CBS 42 Exclusive: Former AL governor Don Siegelman speaks

[Whiskeytide]

17. I have acquaintances on both sides ...

... of the aisle that were active in Alabama politics then (some still). More than one told me that Siegleman's real problem was that he had made enemies of not only the republicans in Montgomery and DC, but also many democrats. Broken promises, revenge politics - that kind of thing.

I was told he likely would not have been sentenced to the term he got, or would have been pardoned, or perhaps at least would have had his sentence commuted - but for the fact that everyone abandoned him, and the "right" people were not inclined to make it happen.

That is all rank hearsay, of course, but I heard it independently on quite a few occasions, and from folks I don't think were BS'ing me. FWIW.