2007 Print and Online Media

Don Siegelman’s coverage in the media exploded in 2007. The Attorney’s General Scandal, lies about the weapons of Mass Destruction and the Valerie Plame Affair all pointed a finger at the White House, and specifically to the consultant to the President, Karl Rove.

Then, in June several events rocketed the obscure Alabama governor to national consciousness. First, a sworn testimony exposed Karl Rove’s role as puppet master of Democratic Governor Don Siegelman’s prosecution. This revelation was soon followed by his early retirement from his White House position. Within this same time frame, the year-long Siegelman prosecution resulted in over-the-top, abusive treatment in sentencing. America was shocked – both sides of the aisle – and started to ask what was going on in Alabama?

Below we list many of the links to online/print media concerning the case.

Spring & Summer

In 2007 the prosecution of Don Siegelman was mostly a local Alabama news item and a handful of progressive blogs. Then in June the media exploded the Don Siegelman Case into national (international) consciousness. The fodder for this media coverage in the spring of 2007 were primarily 3 events.

The first event occurred in early summer of 2007. After a year-long trial, Judge Fuller handed down a draconian sentence, including manacles and shackles, in the case of Governor Siegelman. This cruel sentencing raised eyebrows and dropped jaws, even in his own camp. The second event was the revelation that Karl Rove had directed the prosecution from the White House, substantiated by sworn testimony by a Alabama Republican operative. The third event took place at the end of the summer. Karl Rove prematurely left his job at the White House under a dark cloud of suspicion. He was soon followed by Attorney General Gonzales.

2007 Spring and Summer

3/15/2007
New E-Mails Show Rove, Gonzales Had Deeper Role In U.S. Attorney Firings
ThinkProgress

4/26/2007
Political Briefings At Agencies Disclosed
WaPo

6/01/2007
Rove Named in Alabama Controversy
TIME/CNN

6/07/2007
Affidavit Links Rove to Siegelman Prosecution
Tuscaloosa News

6/272007
Sentencing Hearing Begins for Scrushy and Siegelman
White Collar Crime Prof Blog

7/31/2007
Mark Fuller and the Siegelman Case
Harpers

8/03/2007
Judge Fuller and the Trial of Don Siegelman
Harpers

8/06/2007
Selective Prosecution
NYT

8/13/2007
The Mark of Rove
WSJ

8/13/2007
Karl Rove Quits the White House
The Guardian

8/13/2007
Karl Rove’s Unfinished Business (the Trail Leads, Yet Again, to Alabama)
Harpers

8/13/2007
The House Lawyer Departs
NYT

8/14/2007
Free Don Siegelman
Jewlicious

9/10/2007
Leura Canary’s Stonewalling
Harper’s

9/10/2007
The Strange Case of an Imprisoned Alabama Governor
NYT

9/14/2007
The Remarkable ‘Recusal’ of Leura Canary
Harpers

Fall & Winter Holidays

In the Fall people began to process what had happened at the sentencing of Don Siegelman. Don Siegelman was shackled, manacled, and rushed to prison without giving him time to get his affairs in order. Observers reeled at the heavy handed treatment, conviction and sentence at the hands of Judge Mark Fuller. The public asked “What was going on with Judge Mark Fuller to warrant such extreme and abusive behavior?”

Questions were raised about the irregularities in the trial, irregularities the appeal, and the withholding of public documents. Partisan behavior of the various supposedly impartial players in the prosecution was shocking. A cast of shadow players secretly organized and financed the prosecution. The covers were getting pulled back on the Don Siegelman Case