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| Former governor Don Siegelman lobbies for presidential pardon at DNC | Former governor Don Siegelman lobbies for presidential pardon at DNC |
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| Don Siegelman, the former governor of Alabama, has a particular reason to be lobbying for Barack Obama's re-election at this week's Democratic national convention. | Don Siegelman, the former governor of Alabama, has a particular reason to be lobbying for Barack Obama's re-election at this week's Democratic national convention. |
| Siegelman is in Charlotte at the pleasure of a federal judge, and is just days away from resuming a six-and-a-half-year prison sentence, following a widely publicised conviction on bribery charges stemming from his time in office more than a decade ago. His goal at the convention is to drum up support for a presidential pardon, which he knows can come only once President Obama is safely back in the White House for a second term. | Siegelman is in Charlotte at the pleasure of a federal judge, and is just days away from resuming a six-and-a-half-year prison sentence, following a widely publicised conviction on bribery charges stemming from his time in office more than a decade ago. His goal at the convention is to drum up support for a presidential pardon, which he knows can come only once President Obama is safely back in the White House for a second term. |
| It's not as much of a long shot as it may sound, because Siegelman is no ordinary felon. The magazine of the American Trial Lawyers Association has described him as "America's No 1 political prisoner", and his well-connected friends and supporters include more than 100 former state attorneys general and former Democratic presidential candidates Al Gore and John Kerry. | It's not as much of a long shot as it may sound, because Siegelman is no ordinary felon. The magazine of the American Trial Lawyers Association has described him as "America's No 1 political prisoner", and his well-connected friends and supporters include more than 100 former state attorneys general and former Democratic presidential candidates Al Gore and John Kerry. |
| Siegelman and his supporters believe he was deliberately targeted by Karl Rove's political machine in the George Bush White House, and that the charges against him would never have passed muster if the federal prosecutors, and the judges who heard his case, were not themselves political appointees with very personal reasons to want to destroy his career. | Siegelman and his supporters believe he was deliberately targeted by Karl Rove's political machine in the George Bush White House, and that the charges against him would never have passed muster if the federal prosecutors, and the judges who heard his case, were not themselves political appointees with very personal reasons to want to destroy his career. |
| "Rove came after me because he wanted me out of the way," Siegelman said in an interview from his family home in Birmingham. "I had been a successful Democrat in a Republican state … I was a Democrat they could not beat fair and square." | "Rove came after me because he wanted me out of the way," Siegelman said in an interview from his family home in Birmingham. "I had been a successful Democrat in a Republican state … I was a Democrat they could not beat fair and square." |
| While he was still in office, he was investigated by Alabama's attorney general, Bill Pryor, who was connected politically and socially with Rove. The investigation – which resulted in no charges – was used against him in his 2002 bid for re-election, which became nail-bitingly close. Siegelman lost that race after 7,000 votes were unexpectedly switched in the dead of night in a rural county controlled by the Republicans, and Pryor refused to permit a hand recount to counter widespread suspicions of vote-tampering. | While he was still in office, he was investigated by Alabama's attorney general, Bill Pryor, who was connected politically and socially with Rove. The investigation – which resulted in no charges – was used against him in his 2002 bid for re-election, which became nail-bitingly close. Siegelman lost that race after 7,000 votes were unexpectedly switched in the dead of night in a rural county controlled by the Republicans, and Pryor refused to permit a hand recount to counter widespread suspicions of vote-tampering. |
| Days after the election, the son of Siegelman's Republican challenger was overheard on a conference call describing Siegelman as a cockroach who would "never die". According to a Republican operative who later turned whistleblower, Bill Canary, the campaign manager for the new governor and another figure close to Rove, promised that his wife, Leura Canary, recently named a federal prosecutor, would take care of the problem. (Bill Canary denied this at the time and said he never sought to influence public officials. Rove has not denied contacts with the Justice Department over the Siegleman case.) | Days after the election, the son of Siegelman's Republican challenger was overheard on a conference call describing Siegelman as a cockroach who would "never die". According to a Republican operative who later turned whistleblower, Bill Canary, the campaign manager for the new governor and another figure close to Rove, promised that his wife, Leura Canary, recently named a federal prosecutor, would take care of the problem. (Bill Canary denied this at the time and said he never sought to influence public officials. Rove has not denied contacts with the Justice Department over the Siegleman case.) |
| Leura Canary mounted an initial trial against Siegelman in 2004, on charges relating to alleged Medicaid fraud. That collapsed within a day and the outraged judge dismissed the case "with prejudice", meaning that similar charges could not be brought again. | Leura Canary mounted an initial trial against Siegelman in 2004, on charges relating to alleged Medicaid fraud. That collapsed within a day and the outraged judge dismissed the case "with prejudice", meaning that similar charges could not be brought again. |
| But Leura Canary kept digging, and brought new charges on the eve of the 2006 governor's race, this time accusing Siegelman of extracting a campaign contribution from a healthcare company executive in exchange for a promise to appoint him to a state hospital oversight board. The charge hinged on a fuzzy area of federal law, because such arrangements are deemed illegal only if they hinge on an explicit quid pro quo, something that is almost impossible to prove. Under the American system, campaign donors win government appointments all the time and it is considered business as usual. | But Leura Canary kept digging, and brought new charges on the eve of the 2006 governor's race, this time accusing Siegelman of extracting a campaign contribution from a healthcare company executive in exchange for a promise to appoint him to a state hospital oversight board. The charge hinged on a fuzzy area of federal law, because such arrangements are deemed illegal only if they hinge on an explicit quid pro quo, something that is almost impossible to prove. Under the American system, campaign donors win government appointments all the time and it is considered business as usual. |
| One snag in the Siegelman prosecution was that the bribery allegation fell outside the statute of limitations, because the alleged offense had taken place more than five years earlier. Canary got around that by filing additional federal racketeering charges, on which the statute of limitations runs to 10 years. The racketeering part of the indictment was subsequently thrown out, but it served its purpose because the rest of the indictment was allowed to move to trial. | One snag in the Siegelman prosecution was that the bribery allegation fell outside the statute of limitations, because the alleged offense had taken place more than five years earlier. Canary got around that by filing additional federal racketeering charges, on which the statute of limitations runs to 10 years. The racketeering part of the indictment was subsequently thrown out, but it served its purpose because the rest of the indictment was allowed to move to trial. |
| The presiding judge, Mark Fuller, a Bush appointee, made a series of rulings against Siegelman. He would not allow Siegelman to introduce evidence of possible political conflicts of interest, and instructed the jury that proof of an explicit quid pro quo was not necessary to find Siegelman guilty. | The presiding judge, Mark Fuller, a Bush appointee, made a series of rulings against Siegelman. He would not allow Siegelman to introduce evidence of possible political conflicts of interest, and instructed the jury that proof of an explicit quid pro quo was not necessary to find Siegelman guilty. |
| By the time Siegelman's case was appealed, Bush had promoted Bill Pryor, the former state attorney general, to a judgeship on the 11th circuit, in a recess appointment that bypassed the objections of Senate Democrats. Two of the seven charges on which Siegelman was convicted were eventually quashed, and he was deemed eligible for a resentencing hearing – by Judge Fuller, who cut the original punishment by just 10 months. He has served nine months in federal prison to date, with another 69 months to go. | By the time Siegelman's case was appealed, Bush had promoted Bill Pryor, the former state attorney general, to a judgeship on the 11th circuit, in a recess appointment that bypassed the objections of Senate Democrats. Two of the seven charges on which Siegelman was convicted were eventually quashed, and he was deemed eligible for a resentencing hearing – by Judge Fuller, who cut the original punishment by just 10 months. He has served nine months in federal prison to date, with another 69 months to go. |
| Siegelman is arguably the most clamorous victim of the Bush administration's unprecedented efforts to politicise the justice department and apply political pressure on US attorneys around the country to pursue politically motivated prosecutions. | Siegelman is arguably the most clamorous victim of the Bush administration's unprecedented efforts to politicise the justice department and apply political pressure on US attorneys around the country to pursue politically motivated prosecutions. |
| And his was undoubtedly the most spectacular political fall. He was once touted as a possible presidential candidate and might have run in 2004 – if he had overcome his re-election battle in Alabama two years earlier. Like his contemporary Bill Clinton, he was a fast-rising star from the deep south, and a lawyer educated at Georgetown University and at Oxford. | |
| Now he is fighting to restore what is left of his reputation, and to campaign for judicial reform to make it impossible to launch political witchhunts like the one he believes targeted him. The man coordinating his pardon campaign is Greg Craig, who defended Bill Clinton against impeachment in 1998 and was President Obama's first White House counsel. | Now he is fighting to restore what is left of his reputation, and to campaign for judicial reform to make it impossible to launch political witchhunts like the one he believes targeted him. The man coordinating his pardon campaign is Greg Craig, who defended Bill Clinton against impeachment in 1998 and was President Obama's first White House counsel. |
| In Charlotte he faces a delicate task – lobbying for support without becoming a distraction, or a possible target for Republican operatives looking for dirt to tarnish Obama's re-election bid. | In Charlotte he faces a delicate task – lobbying for support without becoming a distraction, or a possible target for Republican operatives looking for dirt to tarnish Obama's re-election bid. |
| "I'm going to be speaking to friends of mine – members of Congress, secretaries of state, attorneys general, lieutenant governors and governors, all of whom have been very supportive," Siegelman said. "But I'm not going to pester these people. The focus of the convention is getting Barack Obama re-elected." | "I'm going to be speaking to friends of mine – members of Congress, secretaries of state, attorneys general, lieutenant governors and governors, all of whom have been very supportive," Siegelman said. "But I'm not going to pester these people. The focus of the convention is getting Barack Obama re-elected." |
| Next week – on the portentous date of September 11 – Siegelman will report to the federal penitentiary in Oakdale, Louisiana. It is, he says, an 18-hour round trip from his family's home – the furthest point the authorities could have chosen within their judicial district. He plans to use his time behind bars not only to campaign for himself, but to publicizise the iniquities of the American system that the public, in his opinion, only dimly appreciates. | Next week – on the portentous date of September 11 – Siegelman will report to the federal penitentiary in Oakdale, Louisiana. It is, he says, an 18-hour round trip from his family's home – the furthest point the authorities could have chosen within their judicial district. He plans to use his time behind bars not only to campaign for himself, but to publicizise the iniquities of the American system that the public, in his opinion, only dimly appreciates. |
| "People don't want to believe that the US government would use torture as a means of interrogation," he said. "They don't want to believe the government would use illegal wiretaps, or that we would be led into war under false pretenses. They don't want to believe elections in the United States are stolen, or that people can manipulate the department of justice and use it as a weapon in politics. But all those things happen." | "People don't want to believe that the US government would use torture as a means of interrogation," he said. "They don't want to believe the government would use illegal wiretaps, or that we would be led into war under false pretenses. They don't want to believe elections in the United States are stolen, or that people can manipulate the department of justice and use it as a weapon in politics. But all those things happen." |
| • This article was amended on 7 September 2012, because the original incorrectly suggested that Don Siegelman was a Rhodes scholar. |