by D. Cupples | While former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman was in prison, fifty-two former state attorneys General (including Republicans) asked Congress to investigate the questionable prosecution. In October, Time Magazine published an in-depth story about it. In February, CBS aired its 60 Minutes story (embedded below). Siegelman was released in March, pending his appeal.
It turns out that the federal government had quietly launched an investigation and just as quietly stopped the investigation last year -- while Siegelman was still in jail. The Associated Press reports:
"The U.S. Office of Special Counsel last year shut down a previously undisclosed investigation into the federal prosecution of former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman, according to an internal memo made public Wednesday.
"The investigation was being conducted by a task force formed at the agency a year ago to pursue high-profile political investigations in Washington, most notably whether the White House played politics in firing U.S. attorneys.
"It began gathering information on the Siegelman case in September and was planning to request documents from the Justice Department in October before Special Counsel Scott Bloch ordered the case closed, according to the Jan. 18 draft memo, made public by the Project on Government Oversight, a watchdog group.
"The investigation was one of many that the task force had taken up, and the memo shows that Bloch frequently differed with investigators about which cases to pursue.
"For example, he asked the task force to broaden its investigations into the fired prosecutors and into whether federal agencies received political briefings from the White House to boost GOP electoral fortunes. But he shut down an investigation into whether the Justice Department was hinging its hiring decisions on job applicants' political affiliations.
"An attorney for Bloch, who himself is under a federal investigation, declined comment. But a person familiar with the origins of the POGO draft document said the decision to not pursue Siegelman or other cases stemmed mostly from a shortage of time and resources. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation.
"Siegelman, a Democrat, said the memo suggests further political interference in his case and reiterated his call for the Justice Department to appoint a special prosecutor to take up the matter.
"'The question is who told them to shut it down,' Siegelman said Wednesday when told of the memo. 'Why would you start an investigation and let it proceed and then shut it down? The logical conclusion is that somebody intervened and told them to shut down the investigation.'" (AP/Truthout)
The CBS 60 Minutes video below gives background.
Related BN-Politics Posts:
* Overview: Fired U.S. Attorney Scandal
* Fired U.S. Attorney McKay Speaks Out
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