Dodging Corruption Bullets
Posted in: FDL Book Salon, GOP ethics, Justice Department, Legal
Scott Horton at Harpers has some new details on the twisted tale of an Alabama USAtty, DOJ politicization questions, and one Karl Rove:
…They proceed to cite a series of unmistakable connections between Goff’s suit raising corruption allegations against Riley, Windom and others, and the criminal counterpunch launched by Mrs. Canary. It appears that Mrs. Canary entrusted the case to Steven Feaga, the same assistant U.S. attorney whom she assigned to handle the highly controversial prosecution of Siegelman. It was recently disclosed that the two most senior career prosecutors assigned to the Siegelman case had concluded that the facts did not justify the pursuit of a criminal case against the former governor.
The Goff litigation concerns allegations involving Karl Rove, Jack Abramoff and Michael Scanlon in campaign fundraising for Governor Riley, apparently from Indian casino gambling sources. Karl Rove, a close friend of Mrs. Canary and her husband, resigned earlier this year from a position as President Bush’s senior political advisor. Jack Abramoff and Michael Scanlon (Riley’s former legislative assistant) sit at the center of a major political corruption investigation. Abramoff has been convicted, sentenced and is currently serving in a penitentiary. Scanlon pleaded guilty on November 21, 2005 on corruption counts and is currently free as he cooperates with criminal investigators. Abramoff and Scanlon are accused of having funneled substantial sums of money from their casino gambling clients into Bob Riley’s gubernatorial campaign. It is alleged that the Indian gambling money was funnelled into Riley’s campaign accounts in exchange for a pledge from Riley to block potentially competing Indian gaming interests. Riley in fact took several steps to block Alabama-based Indian gaming interests. In one such move, he appointed Mrs. Canary to a commission charged with reviewing a license, with the apparent expectation that it would be denied….
The more you dig into this crap, the more you realize that it is a manure pile without end. And that’s it’s all connected somehow into funneling money into GOP campaign coffers. Convenient, that.
On Sunday the 25th of November at 5 pm ET/2 pm PT, we have a great piece of digging on the “Texas mafia” and their K Street cronies. John Anderson, the former deputy editor of the American Lawyer, will be here to discuss his fantastic book “Follow the Money.” I do hope that everyone will be able to join us for what promises to be an eye-opening and snarky discussion about the state of ethics and smarmery in and out of the Beltway.
(Photo via dcfox.)
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