Was Bush in the Loop on the Siegelman Case?

Former President George W. Bush was in regular contact with an Alabama Republican attorney about the Don Siegelman case, according to an exclusive report in the Locust Fork News-Journal.

The revelation comes in a letter from GOP whistleblower Jill Simpson, asking that Obama White House Counsel Greg Craig recuse himself from matters involving the Bush administration because of conflicts connected to Karl Rove.

Priscilla Black Duncan, Simpson's attorney, writes in the letter that her client had been advised to seek legal services from Montgomery lawyer Tommy Gallion. After months of intensive discussions with Simpson, Gallion revealed that President Bush was in regular contact with him about her role in the Siegelman case.

Bush's connections to Montgomery, AL, date to the early 1970s, and it appears he was using those connections to stay up to date on the Siegelman case. Why was Bush interested in the Siegelman matter? That remains unclear.

Glynn Wilson, editor of the Locust Fork News-Journal, said Gallion repeatedly has declined to answer questions about Bush's knowledge of, and interest in, the Siegelman case.

Reports Wilson:

If Bush was as interested in the case as Gallion indicated to Ms. Simpson, that would place him directly in the loop in the political prosecution of former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman. Perhaps Congress should also consider issuing a subpoena to Bush himself to testify under oath, since he refuses to allow Rove to testify, claiming staff executive privilege in his case.