Career prosecutors opposed Siegelman prosecution.

Thinkprogress:



Alabama GOP operative Dana Jill Simpson recently charged that Karl Rove and his allies pushed the Justice Department into prosecuting former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman (D) prior to a major election. Harpers’ Scott Horton now reports that the “most experienced and senior career prosecutors” opposed the Siegleman prosecution, yet the Justice Department pushed the case forward “with blunt political force”:


John W. Scott, a senior Justice Department trial lawyer who had been helping with the case at the request of Montgomery prosecutors, disagreed with the move to extend the investigation, Franklin said. “We had to make a decision about whether or not a grand jury would help us in putting the case together, investigating further. It was not a popular decision, but I made it,” [Prosecutor Louis] Franklin said. “John didn’t want to do that, so when he left Montgomery he didn’t come back…”