A letter to 60 Minutes

I’m a latecomer to the controversy over the 60 Minutes story on the supposed machinations of Karl Rove to take down former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman. CBS has posted the story here.
On its face, the segment is a remarkably thin piece of work from which to lob serious accusations implicating the integrity of prominent officials including Rove. Rove himself has responded to the story by asking the question that occurred to me after watching the segment: “Seeing where I was working at the time, a reasonable person could ask why I would even take an interest in that case.”
The 60 Minutes story quotes two sources at length, Jill Dana Simpson and former Arizona Attorney General Grant Woods. Jim Hoft has covered the issues concerning Simpson’s contribution to the story here and here.
Reading about the underlying controversy, I found the name of Eddie Curran. Curran is the Mobile Press-Register reporter whose stories played a role in initiating the investigation of Siegelman. Curran is on leave from the Press-Register writing a book on Siegelman’s “administration, the trial, and the aftermath, including the 60 Minutes show on Siegelman.” Curran has now written a letter to 60 Minutes.
Watch or read the 60 Minutes story and then read Curran’s letter in its entirety. It is of great interest. Here, for example, is Curran on Woods, the second of the 60 Minutes segment’s two principal sources:

Ten years ago, on a non-investigative story about the tobacco wars, I quoted Grant Woods saying he

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