelman, said he assigned Assistant U.S. Attorney Steve Feaga to the investigation in early 2004, and the two agreed to request a special grand jury that would hear evidence. But John W. Scott, a senior Justice Department trial lawyer who had been helping with the case at the request of Montgomery prosecutors, disagreed with the move to extend the investigation, Franklin said."

This was Franklin's argument in October 2007, when he tried to prove that his office, rather than "Washington," controlled the Siegelman case. Not much of an argument, is it?

But what about the allegations made by the prosecution's witness, Nick Bailey? If you recall, Bailey said that the prosecutor's office had him write out his testimony over and over because he could not keep his story straight. Franklin says this is not true:

"The program said the government had a key prosecution witness, former Siegelman aide Nick Bailey, repeatedly write out his testimony because prosecutors were frustrated with his recollection of events.

Vince Kilborn, an attorney for Siegelman who contends Republican politics was behind his prosecution, said the defense was never told of any written notes by Bailey. Lead prosecutor Louis Franklin said they never asked Bailey to write out his testimony."

Which is why any new scrutiny of the case might pose a problem for Franklin himself. But there is much more that Franklin has to worry about. Scott Horton of Harper's does a nice job of summarizing some of the problems with Franklin HERE.

I have two questions for Franklin:

1. Did Mr. Franklin ever have dinner with Karl Rove in Washington DC during 2004 - 2007?

2. Did Mr. Franklin ever have dinner with Karl Rove in Alabama during 2004-2007?

[samplegirl]

1. Now this is something that you wish

media would stay ontop of.

[sicksicksick_N_tired]

14. The possibility of Franklin being charged with prosecutorial abuse and corruption,...

,...along with Karl Rove,...is something that MUST happen,...if we still live per the rule of law and the Constitution of the United States and all it laws enacted thereunder.

Karl is looking more and more pudgy, these days. He'll make an attractive inmate.

[EFerrari]

2. K&R. Letters in support to Don may be addressed to:

Don Siegelman
#24775-001.
Satellite Prison Camp
Post Office Box 5010
Oakdale, LA 71463-5019

More information on taking other actions here: http://www.donsiegelman.org/pages/topics/take_action.html

Edit: Corrected prisoner number. Thanks, trof!

[trof]

3. There is an error in that prisoner number.

The Siegekman website has one too many zeros in it.
According to the Bureau of Prisons' website his prisoner number is
#24775-001.

[EFerrari]

5. Changed it! Thanks. n/t

[trof]

4. If they let him out, they lose control over him.

He is not allowed to talk to any media people while in jail.

[babylonsister]

6. I'm so glad Larisa is on this; I bet she helps to spring him! Rec'd! nt

[EFerrari]

7. Here's a Horton article about yet another political prosecution in AL

These mofos are still going strong. :grr:

Another Election Season, Another Political Prosecution in Alabama

BY Scott Horton
PUBLISHED February 1, 2008

The morning calm in the small Alabama town of Toney, located near Huntsville, was broken at 6:15 a.m. yesterday morning. A team of five FBI agents, accompanied by a prison matron, pounded on the door. When the man of the house answered, he was forced into the yard, shirtless in the early morning cold. The team had come for his wife, Sue Schmitz. She was dragged out of her bathroom, where she was taking a shower, handcuffed, breaking her flesh and scraping her wrists, and hustled off to prison.

Who was this threat to the community? Sue Schmitz is a diminutive, 63-year-old retired social studies teacher who has lived in the town for 38 years, roughly 20 of them as a civics teacher. She is loved in the community and among her students is legendary for her passion for civics and her outreach to the disadvantaged. The dream of her life was to let the fire of civic spirit catch on in communities and among families on the margin of society, where the danger of drug abuse and criminality are the highest. She dedicated her life to it. She launched a program called “We the People,” designed to build civic spirit and interest in participatory democracy among school children. And Sue Schmitz’s advocacy of civic engagement led directly to her conflict with U.S. Attorney Alice Martin, who considers it to be criminal. But one other fact figures directly in this drama. Schmitz is a Democratic member of the state legislature.

The Alabama G.O.P. is busy revving up its plans for the fall elections, and today gives us a unique opportunity to see its various limbs moving in perfect concert. The party’s objective is to take control of the state legislature. The party’s leader, Governor Bob Riley, announced that if he can raise $7 million, the party can take control of the legislature in 2010. Riley is busy mustering every tool at his disposal to accomplish that goal. That, of course, is all politics as usual–the sort of thing that goes on in states in every corner of the country. But there’s something exceedingly rotten in Alabama. And it’s revealed when we take careful stock of how Governor Riley and his party go about implementing their plans.

First, where do we read about this? On the editorial page of one of the three Newhouse newspapers that have a lock on the state’s print media market, and which operate as the press service of the Republican Party. The Mobile Press-Register, which otherwise publishes fawning pieces about Governor Riley’s cowboy boots and describes Karl Rove as a persecuted genius, now tells us that the G.O.P.’s plan to “take control of the legislature” (their words) is a wonderful idea. Indeed, it gets the official seal of approval of the paper. You can read this on line at the Press-Register’s website, but why not read it at the website of the Alabama G.O.P.? After all, they are all part of the same operation. Why bother maintaining the pretense of independence?

http://www.harpers.org/archive/2008/02/hbc-90002293

[EFerrari]

8. Someone needs to ask John McCain about Don Siegelman

McCain Withheld Controversial Abramoff Email

By Sam Stein
The Huffington Post

Monday 25 February 2008

On the stump, Sen. John McCain often cites his work tackling the excesses of disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff as evidence of his sturdy ethical compass.

A little-known document, however, shows that McCain may have taken steps to protect his Republican colleagues from the scope of his investigation.

In the 2006 Senate report concerning Abramoff's activities, which McCain spearheaded, the Arizona Republican conspicuously left out information detailing how Alabama Gov. Bob Riley was targeted by Abramoff's influence peddling scheme. Riley, a Republican, won election in November 2002, and was reelected in 2006.

In a December 2002 email obtained by the Huffington Post - which McCain and his staff had access to prior to the issuance of his report - Abramoff explains to an aide what he would like to see Riley do in return for the "help" he received from Abramoff's tribal clients.

http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/022608E.shtml

[EFerrari]

9. McCain payback for withholding link to discredited lobbyist

McCain payback for withholding link to discredited lobbyist

Wednesday, March 05, 2008
CHARLES J. DEAN
News staff writer

The presidential race revisited Alabama on Tuesday when the Democratic National Committee charged that Gov. Bob Riley's endorsement of Sen. John McCain amounted to payback for McCain withholding information that would have linked Riley to a now-jailed lobbyist.

Riley endorsed the Arizona senator and presumptive GOP presidential nominee on Monday. On Tuesday, the DNC charged the endorsement was a reward for McCain's having withheld an e-mail discovered during a Senate investigation by a committee McCain led. The e-mail would have tied Riley to lobbyist Jack Abramoff, the DNC said.

Abramoff is serving time for defrauding Indian gaming clients out of millions of dollars. McCain's Senate hearings have been credited with uncovering some of that fraud. McCain has used his role in the investigation to show he is a maverick who will fight special interests, even those aligned with the GOP if they do wrong.

But the DNC said that perception is part of the myth of McCain, and to debunk it they have been sending out "myth-busters" like the one Tuesday.

http://www.al.com/news/birminghamnews/index.ssf?/base/news/120470866584881.xml&coll=2

[L. Coyote]

17. Covering up Abramoff can defeat McCain alone., without another issue. CBC!

[lala_rawraw]

10. thanks:)

:D

[bleever]

11. K&R.

[EFerrari]

12. Kick

[Hissyspit]

13. .

[Occulus]

15. .

[L. Coyote]

16. What if they had dinner in Virginia and Mississippi?

I'd ask one question, "What precisely have been your contacts with Rove?"

And then I'd have a few dozen more questions about another dozen or so people.

[mod mom]

18. Thanks Hissy for keeping DUers informed! rec'd