Scott Horton under attack... it begins...

[lala_rawraw]

Heads up folks. I noted before on my blog that I had gotten word that Scott Horton of Harper's, me, and others were going to be swift-boated by the Karl Rove-Bob Riley-Jeff Sessions machine in retaliation for our work on Siegelman. I was not told what the smear would look like or how it would be doled out, but I was told that we were the targets. Sure enough, first up on the victim list is Scott Horton. Here is what I just posted:

"I posted earlier today that Scott Horton of Harper's and myself, as well as others are being targeted by the corrupt politicians of Alabama and their paid shills in the Alabama press. I had gotten word from three different people that we were going to be swift-boated.

I had suspected the attacks to be organized one at a time and spread out over several weeks. Apparently, my theory of how this would be done is turning out to be correct. What I did not expect was how soon they would start their attacks.

Scott Horton, it seems, will be the first victim. I just got word from folks in Alabama that the article on him just went out in the print version of Montgomery Independent and authored by Eddie Curran (who it is suggested has an interesting relationship with Senator Jeff Sessions). I had it read to me over the phone. It is a total hit job with a promise of part two next week.

As I promised earlier today, I am keeping you posted. So, Horton is first and he will need your backing. I don't know where I fall in this assault line-up of propaganda politics, but I can only assume I am next in line. On that too, I shall keep you posted. So far no one has called me for comment (how cute, little shills play journalists, awww), but that is not, nor should it be, at the moment. Get ready to back Horton please and to put the Montgomery Independent out of business for this slime, which is sad, because they are generally one of the few Alabama publications worth reading I am told."
http://www.atlargely.com/2008/02/scott-horton-of.html

If you want to see the earlier discussion of this, go here to Mod Mom's thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=2903087&mesg_id=2903087

Get ready to back Horton and here is some ammunition too:
1. Research Curran's relationship to Jeff Sessions
2. Research ghost legal documents written by Curran (on a case that might make his article a conflict of interest)

Go to it team!

[EFerrari]

1. Kick to bookmark. On stand by, sweetie.

:kick:

[KaryninMiami]

2. K&R for late night Lala- thanks for the heads up

Pay attention D.U- this is important stuff.

[lala_rawraw]

10. sure, no prob...

now off to bed i go because i have a bad feeling this is going to get fairly ugly and rather soon too.:) see you folks on the flip.

[Greyhound]

3. K & R # 5

[Truth2Tell]

4. K&R

game on.

[DearAbby]

5. Kicking this ......K&R - nt

[Truth2Tell]

6. I notice that the Montgomery Independent

has run at least one piece by Horton in recent months...

http://www.al.com/opinion/independent/index.ssf?/base/columnists/120091051477000.xml&coll=4

On edit: This one too:

http://www.al.com/opinion/independent/index.ssf?/base/columnists/1202505311296630.xml&coll=4

[lala_rawraw]

8. yep...

which is why I think they used this delivery mechanism to shield themselves from allegations of political smears. Curran's piece ran - I am told - with an editor's note. as soon as I have a scanned copy, I will post it for you folks. apparently there is one editor there that just lovesssssssssssssss Karl.

[trof]

17. Searched their website for 'eddie curran' and got nada.

I've seen the editor, Bob Martin, on a local Alabama PBS news discussion show several times. He seemed pretty even handed, maybe even leaning a bit left. Or at least populist.

Wonder why I can't find anything by Eddie Curran on the website?
:shrug:

[pacalo]

38. I looked, too, & couldn't find anything. Still searching.

[Truth2Tell]

43. Lala,

if you don't get a scanned copy in, could you at least summarize for us what the accusations are against Horton? Thanks.

[lala_rawraw]

65. there are no real substantive

accusations, but remember, this was read to me over the phone. i now have a fax of it, 6 pages for Christ sake, but the scanner part of my fax does not seem to like me right now. i also talked to Horton who has had it faxed to him. from what i got out of it, it was basically a hit piece using words like "McCarthy of the left" and "liar" and "fraud." he also distorts some of Scott's earlier reporting on the Siegelman case. the problem is, that without the scanned copy (going to Kinkos in the am), i don't want to misquote anything and it is a HUGE article.

[babylonsister]

7. Ugh. I'm right there with punishing the liars, for a change! nt

[ancient_nomad]

9. KnR!

Ready to back you, Horton, and the others. Will keep checking for your updates. I hate what is happening in our country.

[Richard Steele]

11. Another late night K&R. nm

[bleever]

12. Karl Rove has to fear this

more than anything since Fitz. The pushback will be ferocious.

This time, he will lose.

[Hissyspit]

13. k&r n/t

[unhappycamper]

14. K&R #22.

Thanks lala.

[druidity33]

15. morning k&r... nt

[Richard Steele]

16. Kick

[annabanana]

18. Look what's going to be posted next july!

http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/alm/Press/MDAL_press_release.html

(note release date... think this might have gone up in haste?)

[MelissaB]

19. You've been digging!

Very interesting, indeed.

[orleans]

20. july? what the hell are they doing? n/t

[mod mom]

22. Wow-so incompetent they can't even get dates straight.

[mod mom]

24. I sent to Conyers staff @ HJC

[GardeningGal]

25. Does someone know how to capture that?

I can print it out, but I'm guessing they may pull it once they realize it's out there.

[MelissaB]

27. I only know how to do what's showing on the screen. I don't know how to make it scroll down.

If nobody else can do this properly I'll do several screen captures.

[ancient_nomad]

28. Do a "save page as".......

I just did it and stored it in my documents. Worked perfectly...scrolls.

[MelissaB]

30. Thanks!

:hi:

[notadmblnd]

54. I saved it to my desk top along with the PDF's

who needs to get it? PM me

[mntleo2]

59. Print Screen Button On your keyboard

Then save it to "paint" or if you have "Paint Shop Pro" you can save it there. Then save THAT to your documents file with a name you will remember.


Cat In Seattle <---techie wannabe, have a degree in it but...no job :(

[Bolo Boffin]

31. I think the release date was actually in 2006.

The report says that Siegelman was convicted "three weeks ago."

Weird typo, though. Two years off?

[bleever]

35. That document comes across as weak and defensive.

Interesting...

[xxqqqzme]

39. awwww, they're all concerned about

journalistic integrity and abuse of power. NoW what publican would do THAT?

"'...Calling for a congressional inquiry is one thing, but basing the request on an incomplete and inaccurate telling of one side of the story is an abuse of power. The lack of journalistic integrity on the part of national news outlets in reporting this story could subvert justice and undermine valid convictions.'..."

[pnwmom]

53. I wonder if the date was supposed to be last July. From the document:

"Additional explanation regarding these facts and omissions follow.

"Don Siegelman, former Governor of the State of Alabama, and Richard Scrushy, former HealthSouth CEO, were sentenced and sent to prison three weeks ago. "

[mod mom]

21. We've got your back, and Horton's and anyone else who stands up for the truth!

Remember Gov Siegelman's birthday is February 24th. Instead of presents-fight for his release!

[flashl]

23. K&R n/t

[warren pease]

26. Kinda like the good old Nixon days...

If you weren't on the white house enemies list, you weren't trying hard enough. Good to see you all have crossed that threshold and are certified BushCo pains in the ass. That's a badge of high honor these days.

So now that you've got their attention, keep it up, as will I and the rest of the voices screaming for accountability and heads on pikes.

Meanwhile, I think it's about time for KKKarl to have a little adventure with a live boy or a dead girl, don't you? A little creative photojournalism, some skilled photoshopping, coordinated worldwide distribution over the web and then let's see these smug fuckers play defense for a change.

"But... but... but... I have never had sexual relations with that boy..." Is Kenny Starr available?

Sound like a plan, or are lefties too pure of heart to engage in such gutter-level smears? Personally, I want to win every available seat this November and I don't care what it takes to get there.

I'll have plenty of time to contemplate my compromised ethics once this pack of hyenas is safely behind bars and the entire GOP/neocon axis of weevils is completely out of power and so discredited that anyone with PNAC on their resume couldn't get a job bagging groceries at the local Safeway.


wp

[Blue_Tires]

29. TTT

[Elspeth]

32. kick

:kick:

[lala_rawraw]

33. hey folks

thank you all. i am sending this thread to Horton. in the meantime, keep up the pressure. i have to work on the 4th installment which we have been investigating for 3 months now... i am awaiting a final piece of information and and then all hell is going to break loose, or it would if we had a Congress. keep it up... i will check in later today to see if there is anything more on Mr. Curran. ;)

[Mags]

36. Hang in there, we are behind you.

[FourScore]

34. Getting right on it! k&r Thanks lala! n/t

[The Backlash Cometh]

37. God bless you all.

Can someone compile a list of all the Alabama player-players?

Including the name of the "girls."

[suffragette]

48. There are a couple of charts at the following site

Here's on of them:
http://www.scrushy-report.com/siegel_names2.html

[The Backlash Cometh]

50. Thanks!

[The Backlash Cometh]

52. Alabama Player-Players, good and bad.

Richard M. Scrushy
Judge Mark Fuller
Judge Charles Coody
Louis Franklin
Joseph Fitzpatrick
Jennifer Garrett
JB Perrine
Stephen Feaga
Richard Pilger
UW Clemon
Alice Martin
Melissa Atwood
Tamarra Matthew Johnson
John Gibbs
Matt Hart
Leura Canary
Charles Redding Pitt
David McDonald
Vincent Kilborn, III
Hiram Chester Eastland, Jr
George Blakey
Susan James
Art Leach
Les Moore
James Kenneth Jenkins
Terry Lucas Butts
W. Bruce Malloy
Fred Gray, Sr.
Carmen Hernandez
Bill Long
Jack Brennan
Gerald Shockley
Vicki Davis
Nick Bailey
Bob Riley
Bill Pryor
Steve Windom
Troy King
Jeff Sessions
David Whetstone
Bill Canary
Bill O'Connor
Karl Rove
Ralph Reed
Grover Norquist
Jack Abramoff
Michael Scanlon
Ed Buckham
Dax Swatek
Dan Gans
Merv Nabors
Eddie Curran
Charles Russell
Kristen Hainen
Chip Hill
John Aaron
Bobby Segall

[acmavm]

61. Thank you! Can't keep up with the action without a list of all the players.

You know what amazes me? That all this shit is coming out. That they couldn't keep the lid on the bottle tight enough to keep it from spilling out into the public arena.

[suffragette]

69. It's a looong list with some very familiar names

That was a big bottle they had, but they overfilled it and it is finally spilling. Plus, great people like Larissa and Horton kept yanking that lid off and exposing the crap being done.

[pacalo]

40. I found a blog by a David Person in today's online version of the MI that discusses the Siegelman

story: http://blog.al.com/times-views/.

(...)Consequently, until I'm proved wrong I'll continue to believe that Siegelman is guilty, that his conviction was valid. But I won't be surprised if one day we learn facts that indict others of wrongdoing regarding his conviction, possibly even Martin, Rove and a vast GOP conspiracy. Their possible crimes, however, don't negate his.

And yes, I'll be watching "60 Minutes" this Sunday night with great interest.

[EFerrari]

41. Do you have a link to the hit piece? I looked early this a.m.

but came up empty. It would be good to have for those of us who want to write into it.

/ack

[pacalo]

42. I couldn't find anything on it.

I learned, though, that Eddie Curran is with the Mobile Register. Nothing there, either.

[EFerrari]

44. That's what I thought. Thanks, though.

Larissa will put it up when it's available I guess.

[pacalo]

45. Maybe Larissa's contact will fax it to her?

[lala_rawraw]

56. it ran in the Mont Indie...

He used to be with the Mobile publication, but has long been on "leave" or "fired" is what I am hearing. It is out, it was read to me. But I don't have a copy as of yet. As soon as I get one, I will post it. Anyone in Alabama near Montgomery, can you pick up a copy? One of the things I remember from what was read to me is that he calls Horton a liar, a McCarthy of the left, and a fraud.

[suffragette]

46. Interesting that two who worked for Riley are now on McCain's team

Dax Swatek and David Azbell
See http://www.gwu.edu/~action/2008/mccain/mccainorgal.html
http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/News/PressReleases/17553dd5-8558-4cf7-a74f-9091ff39a014.htm
http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/News/PressReleases/c364b955-0413-40f8-93e7-4c16b3f7cf04.htm

From http://www.scrushy-report.com/siegel_names2.html about Swatek
Dax Swatek Political consultant and lobbyist.
Consultant and spokesperson for Riley re-election campaign. He was a consultant to Senator Jeff Sessions, Bill Pryor and Bob Riley. He is also a lobbyist for several big business corporations, like Philip Morris and Wal-Mart. He was behind a grass roots effort to support Channel One, that had links to Reed, Abramoff and Norquist. He turned Bob Riley around on the issue in what appears to be an effort to protect the interests of outstate clients and not the children of Alabama.

Note the Sessions connection.

Found an article on Azbell that reminds me of George Allen. Have to post the cached version since the original seems to have been disappeared:
http://cache.zoominfo.com/CachedPage/?archive_id=0&page_id=395213579&page_url=%2f%2fwww.accessmontgomery.com%2fNEWS%2fStoryAlabamacapitol16jw.htm&page_last_updated=2%2f16%2f2003+8%3a02%3a34+AM&firstName=Joe&lastName=Azbell

David Azbell's Capitol office isn't on the official tour of the historic building, but maybe it should be.

Azbell, press secretary for Gov. Bob Riley, has decorated his office with dozens of campaign buttons and lots of memorabilia from one of his earlier bosses, former Gov. George C. Wallace.

The affection for the late four-term governor is not surprising because Azbell's late father, Joe Azbell, wrote campaign speeches for Wallace.
~snip~
For instance, there's a matchbook from the United Klans of America that urged people to vote for Wallace. The inside cover of the matchbook is a mail-in form to join the white-hooded nightriders.

[mod mom]

47. Very interesting-thanks

[suffragette]

51. I'll keep searching when I can

Getting an odd "dog that didn't bark" feeling about Curran.
Senator Sessions is such a power down there that you'd think searching on both their names would yield some article hits by Curran, if nothing other than Sessions passed this or didn't pass that. Yet, nada. Why the absence? That doesn't add up for me.

[blm]

49. With you, kiddo.

.

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

55. K & R, bookmarked, working on word of mouth for the 60 minutes story and

get a bit of R and R, Lala. You've earned it. :hug:

[Coexist]

57. does anything in this help?

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2007/10/time_in_alabama_prosecutors_ch.php#comment-2144722

Has _anyone_ taken a look at Eddie Curran, the Mobile Register reporter who wrote a zillion articles about Siegelman and was cited by the USAs office as the spark for the Siegelman prosecutions.

Scott Horton and the guy who runs Legal Schnauzer, the somewhat confused blog mostly about DoJ corruption in AL (http://legalschnauzer.blogspot.com/, oh, and check out Curran's psycho comments on that blog) have mentioned him but has anyone taken a hard look? His house, apparently, was renovated/enlarged in the middle of the Siegelman prosecution and it certainly looks like he was the main newspaper laundry man for the DoJ in AL. He reported all kinds of things that could have only come from the grand jury and/or the prosecutor's office. And, like the DoJ, he's ignored in-your-face GOP corruption. (Yes, he's reported on some GOP corruption during his career but viewed from any distance, most of that work looks like CYA stuff, at best.) Oh, and Curran infamously got drunk with various AL GOP honchos and ended up in a shouting match with Dems. It was a strange episode and seemed to show that Curran was totally in bed with the GOP. The Register ran an "investigation" of the incident and concluded, of course, that nothing was amiss.

Anyway, I'm sure the Muckrakers are very busy with Iraq contractor corruption but, IMO, the Siegelman story really deserves to be untangled and Curran's part of the story.

http://www.al.com/specialreport/mobileregister/index.ssf?contract/public2.html

[Coexist]

60. again, anon asks if anyone is looking into the expansion/renovation

of Curran's home in 2003.

Do you have his full, legal name? Maybe look up financing, permit apps - there should be drawings with these, contractor, etc.

[lala_rawraw]

64. Edward Curran?

His byline says Eddie

[Coexist]

66. I checked Mobile County tax appraiser - no Edward,

2 Edwins though:

http://mobilerevenue.siteonestudio.com/TaxBill/CoreBill.asp?key=00787777
http://mobilerevenue.siteonestudio.com/TaxBill/SalesHistory.asp - sales history

http://mobilerevenue.siteonestudio.com/TaxBill/CoreBill.asp?key=00541685
http://mobilerevenue.siteonestudio.com/TaxBill/SalesHistory.asp - sales history here

doesn't look like either were in E. Curran's posession before 2004. Does he live in Mobile?




in case those links don't work - main site - use the Search function

http://mobilerevenue.siteonestudio.com/TaxBill/SearchResults.asp

I couldn't search for any permit applications - you may have to do that on site - it was a long time ago.

Maybe it is the construction firm that is anon's tip? Maybe they did lots of work for cheap?

[lala_rawraw]

63. why yes it does:)

my hero!!!!

[Coexist]

67. I think I may have found something on the renovation:

http://urban.cityofmobile.org/urban_boa/letters_decision/5198.pdf

http://urban.cityofmobile.org/urban_boa/agendas/1_0903.pdf

http://urban.cityofmobile.org/urban_boa/items_results.php?a=fs¤t_key=168&meeting_id=33

http://urban.cityofmobile.org/urban_boa/reports/025198zon2003.pdf

doesn't sound like much - but who knows.

[nealmhughes]

58. Let me tell y'all a little story about Alice Martin, who is running a race for the world's worse

mother, or is so in my book. This story is as told by the source, and I cannot verify it for fact, but I don't believe that the nanny in question would lie: When I was an undergrad, Alice employed a friend of mine as an occasional nanny/babysitter, before she was in the US Attorney's office, actually, this was during the end of the Clinton era, about 98 or 99. Well, Alice calls my friend and says she has to go to Nashville (1.5 hours from her house in Alabama) for a Republican fundraiser that she is co-hosting, and will be back with hubby by 2 a.m. at the latest. My friend iterated and reiterated to Alice that she had a final that afternoon at 1 p.m. and she had to get some sleep, so she would sleep in the guest room if that was OK. Alice said, "sure."
My friend went to the Martins. She went to bed at 11 p.m. or so, assuming that they would be home when she got up with the kids that next morning. They were not home.
She called the number they left and the hosts said they had "gone out for late drinks" after the dinner. She waited until about 11 a.m. and just got the kids in her car, strapped them in and went to Alice's mother's house who ripped her a new one, saying, "I don't babysit."
My friend said, "You do today, find your daughter," and left. She took her final and Alice drove up to her apt. fuming mad and screaming and cursing her for not being there for her kids while she had made a "last minute romantic getaway with her hubby" on a spur of the moment, then claimed to have called her. My friend's reply: "You were probably so drunk you called the wrong number. Give me $100 and don't ever ask me to babysit for you ever again. I nearly missed a final because of your laziness."
She refused to pay her and an attorney friend told Alice it was going to be going to small claims court (Lauderdale County, AL) is solidly Democratic and no Repubican has ever won a local office save one turncoat state senator.
Go ask Alice, when she's ten feet tall. . .
p.s.
Her husband inheireted his family business that made stoves, and outsourced all the union jobs straight to Mexico without even notifying any of the employees until they were told they no longer had jobs.
They are such a charming couple! People in Florence and Huntsville just "love 'em to death." Not.

[navarth]

62. wow. k&r

I'll be listening. Thank you so much for your work.

[lala_rawraw]

68. Red alert... more attack

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=2912344&mesg_id=2912344