JUNE 27 2007
1. The Judge wants to consider even the charges that Siegelman
was acquitted of and put him away for 30 years - TMPmuckraker.
2. Blakey says that this case is the worst drafted RICO he has ever
seen according to an article from the NYT.
3. Justice Department Lies about Freedom of Information Act
requests.
..............................................................................................................
Sentencing: Day 2
By Laura McGann - 2:46 PM TMPmuckraker
Siegelman's sentencing hearing, which has extended into its second
day today, has provoked his latest assertions.
“The government is asking that he be penalized for every single thing
he was charged with, whether he was acquitted or not,” said Susan
James, a Siegelman lawyer. “We strongly object to the court
considering acquitted conduct.”
Franklin's Role
In the face of Siegleman's claims that Canary kick-started the
prosecution against him the head prosecutor on Siegelman's case
now, Acting US Attorney Louis V. Franklin, has claimed he was solely
responsible for Siegelman's case.
But there is reason to think he protests too much. Because some of
his statements didn't jibe:
“I can, however, state with absolute certainty that the entire story is
misleading because Karl Rove had no role whatsoever in bringing
about the investigation or prosecution of former Governor Don
Siegelman. It is intellectually dishonest to even suggest that Mr. Rove
influenced or had any input into the decision to investigate or
prosecute Don Siegelman”
According to Franklin's own statement, there was another assistant
US attorney (Pryor) who handled the case for months before he
started, making it hard to reconcile his claim that the "decision to
investigate or prosecute Don Siegelman" was his own.
Franklin also said in his three-page statement that he had never
even taken a look at the affidavit, making his claim that its author
must be "intellectually dishonest," a possibly unfair conclusion.
<link to TMPmuckraker>
..............................................................................................................
The Worst Drafted RICO I Have Ever Seen
By Adam Nossiter The New York Times
The shakiness of the federal case against Mr. Siegelman had forced
prosecutors to “adopt the garbage-can theory of RICO,” said G.
Robert Blakey, a law professor at the University of Notre Dame and
former prosecutor, referring to the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt
Organization Act. Professor Blakey suggested that the charges
against Mr. Siegelman had been indiscriminate from the outset.
“It’s a joke,” Professor Blakey said. “A guy walks in, gives a
contribution, and gets an appointment? Until Congress reforms this,
this is the system we live under. They are criminalizing this
contribution.”
Furthermore, Mr. Blakey derided the prosecutors’ racketeering case
against Mr. Siegelman. “It’s the worst-drafted RICO I’ve ever seen,”
said the professor, whose career at the Justice Department began in
1960. “You find as much trash as you can, then you dump it in.”
<link to NYT>
.............................................................................................................................................
Justice Department Continues to Lie About FOIA
By Scott Horton of Harper's
the Justice Department continues to flout the law, and to issue false
public statements about it.
<more>
1. The Judge wants to consider even the charges that Siegelman
was acquitted of and put him away for 30 years - TMPmuckraker.
2. Blakey says that this case is the worst drafted RICO he has ever
seen according to an article from the NYT.
3. Justice Department Lies about Freedom of Information Act
requests.
..............................................................................................................
Sentencing: Day 2
By Laura McGann - 2:46 PM TMPmuckraker
Siegelman's sentencing hearing, which has extended into its second
day today, has provoked his latest assertions.
“The government is asking that he be penalized for every single thing
he was charged with, whether he was acquitted or not,” said Susan
James, a Siegelman lawyer. “We strongly object to the court
considering acquitted conduct.”
Franklin's Role
In the face of Siegleman's claims that Canary kick-started the
prosecution against him the head prosecutor on Siegelman's case
now, Acting US Attorney Louis V. Franklin, has claimed he was solely
responsible for Siegelman's case.
But there is reason to think he protests too much. Because some of
his statements didn't jibe:
“I can, however, state with absolute certainty that the entire story is
misleading because Karl Rove had no role whatsoever in bringing
about the investigation or prosecution of former Governor Don
Siegelman. It is intellectually dishonest to even suggest that Mr. Rove
influenced or had any input into the decision to investigate or
prosecute Don Siegelman”
According to Franklin's own statement, there was another assistant
US attorney (Pryor) who handled the case for months before he
started, making it hard to reconcile his claim that the "decision to
investigate or prosecute Don Siegelman" was his own.
Franklin also said in his three-page statement that he had never
even taken a look at the affidavit, making his claim that its author
must be "intellectually dishonest," a possibly unfair conclusion.
<link to TMPmuckraker>
..............................................................................................................
The Worst Drafted RICO I Have Ever Seen
By Adam Nossiter The New York Times
The shakiness of the federal case against Mr. Siegelman had forced
prosecutors to “adopt the garbage-can theory of RICO,” said G.
Robert Blakey, a law professor at the University of Notre Dame and
former prosecutor, referring to the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt
Organization Act. Professor Blakey suggested that the charges
against Mr. Siegelman had been indiscriminate from the outset.
“It’s a joke,” Professor Blakey said. “A guy walks in, gives a
contribution, and gets an appointment? Until Congress reforms this,
this is the system we live under. They are criminalizing this
contribution.”
Furthermore, Mr. Blakey derided the prosecutors’ racketeering case
against Mr. Siegelman. “It’s the worst-drafted RICO I’ve ever seen,”
said the professor, whose career at the Justice Department began in
1960. “You find as much trash as you can, then you dump it in.”
<link to NYT>
.............................................................................................................................................
Justice Department Continues to Lie About FOIA
By Scott Horton of Harper's
the Justice Department continues to flout the law, and to issue false
public statements about it.
<more>
| __________________________________________________________________________________________ Sponsored by Friends of Don Siegelman 2007 <feedback> __________________________________________________________________________________________ |
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| photo: Huffington Press Franklin said the sentence "was a righteous prosecution." |
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