Former Alabama guv's appeal

Yes, Don Siegelman is appealing his 2006 conviction on federal corruption charges.

More than that, however, the former Alabama governor is finding receptive audiences for his claim that his pursuit by federal prosecutors was part of an effort by Republicans to tarnish a Democrat who had proven himself capable of winning elections in a GOP-friendly state.

Last week, the CBS News program "60 Minutes" carried an update from a story it had done earlier this year when Siegelman was locked up in a Louisiana prison.

On Sunday, The Washington Post followed up with a 1,400-word story on Siegelman and his case.

Here's an exceprt:

An appeals court panel in Atlanta will decide whether Siegelman, the governor from 1999 to 2003, should win a new trial because of what he contends are faulty jury instructions underpinning his 2006 conviction on bribery, conspiracy, mail fraud and obstruction charges.
Yet Siegelman has not petitioned the court to hear his allegations of political tampering, choosing instead to make them on television programs and in newspapers and magazines. He asserts that Rove, two Republican U.S. attorneys, the son of his successor as governor, career prosecutors and former leaders of the Justice Department's public integrity unit conspired to manufacture a case and thwart Siegelman's ambitions to return to the governor's mansion.

More on this case will surely follow.