Lawyer to Testify Rove's Alleged Role in Governor's Prosecution.

By Bob Johnson
The Associated Press
Friday 07 September 2007

Montgomery, Alabama - Attorneys for a congressional committee will question an Alabama lawyer under oath next week about her claims that a Republican campaign operative talked about White House influence over the investigation of former Alabama Democratic Gov. Don Siegelman.

Rainsville attorney Jill Simpson, who was a campaign worker for Republican Bob Riley when he defeated Siegelman in 2002, will be interviewed privately Sept. 14 by two staff attorneys in the office of the House Judiciary Committee in Washington, Simpson's attorney, Priscilla Duncan, said Friday.

Duncan said she had been talking to committee staff members for several weeks to set up the interview.

In a letter to Duncan, House Judiciary Committee chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., said the interview with Simpson would be under oath and would be transcribed. Conyers said the transcript would be confidential initially and that a decision on releasing it would be made later by Republican and Democratic committee leaders.

Conyers said Simpson would be questioned by two people - a member of the committee's minority staff and a member of committee's majority staff.

In an affidavit made public in May, Simpson said she was a campaign worker for Riley in northeast Alabama and heard the GOP operative's statement on Nov. 18, 2002, during a conference phone call. She said it was made with Riley's son and campaign manager, Rob Riley, campaign adviser Bill Canary and attorney Terry Butts.

Simpson quoted Canary as saying Siegelman would not be a political worry in the future because Canary "had gotten it worked out with Karl and Karl has spoken with the Department of Justice and the Department of Justice was already pursuing Don Siegelman."

Simpson has said Canary was referring to Karl Rove, the White House political adviser with whom Canary had worked.

Bill Canary and Rob Riley have said they have no recollection of the conversation with Simpson. Butts has denied that the conversation occurred. More on the story.