An Alabama Portrait of Sleaze in the Age of Rove, Part I

Perhaps the best known victim of the Bush Justice Department is former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman, who was prosecuted on charges that would have to improve considerably to reach the level of "weak."

Siegelman has an unusual perspective on the "loyal Bushies" who have turned our justice system into a sewer. On the one hand, Siegelman is all too familiar with people like himself (Democrats, generally), who have been aggressively prosecuted on charges that are shaky at best and flat-out bogus at worst. This is what some call "selective prosecution."

On the other hand, Siegelman also is familiar with people unlike himself (Republicans of a certain "Bushie" stripe, generally) who have received a free pass for clear wrongdoing. This is what one might call "selective non-prosecution." It is part of what Siegelman calls an "umbrella of protection" that covers those with special ties to the Bush administration.

What kind of person is likely to wind up under the nice, big "umbrella of protection?" Well, I have become intimately familiar with one of them.

His name is William E. Swatek, an atttorney based in Pelham, Alabama. He is the fine chap who filed a fraudulent lawsuit against me some seven years ago, starting a legal nightmare that is still rolling along.

Why does Bill Swatek enjoy the GOP's "umbrella of protection?" It's because his son, Dax Swatek, is a Republican campaign consultant who has worked for Bill Canary, who has close ties to Karl Rove, who . . . well, you get the picture.

Bill Swatek certainly isn't protected because he's a fine and ethical fellow. In fact, I've made frequent references to his almost 30-year history of unethical behavior in the legal profession. Now, we're about to show you exactly what we've been talking about.

Since mere words don't do justice to Bill Swatek's "legacy of sleaze," we are going to turn to the video camera for assistance. First, we have an overview to get us rolling, focusing on steps Swatek has recently taken to essentially steal my house:



Next we have a clip that shows how Bill Swatek has cheated his own clients and how he mysteriously managed to beat a conviction for driving while intoxicated. In one case involving a former client, Swatek actually sued a dead man. (I'm not making this up, folks! I'm not nearly clever enough to come up with that story.)




(To be continued . . . )