Hundreds of pages denied to lawyer

[Klukie]

Friday, September 21, 2007
By BRIAN LYMAN
Capital Bureau
MONTGOMERY -- The Justice Department is withholding 514 pages of documents related to the recusal of U.S. Middle District Attorney Leura Canary from her office's criminal investigation of former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman, according to correspondence between the department and an Alabaster attorney.

The Department of Justice initially told John Aaron, the Alabaster attorney who worked on Siegelman's 2006 gubernatorial campaign and requested the documents under the Freedom of Information Act, that it had no documents related to the recusal.

After Aaron appealed, the Justice Department's Executive Office for United States' Attorneys said it had 516 pages related to the case but would only release two -- Canary's 2002 news release announcing her recusal for personnel and privacy issues.

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