Editorials

The testimony of an Alabama landfill developer helped put former governor Don Siegelman behind bars until November 2013.

When the same mover and shaker told federal prosecutors of wrongdoing on the part of two prominent Alabama Republicans, however, nothing was done about it.

Well, that sordid chapter is behind us, some may have mistakenly believed when Siegelman was shackled like an ax murderer and hustled off to prison after he was sentenced in late June. In fact, since then the murky circumstances surrounding the case have become more troubling.

According to previously secret government documents unearthed by Time magazine, Clayton Lamar “Lanny” Young Jr. had a story to tell federal prosecutors in Montgomery.

Don Siegelman, a prominent Democrat capable of winning statewide elections in a Republican-friendly state, has accepted illegal contributions.

The good times didn’t stop there, Young told the feds. He was free and easy with his money, giving, according to Time, “tens of thousands of dollars in apparently illegal campaign contributions to some of the biggest names in Alabama Republican politics.” Among the favored ones, Young said, were Jeff Sessions, former Alabama attorney general and current U.S. senator, and Bill Pryor, a former state AG who is now a Bush-appointed federal judge.

So what happened? Based partially on Young’s testimony, Siegelman was thrown into a hellish prosecutorial assault that ended with him sentenced to 88 months in federal prison. And what about Sessions and Pryor and the powerful allegations lodged against them by a man whose word was enough to hound Siegelman? Nothing. “Sessions and Pryor were on the home team,” is how Time quotes an unnamed person the magazine describes as “an individual present during key parts of the investigation.”

This new revelation alone ought to stir Congress to examine this case; it’s unacceptable to let stand the allegations against Pryor and Sessions. Give them a chance to either clear their names or prepare for a trial by jury.

Thanks to Time’s investigative work, one more layer of smoke descends on a case already so smoky that visibility is down to almost zero and with each new revelation the suggestions of a politically-motivated prosecution become more credible.

Let’s review.

The prosecutorial pass-through given Sessions and Pryor isn’t the first. The charge against Siegelman is that he exchanged favors for contributions to his 1999 pro-education-lottery election fund. Money that went to Republican anti-lottery forces through a secretive and highly suspect process involving an Indian casino in Mississippi and a right-wing think tank in Washington did not stir prosecutors.

In short, Siegelman was convicted of taking campaign cash in exchange for political favors. Were that standard applied broadly, Congress would shut down, the president would be forced to resign and every U.S. embassy close because big-money presidential contributors who were appointed ambassador would have to come home to “lawyer up.”

An Alabama attorney who had previously worked for Republican politics alleged that Siegelman’s prosecution was directed from the White House. Dana Jill Simpson has consistently and under oath claimed that during a conference call the husband of the Bush-appointed federal prosecutor in Montgomery strongly suggested Siegelman was a target of a political prosecution directed by Karl Rove, the president’s top political strategist. For the record, others on the conference call reject Simpson’s account.

Louis Franklin has the worst legal job this side of defending Britney Spears. He is the career prosecutor tapped to stand in for U.S. Attorney Leura Canary, the Bush appointee whose husband Billy Canary is a top Alabama Republican. Mrs. Canary recused herself and handed the reins to Franklin.

Lately Franklin has taken to defending himself and his office via press release. Mrs. Canary recused herself from the prosecution, but one wonders if she’s had a hand in the press releases that have followed. Franklin’s release uses an old saw in Alabama politics, blame the outsiders. “Recently, a number of articles, editorials, and postings on blogs have been authored by out-of-state reporters, columnists, and bloggers about the investigation and prosecution of Don Siegelman and Richard Scrushy,” Franklin says, adding that the “media reports appear to be part of an orchestrated disinformation campaign about the case.”

Gasp! Outside agitators?

This in-state editorial board has questions that deserve answers, Mr. Franklin. So do all Alabamians and Americans, who care that the law is applied fairly and without consideration of political party. The most serious charges are far removed from Franklin’s conduct or that of his team. They go to the heart of a presidential administration that demonstrated a willingness to use every angle, ethical or unethical, to go after political enemies, including firing U.S. attorneys who would not do its bidding.

We agree with Norman Ornstein from the conservative think tank the American Enterprise Institute. Of the Siegelman case, he writes, “This rancid mess needs to be investigated thoroughly, starting with Alabama. I understand that the House and Senate Judiciary committees have their plates full with many priorities and also pressure to look ahead, not just back to a prior scandal under a now-departed attorney general. But the committees have to get to the bottom of this one.”

So they do. We need answers.