Larisa Alexandrovna, Muriel Kane and Lindsay Beyerstein - "Part I of this series explored the long-term involvement of two men -- GOP consultant Bill Canary and Alabama Attorney General William Pryor -- in the events leading to the imprisonment last summer of former Alabama Democratic governor Don Siegelman.

That train of events began in 1998, when Canary managed Pryor's campaign for re-election as Alabama attorney general. Immediately afterwards, Pryor began the investigation of Siegelman that eventually led to the newly-elected governor's conviction on corruption charges in 2006.

In the 2002 race for Alabama governor, Bill Canary advised the campaign of Siegelman's Republican opponent, Rep. Bob Riley. Pryor ensured Riley's victory in that extremely close race when he declared that unsealing the ballots for a recount would be a crime.

The following April, Pryor was nominated by George W. Bush to serve as a federal judge on the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. He was eventually installed by a recess appointment, against the objections of Senate Democrats.

Bill Canary, Karl Rove, and the 2002 Elections
Karl Rove is known to have worked with Bill Canary on numerous political races in Alabama, beginning in 1994 and including William Pryor's campaign in 1998. Canary and Pryor both enjoyed a close political and social relationship with Rove — who went on to become a senior adviser to the president, before Bush's "brain" resigned earlier this year.

Two Republican lawyers who have asked to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation allege that Canary and Rove also worked together on the 2002 Alabama governor's race. One of the lawyers is close to the Republican National Committee in Alabama.

By 2002, George W. Bush was president and Karl Rove was working in the White House as his special assistant with the highest level of security clearances. Rove, however, did not lose his security clearances, even after he was identified as one of the sources in the CIA leak case, in which the cover of covert CIA officer, Valerie Plame Wilson was exposed to journalists in 2003 as an apparent act of reprisal against her husband Joseph Wilson.

Rove could not be reached for comment for this article. A call placed to the White House for forwarding information was answered but not returned.

Windom, after being told about the article and the name of this publication, said, "I’m not interested, thanks.”

According to the Alabama RNC source, Rove met regularly with operatives for the Riley campaign. The source's allegations are confirmed in part by campaign disclosure forms, which show that Windom paid Canary as a consultant between 1999 and early 2001 and later received large contributions from Canary's business partner, a pattern that is duplicated with Riley and Canary.

According to public records, Windom paid Canary's firm $38,022 for consulting and polling between 1999 and 2001. At the same time, PACs associated with Canary's business partner, Patrick McWhorter, donated heavily to Windom's campaign, contributing $149,000 in 2001 and another $75,000 in 2002.

After Windom lost the primary, PACs associated with McWhorter and Canary switched their donations to Bob Riley, giving him $85,000 in the days immediately preceding the November election. After the election victory, Windom emerged immediately as a close confidant of Riley's, advising him on the appointment of a new Insurance Commissioner, Walter A. Bell, and other matters. Canary also emerged as a key Riley advisor.

Public records also show that at the same time Canary was consulting for Bob Riley's campaign, his lobbying group, the Business Council for Alabama, donated $678,000 to the campaign of his client. This was the third largest donation the campaign received, exceeded only by those from the Republican National State Elections Committee, for $2,475,000, and from Bob Riley himself, who contributed $1,070,000 to his own campaign.

Rove on the Corner
Rove's meetings with Riley campaign operatives are said to have taken place on street corners in Washington at prearranged times. "Riley's people went up to DC and had a couple of meetings with [Rove]," one of the Republican attorneys stated. In addition, Rove and his wife purchased a property in Rosemary Beach, Florida in November of 2002, about 2-1/2 hour drive from Alabama’s capital – Montgomery, a little over an hour's drive from Mobile, and less than an hour by jet.
"He would never discuss anything on the phone. He would tell you to meet him at some corner and then you get there and sure enough he is standing in the middle of the intersection waving at you."

Riley did not return calls seeking comment.
These allegations are similar to those made by consultant Marc Schwartz in The Architect: Karl Rove and the Master Plan for Absolute Power by James Moore and Wayne Slater, describing a meeting that took place in March of 2002:

"I gotta meet Rove," Jack Abramoff told Schwartz one afternoon as they talked in the backseat of the lobbyist's car. Abramoff's driver, Joseph, was working his way through the crowded streets of Washington. The lobbyist gave Joseph a location for a rendezvous, and he set a course in the direction of the White House.

"Really?" Schwartz asked. "We're going to the White House?"

"No. No. We don't do that," Abramoff answered.

"Why not?" Schwartz joked. "I'm sure George would want to see me."

…He explained to Schwartz why they were not going to see Karl Rove at the White House.

"They've got movement logs over there and everything, and we like to keep things kind of quiet. So just watch. You'll really get a kick out of it."

A few minutes later, Abramoff pointed through the front windshield at an approaching street corner and turned to smile at Schwartz.

"You recognize him?" the lobbyist asked his client.

"Son of a bitch," Schwartz muttered. "He's just out in the middle of the street."

"Uh-huh."

Read all at RawStory

Larisa Alexandrovna is managing editor of investigative news for Raw Story and regularly reports on intelligence and national security stories.
Muriel Kane is Raw Story's research director and part of the RSI team.
Lindsay Beyerstein is a national correspondent for Raw Story and part of the RSI team.