Bill Canary

Bill Canary, also William Canary, is a Republican campaign consultant in Alabama. His wife, Leura Canary, is the United States Attorney for the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama.

Canary is currently the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Business Council of Alabama.cite news | url=http://www.aptv.org/AlabamaAtWork/details.asp?NOLA2=298| title=Alabama Automotive, Shonda Tolliver, Handling Changes at the Workplace, Bill Canary | publisher=Alabama Public Television |date= 2004-08-27 | first= | last= | accessdate =2007-06-29]

iegelman controversy

Currently, there are ongoing claims that Canary and his wife investigated former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman for political reasons.cite news | url=http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/politics/la-na-siegelman26jun26,1,3825613.story?coll=la-news-politics-national&track=crosspromo | title=Ex-governor says he was target of Republican plot | publisher=Los Angeles Times |date= 2007-06-26 | first= | last= | accessdate =2007-06-29] A Republican activist, lawyer Dana Jill Simpson of Rainsville, Alabama, filed a sworn statement saying that she was on a Republican campaign conference call in 2002 when she heard Bill Canary tell other campaign workers not to worry about Siegelman because Canary's "girls" and "Karl" would make sure the Justice Department pursued the Democrat so he was not a political threat in the future. "Canary's girls" included his wife, Leura Canary, who is United States Attorney for United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama and "Karl" referred to Karl Rove. The people on the conference call included Governor Riley’s son and lawyer. [cite news | url=http://www.harpers.org/archive/2007/06/hbc-90000257 | title=Abramoff and “Justice” in the Heart of Dixie | publisher=Harper's |date= 2007-06-09 | first=Scott | last=Horton | accessdate =2007-06-29]

In response, Bill Canary said he has "'no recollection' of making the 'my girls' comment Simpson claimed.cite news | url=http://www.timesdaily.com/article/20070624/NEWS/706240377/1011 | title=Ex-governor says he was target of Republican plot | publisher= Times Daily (Montgomery Bureau) |date= 2007-06-24 | first= | last= | accessdate =2007-06-29] "Just as importantly, I've never spoken to Karl Rove or the Department of Justice about prosecuting Don Siegelman."

On June 30, 2007, the "New York Times" noted, "The United States attorneys scandal has made clear that partisan politics is a driving force in the Bush Justice Department....There is reason to believe [Siegelman's] prosecution may have been a political hit, intended to take out the state’s most prominent Democrat, a serious charge that has not been adequately investigated....We hope that the appeals court that hears Mr. Siegelman’s case will give it the same hard look that another appeals court recently gave the case of Georgia Thompson.cite news | url=http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/30/opinion/30sat2.html?ex=1340856000&en=6522ac53b9fc2a90&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss | title=Questions About a Governor’s Fall | publisher=New York Times |date= 2007-06-30 | first= | last= | accessdate =2007-06-29]

In a 2001 case, "Republican gubernatorial candidates who hope to deny Siegelman re-election in November have focused on the investigation as evidence that the governor is "ethically challenged." Siegelman has responded that the probe is a political witch hunt undertaken by two Republican prosecutors, Pryor and Canary.cite news | url=http://www.al.com/specialreport/mobileregister/index.ssf?contract/goathill29.html | title=Ex-governor says he was target of Republican plot | publisher=Mobile Register |date= 2007-06-26 | first= | last= | accessdate =2007-06-29]

References

External links

* [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/27/us/27alabama.html?ref=us Ex-Governor Says Conviction Was Political] , "New York Times", By Adam Nossiter, June 27, 2007