Wednesday 9/12/2007 DAILY NEWS DIGEST

NOTE:  As of 8:00 a.m., neither The Birmingham News nor the Post-Register have online editions available due to technical difficulties.

Anniston Star – The Anniston Star says that the decision by the Justice Department not to release any records related to the Siegelman prosecution has the “smell of arrogance.”

Decatur Daily – Justice Department seeks hearing on Riley’s request for more time to implement HAVA.

Decatur Daily – The Decatur Daily contends that the Justice Department should release Siegelman records if it has “nothing to hide.”

Tuscaloosa News – Mother and daughter sentenced in Fire College property scam.

Times Daily – Sheffield voters approve property tax increase for schools.

Senate Sketches – “Senate Sketches,” Sen. Hank Sanders’ weekly column to his constituents.

Birmingham News – Former investigator says that Attorney General Troy King “led ‘witch hunt’ to remove Bessemer judge.

Huntsville Times – Madison County’s ranking in drops in latest Alabama Kids Count report.

Tuscaloosa News – Corrections Commissioner says ratio of inmates to guards twice national average.

Tuscaloosa News – Most West Alabama counties maintain low rankings in latest Kids County report.

AL.com – Pittman defeats McKinney for GOP nomination for Senate District 32.

FROM TODAY’S ANNISTON STAR:

Siegelman case focus of probe of Justice

Congressional Democrats will use the criminal case of former Gov. Don Siegelman as the main focus of an investigation in the U.S. House this week into allegations that the Department of Justice was involved in politically-motivated prosecutions.

The hearings, before the House Judiciary Committee, could prove to be explosive as defenders of the Bush administration and the Justice Department square off against staunch critics of both, including Alabama’s Rep. Artur Davis, a member of the committee and a former assistant U.S. prosecutor.

“I think it’s safe to say this is very much worthy of investigating,” he said following a 9/11 remembrance ceremony Tuesday night at the Leone Cole auditorium at Jacksonville State University.

Siegelman, a Democrat, was convicted earlier this year of corruption charges and sentenced to more than seven years in federal prison. He has long maintained his innocence, insisting that his prosecution was an attempt by Republicans to destroy him. His case is on appeal.

As part of the investigation into the Justice Department’s handling of Siegelman’s prosecution, members of the Judiciary Committee will hear testimony from Dana Jill Simpson, an Alabama attorney and former Republican operative.

Simpson has signed an affidavit saying she was part of a conference call with other high-level Republicans before Siegelman’s indictment. In that conversation, according to Simpson, one participant, William Canary, a Republican operative and the husband of U.S. Attorney Leura Canary, spoke of political connections to the upcoming prosecution.

Canary, Simpson wrote, said he had “gotten it worked out with Karl and that Karl had spoken with the Department of Justice and the Department of Justice was already pursuing Don Siegelman.”

The “Karl” referred to is Karl Rove, the political operative who recently resigned his White House post.

Canary, as well as others involved in the conversation, including Rob Riley the son of Gov. Bob Riley, and attorney Terry Butts, all deny Rove’s name was brought up or that they were part of a politically motivated prosecution.

Nevertheless, Davis said Rove needs to testify to lend his own voice to the conversation.

His “longstanding history in the state,” in which he, Canary, and other republican operatives have possibly rubbed elbows, needs to be on the record, he said.

“You can have all the conjecture you want,” Davis said. “(But) Karl Rove is the only person who can shed light on (this.)”

The acting U.S. attorney in Montgomery, Louis Franklin, has vigorously denied any political motivations in the case. Franklin, who took over the Siegelman prosecution after Leura Canary recused herself, said he was motivated only by his belief in Siegelman’s guilt.

Earlier, Rep. Davis’ colleague, House Judiciary Committee Chair John Conyers, a Michigan Democrat, wrote to the Justice Department asking for files dealing with Siegelman’s prosecution, but received word last week the department would not supply the information.

Noting that the case was on appeal, a DOJ spokesman told the Associated Press, “Prosecution memoranda contain frank assessments of evidence and witnesses, recommendations, and evaluations of legal issues. We believe that their disclosure would chill the candid internal deliberations that are essential to the discharge of our law enforcement responsibilities.”

But Davis said that conclusion has no legal basis because the committee is seeking answers for a closed case in which such internal deliberations should be beside the point.

“I can understand them protecting existing investigations, but this investigation is over,” he said.

Siegelman’s prosecution is attracting national media attention. Tuesday’s New York Times had a Page 1 story on the case. In it, The Times reported, “Forty-four former state attorneys-general, including some Republicans, from New York, California, Massachusetts and elsewhere have signed a petition urging Congress to look into Siegelman’s conviction, which his lawyers are appealing. ‘There is reason to believe that the case brought against Governor Siegelman may have had sufficient irregularities as to call into question the basic fairness that is the linchpin of our system of justice,’ the attorneys-general wrote.”

Committee members will also look at other cases they believe to be politically motivated, including the prosecution of a Wisconsin civil servant during a close governor’s race in that state. The civil servant, Georgia Thompson, was wrongly convicted by the Justice Department of awarding a contract to a Democratic contributor.

There is also a case in Pennsylvania that Davis said the committee is looking into, though he said he wasn’t sure of all the details.

Overall, he said the most important role he can assume along with his colleagues is finding out whether any wrongdoing has taken place.

“This is an oversight investigation in which we’re trying to determine whether there is a pattern of misconduct,” he said.