Former U.S. Attorney to Testify about Siegelman Case

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Tomorrow morning the House Judiciary Committee will hold a heading on whether politics spurred a series of prosecutions, focusing on the cases of Cyril Wecht and former Gov. Don Siegelman (D-AL).

Unfortunately, Dana Jill Simpson, the Republican lawyer who has given sworn statements that implicate Karl Rove in the decision to prosecute Siegelman is not on the witness list.

Siegelman’s legal team has long-maintained that the decision to prosecute the former Democratic governor was an assault from Republicans in the state with connections at the Department of Justice. One of Siegleman’s former lawyers and former US attorney for Alabama, Doug Jones, is set to testify tomorrow. Jones already told House investigators that in 2004 lawyers in Montgomery mentioned that when the case against Siegelman stalled, they were told by Justice Department officials in Washington to “take another look at everything.” Jones gave the same story to The New York Times last month.

Rep. Artur Davis (D-AL), who sits on the judiciary committee, has pushed for an official look at the role of partisanship in prosecutions of public officials since Siegelman’s case picked up speed this summer. In an Op-Ed in today’s Montgomery Adviser he echoed his point, citing a study showing that the Bush administration’s Justice Department has brought four times as many prosecutions against Democrats than Republicans.

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