Motives and Corrupt GOPers

A number of journalists around the country have commented on the apparent disarray currently cloaking the Republican Party. The sitting GOP president has dismal approval ratings, his justice department is enmeshed in scandal, and the party is 0 for 3 in recent special Congressional elections.

For my money, Mark Crispin Miller at News From Underground has one of the best commentaries on the subject, and you can catch his two-part vlog here.

Closer to home, I've experienced firsthand the threats and harassment that come from the hoodlums who run the corrupt wing of the Republican Party. What might be motivating these folks who make it their business to trash our constitution?

We'll be examining that issue in the coming days, focusing on two key figures--Pelham, Alabama-based attorney William E. Swatek and Alice Martin, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Alabama.

These folks have an interesting connection. Bill Swatek, the ethically challenged attorney who filed a bogus lawsuit against me, has a son named Dax Swatek. And Dax Swatek is a GOP consultant who served as Alice Martin's campaign manager when she ran in 2000 for a seat on the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals (and lost to Sue Bell Cobb, now chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court). Dax Swatek also served as Bob Riley's gubernatorial campaign manager in 2006 and has close ties to Bill Canary, who has close ties to Karl Rove, who is George W. Bush's "brain." In other words, the Swatek GOP roots grow right up to the White House door.

Which might explain why Bill Swatek gets away with all kinds of shenanigans in Alabama state courts, even though he has a 30-year record of unethical and fraudulent activity.

But back to my situation. We showed Bill Swatek in action recently, when he made a "bid" on my house as part of an unlawful sheriff's sale on the front steps of the Shelby County Courthouse. In another post, we showed that Swatek's motive clearly was to scare me into shutting down this blog, as opposed to actually trying to satisfy a legitimate judgment.

Which raises this question: Why are Bill Swatek and his GOP cronies so intent on targeting this blog? I think there are several answers to that question.

But one, I suspect, simply has to do with business. Since I started this blog, I've heard from a number of Bill Swatek's former clients. These folks were none to happy with the legal services they received, and they particularly were unhappy with the curious billing processes Mr. Swatek evidently employs.

I had noticed from checking public records that Bill Swatek has sued a number of his former clients. That might be a fairly common thing among attorneys. But of the lawyers I'm familiar with, Swatek is the only one who has sued a rather large number of former clients.

Former clients of Swatek's have given me some insight into why these lawsuits have occurred. A number of these former clients indicated to me that they intended to file bar complaints against Swatek, focusing heavily on his billing practices.

I have no idea if they actually filed bar complaints or not. But another source told me something interesting recently about the bar-complaint process. This individual had filed a bar complaint against an attorney I'm familiar with (not Swatek), and the complainant asked me if I would be willing to testify against the attorney.

I wasn't aware that someone other than the complainant could testify in a bar proceeding. And I gather that published articles about an attorney can be presented as evidence.

I haven't heard anything more about the bar case my source told me about. But if he is correct about the broad nature of a bar inquiry, a corrupt attorney like Bill Swatek would have a vested interest in trying to shut down a blog like mine.

Imagine if former clients were filing bar complaints against Swatek and including copies of posts I had written about him.

If you want to get a feel for what I'm talking about, go to Google and do a blog search for "Bill Swatek." The first three items that come up are uncomplimentary items connected to this blog.

For an even better idea, go to Google and do a regular search on "Bill Swatek." The first NINE items that come up are uncomplimentary items connected to this blog.

Thanks to the wonder of blog analytics, I have a pretty good idea of the number of folks who are doing searches on some variation of the name "William Swatek." And I have a real good idea of where those folks are landing in cyberspace.

Are they coming away with a good feeling about the legal services provided by Bill Swatek? I doubt it.

Is Bill Swatek the kind of guy who would use unlawful means to try to put a stop to such bad publicity? His history suggests the answer is yes.