Siegelman lauds pair who helped get him out of jail

[Syrinx]

http://www.al.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/news/1208942127161530.xml&coll=1

At a North Alabama Media Reform meeting Tuesday night, Siegelman - free on an appeals bond after serving nine months on federal bribery and corruption charges - called Rainsville attorney/Republican whistle-blower Dana Jill Simpson a "true American hero" and gave Columbia University law professor/Harper's journalist Scott Horton a public "thank you."

Horton was in town to discuss how the Alabama press covered Siegelman's prosecution, which for months he has blasted as politically motivated and unfair. Horton, a Lawrence County native who now lives in New York, began writing about Siegelman's prosecution last year.

His reporting - including quotes from Simpson that allegedly linked Karl Rove and other Republicans to the case - attracted other national attention, including "60 Minutes," which aired a story in March. Shortly after that, Siegelman was allowed to post an appeals bond and was freed from a Louisiana prison where he began serving his seven-year sentence in July.

Siegelman has kept a low profile in the state since he was set free and has denied Alabama news media interview requests. He said Tuesday night in a packed auditorium at the Shelby Center at the University of Alabama in Huntsville that he gave hundreds of speeches in the state about his case, but nothing was done.

That sentence in bold type simply isn't true, though the Associated Press has neglected to pick up Siegelman's interview with The Tuscaloosa News' Tommy Stevenson:

TUSCALOOSA | Dana Beyerle, our man in Montgomery, alerted me to the fact yesterday that our Tuscaloosa New story and video from my interview with former Gov. Don Siegelman a week ago today was not picked up by the Associated Press.

Dana said he knew they were aware of it because one of their reporters asked him just when it ran and if it was published in our sister papers in Gadsden and Florence. Usually we send big stories to AP and they scan our websites for stories to pick up and move on to the rest of the state, region and sometimes nation. Would seem that Siegelman's first face-to-face interview since being released from federal prison would have at least merited a mention, no?

But because it didn't, this is what appeared in a story in The Huntsville Times today after Siegelman spoke there last night:

"Siegelman has kept a low profile in the state since he was set free and has denied Alabama news media interview requests."

I've emailed my buddies at AP to see what's up and will keep you posted. And, yes, there will be more from Siegelman both here on my blog and in my Sunday At Large column in The Tuscaloosa News.

http://stevensonblog.tuscaloosanews.com/default.asp?item=2191429

[jody]

1. Thanks for the post Syrinx, I wonder why msm is not giving Siegelman more coverage? n/t

[Syrinx]

2. I don't get it

I don't think even Olbermann has mentioned it. It seems it would be right down his alley.

[Pastiche423]

3. Maybe because Governor Don

could be the one to bring down rove?