In an interview with Fox Business’s Neil Cavuto, former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman said that President Trump should grant him a pardon. The pardon would help prevent “political prosecutions,” which according to Siegelman is what took place when he was convicted of bribery and other corruption charges.
According to WBRC, Siegelman, the last Democratic Governor of Alabama, was found guilty of receiving $500,000 in benefits disguised as a contribution for a state lottery. Former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy was also convicted for giving Siegelman the donation in exchange for an appointment to a key hospital regulatory board.
Siegelman recently finished a six year sentence in which he lost several appeals. He has continued to maintain that there was no bribery, and that the entire prosecution was a political witch hunt led by Republican lawmakers. He told Neil Cavuto that he is concerned other officials could be prosecuted under similar circumstances.
“The president needs to clarify by saying, ‘this is not something we’re going to prosecute.’ If a campaign contribution to President Trump or to a super PAC from someone who ends up as the secretary of education, doesn’t mean that the president has agreed to a bribe. And that’s exactly what happened in this case. There was no evidence of an agreement between Richard Scrushy and myself. In fact, the only evidence was that he didn’t want to serve on this board. So in order to clear the air and clarify what should be prosecuted and what shouldn’t, the president needs to step in and grant a pardon.”
This isn’t the first time Siegelman has sought a pardon from the president. In 2016, over 100 former state attorneys general wrote letters to President Obama seeking a pardon for Siegelman’s crimes.
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