Tamarah, welcome to OpEd News . It's now three years since you served as a paralegal on the U.S. Justice Department team that won the 2006 corruption conviction of former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman, your state's most important Democrat. OpEd News has closely followed allegations of gross official misconduct about that verdict and similar Karl Rove-inspired political prosecutions nationwide. You courageously raised such questions within the Justice Department, or "DoJ as it's called, even when your boss was the wife of Rove's close friend and longtime politically ally. Then Congress drew on your insights to raise major questions about the Siegelman trial last November, and DoJ fired you in June despite supposed federal protections for whistleblowers. On Sept. 9, I published an update here about DoJ's effort to imprison Siegelman for 20 more years largely for asking a businessman to donate to an education foundation. Then I published a separate profile of you here in Know , the national magazine for paralegals.
But OpEd News gets your first published Q&A interview about your remarkable experience.
Andrew: What's all this been like for you?
Tamarah: Thank you for your interest. It's been an enlightening experience. I didn't understand the power of a Presidential appointee like a U.S. attorney and the Department of Justice. I lost my naivetà in 2007, when those holding this power attempted to intimidate and silence me. When that failed, they tried to harm me through an unsuccessful selective prosecution. Had I not personally experienced every moment of it, I simply wouldn't have believed it was possible within the United States of America. Certainly, I wouldn't have imagined it within our country's premiere law enforcement agency.
Let's go right to your nine-page letter of June 1 of this year to Attorney General Eric Holder where you summarized your concerns about government misconduct in prosecuting Siegelman. I'm sure you put a lot of thought into the letter, and so please quote from the top.
Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
