Verdict with Dan Abrams: Don Siegelman Speaks Out
By Nicole Belle Monday Apr 07, 2008 9:20pm
Download | play 
Download | play (h/t BillW) *video fixed
Dan Abrams, who has been outstanding about keeping the Don Siegelman story at the forefront of his show, had Siegelman on to speak out about his incarceration and the fight in front of him to get Congress to investigate his prosecution and uncover the corruption and White House tentacles that railroad Democrats but ignore Republicans.
SIEGELMAN: We have got to seek out the truth. And I want to, again, commend you and Bush League Justice for pushing this issue forward. This case and these circumstances will make Watergate look like child`s play if Congress will dig into these things. You brought up something right before the break about two prominent Republicans who were exposed during the course of this investigation but were not pursued.
Remind me again, what was it that Congress forced to do when the details about the Watergate break in started to leak out to the general public?
Transcripts below the fold
ABRAMS: We`re back with our exclusive interview with former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman, released from prison last week, convicted of corruption, mail fraud and bribery. Siegelman was sentenced to seven crimes in prison, he spent nine months in the Oakdale Federal Detention Center in Louisiana until a little more than a week ago when an appeals court overruled a federal judge and let him out pending his appeal, saying that there are substantial questions of law or fact that need to be addressed.
Governor Siegelman, let me ask you about serving time. A former governor of Alabama, I`ve got to believe that many of your fellow prisoners knew who you were, knew the circumstances surrounding your case, what was that like?
SIEGELMAN: Well, I was treated like any other prisoner. And it was, you know, it was not a pleasant experience. And the experience those men are going through is not pleasant for them either. You know, if God had a purpose for me going through this, I think part of it is to try to fix some of those things that are wrong with our system and ensure that these kind of things don`t happen to people in the future. And I want to get back to one thing. We have got to seek out the truth. And I want to, again, commend you and Bush League Justice for pushing this issue forward. This case and these circumstances will make Watergate look like child`s play if Congress will dig into these things. You brought up something right before the break about two prominent Republicans who were exposed during the course of this investigation but were not pursued. When my lawyers tried to subpoena the records of the national Republican Party and Jack Abramoff`s funneling of millions of Indian casino money through Grover Norquist and Ralph Reed and Mike Scanlon.
ABRAMS: All right. Wait, we`re getting too many names here. Let`s keep it simple. I mean, the point is, right, that these two Republicans, one is now a senator and one is a federal judge, and reportedly, one of the key witnesses against you made allegations against them, and they were not investigated or prosecuted, correct?
SIEGELMAN: Well, they were not investigated or prosecuted because the investigators were personal friends and former employees or current employees of either the attorney general or former attorney general who was the U.S. attorney. They weren`t prosecuted because the prosecutors who were in the room had either worked for them as their chief deputy or were their personal friends or married to them. So, it was an obvious conflict of interest that was ignored not only by the local people but also by the two representatives of the United States Department of Justice and the FBI who were also in that same room.
ABRAMS: But it sounds like, and again, governor, it sounds like you are alleging corruption at so many different levels. I mean, I think, some people can accept the notion that, you know, there are certain Republicans who are out to get you, et cetera, but as we talk more about this, right, there are more people involved, and it sounds like you`re saying that the corruption here was pretty deep.
SIEGELMAN: I`m saying that there was -- there is a connection, and that all of the roads lead to Rove. All of the dots, when you connect the dots, they lead to Karl Rove. And this case could be the map quest that sets Congress on a journey that will take them to Karl Rove if they will start looking at those people.
ABRAMS: All right. Let`s assume -- Congress, as you know, there is now an issue as to whether you should testify or not, because I would have think that anything you say in front of Congress can be used against you. You`re appealing your case right. In fact, one of your staunchest allies on Capitol Hill has said that he doesn`t think you should testify
for fear that you`re going to hurt your own case. Are you ready to go to Capitol Hill and testify?
SIEGELMAN: I`m ready to go to Capitol Hill and give them whatever information I can. This is not about me. It is about America and it is about finding out who has used - they abused their power and used the Department of Justice to subvert our democracy?
And it is bigger than Don Siegelman, it`s bigger than this case. It`s bigger than Georgia Thompson and the other people who`d been abused by the Department of Justice, but Congress owes it to the people of America to find out the truth. And that`s what my quest is at this moment and I will fully cooperate and work it with Congress to see that they have all the information I have about this case.
ABRAMS: Before I wrap this up, any thoughts of still running for office again?
SIEGELMAN: I have absolutely no thoughts of running for office at this point, but what I want to do is work with Congress to try to fix some of the wrongs that I saw while I was in prison. We`ve got to stop the federal government from extorting testimony from known criminals to put innocent people in prison.
ABRAMS: Well, look, we will -- we have said this before. I said this about your case while before your release that I was going to stay on top of this case. I`m going to continue to stay on top of this case. We`re going to continue to follow the facts of it and continue to follow all of the legal proceedings. Governor Siegelman, thank you very much for coming on the program. We appreciate it.
SIEGELMAN: Dan, thank you so much for what you have done for America.
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This links to the wrong video...
My my Dan Abrams, perhaps it's time to invest in a razor? Perhaps some Just For Men?
So all roads lead to Rove, and presumably from there to Bush and Cheney. Big whoop. Impeachment is "off the table" and anyone who gets convicted will serve as much time as Scooter Libby. The law no longer applies to these people.
Eddie Wang @ 1:
That is correct. It's linking to the ware video.
to Ware is human...
YourMom @ 3:
I doubt it ever did. How many of these thugs served hard time for Iran Contra?
Get a BEEJAY and the world is cumming to an end !!!! Where the fuck did our govt,from city to federal, go !!!!
Pelosi has to be replaced! Spinless and unwilling to uphold her Constitutional perogative.
I feel like banging my head against the wall! Karl Rove is the most sleaziest guy I have ever seen! His tenacles spread far and wide. His coziness with Abramoff and Norquiest and the outing of Valerie Plame is just a small portion of his evil doing. Why isn't he in jail? He is a criminal. The smear job against Ann Richards was just the beginning. All to make Georgie the King of America! It seems Georgie had a Daddy complex, and then you throw in neo-cons and that's what we got for the last seven friggin years! God, help us all!
cg @ 2:
I was trying to think of something trite to say, but i could never top that one.
There is so much in todays news that seem like a nixonian wet dream. No pesky college students to deal with, press is on my side, persicute my political enemies at will. Oh, the good old days eh Dick 'go f*ck yourself' Cheney?
FYI, it says "*video fixed" but when I click the WM link, it get an "error 404 object not found".
Where is Pelosi? Part of the Demopublican machine. Who do we really have to speak for us? The kooks. Kusinich (sp?) and Ron Paul? Give me the kooks and save us from the Demopublican party and the criminal gangs calling themselves the "Republicans." This case back in Watergate days would have taken down the entire government. Today? We have nothing. Thank G_d for "journalism" and "activists" and "Demopublicans." A man can be sent to jail while the criminals rule our land. What have we done about it? Blog angry for 7 years? At least glue glass to your tax return check. Pee on a snow man. Do something real. I'm lost as to what to do.
Michael @ 12:
Unfortunately, I'm having wireless issues and keep losing my signal. It interrupted the upload and the file is corrupted. That's why you're getting that message. I'm fixing it now.
Michael @ 12:
It's working now.
thanks for the post on this... but you've got part 2 of the interview up, part 1 is far more in-depth on the issues surrounding siegelman's case:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJur4bru0nA
Michael @ 12:
Just so you know, I got a successful upload just now and you should be able to view the videos. My apologies for the delay.
It's a shame such an important topic as this has to be packaged with "comic book" graphics. Seriously, who's the art director for this show that thought decorating it up like a DC comic was a good idea. It just makes everything seem silly.
Fox and the right wing talkers get big explosions and waving flags, but one of the few liberal voices in the MSM gets primary colors and cartoons. It's so stupid.
Glad he's out- and more so now that he spoke out against prison conditions.
Too bad the sitting Dems won't do ANYTHING against the War Criminal in Chief and his cronies.
Schwerpunkt @ 13:
It s the media that's pissing me off. They are the enablers. And you can only short circuit that with direct contact with elected official or alternative media.
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/04/08/sen-menedez-to-amb-crocker-reco...
Need more proof?
The world would be a great place if it were made of chocolate.
kaypicts @ 21:
http://www.crooksandliars.com/2008/04/07/your-msm-in-action/
What is the straw that is going to break the camel's back? I sure hope that the next president calls for Bushco's immediate arrest and speady trials and hanging when s/he gets elected. Eight years of high crimes and misdemeners needs to be brought to justice. The USA needs this to happen to save the PR we have lost with the world.
Jared @ 24:
The next President has a similar agenda to Bush no matter what the outcome so it really doesn't matter. Whenever a true American runs for office these days they are painted to look looney and ignored by the media. The media only embraces corporate slaves and that's the cold, hard truth.
How can we countenance this? Are we the same men who founded this country? Or are we something else all together?
Come on America (the land of the free!!...). The world is watching.
I think the heart of the problem is that we do not realize who we are dealing with here. These are the same people that ran bootleg liquer during 1920s in this country. These are the same people who held up stage lines and trains in the 1860s. These are the same people who brought slaves here for their own profit,and the same bunch of greedy hogs that we had to fight a fucken war with before they would give up their little gold mines. These are the mob,the nazis, the black hand,murder Inc. These are the people who will kill anything or anybody, lie about anything, imprison any one,steal anything for their own profit and/or power. Their is nothing they will NOT do! Target our kids for selling their crap, lead kids toys, unsafe meat and food, promote and sell life threating drugs! We must start seeing them for what they are because we,none of us mean shit to these fuckers and they would rather we were all dead except for the number of people it would take to care for their needs and wants. same shit,same fuckers ,different time in history. who was it said" the scum will always be with you" . book of gall, 10/17
Americans, where is your tipping point? The repubs have tainted everything with the stench of their 'gutter' politics and Naomi Wolf is right. Where do you remember hearing, for the first time, the term 'Homeland' to describe a country.....Nazi Germany.
Ya think they jailed their political opposition...
CEO,citizens,eyes,open @ 28:
Amen brother.
Fraud & corruption have always paid.
This bush administration has pulled off the biggest heist in history.
And they ripped off Borrowed money!!!
Genius!
Gotugye @ 8:
Her AT&T stock is doing great.
I applaud don abrams for staying with this. I do, however, wish he would stop interupting Don Seigleman. I want to hear what the man has to say, even if his story is convoluted.
Paul @ 32:
I agree. Abrams is to be commended for this coverage, but he sometimes annoys the shit out of me. It generally boils down to his aversion for nuance, the desire for a simple and cock-sure narrative, evinced here by an apparent belief that Americans are too stupid to deal with a complex narrative that contains more than 2 names.
But he's done a great job on this story, and that by far trumps my annoyance in this case.
harley @ 31:
What are you talking about? Pelosi is a wacko, out there, librul activist. Look at how crazy and librul she is! Oh, sorry, just repeating the MSMeme that got her nomination lubed up and fast-tracked.
She's a fucking Bushco plant, people. She's playing ball for the established Elites, even if she's not in on the game plan. 60+% of the Senate "climbed" to power via an established buy-a-seat elite system. If they bring down Bush, there will be fall out that they don't want to handle. She's one of them. Bushco knew that, and they "Kerry"d her into the nomination.
Kerry (vb): To run bullshit, flimsy attack ads to consolidate support behind a favored "opposition" candidate. This is just an insurance policy, as the election will be rigged anyhow.
Allusions to the Nazis seem somewhat watered down. These people are far more sophisticated.
I wonder what the governor thinks of the MSM now, and I do not need an answer because C&L has been screaming about it for months. Carl Rove knew that the media would sit on the story, he might even have guesed how long it would take - he has indictment down for end of this year and that might be right to, hopefully.
It's getting harder and harder for the forked tongue to hide these days, even the "white male Christian power structure" can see Rove's - I think the ex-Governor of Alabam will be a much better governor and if Rove is jailed in Alabam that would be reeeel nice to :)
The American apple is rotten to the core, and Rove is the worm inside.
I don't much care for Dan Abrams. Sure, he's a closer approximation of what a REAL jornalist should be, but his Tweety-esque habits annoy me to no end. For instance, a guest can never finish a sentence because Abrams has this infuriating habit of stepping on them, interrupting, arguing, etc... Points to MSNBC for trying, but he's not quite good enough. GIVE US RACHEL MADDOW!!! She'd do much better with her own show than this Abrams guy, IMHO. His style reminds me of Bill O'Reilly at times.
'All roads lead to Karl Rove....'
'It sounds like you're saying the corruption runs pretty deep...'
ummmmm...yeah. C'mon Abrams you're smarter than that. Thanks to Rove, Cheney and Bush, every level of our Government is infested with criminals. Capital Hill is literally a den of thieves and spies all bent on completely destroying our country as we know it.
xoites defends Constitution @ 10:
cg @ 2:
Shallow creeps you two are. Consider Drudge or the Sunday funnies
to john @30 Don't forget the 300 milliom in missing gold from federal reserve under wtc, the missing 1 or 2 trillion from defense dept all paperwork destroyed by plane crash,All the evidence and investigative paperwork for enron,world com and many,many other investigations into many other companys all destroyed by fate in wtc crash. Who here thinks kenny boy lay is really dead? And don't forget 9 billion in 100 dollar bills ,gee we don't know what happend to it, in iraq(360 tons of money) I believe in coincidence but not the easter bunny, and I like to be kissed first.
Seems the best thing to ever happen to Dan Abrams is Keith Olbermann. I have to say both of those guys are a breath of fresh air on a network that still trots out the useless GOP shill Tucker Carlson and tweety the flip flopping maroon.
I think it's unconscionable that Dan somewhat slightly bullys Don here. He makes an already nervous Don, more nervous.
Don just spent time in jail. You know, the place where your friend, Bubba, likes to call you Marion.
This poor man was a Political Prisoner... I'm glad this getting some play.
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