Craig Watkins to Talk About Wrongful Convictions on The Colbert Report Wednesday

By Robert Wilonsky in Crime and Punishment, From the RTF Department

Mon., Nov. 30 2009 @ 3:11PM

Stephen Colbert's people don't like to talk about why they ask guests to appear on The Colbert Report. Trust me. We asked earlier today, when word came down that Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins has been booked for Wednesday's show (which puts him between Tuesday night's guests, author Sherman Alexie and Vatican astronomer Guy J. Consolmagno, and Friday's invitee, Janet Napolitano, nice). The answer from Comedy Central: Nunya. Jamille Bradfield, Watkins's spokesperson, tells Unfair Park the district attorney was actually invited to appear a few weeks ago, and, as expected, "the primary topic will be wrongful convictions."

Most likely not on the topic list: Watkins's ongoing, ever-escalating feud with Dallas County Republican Party chair Jonathan Neerman. Speaking of, I noticed on the DA's Facebook page that he's not being terribly subtle when asking for $25 campaign contributions to fend off any and all GOP comers in 2010: "We have a battle ahead, please put us in a financial position to not only win the battle, but to annihilate our critics." If I were Colbert, I'd ask him about that.