Siegelman And Stevens Prosecutors Team Up -- And Controversy Ensues - TPMMuckraker

Siegelman And Stevens Prosecutors Team Up -- And Controversy Ensues
Zachary Roth | April 8, 2010, 12:08PM

<snip>

OK, this is one of those stories where there's just so much potential muck that no one comes out looking too good...

The Justice Department is investigating credible allegations that an Alabama lobbyist tried to bribe lawmakers for their votes on a recent high-profile state bill. But the prosecutorial team -- which includes several members of the group that ran the controversial Don Siegelman case as well as the Justice Department lawyer who's under investigation for misconduct in the Ted Stevens case -- is being accused of conducting a politically motivated prosecution on behalf of the state's Republican governor.

Let's start with the first-order muck:

As we've reported, the Alabama Senate last week passed a bill that would move toward legalizing electronic bingo -- a major political issue in the state. Two days later, federal prosecutors from the local US attorney's office and the Justice Department's Public Integrity unit held a meeting with legislative leaders, where they revealed that they were probing whether senators had been bribed for their votes. One senator, Republican Paul Sanford, told reporters about a conversation he said he had last year with Jarrod Massey, a lobbyist for bingo interests. "He said he had two clients that were each willing to write me a check for $125,000," said Stanford, of Massey. "Then he said, 'Of course, there's no quid pro quo, but they need to know where you stand,' " According to Stanford, Massey added: "The guys I represent could fund your campaign two or three times over."

Sounds mucky enough. But the plot thickens:

The U.S. attorney on the case, Leura Canary, is a close political ally of Gov. Bob Riley, a Republican, who has been on a crusade against electronic bingo, and has strongly opposed the bill currently under consideration. Earlier this decade, Riley appointed Canary to an Indian gambling commission. Indeed, you might remember Canary's ties to Riley from the prosecution of former governor Don Siegelman. In that case, Canary was ultimately forced to recuse herself because her husband, a top GOP political operative and Karl Rove associate, had run Riley's successful 2002 campaign for governor against Siegelman, a Democrat. Numerous independent observers have raised serious questions about the impartiality and integrity of the Siegelman prosecution. And in addition to Canary, several other federal prosecutors from her office who worked in the Siegelman case -- including her top deputy, Louis Franklin -- also are now involved in the bingo investigation.

<snip>

More: http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/04/are_siegelman_and_stevens_prosecutors_teaming_up_o.php

:wow: