Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Strange's 2006 Payments To Former Campaign Aide Coincided With Pregnancy And Birth Of Her Son


Luther Strange and
 Jessica Medeiros Garrison 
Luther Strange paid almost $19,000 to a former campaign aide after he lost the 2006 lieutenant governor's race in Alabama. The payments appear to mirror those that Strange, as attorney general, now claims constitute a crime by former state senator Lowell Barron and his former campaign aide.

Strange's payments to Jessica Medeiros Garrison coincide with her pregnancy and the birth of her child in early 2007. (See Luther Strange 2006 Campaign Expenditures, Part I and Part II, at the end of this post.)

The indictment against Barron indicates the attorney general's office built its case against Lowell Barron on three theories related to Alabama's campaign-finance and ethics law: (1) Barron made the payments to Rhonda Jill Johnson after a losing campaign in 2010; (2) Barron, therefore, could not claim the payments were reasonably related to performance of his official duties; (3) The payments were personal in nature.

Public records show the attorney general himself made payments to Jessica Medeiros Garrison after a losing campaign in 2006. That means the payments could not have been "reasonably related to performing the duties of the office held," and therefore must have been personal in nature.

Did Luther Strange commit the very "crime" in 2006 that he now alleges against Lowell Barron from the 2010 campaign? The answer appears to be yes--and the Strange payments appear to involve a level of deception, and possible personal motivations, that are not present in the Barron payments.

Strange lost the 2006 lieutenant governor's race to Democrat Jim Folsom on November 7, 2006. Campaign-finance reports show the following post-election payments connected to the losing campaign. (See Luther Strange Campaign Expenditures, Part I, at the end of this post.):


* 11/9/06--$17,500 to Alabama Politics, Inc. (consulting) 

* 11/10/06--$1,325.57 to Jessica Medeiros Garrison (food/lodging/transportation) 

* 11/27/06--$100.24 to Jessica Medeiros Garrison (advertising)


The first payment stands out, both because of the amount and to whom it was paid. Alabama Politics, Inc. is based in Tuscaloosa and owned by Jessica Medeiros Garrison. Records from the Alabama Secretary of State show the company was formed on November 21, 2006, even though the Luther Strange campaign already had made a hefty payment to it on November 9, 2006.

Secretary of State records also show that the firm's name was changed to MDM 27 Holdings Inc. on November 27, 2007, and Garrison became Strange's campaign manager in the 2010 run for attorney general.

As we reported on May 8, the Strange campaign spent $207,015.26 with MDM 27 Holdings, from June 10, 2010, to November 30, 2011. During roughly the same time period, the Strange campaign paid $33,245.07 directly to Garrison.

The indictment against Barron stresses the fact that a number of his payments to Johnson were for "administrative" duties. But records show that Strange made 15 "administrative" expenditures to MDM 27 Holdings Inc. in roughly the same time period as the Barron payments. All but one of the administrative payments to Jessica Garrison's company was in the $10,000 to $30,000 range. The Strange campaign made three payments for "consulting" services, and those were in the $9,000 to $12,000 range.

Were the 2006 payments to Jessica Medeiros Garrison and her company personal in nature? Well, she was pregnant at the time the payments were made--and she gave birth to Michael Lee Garrison on March 27, 2007.


(To be continued)






24 comments:

Anonymous said...

Bravo. This is a major scandal - one of historic proportions - that for some "strange" reason is ignored by al.com.

Anonymous said...

I think al.com ignores the scandal because both it and Luther Strange have strong ties to Bradley Arant. It's a white, elitist (mostly) boys club--and members cover up for each other.

Gerry with a G said...

Superb reporting, LS. This is the kind of journalism our state needs. It's the kind of journalism our republic needs.

Anonymous said...

Hmmm . . . Luther committed the same "crime" that Lowell Barron committed, except Luther was more deceitful about it, trying to hide the money flow behind holding companies and such. Who's the real crook here?

MyLittleDemon said...

Who's going to prosecute Luther? They don't need to investigate because LS already has done that for them.

Anonymous said...

I love the fact that Luther paid money to Jessica's company before it even existed. Gee, that's not fishy at all.

Redeye said...

It's Okay If You Are A Republican.

Anonymous said...

My understanding is that Jessica M. Garrison had never run a political campaign before. But she gives birth in early 2007 and--presto!--becomes Luther's campaign manager in 2010. That's a quick climb up the totem pole.

Anonymous said...

I hear the Jessica M. Garrison divorce file has been marked "confidential." Is that true, and if so, why?

Molli said...

Great reporting. Who would do a fair and legal investigation into Luther Strange? It appears all the political crooks in Alabama (Riley, Hubbard, Strange, Taylor and so on)get amnesty from any prosecution. This is when you know your government operates like organized crime. I encourage everyone to share this story until the Alabama public and hopefully the Federal government can no longer ignore what is going on in this southern state.

Anonymous said...

Father's Day is coming up . . . so is Luther gonna be at Jessica's?

Anonymous said...

al.com did have a piece on the congressman from TN confronting Holder about Siegelman.
http://blog.al.com/wire/2013/05/tennessee_congressman_to_ag_er.html

legalschnauzer said...

Anon at 9:24--

My understanding is that's true. I doubt there are any lawful grounds for sealing the case. My guess is that it was done to protect someone's political career.

Anonymous said...

Al.com should be reporting this due to the wildly obvious conflict of interest for the AG since Jessica is now "of counsel" at APCO law firm Balch & Bingham. Their silence is indefensible.

jeffrey spruill said...

Think Luther Strange reads your blog LS?

He's seems to have read Karl Rove's playbook too.

Anonymous said...

http://www.library.unh.edu/digital/object/digital:00148

The War Of The Rebellion from 1861-1865, see the pdf at link.

Trading of slaves, challenged in 'international law'.

International rule of law and due process, refused: George W. Bush Jr., & America, 1860s.

General "TECUMSEH" Sherman, named after the Great Native American "martyr" Shawnee, who was killed in the War of 1812, history reads .. at the Battle of the Thames in Canada on October 5, 1813.

http://www.veteranstoday.com/2013/01/07/from-the-american-revolution-to-idle-no-more/

"Southerners" pretend. Noble, honoring US Constitution law,
ROVE Southern modern 'reality': foul inbreeding.

Roves "Crackers" are 'vampires' and/or 'werewolves', due to 'blood disorders'.

LS exposure of the sickest of our country has been the greatest gift to US, all.

Anonymous said...

When will the Feds start looking into Luther's activities? Is that too much to ask???

Anonymous said...

You need somebody on the inside to get those files...

jeffrey spruill said...

Holder on the ropes

Good riddance!

It's evident now that Holder's DOJ has absolutely no intention of investigating REAL CRIMES such as the U.S. Attorneys firings of Thursday Dec.7,2006:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dismissal_of_U.S._attorneys_controversy

in which the FBI was involved directly in the firings:

http://hamptonroads.com/node/189481

This country doesn't need a DOJ that picks & chooses according to Obama's donor list.

jeffrey spruill said...

Think this FBI Director will be just as complicit in the "Bush Crime Family" crimes?(rehtorical question LS.)

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/30/us/politics/obama-to-pick-james-b-comey-to-lead-fbi.html?_r=1&

Unknown said...

http://www.globalresearch.ca/bush-adminstration-convicted-of-war-crimes-and-crimes-against-humanity/5336860

Jeffrey Spruill, et al,

Bush War Crimes, send out this video to everyone

Anonymous said...

Jeff that's because Obama was hired to continue The Bush Agenda......aka NWO agenda.....

Hey eeeeaf, google it

Anonymous said...

Finally someone is reporting the truth!

Anonymous said...

Here is something to consider, the divorce papers may be marked confidential but the recent child custody case is open. Perhaps Legal Schnauzer should sniff around that.......