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Life Arts    H2'ed 5/14/11

Now What?

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Message Don Siegelman


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They got it wrong.

On Tuesday, a three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals failed to reverse my flawed, politically-motivated prosecution -- even in light of the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling that says, in short, that political contributions in and of themselves aren't bribery.

Well, we're not giving up because we know that the law is on our side -- and, in time, justice will be done.

But I need your help to keep up the fight, back to the appeals court and all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court if we have to. Can I count on you?

Please contribute $25 or more to my legal defense fund now -- in the wake of Tuesday's appeals court ruling -- and help me fight to overturn my Karl Rove-inspired political prosecution!

Let me be clear: I was never bribed. I never solicited a bribe. I never broke the law. In fact, I was never accused of taking a single penny. I was the fourth Governor of Alabama to appoint this same man to this same non-paying board, and that's the crux of the prosecution's case!

This was a partisan witch-hunt, pure and simple, cooked up by Karl Rove and the Republican Party to try to put me away for good because they disagree with my politics. They couldn't beat me fair and square, so they targeted me with this politically-motivated, unfounded prosecution.

They abused our system of justice and they abused the public trust. And I'll never stop fighting until the truth wins out. Will you stand with me?

Please contribute $25 or more to my legal defense fund now -- in the wake of Tuesday's appeals court ruling -- and help me fight to overturn my Karl Rove-inspired political prosecution!

91 former state Attorneys General said there is no crime in what I did. The U.S. Supreme Court has said there is no crime in giving or receiving a contribution and then doing something favorable for the contributor if there was no deal, no explicit "quid pro quo."

After all, if any politician who took action in accordance with the wishes of a supportive campaign contributor were prosecuted under the same standard I was, then Presidents Obama, Bush, and Clinton, every Member of Congress, every Governor, every Mayor, and every state legislator would be locked up.

Political supporters who support good schools give to candidates who fund schools. Folks who want to reform health care give to politicians who fix our health care system. That's the basis of free speech in our country, the very foundation of our political system.

It's not illegal, it's not bribery, and the U.S. Supreme Court agrees that it shouldn't be prosecuted.

Will you help me clear my name -- and stand up for truth and the rule of law in our system of justice?

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Don Siegelman is the former governor of Alabama (Democratic).
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