Don Siegelman

By Kevin Drum

(Political Animal)  DON SIEGELMAN....The case of Don Siegelman, the popular Democratic governor of Alabama who was convicted two years ago on almost certainly bogus bribery charges, has been circulating for a long time. Last night 60 Minutes aired the story, and if you didn't see it you should go read the story on their website. It's too complicated to summarize, so I'll just give you the titillating bit:

Now a Republican lawyer from Alabama, Jill Simpson, has come forward to claim that the Siegelman prosecution was part of a five-year secret campaign to ruin the governor. Simpson told 60 Minutes she did what's called "opposition research" for the Republican party. She says during a meeting in 2001, Karl Rove, President Bush's senior political advisor, asked her to try to catch Siegelman cheating on his wife.

"Karl Rove asked you to take pictures of Siegelman?" Pelley asks.

"Yes," Simpson replies.

"In a compromising, sexual position with one of his aides," Pelley clarifies.

"Yes, if I could," Simpson says.

That sure sounds like Karl, doesn't it? In any case, Siegelman was almost certainly convicted on absurd charges, and almost certainly convicted as part of a partisan hit job (see here for more). Somebody ought to be in jail, but it probably isn't Don Siegelman.

POSTSCRIPT: The 60 Minutes segment was blacked out on CBS affiliate WHNT in northern Alabama. Technical difficulties. Or perhaps not.