The Siegelman/Schnauzer Connection

With former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman now released from federal prison pending appeal, it might be a good time to examine the intersection between the Siegelman prosecution and my own experience with corrupt Republican judges in Alabama state courts.

I've tried (with varying degrees of success) to show connections between the two cases. But I've recently come upon documents that might help make those connections a bit more clear:

* I recently discovered documents at donsiegelman.org showing that Dax Swatek was campaign manager for Alice Martin's failed 2000 run for a seat on the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals.

* We learned in recent days that Montgomery insurance executive John W. Goff has been indicted on a number of federal charges, primarily mail fraud. This comes after Goff had filed a lawsuit against Alabama Governor Bob Riley and others for conspiring to harm his business--and after Scott Horton, of Harper's, had reported that Riley was asking the U.S. Attorney's office for help in making the lawsuit "go away." A few weeks back, we posted about a letter from Goff's attorneys, asking the U.S. Department of Justice to remove U.S. Attorney Leura Canary and anyone working under her direction from an investigation involving Goff. On page 7 of that letter, Goff's attorneys note that Bill Canary and Patrick McWhorter were partners in Capitol Group LLC. From a variety of PACs, the letter states, Canary and McWhorter directed funds to Alabama Governor Bob Riley.

Then comes this statement in the letter:

"Later, another political crony and political advisor of Gov. Riley, Dax Swatek, began his own PAC, DSA PAC, from the very same address (P.O. Box 1703, Montgomery, Alabama 36102) as the one used by Canary and McWhorter. This leaves one to wonder whether this is another coincidence or further evidence of cooperation among this group of high-ranking Republican officials and supporters."

* We also discovered a March 28, 2002, Birmingham News article about efforts by Siegelman's attorneys to have Leura Canary removed from his investigation. Siegelman's attorney, the late David Cromwell Johnson, wrote that Leura Canary should be removed from the case largely because her husband Bill Canary and his business associate Patrick McWhorter had financial ties to Siegelman's political opponents.

The article includes this information:

"Dax Swatek, one of Bill Canary's business partners, said McWhorter and Canary haven't been partners or had any other business relationships since April 14, 2000. (The letter from Goff's attorneys says the Canary/McWhorter corporation dissolved on June 24, 2002. Was Swatek lying here?) He said donations by McWhorter since were solely at McWhorter's discretion.

"'There can't be a conflict here because there is no financial benefit. The whole thing is a red herring,' Swatek said. "It's unfounded, ridiculous, and frankly, he (Johnson) should be ashamed of himself."

What does all of this mean? We'll try to tie it all together in a bit.

And regarding Dax Swatek's criticism of David Cromwell Johnson? Wait till you hear about the delicious irony in that.