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Mrs. William (Leura) Canary
U.S. Attorney in Montgomery
Leura Garrett Canary, daughter of the late Senator Eugene
Garrett and granddaughter of the late Senator Will Garrett, is a
Bush appointed U.S. Attorney in Montgomery. She comes from a
long line of Alabama politicians, some of whom are rumored to
have murdered their opposition. She is married to Bill Canary
who referred to her as one of his "girls" commissioned to "get
Siegelman" in a conference call discussing the Siegelman re-
election. She worked on the corruption case against Democratic
Governor Don Siegelman first under Bill Pryor, and then as a
Bush appointed US Attorney.[1][3]
Leura Canary commenced an investigation into “certain state
employees” on corruption allegations in mid-2001. It soon
became apparent that the principal target of this investigation
was Democratic Governor Siegelman. The investigation had
been initiated at the request of activist Republican William Pryor,
then Attorney General of Alabama when all efforts to prosecute
Governor Siegelman on the state level failed. Various
representatives of Mrs. Canary’s office have given conflicting
explanations of the source of the complaint that initiated the
investigation. Usually they attribute it to a newspaper reporter
from Mobile in an effort to hide the highly partisan political
source. [1]
In March 2002 an attorney for Siegelman filed paperwork with
the Justice Department for her recusal. The attorney argued
that Mrs. Canary was conflicted under ethical guidelines binding
on U.S. Attorneys for two reasons: first, her husband, William
Canary, was then working as a paid political consultant for
Attorney General Pryor, the man whose complaints were driving
the case, and second, her husband was the paid political
consultant for Lt. Gov. Steve Windom, who had declared his
intention to oppose Siegelman for the governorship.[1]
- On May 16, 2002—roughly a year into the case, and nearly two
months after Siegelman's attorney complained to the U.S.
Justice Department about Canary's husband having ties to some
of Siegelman's Republican opponents”[2] — Leura Canary
issued a press statement:
- As to any matters pertaining to any current investigation
of [Governor Siegelman] which may be underway, the
Department of Justice has advised me that no actual
conflicts of interest exist. However, out of an abundance
of caution, I have requested that I be recused to avoid
any question about my impartiality.
However, Scott Horton's researchers were unable to find any
court filed recusal papers. So did Leura Canary actually recuse
herself? Mrs. Canary went to lengths to appear in the media and
state that she had withdrawn. But apparently she never really
gave up complete control over the case, turning the work over to
assistants Franklin and Feaga, career attorneys in her office
that report to her. [1]
Siegelman lost the Governor's seat in a close and contested
race in 2002, but polls in 2003 showed that he had a good
chance of recapturing the governorship. Then came the first
indictment from the U.S. Attorney in Birmingham, Alice Martin,
charging Siegelman with using his position to rig a state bidding
process. [4]
- [1] Harper's 9/14/07
[2] AP, 5/16/02
[3] Alabama Congressional Resolution (HJR454)
CONGRATULATING WILLIAM J. AND LEURA GARRETT CANARY ON THE BIRTH OF
A DAUGHTER. 1998
[4]Selective Justice in Alabama? TIME?CNN 10/04/07
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| __________________________________________________________________________________________ Sponsored by Friends of Don Siegelman 2007 <feedback>________________________________________________________________________________ __________ |
ATTORNEYS
LEURA CANARY
LEURA CANARY
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| Leura Canary |
| photo: video freeze from FTR interview Leura Canary was appointed by Bush to the position of U.S. Attorney in Montgomery. She had worked as an assistant to Bill Pryor where the prosecution of Don Siegelman began, and she continued the prosecution of Don Siegelman as one of Bill Canary's "girls" commissioned with "taking care" of Siegelman. |
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