Overt racism, and Bob Riley's use of state contracts in an effort to frame a political opponent for murder, lurk beneath surface of Trey Glenn indictment in Alabama

Trey Glenn mugshot

Whenever you come across a story of right-wing corruption, it's a safe bet that racism is part of the narrative. If the corruption is based in Alabama, the Riley crime family likely is involved.

Last week's indictment in Jefferson County, Alabama, of Trey Glenn, Trump Southeast director of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), provides prime examples. An Alabama political insider says Glenn views black males as little more than disposable waste and used blatantly racist language in discussions about environmental matters. As for former Gov. Bob Riley, the insider says he used government contracts as a pawn in an effort to frame a former Alabama lawmaker for murder -- all because the then-state senator, a Democrat, refused to go along with Riley's political agenda.

Jill Simpson -- whistle blower, opposition researcher, and retired attorney -- saw Glenn's racist and corrupt tendencies while both were seeking an environmental contract about 12 years ago. Who was involved in Glenn's underhanded tactics? Why, our old "friend" Luther Strange, of course. From a Simpson Facebook post after the Glenn indictment was announced last week:

In 2006, I did a $16-million bid, for myself and four partners, to clean up a tire dump and caught Trey Glenn who then was head of ADEM [Alabama Department of Environmental Management] doing a bunch of corrupt things. It started with him trying to do a no-bid contract on a multi-million dollar deal. Next, I caught him offering one bidder the opportunity to use prisoners as basically free labor, without caring if they had proper clothing, training, and safety gear to take tires out of a lake, which gave the other bidder an unfair financial advantage. 

Trey said, "Jill, it is black guys at St Clair prison mostly," and he did not give a shit what happened to them. Then I found out he had been working with Luther [Strange], a private attorney to give people on a state tire clean-up committee an unfair advantage in the bidding process.

As for Bob Riley (and his son, the oily Rob "Uday" Riley), he tried to have former State Sen. Lowell Barron (D-Fyffe) framed for murder. Writes Simpson:

Bob Riley, after I did not get the tire deal, said I could have the next three or four tire deals if I would agree to set Lowell Barron up on opposition research on the death of Judge Paul Thomas, by getting recorded statements from clerks at the courthouse saying Lowell -- Senate pro tem at the time -- called Paul and asked him to meet him at his house the day of Paul's death, which came after he fell off a mountain. 

I told Bob I would not help him, as I knew Lowell's brother, who had been a client, and I was not getting involved in his and Rob's bullshit about Lowell. Bob said that my partners and I would not get any tire contracts if I did not start helping him get Lowell Barron, who was causing him trouble with his agenda. He then asked if I would at least help find a plaintiff for a lawsuit, in front of a judge named Bush, that they were going to bring against Lowell, supposedly for not filing some election papers right, and I said no which really pissed him off, and he said some ugly things.

Simpson says she reported the actions of Trey Glenn and the Rileys to law enforcement and civil-rights groups:

I went back to my partners, and we agreed I should report it to an FBI agent I had helped some time back solve a murder case involving a member of a Mexican Gang called La Familia .I called Danny Garnet, an FBI agent in Gadsden, and he came to my office in September of 2006, and I told him what had happened with Bob and Rob at the time Mueller was the head of the FBI -- and the FBI started investigating Trey and Bob. 

Bob Riley

I also notified the SPLC and Rev. Lowery with the Southern Christian Leadership organization to notify folks of what Bob Riley and Trey Glenn said when I advised them that they should not put young black men in a lake filled with mosquitoes without proper safety gear or training, as it could cause life-time health problems and put them at serious risk of dangerous infections.

Someone leaked to Bob that I had spoken to the FBI, and he sent thugs to my office to take me to a meeting with him, and I pulled away from one of those thugs and locked myself in a bathroom. I also notified Doc Barron that Bob Riley was trying to get me to help with putting Lowell in jail . . . and that I had said no, as Bob's actions were criminal. I further said, "I am afraid I am going to get hurt."

Until last week, Trey Glenn had proven slippery for law enforcement. But now that Glenn is facing criminal charges, will he help take down others -- especially those linked to the North Birmingham Superfund scandal? Writes Simpson:

Due to my meeting with the FBI, from my understanding, that is what kicked off an investigation in 2007 of the very corrupt Trey Glenn, who escaped being indicted then --  and I heard at the time Jeff Sessions intervened for him, to protect Bob Riley and Luther Strange and their corrupt Alabama Gang. 

Many years later, we at the Alabama Resistance heard that Trey was involved in new corrupt deal in Birmingham -- the Superfund scandal -- and once again, Luther's name came up using his public AG office to try to stop a cleanup site in a black district, and we heard Trey was writing the letters and that Sessions was involved as well. These are some deeply corrupt folks, so I am glad to see Trey Glenn is now indicted. I know back then the FBI folks hoped to get Trey and encourage him to tell on Sessions, Strange, and Bob and Rob Riley, and it appears once again this little bunch is in the mix on a clean-up site on which they were trying to stop EPA from doing anything.

Here Are Sure Signs That Alabama Remains In the Toxic Grip of Conservative Sleazebags

Rob Riley

Why is Alabama's largest newspaper hemorrhaging readers so badly that it is about to start printing just three days a week? A couple of hints can be found in Section B (Local News) of the July 9, 2012, edition.

Two articles provide powerful evidence that The Birmingham News is a biased, lazy, right-wing rag that appeals to white elites and ignores huge segments of its potential audience.

In other words, the paper gives the impression that the family of former GOP Governor Bob Riley more or less serves as its editorial board. No wonder the state's supposedly premier news-gathering operation seems to be in a death spiral.

The first evidence comes on page B2 of yesterday's print edition--and by the way, you had better read it now because the paper soon will not be publishing on Mondays. The article is titled "Bradley Arant Honored for Death Row Service" and takes up roughly 20 column inches.

That kind of space usually is devoted to important subjects. But this story, by reporter Eric Velasco,  reads like a press release directly from Bradley Arant's public-relations firm. We learn all we need to know in the first couple of paragraphs:

Lawyers with the Birmingham firm Bradley Arant Boult Cummings will be honored at next month's American Bar Association meeting for the firm's volunteer work representing Death Row inmates in Alabama and other states. 

The firm will receive the Exceptional Service Award from the ABA's Death Penalty Representation Project on Aug. 3, during the bar association's annual meeting in Chicago.

My guess is that 99 percent of readers have learned all they care to know at that point. This is the kind of item that would be a business brief in most reputable newspapers. But this is The Birmingham News, the paper that served as official cheerleader for eight long years of the Riley administration. And Bradley Arant is the firm that employs Rob Campbell, Bob Riley's son-in-law, and sucked up more than $10 million of state funds in just the last two years of the Riley gravy train.

That helps explain why Velasco goes on for about 19 more column inches, regaling us with stories about how much Bradley Arant lawyers help Death Row prisoners. Never mind that the firm shows signs of having connections to organized crime.

We have written numerous critical articles about Bradley Arant, especially on its ties to corrupt Campus Crest Communities CEO Ted Rollins and the monstrous cheat job of a divorce case that left his ex wife and two daughters on food stamps in Birmingham. At the risk of giving myself more power than I actually have, the Velasco article reads like a piece that was planted, and given prominent treatment, to help counteract reporting here at Legal Schnauzer.

Our second piece of evidence can be found on page B3 of yesterday's print edition. It carries the headline, "Senior Riley to Head Key Club." Here is all you really need to know:

Rebecca Riley, a senior at Homewood High School, has been elected president of Key Club International.

Riley, 17, was elected president of the group for 2012-13 on Saturday during the Key Club International convention in Orlando, Fla., club officials announced.

Again, this is the kind of item that might be a news brief in a normal newspaper. But The Birmingham News devotes roughly 16 column inches to it. I'm guessing that hundreds of Alabama youngsters have seen significant achievements ignored in the mainstream press. But Rebecca Riley is not just any old teen-ager. In the last two paragraphs, we learn about her background:

Riley is the daughter of Robert and Leslie Riley. She has three siblings--Elizabeth 14, Ren, 11, and Wilson, 6. She also is the granddaughter of former Alabama Gov. Bob Riley and his wife Patsy Riley and Fred and Jimmie McLeod, of Lineville. 

"Leslie and I are so proud of Rebecca for what she has accomplished," said her father Robert Riley. "She is passionate about key club and she has worked long hard hours traveling around the country working on key club projects the past year."

Gee, I wonder if it helped Rebecca Riley's cause that her grandpappy is Bob Riley, and as governor, he shipped about $1 million in state funds to her daddy's law practice. How did Rob Riley benefit from sucking at the public teat? An article by Rebecca Abrahams, of Huffington Post, explains:

The January 14, 2010 document states while Riley was the lead negotiator for Jefferson County sewer debts, the County Commission approved a $725,000 and $150,000 contract for his son, attorney Rob Riley to represent Jefferson County Sheriff Mike Hale. The funds for Rob Riley's services would have come from a .05% occupation tax collected by non-licensed wage earners. In 2009 a judge repealed the tax, ruling it ruled was unconstitutional. But the ruling impacted the sheriff's budget, including funding for Rob Riley's contracts. 

Hale, represented by Rob Riley, then sued the Jefferson County Commission to block its attempt to cut the budget by $5.1 million. A local judge ruled in favor of the cuts to the sheriff's budget. Hale then appealed to Governor Bob Riley for state financial assistance, making sure to provide a letter penned by Rob Riley outlining cuts faced by the sheriff's office which included Rob Riley's contract. Governor Riley then lobbied for support to reinstate the Jefferson County Occupational Tax, calling a special session of the Legislature. State lawmakers passed the new occupational tax legislation, which Riley signed into law in August 2009.

That sounds sweet, doesn't it? And it doesn't even go into a federal whistleblower complaint, alleging that Rob Riley and his physical-therapy company (Performance Group LLC) conspired with personnel at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) to commit Medicare fraud.

Rebecca Riley

That case has been nicely covered up, so far, by corrupt U.S. District Judge William M. Acker Jr., an 84-year-old Reagan appointee who appears to be the go-to guy for handling Riley-related scandals. One of those scandals almost certainly involves my own unlawful termination at UAB. A lawsuit on that matter--surprise, surprise--wound up with Judge Acker, and he has ruled in a flagrantly unlawful manner.

It appears Rob Riley has his own legal bodyguard at the Hugo Black Courthouse in downtown Birmingham. And curiously, that's where G. Doug Jones once resided as U.S. attorney during the Clinton years--getting all cozy with the judges and other personnel there. Sources tell me that Jones has been particularly cozy with Judge Acker and some of his clerks. Hmmm.

Jones touts himself as a Democrat and civil-rights hero, but in fact, he is a Riley loyalist. He and Rob Riley made millions in legal fees from a federal lawsuit against individuals and entities connected to HealthSouth. In fact, I was fired at UAB not long after writing about Rob Riley's possible conflicts in the HealthSouth lawsuit.

The post was titled "Did Rob Riley Cash In On Siegelman Prosecution?" and it ran on March 13, 2008. The harassment from my UAB supervisor, Pam Powell, kicked into high gear at about that time--and I was fired roughly two months later. Isn't that curious, especially when you consider that a UAB human-resources official admitted in a tape-recorded conversation that I was targeted because of the Siegelman content on this blog? (A video featuring that conversation can be viewed below.)

Isn't it curious that my reporting on the HealthSouth case would wind up striking a serious nerve with Doug Jones? Isn't it also curious that my reporting on that case would strike a nerve with C. Redding Pitt, one of Jones' compadres in Alabama Democratic circles and another former U.S. attorney.

Did Doug Jones, now an attorney at the Birmingham firm of Haskell Slaughter, work with the Rileys to ensure that I got canned at UAB? Is Jones now running interference for the Rileys on my employment case against UAB? Did he serve the same role in making sure that Rob Riley would not be exposed as a Medicare fraudster in Ingrid Awtrey Law's whistleblower complaint?

We will continue to look into those questions. And we have much more coming soon on Ingrid Awtrey Law's complaint--plus other imbroglios involving Rob Riley.

But for now, let's ponder these questions: Isn't it interesting that the Rileys and their elitist friends think they can interfere with the lives of regular folks--with their jobs, their livelihoods, their families--and yet the lives of elites are to remain gloriously untouched? Isn't it interesting that certain elites seem to think they are above it all, out of reach, protected by a bubble of corrupt lawyers, politicians, bankers, newspapermen, and such?

Perhaps these elites will learn someday that they and their families aren't untouchable. Perhaps they will learn that their bubble is not impenetrable.



 

The Birmingham News Kisses Bob Riley's Ass One Last Time

Bob Riley

Bob Riley could not leave office without the editorial chiefs at The Birmingham News puckering up and planting one last sloppy kiss right on the governor's white, doughy behind.

Could it be a send-off for a Riley run at the White House? We wouldn't be surprised.

The latest shameless love letter from Alabama's largest newspaper to our outgoing GOP governor comes in an op-ed piece titled:

Life Under Riley: From economic development to education to quality of life, Alabama's outgoing governor leaves the state in better shape after eight years in office

The piece, written by former News reporter Tom Gordon, is astounding (even by News standards) for several reasons:

* The content of the op-ed piece does not match the headline. Gordon dives into all kinds of statistics, none of which support the headline's claim that Alabama is in better shape after eight years of Riley rule. Gordon's article, taken charitably, shows Alabama has tread water under Riley. But when you include unemployment statistics, which Gordon conveniently ignores, the state clearly has gone backwards.

* Gordon's op-ed is contradicted by an article on the front page, of the same issue, about incoming Governor Robert Bentley. In so many words, Bentley says he is inheriting a mess. So how did Bob Riley leave us in better shape?

* Gordon's op-ed is accompanied by a piece from editorial-page editor Bob Blalock, titled Riley legacy: education governor. After reading the article, one can only ask: Has Bob Blalock been in a catatonic state for the past eight years? Since he works at the News, the answer probably is yes.

What does Tom Gordon actually say in his op-ed piece? This pretty much sums it up:

Admittedly, no governor, even one as powerful as Alabama's, can single-handedly raise incomes, reduce the poverty and school dropout rates or stave off a major economic downturn. But governors get a lot of the blame or credit when numbers show declines or improvements in various areas that define our quality of life. Some of these numbers suggest we are moving in the right direction; some, influenced by the recession, have taken the opposite tack; others suggest that on some issues, we might as well try to squeeze tears from a stone.

That sounds like Riley helped Alabama barely keep its head above water. Gordon goes on to cite statistics that show Alabama remains among the poorest states, fattest states, and most litter-infested states, with one of the nation's most regressive tax systems. So, again, how did Bob Riley move us forward?

Gordon comes up with two areas of improvement: (1) Our rate of high-school graduates increased under Riley a whopping two percent--and remains below the national average; (2) Our infant-mortality rate dropped from 9 to 8 percent.

And then Gordon gives us this: The state's prison system had 26,000 inmates when Riley took office, and we now have 27,000. Yee-haw, that's the good news of the Riley years! I can see a marketing campaign now--Come to Alabama: Our Prison Population Never Stops Growing!

As for Blalock, how does he come to the conclusion that Riley has been "The Education Governor"? Mainly by citing the Alabama Reading Initiative and the Alabama Math Science and Technology Initiative. Never mind that one of those programs launched in 1998 and the other in 2000--and both took flight under Riley's predecessor, Democrat Don Siegelman.

What about those unemployment numbers? Well, the News folks apparently want to ignore those. Here are the facts: When Riley took office in January 2003, Alabama's unemployment rate was 5.3 percent; by January 2010, after seven years of Bob-O-Nomics, the unemployment rate was 11.1 percent--the highest Alabama had seen in 25 years. In other words, Alabama's unemployment rate almost doubled with Riley at the wheel. And he was our "economic development" governor?

Yes, Riley helped develop the personal "economies" of his spoiled-brat kids, Rob and Minda, plus those of other family members and cronies? But regular Alabamians? Well, they learned under Riley how to file for unemployment.

Oh, and what about the article on incoming Governor Robert Bentley? Well, it seems he didn't get the memo about Bob Riley leaving Alabama in better shape. Consider this quote from Kim Chandler's story:

"I don't want people to be under any illusion that things are great right now. They are not," Bentley said. "We've spent every penny of every rainy day (account) we have in education. We've basically spent every penny that we have in the rainy day we created for the general fund. We don't have any money. But I do want to give people hope, because we are going to come out of this."

That's on the front page of the same issue in which News' editorial writers extol Bob Riley's many virtues. Do the op-ed folks even read their own news pages? Apparently not.

The News' op-ed pieces are significant not for what they say about the newspaper--everyone with three brain cells knows the paper is a shameless suck-up for the GOP--but for what they say about Riley. The newspaper's pro-Riley slant has been so blatant--and so at odds with reality--that one can only assume it is part of an orchestrated campaign. To us, it appears the governor's office and the newspaper's editorial types have been working in conjunction on this effort to portray Bob Riley as a successful governor--rather than the corrupt, incompetent slime merchant he really is.

What does that say about Riley? For one, it probably says he is a world-class narcissist. We're not sure who is most infatuated with Riley's image--The Birmingham News or Riley himself. Second, this long-running campaign of puffery indicates that Riley, deep down in his soul (assuming he has one), knows he's a fraud. He probably knows that he's been the beneficiary of election theft, money laundering, political prosecutions and God only knows what else. He knows he's inextricably linked to Jack Abramoff and Michael Scanlon, perhaps the two most notorious political felons in American history.

A governor who knows he's done good work, who knows he has a legitimate record of achievement and ethical behavior, doesn't need a newspaper to toot his horn. Riley seems to welcome The Birmingham News' efforts to portray him as something he's not. That suggests to us that Bob Riley, at best, is an empty suit with cowboy boots and a poofy 'do.

Perhaps most alarming about the News' pieces is what they might bode for the future. We suspect certain words in the News' headline--"Alabama's outgoing governor leaves the state in better shape"--are a thinly veiled reference to the line Ronald Reagan used to great effect against Jimmy Carter in the 1980 election. Never mind that the line does not remotely apply to Riley. We suspect it signals that Bob Riley, and his Reaganesque bearing--are destined for a presidential bid.

Riley already has shown that he's the Teflon governor. Who's to say he can't become our next Teflon president?

If Riley does make a run for the White House, one can only imagine the kind of puckering that will commence at The Birmingham News. Can't wait for that.

Here Is More Evidence That Republicans Think Americans Are Stupid

Bob Riley

One of the "endearing" qualities of modern conservatives is that they seem to think they can say most anything, and a large chunk of the American public will believe them. Sadly, conservatives often are right about this.

Consider the recent actions of Alabama Governor Bob Riley. As his two terms are winding down, he called the Alabama Legislature into special session to address a package of ethics legislation. The seven bills were passed, and Riley is expected to sign them today. The whole process seems to have raised hardly any eyebrows among the masses.

No one in the mainstream press, that we are aware of, raised questions about Riley's past actions regarding ethics bills. No one pointed out that putting Bob Riley in charge of ethics is like putting Dracula in charge of a blood bank.

Is Bob Riley genuinely interested in ethics reform? His history indicates the answer is no. In 2007, a bipartisan ethics bill was passed in the House and Senate by a combined vote of 131-0. It landed on Riley's desk, and he refused to sign it.

Why? The bill, sponsored by Rep. Marcel Black (D-Muscle Shoals), would have expanded the definition of a lobbyist to include people who attempt to influence the awarding of state contracts that are not competitively bid. And that meant Riley's children, Rob Riley and Minda Riley Campbell, would have been inhibited in their efforts to make money off no-bid state contracts. Reported the Associated Press back in '07:

"It is widely held in Montgomery that Governor Riley's children lobby their father on behalf of entities desiring no-bid state contracts," Senate Majority Leader Zeb Little, D-Cullman, said.

"This legislation would have further shined the light of day on the lobbying activities of the governor's family, but Governor Riley vetoed the bill," Little said in a statement Tuesday.

According to a recent report in the Tuskegee News, the package that Riley is expected to sign today does not address no-bid contracts. Gee, isn't that a shock? Perhaps the governor wants Rob, Minda, and other family members to be able to continue sucking off the state teat--even after he's out of office. Our guess is that they will be happy to do that.

What is the real motivating force behind Bob Riley's ethics package? Senate Bill 2 will ban public employees from using payroll deduction to pay dues to the Alabama Education Association (AEA) and Alabama State Employees Association. Critics say that measure is driving the Riley's ethics train, and it's designed as payback for the AEA's efforts to defeat Bradley Bryne, who was to be Riley's hand-picked successor. With AEA's help, Robert Bentley beat Byrne in the Republican primary and then beat Democrat Ron Sparks in the general election.

It's hard to see how payroll deduction of dues to a professional organization can be viewed as an ethics matter, and Rep. Craig Ford (D-Gadsden) isn't buying it:

Opponents, mostly Democrats, said the bill had nothing to do with ethics and everything to do with Riley getting even with the AEA teachers' lobby, which supported Bentley in the Republican primary and runoff for governor over Bradley Byrne, who was Riley's favorite.

"I think that was purely a personal vendetta," Ford said. "All the other bills were a smoke screen just to get that bill passed."

Throughout Riley's tenure, he has been protected by Leura Canary, a Bush-appointed U.S. attorney in Montgomery. But if historians ever uncover the truth about the Riley years, he probably will go down as the most corrupt governor in Alabama history. Powerful evidence suggests that Riley:

* Benefited from election-night vote theft in Baldwin County, Alabama, giving him a razor-thin edge over Democrat incumbent Don Siegelman in the 2002 election;

* Benefited from $13-million of Mississippi gaming money that was laundered through GOP felon Jack Abramoff;

* Benefited from millions of Mississippi Choctaw gaming money that was distributed directly to the Riley campaign, according to public statements from former aide Bill Johnson.

* Misspent more than $340,000, which was intended to help elect candidates and instead went to anti-gambling initiatives.

* Saw his term winding down in 2010 as a string of mysterious deaths cropped up on Alabama's political landscape.

That's just the tip of a rather large iceberg. But Bob Riley is Alabama's Teflon governor. And quite a few of our citizens seem to believe he truly is interested in ethics reform. Of course, these same Alabamians have been buying GOP lines that originated with Ronald Reagan some 30 years ago.

You know the ones:

* We can cut tax rates for the wealthiest Americans and increase defense spending and have no problems with deficits.

* Deregulation is the way to free up businesses to drive the American economy. We can count on companies like Enron, WorldCom, Tyco, Lehman Brothers, and Bear Stearns to do the right thing.

Those two tenets of the GOP gospel, adopted by George W. Bush from 2000 to 2008, are among the leading reasons we now are experiencing the worst economy since the Great Depression.

Here is one other reason that Bob Riley might be pushing ethics reform: We are hearing from multiple sources that the governor seriously is considering a run for president in 2012. One source says GOP kingmaker Karl Rove long has been fascinated by Riley because of the latter's resemblance to Ronald Reagan. With the GOP torn in one direction by Sarah Palin and in another direction by Mitt Romney, Riley apparently sees an opportunity to step in, with his poofed up 'do, and assume the role as "heir to the Reagan legacy"--such as it is. We even hear that Riley, like Reagan, insists he never dyes his hair. Gee, what a set of genes that guy's got!

Closing out his term with "ethics reform" might be an effort by Riley to paper over all the sleaze that has marked his term in office. For the rational folks who have witnessed Riley's actions in office, the notion of him running for president is laughable. He should be getting fitted for an orange jumpsuit on his way to federal prison. But with Eric Holder heading the U.S. Department of Justice, that isn't likely to happen. And if Riley were to run for the nation's highest office, God only knows how many people might vote for him because he he has . . . such nice hair. And he looks like . . . you know who.

Based on the 2010 midterm-election results, many Americans continue to fall for the same conservative con game, so who is to say that Bob Riley can't become president

Maybe modern conservatives are right about at least one thing. Maybe Americans really are stupid.

Will Bob Riley Be Forced To Tell The Truth About Abramoff Cash--And Other Sleaze?

Bob Riley

A U.S. magistrate judge has ruled that former Governor Bob Riley must be available to testify in the retrial of the Alabama bingo case, which is set to begin on January 30, 2012.

That raises all sorts of questions that have profound implications, not only for Alabama but for our nation. And it comes as GOP strategist Karl Rove faces a possible deposition in an ongoing legal battle over alleged vote theft in Ohio during the 2004 presidential election. Could Riley's unvarnished testimony, in conjunction with a possible Rove deposition, be the key to breaking open the scandals that rocked the George W. Bush years?

I'm not holding my breath; Riley and Rove have shown a remarkable capacity for slithering out of tight spots. And the Obama Justice Department has shown appalling weakness on justice issues. But in theory,  at least, we are seeing signs that someone might finally be held accountable for rampant abuse of our justice system under Bush.

Consider just a few of the questions that come to mind now that U.S. Magistrate Judge Wallace Capel has ruled that Riley will be subject to giving testimony in the bingo case: Will Riley be forced to answer questions under oath about the $20 million Jack Abramoff admits he funneled into Alabama to help  Mississippi Choctaw gaming interests? Will Riley be forced to answer questions about the $13 million his colleagues bilked out of Milton McGregor, supposedly to help fund a Russian lottery? Will Riley be forced to answer questions about the role Karl Rove, Bill Canary, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and the Bush White House played in spearheading the Don Siegelman prosecution and befouling Alabama politics almost beyond repair? Will Riley be forced to answer questions about his ties to GOP thugs such as Michael Scanlon and Dan Gans? Will Riley be forced to answer questions about the Siegelman votes that disappeared overnight in Baldwin County, giving Riley the 2002 election in what appears to be a blatant case of voter fraud?

Those are profound questions, with all sorts of regional and national implications. But they might not even be the most important questions connected to Riley's possible testimony. Consider these:

* Will the U.S. Justice Department move forward with the retrial if it looks like Riley will be forced to testify?

* Will Rove, Canary, and/or U.S Chamber president Thomas Donohue--three of the most corrupt figures in American political history--take steps to make sure Riley does not air dirty laundry that could send them to federal prison?

* Is it possible that the Obama administration, facing re-election in November 2012, finally will get serious about justice issues and push for Riley to unload secrets that could reveal the Republican Party to be a glorified organized-crime outfit?

The stakes could not be much higher. And we are guessing that Bob Riley, despite his public posturing to the contrary, is developing a distinct tightness in the sphincter.

What else could explain some of the laughable statements Riley and his legal team have made in the wake of Capel's ruling?

Riley said on Tuesday that he does not want to testify at the bingo trial mainly because he wants to protect "the dignity of the governor's office." If you can stop laughing long enough, get a load of this from an article by Paul Gattis, of The Huntsville Times:

Speaking late this afternoon at former legislator Tom Butler's announcement of seeking the District 2 seat on the Madison County Commission, Riley described the subpoena from the defense as a "distraction" from the Jan. 30 re-trial.

"This has never been about me testifying," Riley said. "It's about whether or not you can call the governor when the governor has no knowledge of anything and put him on trial. It's something I won't have to worry about but the next administration will."

Calling the governor when the defense does not have evidence of knowledge the state's chief executive may have in a case is dangerous, Riley said. Riley drew the analogy of setting a precedent of calling the governor in most any case.

"If you ever get it down to the point that there's an automobile accident out here on the highway and you can get the governor to testify about whether enough money was spent on that highway, it's never ending. That's the principle that we've said all along. We've told the judge every time, if they have anything that implicates that I know anything about what they are doing, we're there.

"The last time, the judge heard the same evidence and said they don't have any idea what you guys are even talking about. Don't go."

Actually, that's not what U.S. Magistrate Judge Terry Moorer found when the issue of a Riley subpoena first was raised back in June. Here is how we described Moorer's ruling at the time:

Moorer quashed a subpoena from gambling magnate Milton McGregor, seeking to have Riley and three other current or former state officials called as witnesses. Moorer's finding, however, was "without prejudice," meaning the issue can be raised again later in the trial. And Moorer indicates that McGregor might indeed have a strong case for seeking testimony from Riley and the other state officials at some point in the proceedings.

Riley is practicing his usual not-so-subtle form of deception. And he really is concerned about the dignity of the governor's office? Perhaps someone should tell Riley that he isn't governor anymore. Someone also might want to remind Riley that, as a U.S. Congressman, he voted for the impeachment of Bill Clinton. That probably means that Riley was OK with Paula Jones' lawsuit against Clinton moving forward--while Clinton was in office!

So Riley is concerned about the dignity of governorships, but he's perfectly fine with a president facing a lawsuit while in office? Riley seems to have a never-ending capacity for acting as if Alabamians are complete simpletons.

And get this from Riley lawyer Matthew Lembke, of the august Birmingham firm Bradley Arant:

Lembke said this ruling goes beyond this case and has relevance to future governors "and the extent to which they can be called to testify about any issues related to their service as governor."

"You could have future governors spending all their time in court if there aren't strict limits on when a former governor can be called."

Was Lembke similarly concerned when another former governor, Democrat Don Siegelman, was forced to spend years of his life and much of his personal wealth defending himself against charges related to a standard campaign contribution that clearly was not criminal? I don't seem to recall Lembke weighing in on that issue.

Wallace Capel Jr.

Want more irony? Wallace Capel, the magistrate judge who made this week's ruling on the Riley subpoena, is not eligible to be a federal judge in Alabama--but he's serving anyway.

There's no question that Capel ruled correctly under the law, and that's a rarity for a federal judge in Alabama. Here's how we described the legal issues in a previous post, showing how Moorer botched the original ruling:

Moorer cited United States v. Nixon, 418 U.S. 683, 698, 94 S.Ct. 3090, 41 L.Ed.2d 1039 (1974) in finding that McGregor did not have sufficiently specific grounds for compelling Riley's testimony. But Moorer conveniently ignored the finding in Nixon about a criminal defendant's rights under the Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. From the Nixon opinion:

The right to the production of all evidence at a criminal trial has constitutional dimensions. The Sixth Amendment explicitly confers upon every defendant in a criminal trial the right to be confronted with the witnesses against him and to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor. Moreover, the Fifth Amendment also guarantees that no person shall be deprived of liberty without due process of law. It is the manifest duty of the courts to vindicate those guarantees, and to accomplish that it is essential that all relevant and admissible evidence be produced.

That's basic U.S. Constitutional law. Milton McGregor and the other bingo defendants have a right to confront relevant witnesses. Bob Riley, who led the campaign against a bingo-related bill that McGregor supported, could not be more relevant.

Will he actually take the stand? I wouldn't be surprised if the government drops its case rather than let Riley testify. It's also possible that Riley will take the stand and simply lie his posterior off. People lie under oath all the time in court cases--and 99 percent of them get away with it--so why should Riley be any different? The feds have shown they will go after baseball stars like Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens on perjury charges. But go after a devout Bushie like Bob Riley? I doubt it.

It's possible that McGregor's lawyers--Joe Espy and Bobby Segall--are too shrewd to let Riley get away with lying. It's also possible that they've done their homework--one source tells me they conducted depositions of Mississippi Choctaw officials--and will be able to back Riley into a corner.

That thought must terrify Riley, and those whose secrets he could reveal. One political observer, whose opinion I value greatly, said Riley's physical well being might be in danger if it looks like he will testify truthfully. This observer reminds us that one GOP insider, Mike Connell in Ohio, had a mysterious plane crash when he was facing possible court testimony.

How will it unfold in Alabama? The nation should be watching.

Mike Hubbard might be on trial, but new evidence has surfaced to suggest Robert Bentley and Bob Riley are Alabama's most corrupt politicians of recent vintage

Franklin Haney
(From timesfreepress.com)

A national magazine recently asked, "Is Mike Hubbard the most corrupt politician in America?" My initial reaction was, "Heck, I'm not sure Mike Hubbard is even the most corrupt politician in Alabama."

As Hubbard's criminal trial gets set to take flight today in Lee County, it might be time to reconsider that question. That's especially true in light of new evidence that indicates perhaps the two most corrupt politicians in Alabama history have been charged with . . . well, nothing--and they aren't Mike Hubbard.

Will these two alley cats finally get the law-enforcement attention they so richly deserve? Will they both testify in the Hubbard trial and be, at least partially, unmasked? Well, they have proven slippery so far.

We are talking about current governor, Robert Bentley, and his predecessor, Bob Riley. In an article that (surprise!) proves al.com actually is capable of producing meaningful journalism, reporters Kyle Whitmire and John Archibald show that a Tennessee real-estate mogul has a history of dumping money on Riley and Bentley and then receiving favorable treatment.

The interactions between Franklin Haney, of Chattanooga, and the Alabama governors--as described by al.com--smell an awful lot like the kind of quid pro quo ("something for something" deal) that constitutes federal bribery--and certainly could trump the state ethics charges Hubbard faces.

The Haney Cash Caravan started with Bob Riley, who after receiving lots of Tennessee dough, suddenly started pushing for a deal regarding the old Social Security Building in Birmingham--a deal that proved awfully sweet for Mr. Haney (not to be confused with the lovable greaseball character from Green Acres).

Archibald spelled it out in a February 2014 article, which I missed the first time around because, by golly, I was in jail--thanks to Bob Riley's son, the unlovable greaseball Rob Riley. Come to think of it, substantial evidence suggests Attorney General Luther Strange and his paramour/campaign manager, Jessica Medeiros Garrison, played a major role in my incarceration, the wrongful foreclosure on the house my wife, Carol, and I had owned for 25 years--or both.

That helps explain, in part, my tendency to think Bentley, Riley/Riley, and Strange/Garrison all are more corrupt than Mike Hubbard. Without question, though, it's a close call.

Back to the Archibald piece of two years ago, which introduced Alabamians to Franklin Haney and his cozy relationship with our state's governors:

Let's start with former Gov. Bob Riley.

Haney, a big Democratic donor over the years who in the last election gave $2 million to the Obama re-election campaign, put a load of cash into Alabama Republican politics in 2006, and Riley got a bunch of it.

Haney, according to the Alabama Secretary of State's office, passed at least $130,000 to Riley through PACs run by noted PACman Clark Richardson, much like he did last year with the Birmingham City Council. . . .

Riley, later, would become a big advocate for Haney and the Birmingham building.

One of his last acts as governor was to sign a lease that would consolidate Jefferson County's Department of Human Resources and move that agency into 290,000 square feet of Haney's building. Annual rent on that building began at $1.2 million a year, according to the lease, but rises this year to $5 million for the remainder of the term, plus possible extra costs for operational expenses.

That's higher than any of the 63 state tenants in any of David Bronner's newer and shinier RSA buildings, according to state records. It appears to be the highest rental rate for any state agency.

Riley not only signed the lease as he left office, he lobbied for Haney in Birmingham.

Haney has resurfaced under the Bentley regime. This time, Haney dumped cash on Bentley--possibly even helping support a slush fund to pay Bentley's mistress, Rebekah Caldwell Mason--and wound up getting support for a project involving a partially built nuclear reactor in northeast Alabama. Haney also got more support for his office building. Write Whitmire and Archibald, in an article dated May 13, 2016:

Just the traceable donations from Haney's businesses to Bentley's last campaigns total about $300,000, much of which moved into Bentley's campaign account after the last election was over. Again, that's only what's easily traceable. That campaign account subsequently paid the salary of Rebekah Caldwell Mason, the governor's senior political advisor with whom he is accused of having an affair.

Meanwhile, the governor has helped Haney, too, finalizing a state lease in Haney's Birmingham office building which costs the state $5 million a year.

And more recently, the governor threw his support publicly behind the sale of a partially built nuclear power plant currently owned by the Tennessee Valley Authority north of Scottsboro.

Haney's name reportedly is familiar to investigators examining money funneled into a non-profit organization that helped pay Mason. Haney, however, does not seem anxious to discuss the situation. Reports al.com:

In the most recent election cycle, Bentley's re-election campaign received at least $200,000 through such transactions — $75,000 of which moved to Bentley after the election, when the governor was raising the money he'd later use to pay Mason's salary during his second term.

Haney's name has popped up repeatedly in recent months as investigators and lawmakers have sought to learn more about the money paid into ACEgov, a shadowy 501(c)4 that also was used to supplement the pay of Mason.

Asked this week if he contributed to ACEgov, Haney referred questions to his lawyer.

"You'd have to ask Roger Bates," he said. "I don't do political contributions."

Attempts to reach Bates, a lawyer at Hand Arendall and a lobbyist for the Alabama two-year college system, failed.

Could Haney wind up as a central character in the scandal that is engulfing the Bentley administration? It's probably too soon to say, but al.com provides insight into the scope of the investigation:

Whether Haney's money has gone to pay Mason's salary remains to be seen. Currently, Bentley is under investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigations, United States Attorneys, U.S. Postal Inspectors, the Internal Revenue Service and the Alabama Ethics Commission. Some questioned by investigators say Haney's name came up in those conversations.

Haney said he has not received a subpoena nor heard of any inquiries into his activities.

The Mike Hubbard trial might prove to be the warm-up act for a corruption case that carries an overwhelming stench. If such a case includes Robert Bentley, Bob Riley, Rob Riley, Luther Strange, Jessica Garrison--or any and all of the above--you can bet it will have a foul smell.

Alabama's "King of Conflicts" Takes On Another Curious Case

Birmingham attorney Doug Jones once led Don Siegelman's defense team while also suing Siegelman's codefendant, former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy.

It seems Jones never met a conflict of interest he didn't like. What's the latest evidence? Jones now is involved in the John Goff criminal case, according to Bob Gambacurta of the Montgomery Independent.

Goff is the Montgomery insurance executive who sued Alabama Governor Bob Riley, seeking (among other things) information about Riley's campaign funds in the 2002 election. Goff wound up being prosecuted for a matter that already had been resolved in an administrative-law court. According to Scott Horton, of Harper's, Riley sicced Bush-appointed U.S. Attorney Leura Canary on Goff in retaliation for the lawsuit.

So what's curious about Doug Jones' involvement in the Goff case? Well, Jones has an interesting partner in the ongoing civil case against Scrushy and others connected to HealthSouth. And that partner is Homewood attorney Rob Riley, the governor's son.

As we reported in an earlier post, Jones and Rob Riley joined forces to help rake in almost $28 million in fees for plaintiffs' attorneys in the HealthSouth lawsuit. And the case isn't over.

Jones is a Democrat, and Riley is a Republican. But they apparently have no problem crossing political boundaries when cold, hard cash is to be made. Could they also join forces when cover is needed for the governor's unsavory actions? Could that be why Jones is involved in the John Goff case?

Goff is seeking a new trial, based on allegations of prosecutorial misconduct and violations of his constitutional rights--and Doug Jones is leading that effort. But consider this curious passage from Gambacurta's story:

Gone from the appeal are Goff’s original defense team; also gone are the allegations of a political conspiracy, by Gov. Bob Riley and others including White House advisor Karl Rove, to destroy Goff and his once lucrative insurance business.

What is Doug Jones' legal strategy in the John Goff case? A big part of it seems to be: Keep Bob Riley and his associates out of it, at all costs.

Could Jones be doing that as a favor to Rob Riley, his new moneymaking partner? If the political-conspiracy issue is off the table, it appears that Bob Riley's role in abusing the U.S. Justice Department to go after John Goff will never be known. Is that what Doug Jones wants?

Those certainly seem like reasonable questions, from where we sit. It's also possible that Jones, and Goff, are simply taking a pragmatic approach. Perhaps they know that our justice system, in its current form, is hopelessly corrupt--and with Attorney General Eric Holder seemingly asleep at the switch--it isn't likely to get much better under the Barack Obama administration.

Maybe John Goff has decided, "The heck with Bob Riley. I've got to limit my damages and try to avoid prison time. And my best bet is to let Riley and his nasty bunch off the hook."

Either way, it's a sad situation. Try to grasp what the governor of Alabama allegedly did: He retaliated against someone who had sued him by encouraging the corrupt Bush Justice Department to bring a bogus prosecution for the ugliest of political reasons.

It's hard to imagine a more grotesque abuse of executive power than that. If proven, it's the kind of thing that should send Bob Riley to a federal prison for quite a spell.

But it's looking more and more like he will get away with it.

Is Doug Jones trying help Riley get away with it? Or is he taking a realistic approach that might be his client's best hope, given our twisted, befouled system?

I hope John Goff is asking himself those questions.

Jack-Booted Thugs Visit the Schnauzer

Remember the early 1990s when right wingers popularized the term "jack-booted thugs?"

The phrase came into popular usage to describe federal agents after firearms-related raids at Ruby Ridge, Idaho, in 1992, and Waco, Texas, in 1993. Some right wingers celebrated Randy Weaver and David Koresh as victims of intrusive government officials run amok.

I never thought of myself having much in common with Randy Weaver or David Koresh. But I'm starting to know what it feels like to be a target of "jack-booted thugs." And in my case, the thugs are part of the right-wing establishment that has come to rule in Bob Riley's Alabama.

In other words, right wingers used to condemn jack-booted thugs. Now, they are the jack-booted thugs.

The term "jack-booted thugs" came to mind recently when I read about the case of Alabama legislator Sue Schmitz, a 63-year-old retired social studies teacher who was dragged out of her bathroom while trying to take a shower and arrested on federal corruption charges that seem flimsy at best. Like most anybody with a conscience, I was horrified that Ms. Schmitz would be treated this way. That's especially the case since her lawyer, anticipating that his client might be a target, had told authorities that Ms. Schmitz was willing to turn herself in.

Well, my own Legal Schnauzer tale is starting to turn into a civil version of the Sue Schmitz case. And I strongly suspect that the same bad actors who are driving the Sue Schmitz case are behind my recent experiences.

My wife and I returned home on a recent evening to find a piece of paper taped to our garage door. When we pulled it off and got it in the light, we saw that it was titled "Sheriff's Notice of Levy." It was executed by one William Moore on Feb. 8, 2008, at the direction of Chris Curry, sheriff of Shelby County, Alabama.

The notice was addressed to me and referenced Mike McGarity v. Roger Shuler (CV 2000-1248), the fraudulent lawsuit my neighbor filed against me, with the help of his attorney, William E. Swatek.

Here's how the notice reads:

"You will take notice that I have levied upon all your rights, interest and title, if any, in and to the following described property to satisfy a Fieri Facias in my hands in the above stated cause, and that said property will be advertised and sold according to law, to-Wit . . . "

The notice then describes our lot and house.

You might have a question: What in the heck is a Fieri Facias? That's just a fancy term for a writ of execution, which I've written about several times in recent posts.

In those earlier posts, I noted that a couple of Shelby County deputies, Eddie Moore and Bubba Caldwell, had repeatedly harrassed my wife and me over a writ of execution that is invalid under the law. In fact, the judgment against me, upon which the writ of execution is based, came as the result of a legal proceeding in which my 14th Amendment rights to due process and equal protection were butchered. But as we have shown repeatedly on this blog, the actual law means nothing to the corrupt Republicans who run Shelby County like a banana republic.

I will explain in detail why the judgment is unconstitutional and the writ is invalid. But for now, suffice to say that Deputies Eddie and Bubba didn't care about legalities. They were threatening to come and take one of our cars.

Evidently that didn't sufficiently scare us, so now the Sheriff of Shelby County, Alabama--Chris Curry himself--is claiming that he is going to advertise our house and sell it.

And why is this being done. To satisfy an unconstitutional writ of execution, based on a void court judgment in the amount of $1,525.

You heard that right: State officials in Alabama are going to essentially steal our house because of a $1,525 "judgment" that, under the law, I do not owe. And never mind that my wife, who was not a party to the lawsuit against me, is joint owner of the house. State officials clearly don't care about my rights, so why should they care about my wife's rights?

I wonder what women's-rights groups would think of this--a woman having her house stolen because of a lawsuit that she had nothing to do with? Sounds like it could make an episode of Oprah. The "Big O" would need to schedule an extra long episode if she were to get my wife talking.

But back to matters at hand. We've seen how a Democratic state official is treated by right-wing thugs in Bob Riley's Alabama. Now we see how a regular citizen is treated, particularly one who has the audacity to stand up and fight back against corrupt Republican judges in Alabama.

And what is my really big sin in Bob Riley's Alabama? Having the utter gall to write a blog about my experiences with corrupt Republicans in Alabama.

In upcoming posts, we are going to examine this "Notice of Levy" and show you just how absurd it really is. But first, let's make three critical points:

* The harrassment my wife and I are experiencing isn't just about a little case in Shelby County, Alabama. It is about Bob Riley, our GOP governor who is hell bent on placing the Alabama Legislature in Republican control. I suspect it's also about Republicans in Mississippi who I imagine are none too pleased about my reporting on the Paul Minor case.

* The harrassment my wife and I are experiencing is all about this blog. If I hadn't started this blog in June 2007, the Alabama GOP hierarchy would not care less about the bogus $1,525 judgment I supposedly owe. But since I've decided to shine a light on the judicial corruption I've witnessed in Alabama--and also spotlight the Don Siegelman and Paul Minor fiascos orchestrated by the Bush Justice Department--the GOP has decided I must be silenced. Their latest effort to silence me involves a threat to steal my house.

Why would the GOP hooligans threaten such drastic action? I can think of three major reasons:

A. Every word I've written on this blog is true--and the GOPers know it. They also know that I have credibility in the areas of journalism and law. If I were railing about some general injustice that I could not articulate--regarding some law and facts that I did not understand--the GOPers would not care. But Legal Schnauzer is about specifics; it's about real law, a real case, and real corruption. That's why I'm a threat to the GOPers. They know that I know what I'm talking about. And they know I've only scratched the surface of what happened in my case. They know about the details that are coming, and they don't want you to know about them.

B. Alabama Republicans already control the executive and judicial branches of state government. They are determined to take over the legislative branch. Bob Riley has started a major fundraising effort designed to accomplish that goal. And U.S. Attorney Alice Martin reportedly has 10 indictments planned--with the one of Sue Schmitz being the first--designed to target Democrats in the Legislature and help Republicans take control.

Why does Legal Schnauzer matter? Because it could throw a major wrench into those plans. My case is probably the clearest current example of Republican abuse of the justice system, and it goes all the way to the Alabama Supreme Court.

Here's what I mean by the "clearest current example:" The best known cases of Republican abuse of the justice system are the Don Siegelman case in Alabama and the Paul Minor case in Mississippi. Both have received substantial national attention, deservedly so. But both are complicated criminal cases, involving lengthy trials, mounds of evidence, numerous witnesses, and (eventually) massive transcripts. I've studied the Minor transcript, and after a lot of reading, you can clearly see the corruption of Judge Henry Wingate. If a transcript of the Siegelman case ever becomes available, I suspect similar wrongdoing by Judge Mark Fuller will become apparent. But it's hard to find the sleaze in big cases like that. It's easy to see the sleaze in the Legal Schnauzer case. The crux of it is contained in a few pages, which are public record. To unearth all of the sleaze in my case is a little more complicated than that. But the main stuff is easy to see.

And what does it prove? That Republican trial judges in Shelby County acted corruptly in my case. That our appellate courts--all Republican (on the civil side) at the time--corruptly allowed the unlawful trial-court judgment to stand. And remember this critical point: Bill Swatek, the attorney who filed the lawsuit against me and benefitted from numerous unlawful rulings, has direct family ties to Governor Bob Riley and U.S. Attorney Alice Martin. Swatek's son, Dax Swatek, was campaign manager for both Riley and Martin.

What does all of this this mean? It means that my little Legal Schnauzer case can prove that our Republican-controlled judicial branch is corrupt? And it can prove that the executive branch is complicit in that corruption, with people having ties to the Riley administration receiving unlawfully favorable treatment. So if the public came to know about and understand my case, it would see that Alabama's judicial and executive branches are corrupt under Republican control. Do you think that would hurt the GOP's chances of taking over the legislative branch? I think it would, and I think that's a major reason they want this blog shut down.

C. Legal Schnauzer goes way beyond Alabama, reflecting directly on the Bush Justice Department. We will show how Alice Martin has intentionally covered up federal crimes committed by Republican judges in Alabama state courts while viciously going after Democratic legislators such as Sue Schmitz. That is classic selective prosecution. More specifically, my case illustrates the flip side of the Siegelman case, where a public official was prosecuted for political reasons. In my case, multiple public officials are not being prosecuted for political reasons--because they are Republicans, members of the "home team."

We will show in searing detail how Alice Martin goes about suppressing cases that she doesn't want to come to light. In fact, I will present an e-mail exchange I had with Ms. Martin--when she did not know I was a blogger; she clearly thought I was a troublesome citizen presenting evidence of criminal wrongdoing that she didn't want to hear about--someone she could easily brush off. Well, Ms. Martin was not able to brush me off so easily. And in the process of trying to get rid of me, she reveals exactly how she goes about conducting her official business in a partisan manner. That's coming up on this blog.

But first, we will examine the political connections between Alice Martin, Bob Riley, and the people behind the fraudulent lawsuit I've been fighting.

Is it any wonder Martin, Riley, and their GOP sycophants want to shut down Legal Schnauzer?

Bob Riley Can Fool Almost All the People, All the Time

Bob Riley

Bob Riley's eight-year reign as Alabama governor is, mercifully, almost over. The governor who came in on the heels of an apparent con--the mysterious overnight loss of votes for Democrat Don Siegelman--is going out with another.

The right-wing Alabama press is doing its darnedest to portray Riley as an ethical leader, unblemished by scandal. This for a governor with documented ties to Jack Abramoff and Michael Scanlon, two of the most notorious political criminals in American history.

Even some intelligent Alabamians are buying the Riley-as-Gandhi storyline. That includes Wayne Flynt, a long-time history professor at Auburn University and one of the most respected progressive voices in our state. When someone like Wayne Flynt starts praising the likes of Bob Riley, it might be time to check the water supply for hallucinogens.

If Birmingham News reporter Kim Chandler is to be believed, here is what Wayne Flynt actually had to say about the Riley years:

Alabama historian Wayne Flynt said Riley raised the bar for how governors should behave and how their cabinets operate.

"Keep in mind the bar has been pretty low, but Riley was honest and ethical and he held his cabinet and staff responsible for how they did their jobs and behaved," Flynt said.

Flynt is right about one thing: The bar is pretty low. But the notion that Riley raised it is laughable.

Wayne Flynt did not suddenly become stupid. He almost certainly knows that Riley is a corrupt con man who presided over one of the worst economies in Alabama history. Flynt is a tenured professor at Auburn, and in theory, enjoys "academic freedom" to speak his mind in a truthful fashion. But Flynt probably knows that even a tenured professor can face serious consequences if he does not toe the conservative line in Alabama's higher-education system. Anyone who doubts that should check with UAB labor economist and historian Glenn Feldman.

Riley has been protected throughout his two terms by a lap-dog, right-wing press and friendly federal prosecutors. Some political observers have noted Riley's physical resemblance to Ronald Reagan. Like the "Gipper," Riley seems to benefit from an industrial-strength coating of Teflon. Consider this passage from a recent post about Riley's efforts to pass an "ethics" bill:

Throughout Riley's tenure, he has been protected by Leura Canary, a Bush-appointed U.S. attorney in Montgomery. But if historians ever uncover the truth about the Riley years, he probably will go down as the most corrupt governor in Alabama history. Powerful evidence suggests that Riley:

* Benefited from election-night vote theft in Baldwin County, Alabama, giving him a razor-thin edge over Democrat incumbent Don Siegelman in the 2002 election;

* Benefited from $13-million of Mississippi gaming money that was laundered through GOP felon Jack Abramoff;

* Benefited from millions of Mississippi Choctaw gaming money that was distributed directly to the Riley campaign, according to public statements from former aide Bill Johnson.

* Misspent more than $340,000, which was intended to help elect candidates and instead went to anti-gambling initiatives.

* Saw his term winding down in 2010 as a string of mysterious deaths cropped up on Alabama's political landscape.

A source has told Legal Schnauzer that a Riley presidential run is a real possibility, especially if the European Aerospace Defence and Space Co. (EADS) lands the $35-billion Air Force tanker contract that would include construction of a major facility in Mobile, Alabama. Given the jumbled nature of the GOP field--and the fact another Southerner, Mississippi's Haley Barbour, recently shot himself in the foot with clod-headed remarks about the days of segregation--Riley might have a legit chance, our source says.

That thought should send chills down the spine of every thinking American. Riley has enough baggage to sink the Lusitania. But folks who might have inside knowledge about the governor's operations have a curious habit of turning up dead.

For now, perhaps the best thing about Riley's exit is that we won't be subjected to the fawning photos of him The Birmingham News seems to run almost every day. Is it just me, or is Riley's picture in the paper about 10 times more often than those of previous governors? And I'm not talking just about Democratic predecessors, such as Don Siegelman. Even previous Republicans, such as Fob James and Guy Hunt, never received this kind of adoring treatment--at least not in my memory.

It's almost as if somebody at The Birmingham News has a massive man crush on Bob Riley. When Mrs. Schnauzer and I were in a darkly comic mood recently, we envisioned the paper's leaders gathered in a room, masturbating as they figured out which Riley photo to run that day. "Oh dear God, he's so white and gorgeous," one editor says. "And look at that incredible hair," says another. "Such a credit to our race--I mean state." "You know, he never dyes his hair. He has genes like Reagan! I think I'm feeling verklempt," says another.

(Sorry for the disturbing imagery, but we're going edgy and raw today at LS.)

Never mind that, when Riley opens his mouth, he sounds like Gomer Pyle. And never mind that Riley likely has been an illegitimate governor for years, the beneficiary of probable election theft. "I still refer to him as Congressman," a friend of ours says, "because that's the highest office to which he's been elected."

Riley is a white guy who looks like Reagan. And that's enough to make many Alabamians swoon. Perhaps that explains why our state is going nowhere fast.

Alliance between AG Steve Marshall and oily lawyer Rob Riley shows Alabama crooks don't make much of an effort to keep their sleazy antics under wraps

Steve Marshall and "Luv Guv" Bentley

A recent article about the blatant nature of corruption in postmodern Alabama, especially among conservatives, points a glaring finger at Homewood attorney Rob Riley. That comes as no surprise, given that Riley -- ever since his father, former Gov. Bob Riley, rose to power in the U.S. House in the late 1990s -- has been tied to enough crookedness to fill several volumes of a series on modern sleaze in the Deep South.

At one time, it seemed Riley and his brethren tried to be subtle about their oily ways. But in a recent piece at Alabama Political Reporter (APR), titled "Alabama politicians aren’t even trying to hide the corruption anymore," Josh Moon presents Rob Riley as a politician who does not give a flip if the public can see right through his shady dealings. This subject hits close to home for your humble blogger because I've seen Riley's shenanigans in an up-close-and-personal way.

For an example, Moon turns to the 2018 race for Alabama attorney general, which might be the most interesting, underhanded, and blood-stained race on this year's docket. At the heart of Moon's saga is the sitting AG, Steve Marshall. Moon and Bill Britt reported at APR late last week that "Luv Guv" Robert Bentley appointed Marshall after receiving assurances that Marshall would investigate prosecutors Matt Hart and Van Davis in the Mike Hubbard case.

If that sounds to you like the kind of quid pro quo ("something for something" deal) that constitutes a federal bribery charge, that's because it probably is. Moon adds another layer of chicanery with his report on Marshall and Rob Riley. From that article:

I mean, maybe there’s an argument to be made that our people are more stupid than brazen, and they’re simply too ignorant to recognize that we all see what they’re doing. But that’s not a lot of comfort.

Because we seem to have reached a point in this state where corruption and shadiness is the norm.

We simply expect the crooked deals and underhanded payoffs and backroom politics. So much so that our politicians aren’t really hiding it anymore.

Perfect example: Steve Marshall.

Marshall's alliance with Rob Riley is enough to test anyone's wretch reflex. Writes Moon:

Take a quick look through our interim AG’s campaign finance records sometime. And prepare to be amazed.

Not necessarily at the amount of the donations, although that figure, at well over $1 million raised so far — for a gig that pays $168,000 annually — should be scandal enough. But look at who’s giving.

On Feb. 26, a $2,500 donation came in from the Riley and Jackson law firm. That’s the firm of former Gov. Bob Riley’s son, Rob Riley. That firm also shares office space with Bob Riley’s consulting firm.

But more importantly to Steve Marshall, and the attorneys working for him at the AG’s public corruption unit, Rob Riley is currently representing Mike Hubbard in his appeal against a case brought by that aforementioned AG’s public corruption unit.

So the current AG is taking in donations from the attorneys of a convicted felon who was one of the most powerful men in the state.

Swell.

This isn't anything new for Rob Riley. In 2013, he and lobbyist Liberty Duke filed a lawsuit against me, my wife, and Legal Schnauzer, claiming that reporting here about the Riley-Duke (ahem) relationship was false and defamatory. Did they ask for discovery, a jury trial, and money damages -- the normal course of a defamation lawsuit?  Nope, they did not seek any of that. They went for a temporary restraining order (TRO) and preliminary injunction, both of which have been found to be unlawful prior restraints under more than 200 years of First Amendment law.

Rob and Bob Riley

It all was a scam designed to have me and Carol (who was not even involved with the blog at the time) unlawfully thrown in jail for "contempt of court." Their scheme was so transparent that I disclosed exactly what they were doing, even before I was arrested. Carol managed to elude capture and get the story of my kidnapping (arrest without a warrant) for blogging into the national press.

Anyone slightly familiar with First Amendment law, especially the seminal case of Near v. Minnesota, 283 US 697 (1931), knew Riley, Duke, and specially appointed rogue judge Claud Neilson were operating way outside the law. In essence, Riley and Duke asked Neilson to act as a one-man censor -- and that has been prohibited, by law, for decades. In fact, that's why the law requires juries to hear defamation cases.

The Riley-Duke scam to obtain a preliminary injunction ran afoul of Alabama procedural and case law, as I explained in a post on Oct. 10, 2013. I showed that it also ran afoul of longstanding constitutional law -- and that post was written two weeks before my arrest. In fact, the U.S. Supreme Court of 1931 had looked into the future and seen thugs like Rob Riley, Liberty Duke, and Claud Neilson on the horizon:

. . . 230 years of U.S. law shows Neilson's efforts to stifle a free press are unlawful. Riley's petition is a thinly veiled attempt to threaten my wife and me with jail for practicing journalism--the publishing of information that has not been found by any court to be defamatory. 

In Near, the U.S. Supreme Court saw that kind of thuggery coming and wrote the following: 

"When a newspaper or periodical is found to be "malicious, scandalous and defamatory," and is suppressed as such, resumption of publication is punishable as a contempt of court by fine or imprisonment. Thus, where a newspaper or periodical has been suppressed because of the circulation of charges against public officers of official misconduct, it would seem to be clear that the renewal of the publication of such charges would constitute a contempt and that the judgment would lay a permanent restraint upon the publisher, to escape which he must satisfy the court as to the character of a new publication. Whether he would be permitted again to publish matter deemed to be derogatory to the same or other public officers would depend upon the court's ruling."

That passage describes exactly what Rob Riley is trying to pull--he wants to suppress a free press, with the threat of a contempt finding that is punishable by imprisonment. The U.S. Supreme Court in Near found "this is of the essence of censorship."

It was unlawful in 1931, and it's unlawful in 2013.

It's also unlawful in 2018. Bottom line: Rob Riley did not even try to hide his corrupt acts in having me unlawfully incarcerated for daring to practice journalism in Alabama. The same thing is happening now with Riley and Steve Marshall. In fact, Marshall's skulduggery goes beyond Riley, as Josh Moon reports:

Marshall has indirectly hauled in tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from Jimmy Rane and Will Brooke — two wealthy and prominent business owners, and major political donors, who were caught up in the Hubbard conviction.

And here’s the fun backstory there: Rane and Brooke could technically still be indicted for their roles in giving Hubbard money. Of the 12 felony counts against Hubbard, two involved in Rane and Brooke. And with a grand jury still empaneled in Lee County . . .

But no biggie to Marshall. He’ll take their cash.

Is Bob Riley Finally About to Come Under Scrutiny?

Bob Riley

Former Alabama Governor Bob Riley is under investigation by the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office, according to a new report from The Montgomery Independent.

The news comes as defendants in the federal bingo trial have stated they will not call any witnesses, meaning closing arguments are expected tomorrow and Riley will not be called in the case. That comes as no surprise to those of us who have watched Riley give new meaning to the term "Teflon governor."

But Ellen Brooks, who has been Montgomery County DA since 1993, might try to put a few scratches in Riley's protective coating. We have only one question for Ms. Brooks: What took you so long?

On the premise that late is better than never, let's take a look at the The Montgomery Independent's report:

The Montgomery Independent has learned from multiple credible sources that the District Attorney's office in the 15th Judicial Circuit (Montgomery County) has been investigating certain activities of former Gov. Bob Riley that occurred during his two terms as governor and includes lobbying for firms which received lucrative state contracts under his tenure.

The District Attorney in Montgomery is given specific authority under state law to investigate activities of state government and state officers throughout Alabama.

What might be of particular interest about the Riley era?

The former governor, with much fanfare, began a career as a lobbyist, soon after he left office, hiring on wealthy business clients, some which he awarded state contracts and business during his two terms as governor.

Riley's client list included Gulf Coast Asphalt Co., which has offices in Houston and Mobile, and Brett Real Estate Robinson Development Co. in Saraland. His other clients included Austal USA, EADS North American, and VT Systems Inc. -- Austal USA builds Navy ships in Mobile; EADS North American is based in Arlington and would have built a refueling tanker in Mobile if it had won the federal contract, and VT Systems is the parent of a company that operates an aircraft maintenance facility in Mobile.

How far could the Brooks inquiry go? Well, Team Riley already is showing signs of being under pressure:

Then there are dozens of other firms who have profited under Riley's administration, including the phantom company called "Paragon Source" which received a $13 million no-bid contract from Riley's Administration for work product the state never used. Questions remain about where this firm went and how much did it really walk off with from the State.

In another turn connected to the Riley lobbying gig, it has been reported on the street that the former governor has, in the past few days, turned his lobbying clients over to a family member. The Independent has learned that some of the complaints were made by the State Democratic Party.

Democrats might have filed complaints about Riley, but our guess is that "Teflon Bob" will get off the hook unless Republican insiders step forward. Will Ellen Brooks seek testimony from former Riley aide Bill Johnson and former GOP official Bradley Unruh?

Ellen Brooks

Johnson, for example, was at the heart of our post titled "Alabama First Family Believes in Self-Enrichment," focusing on hundreds of thousands of state dollars that Riley funneled to the Birmingham law firm Bradley Arant, where his son-in-law is employed.

Unruh was a key figure in our post titled "Viewing Mike Hubbard's Actions Through the Prism of the Don Siegelman Case," where he called for an audit of the Alabama Republican Party that would focus on expenditures involving Riley's daughter, Minda Riley Campbell.

The Montgomery Independent's report raises many questions:

* Why did Ellen Brooks sit silently for eight years of the Riley administration while the governor and his cronies repeatedly engaged in questionable activities? Why did she wait until now to rise from her slumber?

* Where is George Beck, U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Alabama. Any possible crimes involving Bob Riley surely involve federal jurisdiction. The USA's office in Montgomery has not been shy about going after former governors. (You can ask Don Siegelman about that.) So where is George Beck in this equation?

* Where is Luther Strange, attorney general of Alabama? His office has been bringing a dubious case against accused honeymoon murderer Gabe Watson, so has "Big Luther" been too busy to look toward Bob Riley. Oh wait, Big Luther came from Bradley Arant, the big firm that seems to be the legal enabler for corrupt "pro business types" such as Bob Riley and Ted Rollins. That means Big Luther has been firmly embedded in Bob Riley's colon, so no scrutiny is likely to come from the AG's office.

We aren't holding our breath that Bob Riley ever will be held accountable for anything. But The Montgomery Independent has done some important reporting on corruption in Karl Rove's Alabama, and we take their work seriously. The public should take it seriously, too.

If Ellen Brooks digs like a terrier, perhaps like a schnauzer, she is likely to find some profoundly disturbing stuff. How disturbing? The following interview with Brad Unruh gives an idea: