# Siegelman out on bond, will testify before House Judiciary Commitee **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 31, 2008, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/siegelman-out-on-bond-will-testify-before-house-judiciary-commitee/443387 "2008-03-31T15:22:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/siegelman-out-on-bond-will-testify-before-house-judiciary-commitee/443387/1 "2008-03-31T15:22:26Z")
[Don Siegelman,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Siegelman) the former Governor of Alabama who was convicted of corruption and sent to prison in 2007, is out on bond pending resolution of his appeal. Meanwhile, [the House Judiciary Committee wants him to testify](http://wcbstv.com/national/Judiciary.Committee.Siegelman.2.686422.html) regarding allegations that his prosecution was politically motivated. Siegelman, in his first [post-release interview,](http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/29/us/29alabama.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=siegelman&st=nyt&oref=slogin) casts blame specifically on Karl Rove. [Earlier thread.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=423240) Soooo . . . What will be the fallout of all this, as it relates to the stack of charges against the Bush DoJ for politically-motivated selective prosecutions? BTW – it hardly seems relevant – but is there any possibility Siegelman is actually innocent of the charges? ---
**Author:** ![Mosier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ea924/32.png) [@Mosier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mosier)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/siegelman-out-on-bond-will-testify-before-house-judiciary-commitee/443387/2 "2008-03-31T15:59:59Z")
[QUOTE=BrainGlutton] [Don Siegelman,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Siegelman) the former Governor of Alabama who was convicted of corruption and sent to prison in 2007, is out on bond pending resolution of his appeal. Meanwhile, [the House Judiciary Committee wants him to testify](http://wcbstv.com/national/Judiciary.Committee.Siegelman.2.686422.html) regarding allegations that his prosecution was politically motivated. Siegelman, in his first [post-release interview,](http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/29/us/29alabama.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=siegelman&st=nyt&oref=slogin) casts blame specifically on Karl Rove. [Earlier thread.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=423240) Soooo . . . What will be the fallout of all this, as it relates to the stack of charges against the Bush DoJ for politically-motivated selective prosecutions? BTW – it hardly seems relevant – but is there any possibility Siegelman is actually innocent of the charges? [/QUOTE] You’re right about the relevance of his guilt or innocence. It doesn’t matter much in regards to the discussion about whether Rove and co. should be investigated or tried. I don’t think this is a significant development in the pile on the DoJ. We don’t really have a smoking gun here, just a couple of people saying “yeah, I heard him say that”, which is precisely what we have with most of the other charges against Rove and the DoJ. I’ll be surprised if this turns into anything significant. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2008, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/siegelman-out-on-bond-will-testify-before-house-judiciary-commitee/443387/3 "2008-03-31T20:04:51Z")
[QUOTE=Mosier] I don’t think this is a significant development in the pile on the DoJ. We don’t really have a smoking gun here, just a couple of people saying “yeah, I heard him say that”, which is precisely what we have with most of the other charges against Rove and the DoJ. I’ll be surprised if this turns into anything significant. [/QUOTE] But it could lay a predicate for the House Judiciary Committee summoning Rove to appear and explain himself. Of course, he has [already](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Rove#Dismissal_of_U.S._Attorneys) been subpoenaed by the **Senate** Judiciary Committee; but maybe the House will be more energetic in enforcing it.