Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Insider on Siegelman Prosecution Fears for his Life

A member of the team that prosecuted former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman says he witnessed rampant misconduct in the case but is afraid to come forward out of fear for his life.

Scott Horton, legal-affairs contributor for Harper's magazine, made the revelation in a speech last week to the Rotary Club of New York and the American Constitution Society.

Horton says that one Justice Department whistleblower--Tamarah Grimes, of Montgomery--had come forward about misconduct in the Siegelman prosecution and wound up losing her job. A second, unnamed whistleblower fears a similar fate, or worse, if he comes forward.

Horton says he has interviewed both prosecution insiders, and they corroborate statements by key witness Nick Bailey that he was heavily coached and threatened with being outed as a homosexual. Says Horton:

As I note, two members of the prosecution team were appalled by the misconduct that drove the case against Siegelman. One of them filed internal complaints inside the Justice Department. The result? Her name is Tamara Grimes. She was persecuted, hounded, and finally dismissed from her position--in direct violation of the federal whistleblower protection statute.

And what about the second member of the team?

(He) tells me he will not step forward because he knows he would face the same fate. He even indicated the fear of a mob type--"you don't understand, these people would kill me if they have to to keep the lid on this." And Main Justice? "They’d be happy to learn that I was dead."

Horton goes on to summarize the Justice Department's disgraceful handling of the Siegelman case:

So today, even though the Siegelman case has been torn to shreds in the public and 104 state attorneys general, led by Graham Wood, the national co-chair of the McCain for President campaign, have formally complained about the Justice Department’s gross and abusive handling the case, the Justice Department admits no wrong. It's even issued a series of brazenly false public statements in an attempt to cover its tracks.

The Siegelman prosecution hardly is an isolated instance of abuse. Horton discusses other justice-related matters, and the full speech can be viewed below:

Scott Horton Speech

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

The first clue that this is bogus is that EVERYONE knows Nick Bailey is gay. Seriously. There could be no threat to "out" him because he was as "out" as one can be.

Anonymous said...

Such a one-dimensional response! Fear of being outed while already out is moot, but what about the other forms of reprisal that were clearly mentioned?

Robby Scott Hill said...

This is why I pack a pistol, sleep with a shotgun & keep a rifle with numerous pre-loaded magazines in the trunk of my car. I have a few other gadgets and a knife just in case the firearms jam or I run out of ammo. I won't go down until I take at least one of the bastards with me.

The local cops think I have "too many guns," but my headstone will say - "Here lies a 100 year old man who died naturally unlike the poor bastard who tried to kill him 50 years ago."

They try to lull you into a false sense of security, but the truth is that we live in a very violent world. They have ways to call in a hit man with out the hit man knowing who ordered it. If the hit man gets caught, they have a cleaner to take care of him. See Lee Harvey Oswald on Wikipedia.

The way I see it, I'd rather be judged by 12 than carried by 6. Getting sentenced to 3 to 5 on weapons charges and getting out in 1 to 2 with good time and/or court ordered release sure beats being dead :)

Anonymous said...

Fear is not unreasonable. Consider what happened to other connected people. The feds broke the law and the rules, and they will do anything to cover it up. Anything.

Anonymous said...

Had you two followed this egregious misconduct, you'd know that Nick Bailey's claims of coaching and intimidation are almost 8 years old now. What neither of you partisan trolls address, however, is the consistent treatment of Justice department employees who's stories NEVER change and that Obama's justice department is afraid to examine itself. This is now, not only an indictment of Bush's justice department, it is also an indictment of Obama's justice department.

Anonymous said...

This crap was done by the political appointees who burrowed in; the people that did this, while still there, are BUSH'S justice department.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous @ May 12, 2010 12:19 pm said

"This crap was done by the political appointees who burrowed in; the people that did this, while still there, are BUSH'S justice department."

You are absolutely right about that, anon. It is also the case for many other Executive branch agencies within the Obama Administration, the majority it appears. Why has Obama left so many Bush appointees in place?? It seems they are all working for the same people/corporations...the shadow government cabal that runs America. It doesn't seem to matter much who POTUS.

Dick McManus said...

Check out my chapter in my online book titled Some History of Mysterious Deaths at:

SOME UNKNOWN HISTORY OF THE U.S.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SomeUnknownUSHistory/messages
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SomeUnknownUSHistory/

I am about ready to publish parts 7 thru 9, additional analysis and more deaths are listed.

Tamarah Grimes said...

Sadly, the other whistleblower is prudent to maintain his silence as there is no protection for opposition to this travesty of justice. As I have often said, there is much to fear and much to lose in speaking out for justice. Isn't it ironic that the perpetrators of this injustice have nothing to fear?