A CBS “60 Minutes” investigation raised new questions about whether the federal prosecution of former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman, a Mobile native, was politically motivated, reviving a controversy that had dogged the Bush administration’s Justice Department for years.
Allegations Against Rove
The “60 Minutes” report examined claims that Karl Rove, then a top political adviser to President Bush, pressured federal prosecutors to pursue bribery charges against Siegelman, a Democrat, in order to clear the way for Republican Gov. Bob Riley’s political future. Rove has denied the allegations, and the Alabama Republican Party has disputed the characterization of the prosecution as political. Siegelman’s daughter, Dana Siegelman, spoke to the program in support of her father.
According to the broadcast, more than 50 former U.S. attorneys from both political parties had written to Congress arguing the prosecution was unfair. The report also noted that the case’s lead federal prosecutor was married to the campaign manager for Riley, Siegelman’s opponent in the 2002 governor’s race, a detail Siegelman’s supporters have pointed to as evidence of a conflict of interest.
A Case That Took Three Trials
Siegelman was ultimately convicted in 2006 on bribery and conspiracy charges related to his appointment of a healthcare executive to a state regulatory board after the executive contributed to a state lottery campaign Siegelman had championed. Reaching that conviction took three trials; an earlier trial ended when a judge dismissed the case for lack of merit. “60 Minutes” reported that after sentencing, Siegelman was taken from the courtroom in ankle cuffs and denied the customary 45-day period before reporting to prison, treatment his attorneys said was unusually harsh for a white-collar case.
The “60 Minutes” report followed years of scrutiny of the Bush Justice Department’s dismissal of several U.S. attorneys, a separate controversy that led to congressional investigations and the eventual resignation of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Rove, Gonzales, former Vice President Dick Cheney and other administration officials have declined to testify to Congress about the matter, citing executive privilege.