MONTGOMERY, Ala. - Former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman said he once had national political ambitions, but after his conviction in a government corruption case and nine months in federal prison, he doubts he will ever run again for public office.

Siegelman blames the end of his long, successful political career on Karl Rove, the former political advisor to President Bush, who Siegelman has said orchestrated his prosecution.

“Politics for me, in terms of elected politics, is over. If that’s what Karl Rove wanted, he accomplished his goal,” Siegelman told the CBS News show “60 Minutes” in an interview posted on its Web site. Rove has denied that he had anything to do with directing Siegelman’s prosectuion.

Siegelman appeared briefly Sunday on “60 Minutes” as it updated a report aired in February on the prosecution of the former governor.

In one part of the interview, Siegelman said he did ask former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy to give $500,000 to Siegelman’s 1999 lottery campaign, but never offered to give Scrushy a seat on an influential hospital board in exchange for the contribution.

“There was absolutely no deal,” Siegelman said. He said Scrushy at one point told him he did not want to serve on the Certificate of Need Review Board. The HealthSouth CEO had previously been appointed to the board by three Alabama governors.

The chief federal prosecutor in Siegelman’s case, Louis Franklin, declined to comment Monday on Siegelman’s statement.

The “60 Minutes” interview was the first Siegelman granted since a federal appeals court ordered on March 27 that he be released from a Louisiana federal prison on bond while his conviction is being appealed. He was also to be interviewed Monday night on “Verdict with Dan Abrams” on MSNBC.

Siegelman and Scrushy were convicted in June 2006 on six bribery-related counts. Prosecutors said Siegelman appointed Scrushy to the Certificate of Need Review Board in exchange for Scrushy arranging $500,000 in donations to Siegelman’s lottery campaign. Siegelman was also convicted of a separate obstruction of justice charge involving the purchase of a motorcycle.

Siegelman was sentenced to more than seven years in federal prison and Scrushy to almost seven years. U.S. District Judge Mark Fuller of Montgomery ordered Siegelman and Scrushy taken into custody immediately at the end of their sentencing hearing in June 2007, as their attorneys were asking that they be released on bond.

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered Siegelman released, saying his attorneys had raised substantial issues for the appellate judges to consider on appeal. But the court refused to release Scrushy, saying he was considered a flight risk.

For more than 20 years, Siegelman was one of Alabama’s brightest political stars. Elected to the first of two terms as secretary of state in 1978, Siegelman also served as attorney general and lieutenant governor before being elected governor in 1998. Even if we wins his appeal and clears his name, Siegelman said on the “60 Minutes” interview that he doubted his name would ever appear on another ballot.

“I am about busted financially,” Siegelman told Pelley. “I am going to have to get busy at 62 and find a job.”

Alabama Democratic Party chairman Joe Turnham said Monday he believed Siegelman’s political star was continuing to rise when he was elected governor.

“I certainly think that for many years Governor Siegelman was rumored to be a candidate for the United States Senate,” Turnham said. He said the investigation of his administration and his conviction was “certainly a devastating blow to his political future.”

Turnham said he hopes Siegelman will be exonerated and find ways to enjoy life outside politics. But he said he would not completely count Siegelman out when it comes to politics.

“At the end of the day, he still has a chance to be exonerated and rebuild his standing and stature around the state. It’s unfair to project him out,” Turnham said.

Siegelman said in the “60 Minutes” interview that since getting out of prison he has mostly been staying home.

“I have been hugging my son, hugging my daughter, hugging my wife. I’ve been seeing family, calling friends, saying thank you,” the former governor said.

Siegelman raised in the interview an issue that is one of the major points of his appeal — whether it’s a crime to take a campaign donation and then later appoint the donor to a position. If it’s a crime, Siegelman said, “we need to put George Bush in prison and every governor in prison. Everybody appoints people who contributed to his campaign.”

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