Monday, September 23, 2013

As Reports Mount About His '90s Ties To Gay Porn, Judge Bill Pryor Rides The Luther Strange Love Train


Bill Pryor, in a "family
friendly" version of his
badpuppy.com photo.
The number of news accounts is steadily growing about photographs of U.S. Circuit Judge Bill Pryor that appeared at a gay porn Web site called badpuppy.com in the 1990s. Perhaps the story has not "gone viral" yet, but given Pryor's staunchly anti-gay views and the flagrant hypocrisy the photos represent, members of the gay press are starting to latch onto the tale with glee. (See here, here, and here.) The style site NewNowNext.com picked up on the story yesterday.

Based on inquiries I'm receiving from major news outlets, the story might go viral on the Web at any moment. Pryor once was considered a conservative boy wonder, whose boyish looks and right-wing credentials made him a possibility for future appointment to the U.S. Supreme Court. Pryor might be watching that dream, and maybe quite a few others, slowly swirl down the drain.

(Perhaps the most fair and thorough report I've seen on the story so far comes from the "U.S. Eleventh Circuit Blog" at findlaw.com. Written by William Peacock, Esq., the piece is titled, "Accusations of Bias in 11th Circuit Judge: Pryor's Nude Photo Scandal." I recommend it as a solid overview and analysis of the evolving story.)

How has Pryor responded to all of this? In a dumbfoundingly ignorant way, by apparently aligning himself with three Alabama lawyers who have dubious records on mattes of ethics. Who forms this unholy alliance? We are talking about Birmingham-based lawyer Bill Baxley, Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange, and Strange's mistress/former campaign manager Jessica Medeiros Garrison.

What signs point to Pryor joining hands with Baxley, Strange, and Garrison? Well, let's consider Pryor's response late last week when D.C.-based lawyer/journalist Andrew Kreig contacted the judge for comment about the gay porn story. Our understanding is that Kreig plans to use Pryor's response in an upcoming article at the Justice-Integrity Project.

Did Pryor grant Kreig an interview? No, he brushed off that possibility, just as he did when I submitted multiple interview requests before writing the post that broke the gay porn story. Did Pryor respond directly to Kreig with a comment. No, the judge assigned that task to Jennifer Bandy, one of his former law clerks who now works for the Washington, D.C., law firm of Kirkland & Ellis.

What does Jennifer Bandy know about this story? Probably nothing. Why on earth did Bill Pryor choose her to issue a "statement" to Andrew Kreig? I haven't a clue. Did the words come from Bandy or Pryor? We don't know.

Anyway, here is Bill Pryor's "official statement" on the matter, per Andrew Kreig:


"Over the last week, I have been smeared by a widely discredited blogger with a political agenda. His allegations have now been picked up by other bloggers. The person in the unsourced, undated photographs is not me, and I deny these allegations. I have been twice vetted by the FBI, including as recently as this past year; I have won two contested statewide elections; and I have been in the public eye for almost twenty years. I will not dignify these disgraceful accusations with any further comment."

That paragraph raises all sorts of issues, but let's focus on just one for now. Notice that Pryor calls me a "widely discredited blogger." That raises this obvious question: "Discredited by whom?"

It certainly isn't Harper's legal analyst and Columbia University law professor Scott Horton, who has referenced my work. It isn't Kreig himself, a University of Chicago law school graduate who has referenced my posts on scores of occasions. It isn't Alan Colmes, the long-time Fox News political commentator who picked up on my coverage of the Pryor story last week. It isn't David Lat, a Harvard and Yale law grad whose widely read Web site, Above the Law, also picked up on my Pryor coverage last week. It isn't members of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, who saw my work cited in a 2007 hearing on political prosecutions of the George W. Bush administration.

If some of the best known and most respected legal and political analysts in the country have not discredited me--and neither have members of Congress--to whom is Bill Pryor referring? It seems clear that Pryor is referring to the individuals behind an alleged lawsuit that Bill Baxley filed on behalf of Jessica Garrison, claiming defamation because of my reporting about the Garrison/Luther Strange extramarital affair.


Jennifer Bandy
I say "alleged lawsuit" because I haven't been served with it, and I haven't seen it. A man who apparently was working as Bill Baxley's process server pounded on our door for an extended period one evening last week, making a point to traipse all over our front yard and around our driveway into the backyard. Mrs. Schnauzer was home by herself, it was dark, and she was not about to answer the door for this strange, thuggish-looking character, but she did watch his actions closely. (Keep in mind, I have received a number of death threats since starting Legal Schnauzer, so we are not prone to opening the door for strangers.)

As I was coming home and about to pull our car into the driveway, my wife saw the man run down our driveway and throw something toward our closing garage door. The man then drove off, without ever saying a word to either of us, without even confirming who lived there or who was home at the time--and we haven't found whatever it was he appeared to throw in our driveway.

Aside from drama over Bill Baxley's failed attempts to serve me, what do we learn from Bill Pryor's official statement to Andrew Kreig?

It tells me that he has jumped in bed with Bill Baxley, Luther Strange, and Jessica Garrison, who are the only people who've made any serious effort to discredit me--even though they can't even get me lawfully served.

What kind of company is Bill Pryor keeping? I addressed that when Andrew Kreig asked if I had any response to the Pryor statement. Here is a portion of my reply on Saturday morning, after Kreig and I had communicated about the Pryor statement last Friday night:


Andrew:
Just a thought on Pryor's statement about me being a "widely discredited blogger." It didn't occur to me last night, but I feel certain that is a reference to the apparent lawsuit that Alabama lawyer Bill Baxley has filed against me . . . over my reporting on the extramarital affair involving Attorney General Luther Strange and his former campaign manager Jessica Medeiros Garrison. I say "apparent lawsuit" because I haven't been served with it and haven't seen it, but I hear it's out there.
The point, though, is that it seems Pryor now has joined an unsavory alliance that has formed in an effort to attack me for reporting accurately about judicial/legal sleaze in Alabama and beyond. This alliance includes a judge who engaged in gay porn (Pryor); a former politician who is a notorious drunk and was caught having an affair with an AP reporter and is known for all sorts of colorful deeds in Las Vegas (Baxley); plus two people who have engaged in financial, professional, and extramarital hanky panky (Strange and Garrison).

I then provided Kreig with some context about what's really going on with Bill Baxley's alliance from hell:


As you report on this, you might want to keep in mind that Jessica Garrison used to work for Pryor (and his No. 1 supporter, Jeff Sessions), and she has called Pryor her mentor. . . . When Garrison couldn't take a job with Big Luther in AG's office because of her divorce/custody case, she landed at the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA), which Pryor started. How does Garrison live in Birmingham and work at D.C.-based RAGA? (BTW, property records show Garrison bought a $440,000 house in Mountain Brook, Alabama's most prestigious suburb, for $30,000. How did she pull that off? I will be reporting on that soon.)
I know the apparent lawsuit isn't about my coverage of the Strange/Garrison affair, because all parties involved know that is true. But I've been working on 2-3 stories that the lawsuit is designed to shut down. One involves Jessica Garrison's funky real estate deal. Another involves her business ties to a guy name Erik Davis Harp, who was indicted in an offshore illegal gambling ring (Panama) that has ties to Gambino and Genovese crime families. Another involves a major Alabama judicial figure who has issues similar to those involving Pryor.

We have much more coming on this story, but let's consider this for a moment: Many Americans probably assume that men and women who wind up on the federal bench get there because of keen intellects and sharp observational powers.

By aligning himself with Bill Baxley's "Coalition of the Corrupt," Bill Pryor has proven that he's got the intellectual skills and moral acuity of a dead stump. Of course, Pryor was nominated by George W. Bush, so maybe we shouldn't be surprised.

59 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great early update today, Murph.
Something has been digging at me. Regarding al.com or any other "mainstream" news in Alabama covering political corruption, I would not count on it. If they do cover anything political, it will be after the fact (after the feds move in).
Many do not know al.com is owned by a cabal of powerful state republicans known loosely as "the machine." Because they are an important machine asset, al.com will not harm their own.
This is the same machine that dicknose garrison in T-Town is part of. Same for Strange, Hubbard, Bentley et al. It runs from local Alabama to Montgomery to Washington D.C. It has been operating for generations.
The problem the machine now has is that AG Big Luther got caught with his pants down with some strange (see Bob Martin piece) and has had to recuse himself from investigations being led by his own appointee, Matt Hart, into corruption charges against several key state republicans--particularly the speaker, Mike Hubbard.
This means that Big Luther is really in no position to play "lookout" for machine soldiers under the federal gun of Matt Hart (Hart is working with the FBI in these state investigations).
One has to wonder if Matt Hart asked his friend, Big Luther, to step aside. After all, the attorney general, Luther Strange, has his own growing problems (see Jessica Garrison). Also, one has to wonder who Matt Hart is taking orders from; and whether or not Bill Pryor's fall will affect Hart's ongoing work in Alabama.
Now, with the revelation that Bill Pryor is out of the closet one can only guess that his lifetime appointment could unravel as quickly as his badpuppy.com pics were taken down after he was outed.
The public has an appetite for this type of smut; and frankly, gays everywhere cannot stand self-loathing, hypocritical homosexuals who hide naked behind a dark robe and a rotten bench.

You are an inspiration to all Americans, LS. By all means, keep digging. Soon you will have the bone.

ttowntruthseeker said...

If Garrison, Baxley and Pryor were actually "in bed" together, you'd surely let us know?

Anonymous said...

The Luther Strange Love Train is pulling into the station . . . all aboard!

Anonymous said...

Pryor can't answer questions for himself about this? He can't even release his own official statement? If that photo is not of you, Billy Boy, you aren't doing a very good job of convincing the public.

legalschnauzer said...

You are correct, ttown. I certainly would not let that story pass. For now, we are speaking metaphorically.

Anonymous said...

If you are "widely discredited" by Bill Baxley, you should take that as a supreme compliment. The more Bill Baxley attacks you, the better you look.

Rah Rah said...

I've been a huge O'Jays fan for years. Something tells me they didn't have Luther Strange in mind when they sang about the real "Love Train." One of the great songs ever!

Anonymous said...

Only a guilty man ducks service of process. Why not just accept service and fight these allegations with your "definitive proof" of the affair? Maybe because you have no evidence and instead were just parroting the unsubstantiated rumors that people passed on to you? You have filed numerous lawsuits (and lost every single one), why put off the inevitable and man-up to defend your "reporting" under oath?

legalschnauzer said...

So, you admit I haven't been served, @8:15? At least you got that right. It's the only thing.

Anonymous said...

MURPH, the quote I owe you.

"Remarks of Attorney General Bill Pryor to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Committee January 26th, 2002. If you think that the office of state attorney general in your state is an unlikely source of mischief, think again.

My warnings this morning are not based on speculation or conjectures.

I know my colleagues".

The key word obviously applicable to judicial prosecution would be MISCHIEF. He condones prosecutorial mischief?

Malicious mischief or criminal mischief, nevertheless when asked a specific question before the senate judiciary hearing about such matters responded something as to the effect as in no/none.

This was not only refuted by Pryor, but wasn't listed on his list of speeches given.

May have been because, "many of his fellow attorneys on business related issues cause serious concerns about how, if confirmed, he would rule with respects to the rights and interest of ordinary citizens".

Anonymous said...

Doesn't the federal judiciary have spokespeople that Pryor could have turned to? Why didn't he use one of them?

TLR said...

LS, I love it when somebody comments anonymously and tells you to "man up" about something.

Anonymous said...

Why did Pryor pick a cute, bookish female to be his spokesperson about gay porn photos. Why not a dude who has been a clerk for him?

Anonymous said...

I would love to know more about "The Machine" that runs al.com, @5:55. I bet you are accurate about that, but it's a new story to me.

Anonymous said...

Wasn't it a "Dude" that was supposedly caught with AG Troy King who was working for him at about $60,000.00 a year.

Where they a part of Pryor's group known as FAGs?

Did Baxley ever join up with Pryor's group, having been an AG himself?

Anonymous said...

Troy King's dude was named J.W. Godwin:

http://theothermccain.com/2010/02/05/troy-king-and-the-scandal-that-dare-not-speak-its-name/

Anonymous said...

I hear Bill Pryor has at least one Birmingham legal "dude" in his stable. I wonder who it is.

Anonymous said...

If I were Bill Pryor, and that wasn't me in the photo, I would call a press conference, pass out family photos of myself from various stages of life, take any and all questions, and prove that it wasn't me. Seems like a pretty simple solution.

Anonymous said...

LS, you've been accused of having a "political agenda" by Bill Pryor. Must make you feel all warm inside.

Anonymous said...

@919...if you are a federal judge and someone libel and slanders you in this way, you get even.

plain and simple.

the only reason the judge is not doing anything is because?

It's him. There is simply no other logical conclusion.

Anonymous said...

Why is Bill Baxley, supposedly a Democrat, joining forces with all of these right wingers? Can't figure that one out.

Anonymous said...

I think your strategy is sound, @9:19. But here is one that would have been even better:

When LS requests an interview, invite him to your office and ask him to bring along any evidence that he has. Say you've never posed nude for anyone, gay or straight, in your life, so the photo could not be you. Invite LS to bring all of his questions, and you will answer every one. Have photos of yourself from various stages of life and give copies to LS, proving that the person in the photo is not you. The story never even gets off the ground. Job finished.

Anonymous said...

Why didn't Pryor choose one of his former associates now at Bradley Arant to be spokesperson? He's got a bunch of former clerks and such at BABC.

Anonymous said...

Pryor claims the photo is "unsourced and undated." But this is from LS's first post on the subject. Sounds to me like the photo is sourced and is dated:

"The photos disappeared from badpuppy.com one day after that meeting, but ABI investigators already had captured screen shots that are dated September 17, 1997."

Anonymous said...

I wonder what the folks at BadPuppy think of all this. Must be good for business.

Sharon said...

I think it's pretty interesting that NewNowNext is covering the story. Neat Web site.

Anonymous said...

Pryor's statement doesn't make much sense:

"I have been smeared by a widely discredited blogger with a political agenda. His allegations have now been picked up by other bloggers."

If the original blogger was widely discredited, then other bloggers would not be picking it up, right?

He cuts the legs right out from under his own argument.

David in S. Alabama said...

The simplest answer to the question of why LS has not been with Bill Baxley frivolous lawsuit is that Bill Baxley and his process server is that they both frequently frequent the same liquor store.

Anonymous said...

I doubt that BadPuppy needs any help with business, @9:41. I bet they are raking in the cash.

Anonymous said...

LS, what do you think of @9:31's strategy?

legalschnauzer said...

I think @9:31 is right on target. That's what Pryor should have done, and any intelligent PR professional would have recommended that, I think, if the photo is not of him.

The reason I contacted Pryor is to give him a chance to answer questions about the story and refute it if he could. It was part of the standard journalism process that most reporters use. If Pryor had shown me there was no story there, then I probably wouldn't have written it.

With solid evidence from Pryor, I go back to my original sources and check with them. But if Pryor truly shows the photos aren't him, then there is no story--or perhaps there is a story about how these photos came to be. But more than likely, there is no story at all.

Anonymous said...

Pryor seems to say that being in the public eye for 20 years is supposed to prove that he somehow is above scrutiny. How long were Larry Craig and Mark Foley in the public eye before compromising information rose to the surface? And we really are supposed to trust the work of the FBI? Come on, judge, we're not that stupid.

Anonymous said...

"The Machine"
Wasn't it "The Machine" that put Pryor in office to begin with led by that Bill Canary Republican operative tied to political mastermind Karloska Roveoloski?

Giving appearances of persecuting Siegelman first day as AG.

This "Machine" is not isolated to al.com!

Anonymous said...

I've heard that certain Alabama power brokers obtained indisputable evidence of Bill Baxley in a compromising position many years ago in Las Vegas. And Baxley has been under their thumb ever since.

Could this explain why Baxley was chosen to pursue the legal action on behalf of Jessica Garrison?

What do you think, LS?

legalschnauzer said...

I think you have good sources. In fact, I'm researching these very matters at this moment.

Anonymous said...

@ 11:48, and that ain't the half of it!!!

Pryor has caused many an old rusted Pandora Box to become rattled now, raising concerns many a what ifs, should they pop open.....

Anonymous said...

MURPH! Since it wasn't Jimmy Evans as you guessed; what do think about the actual quote "mischief" being Pryor acknowledging the attorney general's office is a likely source of mischief?
Batter's box, # 4 in the wind up.
Let me know.

legalschnauzer said...

Very interesting words, coming from Pryor. Lots of loaded meanings there, perhaps.

Anonymous said...

Legal Schnauzer is a co-creation because Murphy the beloved pet was there all through the storm and never left the humans she committed to be protector of.

The storm is still raging and the dire situation is being monitored by the spirit of Murph LS. Joining the SPIRIT are GREAT SPIRITS co-creating the LS bigger than life louder than silence in a never-ending wind.

Alabama corruption never thought to see a tide rushing in to cleanse the filthy dirty toxic banks of the shadow mafia-gov.

WELCOME TO A NEW WORLD ORDER ALRIGHT, THE MURPH LEGAL SCHNAUZER REAL HISTORY OF HOW DID THIS TIME REALLY BE IN REALITY.

Woof, bark, howl at the corrupted now fully transparent because LS chose and chooses to run with the dance of all the canines past-present-future filled with an all powerful power unseen seen tromping balance into the packs of jackals wearing naked agendas in all the foul STINK same ole fascist bad spirits BS.

Thanks LS Et Al PACK of Enlightened Canine Legal Eagles

xo/PP

Anonymous said...

http://www.al.com/opinion/index.ssf/2013/09/vladimir_putin_the_perfect_ala.html

Homophobia in Alabama exists!

Judge Pryor will not survive!

Anonymous said...

http://instinctmagazine.com/post/homophobic-federal-judges-gay-porn-past-exposed

Murph,

Did some binging and found this gem. Kudos! Keep digging my four-legged friend!

Anonymous said...

Who were the joint investigative departments investigating a Alabama official after Pryor had become Attorney General and went on to complete his four years in office?

MURPH! #4, fast ball low and inside, let me know

legalschnauzer said...

You may have stumped me again, @4:22. I'm going to have to enlist some help. On the joint investigation, I will guess ABI and Alabama Dept. of Revenue. (Please, Dear God, let me be close!)

Anonymous said...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/drew-courtney/gops-double-standard-on-j_b_3956523.html
Judge Pryor criticized for his stance on Huffpost.

Anonymous said...

MMURPH! Sorry again little girl, Shu didn't even tip it.

Alabama Attorney General Jeff Sessions and U.S. Attorney Redding Pitt were trying hard to convict Governor Jim Folsom on corruption charges, Sessions became senator, when arriving in Washington and asked about the case shrugged off in ways defined as not going to answer your questions.

When Bill Pryor approached in Alabama about this open, supposedly active case, his response, paraphrasing, that he didn't know of any investigation involving Folsom/corruption.

The AG's case against Folsom disappeared from all radar; but where are the official documents rendering Sessions/Reddings cases closed.

Why? after all the time investigating, signaling to public various incidents of corruptions involving monies and materials in 1997, there had to be an outside influence determining direction
Pryor would/wouldn't succeed as Alabama Attorney General.

legalschnauzer said...

More good info, @5:18. You are teaching me a lot, and I'm sure readers are learning, too.

Anonymous said...

Upon thinking about Folsom's investigation timeline by Session, subsequently Pryor immediate denial, and Pitt does it not beg to question the possibility their going after Folsom at that particular point in time, prior upcoming state elections; Folsom {D} having been Governor, may have been thought to be by James {R} then Governor, would be Folsom keeping him and Republicans from a second term.

What do you think MURPH?

The investigations were very "quietly dropped"; doesn't Pryor and too Sessions owe an explanation to the Senate Judiciary Committee?

Is this some of the mischief Pryor was referring to when speaking before the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Committee?

After all Sessions was right there with Pryor "like a hair in a biscuit".

legalschnauzer said...

An added element is that Fob James went on to appoint Pryor as AG, almost certainly at Sessions insistence. Was that a payoff to Sessions/Pryor for their investigation of Folsom? Hmmm.

When you add the fact these photos of Pryor surfaced about the time Fob was fixin' (as we say down South) to appoint Pryor . . . well, that makes you go Hmmm again.

Anonymous said...

A federal grand jury is due to be impaneled in Montgomery early October.
And we'll all turn out to meet {Matt} them when they come, and we'll all turn out to meet them {Matt} when they come; and we'll all turn out to meet them, we'll all turn out to meet them, we'll all turn out to meet Matt when they come.

Las Vegas odds attempted;
juror tampering,
witness tampering,
briberies.

Whatcha goin ta do when they com for you, bad boy;
here comes judge here come the judge,
going to a party in the county jail,
I'm stuck in Folsom Prison.

No, not all, one is lost in Alaska,
thank God and Greyhound your gone.

Anonymous said...

Remeber when Johnny Cash performed at Folsom Prison and he invited people to drink the ugly brown water served to the prison inmates? I still remember all too well....Johnny knew, Johnny understood and he wasn't afraid to show it......

Anonymous said...

http://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/7612/Johnny-Cash-At-Folsom-Prison/ Johnny Cash Folsom Prison

Anonymous said...

http://www.leagle.com/decision/19922020792FSupp1228_11819 Mountain brook city schools

Anonymous said...

Donald B. Sweeney and Mountain Brook Schools....Bradley Arant lawyer....http://www.babc.com/dsweeney/

Anonymous said...

I've got no dog in this fight, but you should know that the court file shows that you were served on 9-18-13, complete with a certification from the process server. Even if you believe that service was ineffective or improper, you would be foolish to ignore this, rather than fight it.

legalschnauzer said...

In other words, the process server lied, just as I figured he would. I will deal with that in the appropriate fashion. It won't be ignored.

Funny that someone who has no dog in the fight would take the time to go through the court file. But thanks for the info, anyway.

Maybe you need to get a hobby.

Anonymous said...

You mean like writing a blog?

legalschnauzer said...

Exactly!

Maybe that would be a good hobby for you.

Anonymous said...

Hey 1034, when you took and oath to uphold the rule of law were you high that day or did your hire someone to appear in your place or rather did you pay off the BAR so as to not have to appear. Either way, you are a p--sy plan and simple. What happened to "Land of the free, home of the brave"? Has something scared you from it or were you raised by heathens? Enquiring minds want to know. I want to know?

legalschnauzer said...

You make a fascinating point, @3:38. Mr. 10:34 seems to be saying, "Hey, even if the other party consists of a band of lying, cheating thieves, we are suppose to cave for them." I suspect Mr. 10:34 is part of the cheating thieves, so he doesn't care.