Pam Bondi gets into a down-and-dirty rasslin' match with U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler and winds up again looking like Nixon-era Attorney General John Mitchell

Many of you probably are familiar with this adage: "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt." That pearl of wisdom often has been attributed to Abraham Lincoln or Mark Twain, and it sounds like something either man might have said. But our research indicates there is doubt that the saying originated with them. The Yale Book of Quotations (YBQ) appears to be the first source to credit Lincoln, but quoteinvestigator.com is reluctant to go with Lincoln or Twain, so we will have to leave the quote's origin up in the air. Either way, it's a classic -- short, filled with truth, humorous, and easy to remember.

The saying comes to mind after watching the appearance of U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi yesterday morning before the House Judiciary Committee.  In the days before Donald Trump,  such a setting usually called for at least a minimal level of dignity. But Bondi, who acts more as Trump's personal attorney rather than as "the people's lawyer," could not muster even the slightest hint of decorum. Instead, her appearance devolved into a shouting match when U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) dared to suggest she was conducting a cover-up related to the Epstein files. 

Based on Bondi's reaction, you would have thought one of those fake wrestling matches from yesteryear was about to commence -- the kind where the villain tended to wear a mask, from which he would extract a metal object and use it to draw blood above the brow of the hero. To maximum dramatic effect, the hero would regain his senses in the nick of time, with both wrestlers bouncing off the ropes only to violently meet in the middle of the ring, where the hero would land a well-timed elbow to the chest, allowing him to pin the bad guy as the crowd went into a frenzy. By the way, it's not that I've actually attended such an event; I've only heard others speak of them . . . (cough, hack, snort!)

We will go into a blow-by-blow account of the Bondi-Nadler grudge match -- and you can watch a video of the main event at the top of this post -- but I should note that Bondi's behavior was not a surprise to your humble blogger. Back when Legal Schnauzer was based in Alabama, we wrote a number of stories about Bondi's political dabblings, mainly because of her connections to an Alabama GOP operative named Jessica Medeiros Garrison and and the ties they both had to the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA). Our reports mostly were in the 2016-2024 range and some included details about Bondi's relationship with one Donald J. Trump. (See here, here, here, and here.)

What about RAGA, and how did Bondi and Garrison figure into its sometimes sketchy activities? We have addressed those questions in a number of posts, most of them long before Bondi became a national figure. (See here, here, and here.) Why do we describe RAGA's activities as sketchy? Well, the organization somehow managed to attract the attention of investigators from The New York Times, which produced a series of articles that can be viewed at this link. The subjects of The Times reporting do not come off in a flattering light. (We will have more in upcoming posts on Pam Bondi, Jessica Medeiros Garrison, their ties to what appeared to be a shakedown operation, and how much of this connects to Donald Trump.)

For now, let's return to Bondi's contentious showdown with Jerrold Nadler, per a report from the Occupy Democrats Facebook page:

BREAKING: “You washed-up loser lawyer!” Pam Bondi throws a FURIOUS tantrum after Rep. Jerry Nadler confronts her on letting Epstein’s cronies walk free!

Attorney General Pam Bondi was called before the House Judiciary Committee this morning to face the music for orchestrating a cover-up of the Epstein files and protecting the powerful pedophiles whose identities are hidden within…and when confronted with the facts, she blew her top in a transparently Trumpian projection of guilt.

Nadler got right down to the point, and immediately made it clear that he wasn’t going to put up with her deflection shenanigans.

NADLER: “How many of Epstein's co-conspirators have you indicted? How many perpetrators are you even investigating?”

BONDI: First, you showed it. I find it—

NADLER: How many have you indicted?

BONDI: *angrily* Excuse me! I'm going to answer the question.  

NADLER: Answer my question

BONDI: No, I'm going to answer the question the way *I* want to answer the question.

NADLER: No, you're going to answer the question the way I asked it.

BONDI: Chairman Jordan, I'm not going to get in the gutter with these people, but I'm going to answer the question.

NADLER: How many have you indicted?

BONDI: I think it's very interesting. I think it's very interesting that he talks about they indicted— The president said they indicted him twice —

JAMIE RASKIN, INTERJECTING: Mr. Chairman, please stop the clock and restore his time.

BONDI: Oh, okay. Here we go with these theatrics!

RASKIN: You can let her filibuster all day long, but not on our watch. Not on our time. And I told you about that, Attorney General, before you started.

BONDI: YOU DON’T TELL ME ANYTHING YOU WASHED UP, LOSER — not even a lawyer.

NADLER: All right. My time. The answer to my question, how many of Epstein's co-conspirators has she indicted, is zero.

 

Occupy Democrats concludes: "Bondi and the rest of the Trump team have no explanation and no possible justification for what they’ve done and are continuing to do on behalf of powerful pedophiles — so bluster, bullying, and tantrums are all they have.

"What a disgraceful show by our nation’s most senior law enforcement officer. She must be impeached as soon as possible. and brought to justice — along with every single one of the pedophiles she's protecting."

In October 2025, a former Trump administration official compared Bondi to Nixon-era Attorney General John Mitchell -- and it was not in a favorable light, as this article from The Hill makes clear under the headline "Ty Cobb: Bondi more 'reprehensible' than Nixon attorney general:

Former White House attorney Ty Cobb, who served during President Trump’s first term, lambasted Attorney General Pam Bondi for her combative congressional testimony.

In an interview on CNN’s “Erin Burnett OutFront,” Cobb said Bondi’s tenure as the country’s chief law enforcement official has been more “reprehensible” than that of Nixon-era Attorney General John Mitchell, who was later convicted for his role in the Watergate scandal.

Asked if he had ever “seen something like that before,” referring to Bondi’s performance, Cobb said, “Never.”

“I think today she achieved one thing,” he continued. “She knocked John Mitchell off the perch of reprehensible attorney generals as No. 1, despite his guilty plea and time in jail.”

Bondi arrived armed with personal attacks against individual Democratic senators and lobbed them at her questioners when pressed on a range of topics.

She refused to divulge any discussions she’s had with the White House, including whether she and Trump have discussed the legal justification for National Guard deployments in Portland, Ore., and Chicago against local officials’ objections.

She also would not say who instructed the FBI to flag Trump’s name in the Epstein files, telling Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the committee’s ranking member, “I’m not going to discuss anything about that with you, senator.”

“Eventually, you’re going to have to answer for your conduct in this,” Durbin responded. “You won’t do it today, but eventually you will.”

Matt Gaetz steps down as former Florida attorney general Pam Bondi (who has her own set of baggage) steps up to replace him in Trump's race to fill a cabinet

Pam Bondi and Matt Gaetz (AP)

Matt Gaetz hasn't accomplished much in his scandal-plagued time as a U.S. senator, but for one day at least, he seemed to have made just about everybody in Congress happy. He did that, according to a report at Axios, by stepping away from his nomination as Donald Trump's attorney general. Late yesterday afternoon, Trump named former Florida attorney general Pam Bondi to replace Gaetz.

As for Gaetz' ability to seemingly make everyone around him happy, Axios' Erin Doherty writes:

Matt Gaetz said Thursday that he is withdrawing his name from consideration for attorney general in President-elect Trump's second term.

Why it matters: The right-wing firebrand, who resigned from Congress after Trump nominated him, was one of the president-elect's most controversial Cabinet picks and his pathway to the confirmation appeared tenuous.

• It's the first setback for Trump in placing his allies in key Cabinet positions. The attorney general candidate is especially important for Trump — and he has signaled plans to overhaul the Justice Department in his second term.

Driving the news: Gaetz in a post on the social media platform X on Thursday said that, "while the momentum was strong, it is clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition." 

The big picture: Gaetz's announcement comes one day after the House Ethics Committee — which had been investigating him over allegations of sex trafficking, corruption and drug use — voted against releasing a report of its findings.

• Gaetz resigned after Trump announced that he would nominate him for AG, raising questions about whether the House Ethics Committee report would ever be made public.

Between the lines: Trump this week had been lobbying for the embattled lawmaker, personally calling senators to urge them to confirm Gaetz, Axios' Juliegrace Brufke and Hans Nichols scooped.

• But the math for Gaetz was tight, with him able to lose just three votes to be confirmed.
• Gaetz and Vice President-elect JD Vance met with Senate Republicans on Capitol Hill earlier this week to try to gin up support for the controversial nominee.

What they're saying: Trump in a post on Truth Social after the announcement said that Gaetz "was doing very well but, at the same time, did not want to be a distraction for the administration, for which he has much respect."

•  Zoom in: Gaetz, who was also investigated by the Justice Department over sex trafficking allegations, has denied wrongdoing. The Justice Department did not bring charges against Gaetz last year. 
• As for Bondi, her background is squeaky clean by Gaetzian standards, but she still brings baggage to the table. Axios reports:

• President-elect Trump said Thursday he will nominate Pam Bondi for attorney general, after his previous pick, former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), withdrew his name from consideration.

  The big picture: The attorney general could be one of the most important roles in the second Trump White House. The president-elect has made clear his desire to have a loyalist in the nation's highest law-enforcement role to carry out his agenda, which could include investigating adversaries.

• Republican lawmakers expressed aversion and disdain for Trump's initial choice of the scandal-prone Gaetz for the nation's highest law enforcement role.

Zoom in: Bondi is a former Florida attorney general and a longtime Trump ally who led the America First Policy Institute.

• "Pam was a prosecutor for nearly 20 years, where she was very tough on Violent Criminals, and made the streets safe for Florida Families," Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
• "Then, as Florida's first female Attorney General, she worked to stop the trafficking of deadly drugs, and reduce the tragedy of Fentanyl Overdose Deaths, which have destroyed many families across our Country. She did such an incredible job, that I asked her to serve on our Opioid and Drug Abuse Commission during my first Term — We saved many lives!" he added.
• "For too long, the partisan Department of Justice has been weaponized against me and other Republicans - Not anymore. Pam will refocus the DOJ to its intended purpose of fighting Crime, and Making America Safe Again. I have known Pam for many years — She is smart and tough, and is an AMERICA FIRST Fighter, who will do a terrific job as Attorney General!"

What's next: Bondi will need at least 50 senators to get confirmed when the new administration takes office. The candidate can only afford to lose three Senate Republicans' votes.

Why it matters: The person confirmed by the Senate to be attorney general will help lead the implementation of Trump's agenda and steer any efforts to investigate — and prosecute — the president-elect's perceived enemies,

What about Bondi's baggage?  Well, she has ties to Alabama, and we have written a number of posts about her activities over the years. Here are a few examples:

(1) There were reports that Bondi might face federal bribery charges over a $25,000 donation Trump made to Bondi's campaign, bringing her investigation of Trump University to a close;

(2) Trump's reluctance to release his tax returns reportedly was due to possible tax fraud related to the Bondi donation; 

(3) Trump's contribution of more than $40,000 in "in-kind services" to Bondi's campaign might have violated Florida elections laws; 

(4) A complaint filed with the U.S. Department of Treasury claimed Trump should be prosecuted for tax evasion and political corruption because of the donations to Bondi and former Texas AG Gregory Abbott, now the state's governor;

(5) Bondi was named chairwoman of the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA) as the organization was under scrutiny because of news reports detailing how Washington lobbyists have sought to influence state attorneys general across the country. Among Bondi's chief defenders was longtime Alabama resident (and close ally of former state AG Luther Strange -- see here, here, here, and here.) Jessica Medeiros Garrison, who was the organization's executive director at the time. "Like all national political organizations, RAGA pays for expenses for its member attorneys general that attend meetings to help with national fundraising," Garrison told CBS News. "RAGA does this in full compliance with federal and state laws that regulate fundraising and political activity for RAGA and its member attorneys general."We've seen no reports of Garrison providing CBS with documentation to support her claims.

 (6) A New York Times article dated Oct. 31, 2014, reported that both candidates for New York AG thought the flow of money to the AG associations of  both parties needed to be curtailed: From that article: 

The political associations run by Democratic and Republican attorneys general must discontinue taking money from corporations that are targets of investigations, the two candidates for the job in New York State said at a debate Thursday night. The incumbent attorney general said he might step down from his party’s group if it did not curtail the practice.

“It is an issue that is going to come up in both of the associations,” the New York attorney general, Eric T. Schneiderman, a Democrat, said at the debate. “I think it should be cleaned up.”

John Cahill, the Republican candidate, said he agreed that law enforcement officials, or a political association that represents them, should not be taking money from targeted companies.

“I think it is a huge problem,” said Mr. Cahill, once a top aide to former Gov. George E. Pataki. “It goes to the whole issue of how I started about the politicization of the office of the attorney general.”

The question came up in response to an article in The New York Times on Wednesday that examined the surge in lobbying and campaign contributions coming from corporations that are trying to gain access to and influence these top state law enforcement officials.

Much of this money is donated — and special access provided — to get tickets to attend retreats organized at resort hotels in spots around the United States by the Republican Attorneys General Association or the Democratic Attorneys General Association. The list of sponsors for these events routinely includes companies that are targets of continuing investigations.

For example, executives at the Michigan-based company that sells 5-Hour Energy, the highly caffeinated drink, suddenly started to donate a total of more than $245,000 to both groups in early 2013, after 33 states opened an investigation into accusations that the company was making false claims in its advertising.

Jessica Medeiros Garrison had an opportunity to comment on such issues related to her profeessional field, but she was not anxious to do so. From the story:

Jessica Medeiros Garrison, executive director of the Republican group, declined to comment Thursday about the notion of placing limits on who can donate to her organization, which has collected $11.7 million just in the first nine months of this year. The Democrats have collected $7.6 million since January 2013. A spokesman for the Democratic group could not be reached for comment.

(7) A New York Times article dated Dec. 26, 2014, reported:

In state legislatures and major professional associations, a bipartisan effort is emerging to change the way state attorneys general interact with lobbyists, campaign donors and other corporate representatives.

This month, during a closed-door meeting of the National Association of Attorneys General, officials voted to stop accepting corporate sponsorships. In Missouri, a bill has been introduced that would require the attorney general, as well as certain other state officials, to disclose within 48 hours any political contribution worth more than $500. And in Washington State, legislation is being drafted to bar attorneys general who leave office from lobbying their former colleagues for a year.

Perhaps most significant, a White House ethics lawyer in the administration of George W. Bush has asked the American Bar Association to change its national code of conduct to prohibit attorneys general from discussing continuing investigations or other official matters while participating in fund-raising events at resort destinations, as they often now do. Those measures could be adopted in individual states.

The actions follow a series of articles in The New York Times that examined how lawyers and lobbyists — from major corporations, energy companies and even plaintiffs’ law firms — have increasingly tried to influence state attorneys general.

These outside players have tried to shut down investigations, enlist the attorneys general as partners in litigation, or use their clout to try to block or strengthen regulations emerging from Washington, the investigation by The Times found.

A debate has started among state attorneys general — even those who believe that the problem is more about the perception of a possible conflict of interest than about any real conflicts — over steps that could be taken to insulate them from outside influence.

“There is a heightened awareness that people need to be very careful how and where they are raising money,” said Attorney General George Jepsen of Connecticut, who is a co-chairman of the Democratic Attorneys General Association. “There is an important dialogue that has gotten started.”

The most definitive action so far was the unanimous vote by the bipartisan executive committee of the National Association of Attorneys General to stop accepting corporate donations to cover the cost of its Presidential Initiative Summit, an event, typically held annually, that focuses on emerging legal issues, such as Internet privacy. Last year, the meeting was sponsored in part by Google and Facebook — corporations that have been targeted recently in privacy investigations.

“I felt like we need to be free of the perception that was created by companies’ and corporation groups’ funding that meeting,” said Jim McPherson, the executive director of the association.

But that group is far less reliant on donations from corporations and other outside groups than the other three main associations of attorneys general: the Republican and Democratic Attorneys General Associations and the Conference of Western Attorneys General. Those groups regularly convene attorneys general at resort hotels for closed-door events with lobbyists, who make donations in exchange for greater access.

A $125,000 donation to the Republican Attorneys General Association, for example, gives a corporate representative the right to participate in a weekend retreat with the nation’s Republican attorneys general, as well as an opportunity to make special, private presentations to them. Democrats have a similar, although somewhat lower-priced, arrangement that grants big donors “a unique opportunity for focused conversation with specific A.G.s in a small setting.”

The list of companies that participated this year in closed-door events sponsored by the Republican and Democratic Attorneys General Associations, according to documents obtained by The Times, includes some that are targets of investigations or regulatory reviews. Among them are Trinity Industries, the manufacturer of guardrails that have been blamed in a series of fatal car accidents, and Comcast, which is seeking the consent of state attorneys general for a merger with Time Warner Cable.

Richard W. Painter, a University of Minnesota law professor who served as the chief White House ethics lawyer during the Bush administration, said that these events should be considered fund-raisers, and that official business should not be discussed.

Both Bondi and Garrison were among interested parties who had opportunities to comment on these issues. But both kept their lips sealed. From The Times report:

Attorney General Pam Bondi of Florida, the newly elected president of the Republican Attorneys General Association; Attorney General Scott Pruitt of Oklahoma, its most recent president; and Jessica Medeiros Garrison, the organization’s executive director, each declined to comment.

Has K.B. Forbes' hard-hitting investigative journalism on scandal-plagued Southern Company made him the target of life-threatening, gun-oriented retaliation?

The Forbes backyard, showing path of the shot

Why would someone shoot into the home of K.B. Forbes, CEO of the CDLU nonprofit advocacy group, which has published probably several hundred investigative articles on corruption related to Atlanta-based Southern Company, the nation's second-largest utility and home to Alabama Power among other subsidiaries? Have First Amendment rights in the U.S. become so tenuous that journalists who create hard-hitting reports on matters of public interest must be on the lookout for gunfire flying through their homes? Is reporting accurately on sensitive topics at the Ban Balch blog enough to put a man's life at risk?

We do not have detailed answers to those questions -- yet. But it appears law enforcement, at several levels, has been provided with enough evidence to start putting together pieces of the puzzle. Under the headline "Southern Company Retaliatory Shooting? DOJ, SEC, NRC, and FBI Briefed," Forbes indicates he takes this matter seriously, very seriously:

Is Southern Company’s longtime consultant Joe Perkins (founder and owner of the Montgomery-based Matrix LLC political-consulting firm)  simply out of control? Is the Oompa Loompa of Alabama politics, who is paid millions by the utility, finally being shown the door by Southern Company?

What would cause an unknown Southern Company goon to shoot a .22 projectile into a perceived adversary’s bedroom window?

The U.S. Attorney of the Northern District of Alabama, Prim Escalona;U.S. Department of Justice leaders in Washington, D.C.; the Special Agent in Charge of the FBI office in Birmingham; investigators at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and officers at the Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission have all been briefed on the retaliatory shooting against K.B. Forbes, CDLU’s Chief Executive Officer.

Forbes met in person yesterday afternoon with the FBI.

This is not the first time Forbes and his family have been targeted. He writes:

“Southern Company crossed a line when they targeted my family in the summer of 2020 and spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on a forensic colonoscopy of everything associated with my family, including the exportation of a princess bed for my then-three-year-old daughter. Now, what has happened is a criminal threat and an infringement of our Civil Rights. No one, and I mean no one, messes or threatens my family and young children. Southern Company ought to be ashamed about this disgraceful act of violence,” Forbes declared.

What about the evidence that has been gathered so far? Forbes provides a rundown:

The window that was hit is located several inches above the bedroom floor, but is located about 5 feet from the outside lawn.

The blue arrow in the picture to the left shows the 5-foot drop from the pierced window .

The trajectory of the projectile passed by the playground area in Forbes’ backyard. The shot, unequivocally, was targeted directly at the window, and not a fluke accident or ricochet. 

The lots behind Forbes’ home are higher and above Forbes’s lot, so the individual who took the shot would have had to climb down, behind the  Forbes home.

And why retaliate?

The CDLU has been working with investigators in multiple government agencies regarding Southern Company’s alleged criminal acts, illicit surveillance efforts, and gross misconduct.

But Tuesday’s story about Southern Company’s alleged surveillance operation of U.S. Department of Justice officials and then-U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town was beyond explosive. The alleged acts are felony crimes.

The last time Forbes' journalism appeared to prompt a shooting, the subject of the article was former Alabama Attorney General and U.S. Senator Luther Strange. Writes Forbes:

In 2021, a couple of days after ex-Drummond executive David Roberson testified about the $25,000 alleged bribe to former Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange in exchange for a letter to be sent to the EPA regarding the North Birmingham clean-up site, Roberson’s car window was shot out.

Strange’s official act in exchange for $25,000 appears to have been a felony crime, too.

To threaten those who write, talk, testify, or criticize Southern Company’s criminal enterprise, a .22 projectile sends an unwavering message of violence and physical harm, or possible death.

And Southern Company has the audacity to tell The Wall Street Journal that they have “moved on?”

Moved on?

Maybe moved on from misdemeanors to felonies.

Could evidence in the Forbes shooting wind up pointing to Luther Strange and former Alabama Governor Robert "Luv Guv" Bentley (best known for his sexcapades with highl-level staff aide Rebekah Caldwell Mason)? Longtime Strange aide and campaign manager Jessica Medeiros Garrison is another name to watch? 

We would not be surprised if evidence pointed in any, or all, of these directions. Strange and Bentley are longtime political compadres, and both vigorously opposed EPA designation of North Birmingham property as a Superfund site. In writing about Roberson's $75-million civil case brought by Shelby County attorney Burt Newsome, Forbes wrote the following in 2019:

Just a few months back, Balch and Bingham and Drummond Company were not concerned because Roberson’s criminal lawyers were paid by Drummond, and Balch’s grip on Jefferson County including federal probes was solid.

But all that changed when Roberson hired Burt Newsome as his civil lawyer. Newsome, who allegedly was wrongly targeted, falsely arrested, and defamed by Balch and Bingham, is running circles around the Balch posse.

U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town has been intentionally avoided and overlooked due to his ties to former U.S. Senator Luther Strange, Balch’s biggest stooge.

Instead, Roberson’s civil lawyer is working with federal investigators in Washington, D.C. and Capitol Hill senior staff, circumventing the political cronyism and corruption of Birmingham.

Further, Forbes wrote:

Our sources say management members at Alabama Power, Drummond Company, Thompson Tractor, and Balch & Bingham—corporate supporters of the AstroTurf and money-laundering entity Alliance for Jobs and the Economy that funneled more $360,000 in bribes to disgraced State Representative Oliver Robinson—appear to have possibly given incomplete testimony or even perjured themselves.

More interesting now are the five-figure campaign contributions (to investigators: alleged bribes) paid to Balch’s biggest stooge, Luther Strange, and ex-Governor Robert “Luv Guv” Bentley after signing the multiple ghost-written letters to the EPA against the North Birmingham expedited clean-up efforts.

The ghost-written letters were allegedly drafted by convicted felon and Balch-made millionaire Joel I. Gilbert.

As for Jessica Medeiros Garrison, she has documented ties to Luther Strange, "Luv Guv" Bentley, and Rebekah Caldwell Mason, and once served in an "of counsel" role at Balch & Bingham -- the law firm that gave birth to the North Birmingham scandal. Medeiros Garrison's connections to, and mysterious exit from, Balch & Bingham were not lost on the Project On Government Oversight (POGO), a D.C.-based watchdog group, which reported in March 2021:

Jessica Medeiros Garrison

[Jeffrey] Wood, [Ed] Haden, and other Balch lawyers spearheaded high-profile legal fights with the Obama-era EPA. Wood and Haden represented Republican members of Congress in a 2016 court filing siding with West Virginia as it fought EPA carbon emission standards at coal power plants. The lawsuit appeared to be coordinated by coal behemoth Murray Energy and the fossil fuel industry-funded Republican Attorneys General Association. RAGA’s executive director at the time, Jessica Medeiros Garrison, was simultaneously an attorney at Balch from 2011 through 2016. She has also worked for [Jeff] Sessions.

Alabama's refusal to create a second majority-Black voting district is driven by an alliance with right-wing power broker Leonard Leo, of the Federalist Society

Steve Marshall and Edmund LaCour

 

Alabama's refusal to abide by a federal-court order to create a second Black-majority voting district is being driven by an alliance between state legislators and a dark-money network tied to far-right power broker Leonard Leo. As head of the Federalist Society, Leo is known for largely "picking" Donald Trump's appointees to the U.S. Supreme Court. Now, Leo is throwing his weight around in Alabama's Republican-dominated legislature, according to an article at Alabama Political Reporter (APR). Under the headline "Dark money: The backstory of Alabama’s redistricting defiance," Editor Bill Britt writes:

The Alabama Legislature’s open defiance of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Allen v. Milligan ordering the creation of a second majority-Black district baffled and infuriated the federal three-judge panel that initially ordered the state to redraw its 2021 congressional map. 

APR has now identified connections between Alabama officials who led the 2023 redistricting process — which disregarded the U.S. Supreme Court’s order — with far-right power broker Leonard Leo’s dark-money network, described this past week by Politico as “a billion-dollar force that has helped remake the judiciary and overturn longstanding legal precedents on abortion, affirmative action and many other issues.”

APR’s reporting shows the extent to which Alabama’s calculation to defy the Supreme Court was made not simply by state legislators in Alabama but has been driven by nationally connected political operatives at the center of the well-documented right-wing effort to reshape the composition and jurisprudence of the Supreme Court and to overturn the remaining key protections established by the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

Leo has been known for working behind the scenes, and that appears to be the case with his Alabama efforts. Reports Britt:

Despite the organization’s claims that it does not take positions on policies or nominations, former President Donald Trump famously stated that Leo’s Federalist Society had “picked” his judges, and all six Republican-appointed Supreme Court justices “were seated with major help from Leonard Leo,” who has come to be known as the “hidden architect of the Supreme Court.” With few exceptions, the justices Leo has ushered to the bench have reliably voted to permit the partisan gerrymanders and strict restrictions on voting access that have proliferated in recent years from red-state legislatures, which themselves work in tandem with — and sometimes under the direction of — Leo’s dark-money groups.

As APR reported on July 27, Alabama lawmakers working in conjunction with state Attorney General Steve Marshall’s office and Washington D.C. lawyers had “intelligence” that Supreme Court Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh — who voted with the majority in Milligan just weeks ago to order the new maps under the statutory language — is open to rehearing the case as a constitutional challenge to the validity of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. 

The Alabama government’s briefs before the three-judge panel in September referenced a concurring opinion by Kavanaugh that questioned whether “race-based redistricting” can “extend indefinitely into the future.” Alabama further relied on arguments — also rejected by the U.S. District Court — that a subsequent U.S. Supreme Court decision this same term ending affirmative action in college admissions (called Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard ) compels the Court to find that a state’s use of a map in which “race predominates” now violates the 14th Amendment’s guarantee of equal protection. As in Milligan, Kavanaugh filed a concurrence in Students for Fair Admissions, emphasizing the potential for time limits on race-related policies.

Kavanaugh appears to be a central figure in Alabama's efforts to dig in its heels on creating a second majority-Black district, reports Britt?

In addition, there now appears to be a significant connection between Alabama’s post-Milligan map redrawing process, Leo’s powerful national dark-money network, and Kavanaugh.  The tangled web of previously unreported ties centers around Marshall, Alabama Solicitor General Edmond LaCour — dubbed “the architect behind Alabama’s voting rights defiance” — and the D.C.-area law firm Consovoy McCarthy, the firm founded by William Consovoy, a now-deceased former clerk to Justice Clarence Thomas who represented Shelby County in Shelby County v. Holder. In Shelby County, the Supreme Court invalidated Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act and its vital preclearance provision, which protected against unilateral state changes to voting rights and maps in states that had a documented history of racial bias in administering elections in order to disenfranchise Black voters.

A review of Alabama’s July Legislative Contract Review Agenda shows that the Alabama Attorney General’s Office retained Consovoy McCarthy attorneys to “provide expert analysis, strategic advice, assist in legal research, and review and revise pleadings as needed” regarding an unnamed matter. Consovoy McCarthy has handled many high-profile cases assailing measures to redress racial discrimination on behalf of right-wing groups tied to Leo. For instance, Consovoy McCarthy has repeatedly represented the Honest Elections Project, an alias for The 85 Fund, a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) group closely tied to Leo, and it represented the Leo-connected dark money group Students for Fair Admissions in its successful challenge to Harvard’s affirmative-action program at the Supreme Court.

Reporting from Politico and the Washington Post has identified The 85 Fund (then called the Judicial Education Project) as the vehicle through which Leo coordinated the movement of up to $100,000 to Justice Thomas’s wife, Ginni Thomas, between 2011 and 2012, at least, and possibly continuing for years. The Washington Post noted “[t]he same year, the [Judicial Education Project] filed a brief to the Supreme Court in a landmark voting rights case,” in which Justice Thomas joined a decision in accordance with the Judicial Education Project’s brief. The 85 Fund has also been tied to Leo’s efforts to coordinate anonymously funded briefs to the U.S. Supreme Court in highly charged political cases.

The presence of the Consovoy McCarthy law firm means connections exist between Alabama's current defiance on redistricting and efforts in the state to gut the Voting Rights Act via the Shelby County v. Holder case. That does not sound promising for the state's Black voters, Britt adds important details about ties between Leonard Leo's groups and key Alabama officials in the redistricting matter:

Among the Consovoy attorneys listed on the state contract disclosure is Tyler Green, one of three trustees on a billion-plus dollar trust fund helmed by Leo, which helps administer Leo’s largest dark money operation called “Marble Freedom Trust.” Green, who clerked for Justice Thomas and formerly served as the solicitor general of Utah, is also a contributor to the Federalist Society, which Leo helms as co-chair of the board. 

The Attorney General’s Office contract lists “Edmund LaCour, Solicitor General” as the attorney assigned to work with Consovoy McCarthy. LaCour is also a Federalist Society contributor and previously clerked for Eleventh Circuit Judge William Pryor, a close ally of Leo and Justice Thomas, and a vocal Federalist Society defender. 

LaCour’s wife, Alice Shih LaCour, is also a Federalist Society contributor, and her Federalist Society profile notes that she “served on the confirmation teams [at the Justice Department] to “elevate Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court.”

The LaCours also have been involved with Catholic far-right organizations with close affiliations to Leo. They are both in their 30s with law degrees from Yale.

How strong are the LaCours' connections to the Catholic far-right and its affiliations with Leonard Leo? Britt's reporting suggests they are quite strong:

Edmund and Alice LaCour were fellows with the Opus Dei-affiliated Leonine Forum, where Leo is a board member. They also have been involved with the Catholic Information Center, a hub for Opus Dei—a small, ultra-conservative and controversial Catholic community—in the nation’s capital and which has given Leo its highest award. Both LaCours gave tribute remarks at the Catholic Information Center’s John Paul II New Evangelization Award Ceremony in 2017. 

A January 14, 2019, article from the Washington Post stated that CIC members and leaders include high-profile figures like Leo and that CIC serves as a meeting place for influential operatives in Washington, D.C., leading it to have “an outsized impact on policy and politics.” 

Alice LaCour’s work on Kavanaugh’s confirmation, and the LaCours’ connections to Leo and the Catholic far-right, have not been previously reported.

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall also has ties to Leo, writes Britt:

Attorney General Marshall has connections to Leo through the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA) and its affiliated Rule of Law Defense Fund (RLDF), where Marshall has been a director since 2020. Leo’s groups are the largest known funder of RAGA since its launch as a separate 527 group in 2014, as The Center on Media and Democracy and True North Research have documented.

RLDF/RAGA is notorious for its robocalls encouraging participation in the rally before the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Both organizations have received significant funding from Leo’s network. According to IRS filings, The Concord Fund (also known by its alias, the Judicial Crisis Network), another of the core organizations Leo uses to raise and allocate funds) has provided more than $1.9 million to RLDF and $16.5 million to RAGA in recent years. 

Marshall is a contributor to the Leo-helmed Federalist Society and delivered the opening speech at the Federalist Society’s 2023 Alabama Chapters Conference, which also featured LaCour.

Speaking of Marshall and RAGA, Marshall reportedly accepted a campaign contribution from RAGA in February 2017 that officials from both political parties said violated state law. The Alabama Ethics Commission eventually cleared Marshall of wrongdoing.

Former Luther Strange aide Jessica Medeiros Garrison, the subject of numerous posts here at Legal Schnauzer (see here, here, here, here, here, and here), once was executive director of RLDF/RAGA, which suggests she, too, has (or had) ties to Leo -- not to mention her ties to the Balch & Bingham law firm, which was at the heart of the North Birmingham bribery scandal involving Southern Company and its affiliates, such as Alabama Power.

On top of that, Garrison had a business relationship with a one-time Florida resident named Erik Davis Harp, who was indicted as a kingpin of a sports gambling ring that reportedly generated $20 million a month. The gambling ring had ties to organized crime, including the Gambino and Genovese crime families. That suggests Jessica Medeiros Garrison, via her business relationship with Erik Davis Harp, had at least roundabout connections to organized crime -- as did Luther Strange, via his political relationship with Garrison.

All of this could cause a reasonable person to conclude that the Rule of Law Defense Fund's title is not meant to be taken literally. Where is this headed in regards to Alabama's defiance on the redistricting issue? Britt has ideas on that question:

These previously unreported connections between Alabama officials who led the state’s 2023 redistricting process and various players seeking to reshape America may be the reason Alabama’s Republican-controlled legislature gambled on a rehearing before the U.S. Supreme Court in hopes their inside intelligence was right in believing Kavanaugh would change his previous vote in Allen v. Milligan.