Though he's already served his time, former HealthSouth CEO and founder Richard Scrushy is still fighting to clear his name.
Scrushy was sentenced to 82 months in prison and fined $150,000 in 2007 after being convicted of bribery, conspiracy to commit honest services mail fraud and four counts of honest services mail fraud in an alleged scheme with former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman.
On March 6, Scrushy announced he would ask the Trump administration for a full pardon in the case and to investigate the Department of Justice's actions regarding corruption and lawfare. Scrushy said he had uncovered evidence proving his claims that he was unfairly and politically targeted.
Last week on "1819 News: The Podcast," Scrushy discussed his case and continued effort to prove his innocence.
"They claim I bribed him [Siegleman] to sit on a CON Board, the Health CON Board. I had served under three previous governors on the CON Board. Under Hunt, under Folsom and under Fob James. When I was serving for Fob James, I resigned because I didn't want to be on it anymore. I was tired. I couldn't do it. I was running a Fortune 500 company," Scrushy said.
Scrushy said that when Siegleman's transition chief, Elmer Harris, asked him to serve on the board again, he initially refused. However, he agreed to serve for one year and then resign.
"I went on that board, I served one year, I went to only 48% of the meetings because I did not want to go to them. I resigned. I wasn't on the board. I was done. They claimed that I bribed him to be on the board. Fob James and I resigned from the board under Siegelman. I didn't want to be on. Why would I have paid him to sit on a board that I didn't want to be on and that I had resigned from? That was their case. That was their case. And so, I mean, when you think about it, it was all a made-up scam. And so for 20, almost 20 years, 18, 19 years now, this black cloud has been over me and my family. That their daddy was a felon, their daddy was a horrible guy. Their daddy did this. He was a criminal. He did all these horrible things. He paid this governor a kickback. All of that is a lie. Today, the light has shined on it. We have the proof that everything was corrupt."
He continued, "They concealed all of that evidence from us. And that evidence would have changed that. And so now that's why we're asking, you know, and I'm even asking the new pardon czar, Alice Marie Johnson, to take a look at this thing."
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