Georgia E-Mail Provides Explosive Evidence of Political Prosecution

An e-mail from the federal corruption case of former Georgia senate majority leader Charles Walker should send chills down the spine of every American. More importantly, it should spark a widespread Congressional investigation into alleged political prosecutions, including those of Don Siegelman (Alabama), Paul Minor (Mississippi), and Cyril Wecht (Pennsylvania).

Scott Horton, legal-affairs contributor at Harper's, reports on efforts by Walker's attorneys to show that his prosecution was a political hit job. That included unearthing e-mails from a U.S. attorney's office in Georgia. One e-mail is particularly ugly. Writes Horton:

In one email, Morgan Perry, the director of the Senate Republican Caucus, notes that Walker is the target of research by Republican campaign organizations trying to link him to criminal conduct, and says that “it’s up to us to take him out.”

This is shocking stuff. And Horton puts it in context:

The email creates the inescapable impression that the U.S. Attorney’s investigation of Walker was being coordinated with Republican political operatives and was done in the interests of giving the party an advantage in upcoming elections.

A reasonable person could conclude that similar e-mails probably exist regarding the Siegelman, Minor, and Wecht cases. Where is the effort to unearth electronic communications in the U.S. attorney offices that handled those cases? How about communications involving Republican political operatives, to and from those offices? How about communications from national GOP figures--Karl Rove and people affiliated with him--to those offices.

In a lengthy feature at Huffington Post, Horton reports that all is not stagnant on the political-prosecution front. He notes that a recently released Congressional report and a followup from the U.S. Justice Department indicate that charges of political prosecutions are well grounded.

Now it is time--way past time--for the appropriate governmental bodies to act.