Bill Canary, also William Canary, is a Republican campaign consultant in Alabama. His wife, Leura Canary, was the

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

for the

United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama The United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama (in case citations, M.D. Ala.) is a United States district court in the Eleventh Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, ...

. Canary used to be the President and

Chief Executive Officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a chief executive or managing director, is the top-ranking corporate officer charged with the management of an organization, usually a company or a nonprofit organization. CEOs find roles in variou ...

of the

Business Council of Alabama ProgressPAC is a political action committee based in the U.S. state of Alabama. It is the political branch of the Business Council of Alabama (BCA). History The organization was founded in 1993. In 2022, ProgressPAC gave close to $1.4 million t ...

. He continued in his position during Will Brooke's chairmanship of the BCA's board of directors. In 1994, Canary and

Karl Rove Karl Christian Rove (born December 25, 1950) is an American Republican political consultant, policy advisor, and lobbyist. He was Senior Advisor and Deputy Chief of Staff during the George W. Bush administration until his resignation on August ...

waged a successful

whispering campaign A whispering campaign or whisper campaign is a method of persuasion in which damaging rumors or innuendo are spread about the target, while the source of the rumors seeks to avoid being detected while they are spread. For example, a political camp ...

against a

Supreme Court of Alabama The Supreme Court of Alabama is the highest court in the U.S. state, state of Alabama. The court consists of a Chief Justice, chief justice and eight Associate Justice, associate justices. Each justice is elected in partisan elections for stagge ...

justice using

University of Alabama School of Law The University of Alabama School of Law, (formerly known as the Hugh F. Culverhouse Jr. School of Law at The University of Alabama) located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama is the only public law school in the state. It is one of five law schools in the ...

students. In another close election for the Supreme Court, Rove and Canary successfully halted the vote recount in poor areas of Alabama. Canary provided polling for Mike Hubbard during his first election campaign in 1998. The two men were friends and even went to a

ZZ Top ZZ Top is an American rock band formed in Houston, Texas, in 1969. For almost 56 years, it consisted of vocalist-guitarist Billy Gibbons, drummer Frank Beard (musician), Frank Beard, and bassist-vocalist Dusty Hill prior to his death in 2021. ZZ ...

concert together. Canary was among those accused of bribing Hubbard once he became Speaker of the

Alabama House of Representatives The Alabama House of Representatives is the lower house of the Alabama Legislature, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of state of Alabama. The House is composed of 105 members representing an equal number of districts, with ...

, and was made to testify at trial. Canary's charge was not among the 12 of the 23 felony counts on which Hubbard was convicted.

Siegelman controversy

Currently, there are ongoing claims that Canary and his wife investigated former Alabama Governor

Don Siegelman Donald Eugene Siegelman ( ; born February 24, 1946) is an American politician who was the 51st governor of Alabama from 1999 to 2003. To date, Siegelman is the last Democrat as well as the only Catholic to serve as Governor of Alabama. Siegelma ...

for political reasons. A Republican activist, lawyer Dana Jill Simpson of

Rainsville, Alabama Rainsville is a city in DeKalb County, Alabama, United States. At the 2010 census the population was 4,948, up from 4,499 in 2000. Rainsville is located on top of Sand Mountain, a southern extension of the Cumberland Plateau. History Rainsvill ...

, filed a sworn statement saying that she was on a Republican campaign conference call in 2002 when she heard Bill Canary tell other campaign workers not to worry about Siegelman because Canary's "girls" and "Karl" would make sure the Justice Department pursued the Democrat so he was not a political threat in the future. "Canary's girls" included his wife, Leura Canary, who is

for

and "Karl" referred to

. The people on the conference call included Governor Riley's son and lawyer. In response, Bill Canary said he has "'no recollection' of making the 'my girls' comment Simpson claimed. "Just as importantly, I've never spoken to

or the

Department of Justice A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

about prosecuting

References

External links

Ex-Governor Says Conviction Was Political
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', By Adam Nossiter, June 27, 2007 American political consultants Living people Year of birth missing (living people) {{Improve categories, date=July 2021