Inside Alice Martin's Corrupt Kingdom

We soon will be presenting a series of posts about U.S. Attorney Alice Martin and her "handling" of evidence she received about federal crimes committed by Republican judges in Alabama state courts. This evidence also focused on the criminal actions of an attorney with family ties to Alabama's Republican Governor Bob Riley.

How did Martin, a Bush appointee, handle this clear evidence of wrongdoing by members of the "home team," the Republican Party? She swept it under the proverbial rug, and we will show you exactly how she did it. We also will show you additional evidence to support the notion that Martin, who currently is under investigation for perjury, has a serious problem making straightforward, truthful statements.

Our story will show you one side of selective prosecution, as practiced by the Bush Justice Department. This side involves instances where certain individuals are not prosecuted for political reasons. Our story also will reveal the blatant and outrageous actions that corrupt public officials feel free to take when they know that no one in federal law enforcement will hold them accountable. This part of our story will focus on Shelby County, Alabama, where we already have presented significant evidence regarding the corrupt actions of circuit judges J. Michael Joiner and G. Dan Reeves. But in recent days, the corruption has reached a new, absurd level, and it has grown to include other public officials--particularly Sheriff Chris Curry and County Clerk Mary Harris. Joiner, Reeves, Curry, and Harris (along with attorney William E. Swatek) have concocted a long-running scheme that involves multiple instances of mail and wire fraud. And the purpose of their latest actions clearly is to shut down the blog you are now reading. Do these Republican stalwarts have to worry about their violations of federal law? Not with Alice Martin serving as U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Alabama.

But what about the second side of selective prosecution--where certain individuals are prosecuted for political reasons? Scott Horton, of Harper's, provides stunning new evidence of that, focusing on the bribery case of former Jefferson County Commissioner Gary White. And the White story is particularly compelling because he is a Republican.

Some folks have pointed to White's party affiliation as evidence that Martin performs her duties in a fair and objective way. But Horton pulls back the curtain to show that even the White prosecution was driven by political considerations--and it all has ties to the prosecution of former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman, a Democrat.

How did White get on Alice Martin's bad side? According to an affidavit from White's wife, Judy, law-enforcement authorities sought to have White testify in the Siegelman case. But they didn't want the facts, as White knew them. They wanted him to present certain testimony that would be damaging to Siegelman. When White informed his inquisitors that he knew nothing about such events, that evidently did not please higher ups.

It was not long before White found himself the target of a federal investigation.

Partisan politics raises its ugly head in another way in the White case. Judy White's affidavit states that Alice Martin craves an appointment as a federal judge, and for that she needs the help of Bettye Fine Collins, a Jefferson County commissioner and Alabama's Republican National Committeewoman. Gary White had incurred Collins' wrath by voting for an African-American Democrat and denying Collins the role of county commission president.

According to Judy White's affidavit, Collins encouraged Martin to go after Gary White in exchange for Collins' support for a possible federal judgeship.

Horton points to The Birmingham News' role in covering up the sleazy side of the Gary White prosecution. The News performs a similar duty in covering up corruption in Shelby County.

But we at Legal Schnauzer are dedicated to uncovering the Shelby County dirt The Birmingham News does not want you to know about. We also will be filling you in on the outrageous steps Shelby County officials are taking in an effort to shut down this blog.

Now, why are they so concerned about this blog? For one, every word of it is true--and Shelby County officials know it. Second, they know I've only revealed a small portion of the wrongdoing that took place in my case--and they know much more damaging information is coming. Three, they know issues raised in this blog go way beyond Shelby County; they reflect negatively on the Alabama Supreme Court and Governor Bob Riley--at a time when Republicans are trying to take control of the Alabama Legislature, the lone branch of state government that they do not currently control. Four, they know that Alice Martin's efforts to ignore wrongdoing in my case are a classic example of selective prosecution, at a time when a Democratic-controlled U.S. House of Representatives is looking at just that issue.

Our regular readers know about underhanded steps Alabama Republicans have taken against Democratic public officials, such as Don Siegelman and Sue Schmitz. But our story shows the outrageous lengths corrupt GOPers will go to in order to harm and silence a regular citizen.

Details about that are coming in future posts.