U.S. Attorneys Scandal—Birmingham

By Scott Horton

The U.S. Attorney in Birmingham, Alice Martin, is currently under investigation on perjury charges, according to the Political Parlor. The investigation relates to statements that Martin made in an EEOC investigation of the U.S. Attorney’s office and is now being handled by the Department of Justice’s Office of Professional Responsibility. The EEOC investigation concluded that Martin’s sworn testimony was not credible.

Martin was described by William Canary as one of “his girls” who would “get” Alabama Governor Dan Siegelman according to an affidavit submitted in court proceedings in an Alabama federal court. She later pursued criminal charges against him. The case is discussed in a series of posts in this column, most recently in a dissection of a highly misleading article published by the Birmingham News here.

Update, April 22, 2008: Harper’s was informed on April 17, 2008 that the perjury investigation against Alice Martin was concluded on November 28, 2007, with a finding by the Department of Justice Office of Professional Responsibility that Alice Martin “did not commit professional misconduct or exercise poor judgment.” More information on the OPR’s findings is available on this site.