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The conference call that never happened The most popular item on Time Magazine's web site at the start of this week was a story titled "Karl Rove linked to prosecution of ex-Alabama governor." It's the story of an alleged Justice Departmentconnected plot against former Gov. Don Siegelman based on an affidavit provided by a Rainsville lawyer and Republican operative named Dana Jill Simpson. Simpson claims she was on a conference call with Bill Canary, president of the Business Council of Alabama, former Supreme Court Justice Terry Butts and Rob Riley, a Birmingham lawyer and son of Gov. Bob Riley, when the discussion occurred on Nov. 18, 2002. According to Simpson's statement, Canary told them not to worry about Don Siegelman "because 'his girls' would take care of' the governor. Canary then made clear that "his girls" was a reference to his wife, Leura Canary, the U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Alabama, and Alice Martin, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Alabama. Canary reassured those on the conference call that he had the help of a powerful pal in Washington. Canary said, "not to worry - that he had already gotten it worked out with Karl and Karl had spoken with the Department of Justice and the Department of Justice was already pursuing Don Siegelman," the Simpson affidavit says. Both U.S. attorney offices subsequently indicted Siegelman on a variety of charges, although Leura Canary recused herself from dealing with the case in May 2002. A federal judge dismissed the Northern District case before it could be tried, but Siegelman was convicted in the Middle District on bribery and conspiracy charges last June. Simpson said she had been troubled by the conference call conversation, and even consulted an official of the State Bar to determine whether she could disclose it publicly without violating her obligations as a volunteer working with the Riley campaign. She said she grew more concerned about the matter after Siegelman's conviction last June and told several friends about the call, including Mark Bollinger with the Alabama Bureau of Investigation, who has given a sworn affidavit. Canary called the allegations "outrageous" and "the desperate act of a desperate politician." Butts said he did not recall the conversation…"it must have been the work of a drunk fiction writer." Rob Riley said he didn't recall making the statement attributed to him, which referred to Siegelman as a "cockroach," and that nobody on the Riley campaign was involved in a conspiracy to bring criminal charges against Siegelman. Leura Canary told The Birmingham News that she didn't know how Siegelman and Scrushy could lay the blame on her for their troubles. She suggested they "look in a mirror." Siegelman lawyer Susan James' comment was: "That's some powerful stuff," noting that Simpson has sworn under oath to the events. It should be noted that nobody alleged to have been on the conference call denied the call took place. Perhaps that is because Simpson says she has phone records to back up the date and duration of her phone calls. Only in Alabama folks. * * * Other items of recent note around the state: - It appears the Alabama legislature will wrap matters up Thursday, passing both the education and general fund budgets, along with a school construction bond issue. - Bradley Byrne, the new chancellor of the two-year college system, sent memos to system employees this week directing them to cooperate with the media and investigators and prohibiting them from shredding documents. In a memo dated May 31 and obtained by the Mobile Press- Register on Friday, Byrne said system employees "are expected to fully comply with requests for documents from members of the community and the media." - State Sen. Lowell Barron, D-Fyffe, called for an investigation of an apparent effort by Auburn University Montgomery to circumvent state oversight in seeking a $10 million appropriation for a new school of government. "I felt like the governor and his folks were trying to squirrel away $10 million as a pork palace," said Barron, a former Auburn University trustee. "That's all it could be. It just smells bad." The funds were stripped out of the governor's proposed budget by a House committee. Barron also was criticized for a bit of pork he inserted in the budget for his hometown…$10,000 for a UFO Festival. - State transportation officials plan to open 13 miles of Corridor X, the future Interstate 22 connecting Birmingham and Memphis, from Walker County 81 to Cherry Avenue near the Birmingham city limits.
Note: Columnist Bob Ingram is resting at home after a hospital stay. Bob Martin, editor and publisher of The Montgomery Independent is filling in for him.
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