Time Magazine reported on what looks like a bone-chilling case of selective prosecution, though it's not surprising given the evidence exposed during congressional hearings about the politicization of the Justice Department:
"On May 8, 2002, Clayton Lamar (Lanny) Young Jr., a lobbyist and landfill developer... settled into his chair, personal lawyer at his side, and proceeded to tell a group of seasoned prosecutors and investigators that he had paid tens of thousands of dollars in apparently illegal campaign contributions to some of the biggest names in Alabama Republican politics....
"Young, whose detailed statements are described in documents obtained by TIME, became a key witness in a major case in Alabama that brought down a high-profile politician and landed him in federal prison with an 88-month sentence. As it happened, however, that official was the top Democrat named by Young in a series of interviews, and none of the Republicans whose campaigns he fingered were investigated in the case, let alone prosecuted....
"The case of Don Siegelman, the Democratic former Governor of Alabama who was convicted last year on corruption charges, has become a flash point in the debate over the politicization of the Bush Administration's Justice Department. Forty-four former state attorneys general — Republicans and Democrats — have cited 'irregularities' in the investigation and prosecution...."
In May, Republican lawyer Dana Simpson indicated in an affidavit that the prosecution of Siegelman seemed politically motivated (Siegelman had sought a vote recount after Republican Governor Bob Riley narrowly beat him); Simpson also linked Siegelman's prosecution to former White House political adviser Karl Rove. (BN-Politics)
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