Don Siegelman is still serving a 7 year sentence. Is that F'd up or what?

[mistertrickster]

2.5 years after Obama was elected on "Change," his Justice Dept. can't seem to summon the will to pursue the real criminals in this trumped up travesty of justice.

Even if Siegelman were guilty of the wrong-doing he's accused of (giving a donor a non-paid chairmanship of a powerless board, the same chairmanship he had for the previous two terms under R-Gov's) which he's not, the sentence itself is a crime. Another former Gov. Guy Hunt (R-obviously) pocketed 200 grand and only got probation.


Free Don Siegelman

http://donsiegelman.org/

[Octafish]

1. Just-Us

Of course, Bushes, Cheney and Rove run free.

[xxqqqzme]

2. IOIWDDI

[L. Coyote]

28. IYAARIILTCC. I googled your acronym, and got only this thread.

IYAARIILTCC (pronounced aye air eel tick)
(If you are a Republican, it is legal to commit crimes)

On edit, found it on DU:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4515519&mesg_id=4515764

[mod mom]

3. kicking for justice's sake. I had so much hope that Obama & the Dems would

act to bring justice & peace to this country. So disappointed. I'm at the point of hoping a third party (Or Progressive Dem) will enter the race as I don't know if I can even vote for the guy.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

10. He could be freed at the stroke of a pen by Obama

just saying...

[Freddie Stubbs]

12. President Obama has issued 9 pardons so far:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_pardoned_by_Barack_Obama

[mod mom]

18. Conspiracy to defraud by making false statements to the Food and Drug Administration.

pardonable but political prisoner sentenced by a corrupt judge...not so pardonable?

Seigelman's Judge Fuller:

The Pork Barrel World of Judge Mark Fuller
By Scott Horton

For the last week, we’ve been examining the role played by Judge Mark Everett Fuller in the trial, conviction, and sentencing of former Alabama Governor Don E. Siegelman. Today, we examine a post-trial motion, filed in April 2007, asking Fuller to recuse himself based on his extensive private business interests, which turn very heavily on contracts with the United States Government, including the Department of Justice.

The recusal motion rested upon details about Fuller’s personal business interests. On February 22, 2007, defense attorneys obtained information that Judge Fuller held a controlling 43.75% interest in government contractor Doss Aviation, Inc. After investigating these claims for over a month, the attorneys filed a motion for Fuller’s recusal on April 18, 2007. The motion stated that Fuller’s total stake in Doss Aviation was worth between $1-5 million, and that Fuller’s income from his stock for 2004 was between $100,001 and $1 million dollars.

In other words, Judge Fuller likely made more from his business income, derived from U.S. Government contracts, than as a judge. Fuller is shown on one filing as President of the principal business, Doss Aviation, and his address is shown as One Church Street, Montgomery, Alabama, the address of the Frank M. Johnson Federal Courthouse, in which his chambers are located.

-snip
http://harpers.org/archive/2007/08/hbc-90000762

[Freddie Stubbs]

19. The 'corrupt' judge has not been convicted of, or even charged with, any corruption

[mod mom]

20. exactly. if we had a just justice, Siegelman case would be fully investigated

and Judge Fuller would be scrutinized, instead his corrupt verdict stands. Holder can't be bothered by such cases but looking at the pardons that Obama has made, "Conspiracy to defraud by making false statements to the Food and Drug Administration, "

Dorsey ran an import-export firm when he made false statements to the FDA to avoid paying taxes.
-snip

http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-243554080.html

attempting to avoid paying taxes...now there's a stellar person whose case is worthy of scrutiny & a presidential pardon. :mad:

[Freddie Stubbs]

21. Do you know for a fact that Holder and the Justice Department did not investigate this case?

Or are you just assuming that because you do not like the outcome?

[JDPriestly]

32. I don't find a reference on Google to an investigation since 2008.

I don't see that anyone appointed by Obama has looked to see what happened.

But then, Siegelman was a potential presidential contender -- and a very, very strong one, and from what I have seen, Obama does not like competition.

Siegelman brought an appeal in 2009, but I don't see any suggestion that the Justice Department questioned or investigated itself about the merits of the underlying case or any possible wrongdoing.

This is another case of selective looking forward by the Obama administration.

A critical look at the involvement of Justice Department at anything done by the Bush administration is "off the table."

Social Security and Medicare are on the table, but investigating the criminal conduct of the previous Bush administration is off the table.

Same show, same sponsors, only the names and faces of the actors have been changed to protect the guilty.

[Freddie Stubbs]

34. Does the Justice Department make a public announcement for each and every one of its investigations?

[rhett o rick]

37. Yeah Freddie, it was a secret investigation and found out Bush was right. Why dont you Third Way'ers

start your own party?

[Freddie Stubbs]

41. Why should we start our own party when we are getting our way now?

;)

[JDPriestly]

39. There was an investigation in 2008 -- during the Bush administration.

We want the Obama administration to investigate now.

Why? Because we do not trust the Bush administration Justice Department to have objectively and fairly investigated its own employees, its own staff and judges that decided with the Bush administration.

That is especially true because there are allegations that Rove may have influenced the Siegelman case in some way. Those allegations may be true or false. They should be independently investigated by the Obama administration's Justice Department -- and most importantly, by people within the current Justice Department who are not in any way associated with the staff and lawyers, etc. who worked on the Siegelman case.

Don Siegelman was an up and coming, honest politician. He was a contender for the presidency although not announced.

I lived in Mobile and in Southern Alabama for some years. The politics were rotten there back then, and I have no doubt that they still are.

So this should be investigated. And sooner rather than later.

An attorney from Alabama testified before Congress accusing, as I understand it, Karl Rove of some improper involvement in the case. Was she telling the truth? Why would she perjure herself?

So a lot of questions remain.

[Freddie Stubbs]

42. How do you know that the Obama Administration did not review that investigation

or even conduct their own investigation? It is unlikely that they are unaware of the conspiracy allegations.

[tblue]

4. Well we never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.

We looked to a hero who is anything but. Everybody who claims we cherrypick or if you demand examples of unpardonable failure: HERE YA GO!!!

[QC]

5. When Holder gets through jailing cancer patients and letting financial criminals run free,

he will surely get right on the Siegelman case.

[indepat]

6. The Siegelman case is but a microcosm of justice in the house of

Holder. :patriot:

[mistertrickster]

7. The prosecutor claimed that KKKarl Rove had nothing to do with the case,

but when Rove was questioned about it, he had no comment and the first thing he did was to "lawyer up."

Then the Bush WH claimed "exec privilege."

Well . . . nothing to see here then.

[DefenseLawyer]

8. As someone who deals with the DOJ almost every day

Nothing has changed there. Nothing. Same policies and even the same people for the most part.

[Rex]

9. That is the one thing that has pissed my off completely.

Why the HELL would you leave the Dick Cheney JD intact? That's just insane and Obama didn't just drop the ball on this one, he punted on 1st down.

[sabrina 1]

11. So what was the point of electing Democrats if they changed nothing

This is an issue that should be a big part of the next election. What are they going to do about ending Bush policies and getting rid of Bush holdovers.

[L. Coyote]

29. Ask instead why an intern at Bush's Counsel's law firm ran for President.

That's right, Obama's firm, Sidley Austin, defended the Bush criminals during the oversight hearings. Search DU for the firm name.
One of the partners worked as Bush's legal counsel in the White House before Obama entered national politics.
Obama's personal connections to Bush's legal defense were well-known from before he entered electoral politics.

[sabrina 1]

38. I did not know that, thank you.

Seems they are all connected somehow ~

[bvar22]

13. I thought it would NOT be possible to go lower than Alberto Gonzales,

but Eric Holder has proved me wrong.

The Very First Thing on Holder's list
was to get corrupt Republican Senator Ted Stevens out of jail.


But Democrat Don Siegelman,
the obvious victim of a corrupt Rail Roading in which Carl Rove was directly implicated?

Don WHO?

[no_hypocrisy]

14. Beyond fucked up.

[amborin]

15. very

[Rex]

16. No justice, just justice for some.

[FourScore]

17. I thought he got out, but his charges had not been dismissed!

Is he still in prison?

:wtf:

[former9thward]

24. The 11th circuit upheld his conviction in May, 2011

Siegelman is appealing to the Supreme Court. He is free while on appeal.

[rhett o rick]

22. Are you saying he is in prison? If so, please give us a link, if not, it's a very misleading

headline. I support Siegelman but want to know the truth.

[mistertrickster]

30. I thought he was in prison. I may be wrong apparently.

Could not find a link one way or the other.

I know he has done some prison time.

[rhett o rick]

33. I believe he is not in prison at this time. Below is a good link.

http://donsiegelman.org/

[Freddie Stubbs]

35. Why let fact get in the way of a good Obama-bashing?

[rhett o rick]

36. Your whining is getting tiresome Freddie. Apparently you stand with Obama and Bush re. Don

Seigelman. Some of us hoped Obama would rectify some of the Bush disasters. Were we wrong. The Obama admin sides with Bush vs. Seigelman and sides with Cheney vs. war crimes trials.

We have to kick the damn Blue Dogs (read Republicans) out of our party.

[Kingofalldems]

40. +1

[Freddie Stubbs]

43. I stand with President Obama and the punishment of crooks

We should not give a free pass to crooks just because we do not like the previous administration.

If you want to get rid of the Blue Dogs in Congress, why not have liberals run in their districts. Dennis Kucinich is shopping for a seat to run for. Perhaps he should run in a Blue Dog district rather than a safe, cozy, overwhelmingly Democratic seat.

[Name removed]

23. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[spicegal]

25. This story has completely fallen off the radar screen.

What's the deal? This man should have been freed a long time ago. What an incredible travesty. Guess no one is talking about it anymore. And when you consider what so many other politicians have gotten away with. Take Dick Cheney, the war criminal, as just one small example.

[grahamhgreen]

26. OTOH, convicted Rep Senator Ted Sevens had his conviction voided by the Admin.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ted_Stevens#Convictions_voided_and_indictment_dismissed

[Freddie Stubbs]

44. Because the judge found that there was prosecutorial misconduct in that case

No judge has ever made such a finding in the Siegelman case.

[maddezmom]

27. He's free on bail pending while he persues his appeal

http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2011/05/former_alabama_gov_don_siegelm_1.html

[mistertrickster]

31. "Siegelman, who received a seven-year sentence, has been free while he pursues his appeal."

I stand corrected.