A canary in the coal mine tells minors they are at risk. Canary in Alabama shows our Democracy is at risk.
Leurid details below.
United States District Court Judge Mark Fuller has sentenced former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman to a term of over seven years in prison and a fine of $50,000.
Recall
Siegelman was found guilty of pushing HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy to contribute $500,000 to a state lottery fund in exchange for reappointment to a hospital board. The first puzzle he lists is: Why was the wife of a well-known Republican operative who had worked on Siegelman's opponent's campaign allowed to initiate the investigation:
Why did Leura Canary get anywhere near my case knowing her husbands’ ties to my campaign opponents? Why did she have to be “outed” before her undocumented “recusal” after driving the case for 8 months?
Notice not cash to Siegelman and note reappointment (Scrushy had been appointed already by other governors).
OK so a contribution followed by an appointment is suspicious, so why hasn't Leura Canary investigated herself ? She was appointed US attorney by George Bush and she gave money to an organization a good bit closer to bush than the lottery board is to Siegelman
Results:
3 records found in 0.2656 seconds.
Total for this search: $3,000
Search Criteria:
Donor name: canary, leura
Cycle(s) selected: All
[snip]
CANARY, LEURA G MRS
MONTGOMERY,AL 36106
U.S. GOVERNMENT/U.S. ATTORNEY
11/5/2003
$2,000
Bush, George W
CANARY, LEURA J G
MONTGOMERY,AL 36106
HOMEMAKER
6/7/1999
$500
Bush, George W
CANARY, LEURA J G MRS
MONTGOMERY,AL 36106
HOMEMAKER
10/26/1999
$500
Bush, George W
OpenSecrets' Donor Lookup comprises contribution data available electronically from the Federal Election Commission on Monday, June 04, 2007. Because campaigns and other political committees typically disclose their contributions on a quarterly or monthly schedule, it can take several months for a contribution to be recorded in this database.
After donating just $1,000 she went straight from "homemaker" to "U.S. ATTORNEY".
Wow.
Thank you; this is so frightening.
ReplyDeleteanne
Today, I am discouraged. Not Brad DeLong, not Mark Thoma, not Matthew Yglesias, not Robert Waldmann, not Max Sawicky thought a word about the Supreme Court re-segregation decision was worth the while.
ReplyDeleteSo much for my understanding. Me, I get almost all I need from the New York Times even when the coverage is slanted.
anne
Notice that though Brad DeLong has posted brilliantly about the "al-s" who are now everywhere all the time in Iraq, there is not post about the Supreme Court re-segregation ruling.
ReplyDeleteanne
One has to wonder why she is listed simply as "homemaker" on the 1999 contributions. It is my understanding that before being appointed to her current position, Canary served as Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Alabama from 1994 to 2001 after serving as an attorney in the DOJ in Washington.
ReplyDelete