House Judiciary wants imprisoned Siegelman to testify in “Attorneygate”

Siegelman Sought for Hill Testimony
By BEN EVANS

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Judiciary Committee has asked the Justice Department to temporarily release former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman from prison to testify before Congress in early May about possible political influence over his prosecution.

A spokeswoman for the committee said Thursday that Siegelman, who is serving more than seven years in a Louisiana prison, would travel to Washington under guard of the U.S. Marshals Service. She said Committee Chairman John Conyers, a Michigan Democrat, wants to hear directly from Siegelman because lawmakers are having trouble getting information elsewhere, including from the Justice Department.

Siegelman, a Democrat, was elected governor in 1998 and served one term. He was convicted in 2006 on six bribery-related and one obstruction of justice charge. Democrats last year began reviewing the case as part of a broader investigation what they said were selective prosecutions by the Bush administration.

(Source)