CBS’s 60 Minutes aired a segment alleging that officials in the Bush administration, including political strategist Karl Rove, pressed federal prosecutors to pursue a bribery case against former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman, a Mobile native, in what the network’s sources described as an effort to clear the way for Republican Bob Riley’s election. Siegelman’s daughter, Dana Siegelman, responded publicly to the broadcast.
The network’s reporting rested heavily on the accounts of a former U.S. attorney from Arizona, herself a Republican, and a onetime Riley campaign worker. Alabama Republican Party officials disputed the accounts and said the two sources were not telling the truth.
A Case That Took Three Trials
Siegelman’s prosecution was unusual from the outset. It took three separate trials to secure a conviction, after one judge threw out an earlier case for lack of merit. Once he was finally convicted and sentenced, Siegelman was led away in ankle cuffs, a step supporters of the former governor called highly unusual for a white-collar case, and he was denied the customary 45-day period most defendants are given before reporting to prison. Siegelman’s allies have pointed to that treatment as evidence the case was personal, not simply legal.
The case drew a strong reaction in Mobile’s legal community. Attorney Jack Miller, a longtime power broker who chaired the Alabama Democratic Party and represented Siegelman for years, was reportedly so angered by the proceedings that an outburst during a hearing drew a rebuke from the judge.
Part of a Broader U.S. Attorney Controversy
60 Minutes has said it began examining the Siegelman case after roughly 50 former U.S. attorneys, from both parties, wrote to Congress arguing the prosecution was unfair. The network also reported that the case’s lead prosecutor was married to the campaign manager for Bob Riley, Siegelman’s rival in the 2002 governor’s race, raising questions about a conflict of interest.
The Siegelman case surfaced amid a wider controversy over the Bush administration’s dismissal of U.S. attorneys nationwide, a matter that prompted the resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and a congressional investigation. Rove, Gonzales, Vice President Dick Cheney and other officials have declined to testify before Congress about the firings, citing executive privilege.
Local Political Ripples
The story lands amid speculation about Alabama’s political future. Riley, the sitting governor, was floated at one point as a possible running mate for Sen. John McCain. Meanwhile, former Mobile Mayor Mike Dow, a protege of Miller’s, has been rumored to be weighing a run for governor against Riley.
Viewers in north Alabama noted that WHNT, the CBS affiliate in Huntsville, did not air the 60 Minutes segment, which the station attributed to a scheduling oversight.