Chad Belville, who also serves as general counsel, said the company was receiving inquiries from other media outlets, and he would let me know what the research turned up. Belville never got back to me, and he has not responded to e-mails seeking an update.
Does that mean the company started receiving political pressure--from the right, the left, or both--and decided to keep its information under wraps? Did the company see news of my kidnapping and incarceration and decided to call off plans to research the Bill Pryor topic? Was my "arrest" designed as a warning to Badpuppy, and perhaps others, that the Pryor story had better be left alone? The answer to the first two questions is yes, in my view. And I wouldn't be surprised if the answer to the third question also is yes.
Badpuppy's home base for roughly 20 years has been Cocoa, Florida. That just happens to be in the U.S. Eleventh Circuit (along with Alabama and Georgia), where one of the sitting judges is William H. Pryor. Is it possible that federal judges in the Eleventh Circuit could cause a lot of problems for a gay-porn company that helped disrobe one of its brethren? It doesn't require a lot of imagination to come up with an answer to that question
My communications with Belville have not turned up anything new about Bill Pryor. But they do provide insight into a company that has become a "super store" of gay pornography online. For example, the company was sold not long before we broke the Pryor story here at Legal Schnauzer. And while Badpuppy is known for its digital presence, its record keeping is, to a great extent, from the world of yesteryear. Here is what Belville wrote in an e-mail dated September 22, 2013--which was one month and one day before my unlawful arrest:
Hi Roger!
Badpuppy was sold to a man named Craig Jackson earlier this year after being owned by William Pinyon since its inception in 1995. I am currently serving as the CFO and General Counsel to Badpuppy Enterprises Inc.
The records for the site as it existed in 1997 are in file cabinets -- about 3 dozen of them -- and we are going to start digging into those files Monday morning. Other news outlets have begun to contact us regarding the nude image that was published on Badpuppy and we'd like to find some evidence that either supports the assumption that image is in fact Judge Pryor or shows that it is not him. . . .
I look at the photographs and I believe that is a young Bill Pryor.
Sincerely,
Chad Belville CFO and General Counsel, Badpuppy Enterprises Inc.
So, we've established that a top executive at badpuppy.com thinks the photo is of the Bill Pryor--not that I had any doubt about that. Here is my response to Belville:
Thanks for contacting me, Chad.
As you might have seen on my blog, I have three sources who were connected to a law-enforcement investigation that commenced upon receipt of a tip about the images in 1997--Pryor was set to be appointed Alabama attorney general at the time. Those sources say their investigation showed the images were of the Bill Pryor who now is a federal judge, and that's what my story is based upon.
I'm intrigued by the notation at the top of the WizardBoy Gallery that says the images were from a private collector named Ernie. Seems to be a clue about their origins.
I hope we can stay in touch.
As for the mysterious Ernie, we now suspect he was Ernie Potvin, the late writer and archivist who was well known in the gay-rights movement, especially on the West Coast. Ernie Potvin was extremely well connected, and several of his friends have been in touch with us about information on the likely origins of the Bill Pryor photos, which reportedly number between 10 and 15.
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| Bill Pryor |
Thank you for your response Roger!
I'm hoping to find out more about the circumstances surrounding the removal of those pages from the websites in 1997. I was a prosecutor in 1999-2002 and I still think like one -- there is something fishy that happened here. If those images were removed to protect Pryor and Pryor knew about it, then Pryor intentionally covered up or failed to disclose he posed nude, he committed ethical violations. In a lot of high profile cases it is not the original act that gets a person in trouble, it is the attempted cover up. The impeachment of President Clinton was not for getting a blowjob in the Oval Office, he was accused of lying to Congress about it. Martha Stewart didn't get prosecuted for insider trading, she was prosecuted for lying to investigators.
Hopefully our internal searches at Badpuppy will uncover the truth about the images. I will let you know if we find anything.
Sincerely,
Chad
As you probably can tell, Chad Belville seems like a sharp guy, and I enjoyed my limited communication with him. He's in a key position at a company in transition, so it's possible he never found the time to do thorough research on the Pryor issue. It's also possible that political pressure from Pryor's protectors on the right convinced the company that it would be best to lay low on the subject.
And here is something for Schnauzer readers to ponder: I've seen signs that certain political forces on the left do not want the Pryor photos out there--at least not any more than they already have been. In fact, I've had one or two well-known media figures on the left try to discredit my reporting and not-so-subtly steer me away from the story.
Why would that be? Well, I have quite a bit of information on the subject. I also have a theory about what caused blow back from the left. If my theory proves correct, it is a fascinating story indeed--one tied to recent and historic news events.
23 comments:
I bet someone scared the puppy poo out of Bad Puppy.
Very interesting information that Bad Puppy is based in Cocoa, FL, which is in the 11th Circuit. They probably would be less vulnerable to threats if they were based in NY or LA or SF.
My favorite story line on Legal Schnauzer. Glad to see it's back. It's not my favorite just because it's juicy, and I love the notion of Bill Pryor being humiliated in public. But I think it helps show the kind of ethically challenged scumbags we have in the federal judiciary. Mark Fuller's gone, but Pryor's probably worse than Fuller ever thought of being. Keep digging on this story, please.
So thankful for the black box over Pryor's privates. Really like to follow this story because I think Pryor is scum of the earth. But I'm not sure I could have handled many more views of Pryor's erect thingy.
I agree, Trish, and I think we can thank "Above the Law" Web site for the black box. I think they were the first to run the "redacted" version of the Pryor picture, and I've run that version ever since. I think I ran the full-frontal version only once, maybe twice, and I did that because I felt a story about a nude photograph needed to show the full-fledged nude photograph. But I didn't want to make that pic a regular part of the blog, so I'm glad the edited version came around. I probably would have eventually figured out a way to put a black box on their myself, but at the time, I didn't know how to do that.
Chad Belville sounds like a cool guy. Too bad he's probably been threatened within an inch of his life.
Hope the public realizes that Bill Pryor used to be a Karl Rove client, and Pryor is the No. 1 reason Don Siegelman is in prison. Pryor, as AG of Alabama, started an investigation of Siegelman within weeks of the new governor's inauguration. Then, when the 2002 election was stolen from Siegelman in the middle of the night, on behalf of Bob Riley, Pryor would allow no recount of the ballots from Baldwin County. A whole bunch of evidence indicates Pryor's appointment to the federal bench, for which he is singularly unqualified, was a reward for his actions against Siegelman. They don't come any lower than Bill Pryor.
Any threats to Bad Puppy probably didn't just come from judges, although they might have orchestrated it. But there are all kinds of ways a porn company could be harassed to the point of going out of business. Federal or state prosecutors could do it, law enforcement could help do it. A company like Bad Puppy, even if it is acting 100 percent within the law, is vulnerable to pressures from many directions.
I think this threat stuff could work both ways. If Bad Puppy went through their file cabinets and found all of the Pryor photos, they could let that be known to people in certain powerful positions. That could be used as insurance, the trump card if you will, to guarantee that the company can operate free of harassment from authorities.
I hadn't thought of that, Spaz, but you have a very interesting take. I can see how things could work both ways.
When I first read about Bill Pryor on this site I figured I could get view a picture of him from this period if I visited his high school in Mobile. I drove there and was greeted at the school's front desk by a secretary. Strangely I was not allowed into the library and was asked what I was researching that would require a visit to their library. I told them I wanted to look at a past yearbook. The woman then said that I would not be allowed into the library and that there were no pictures of Bill Pryor longer housed there.
Boy, that's an interesting experience, @10:09. Which high school did Pryor attend in Mobile, was it McGill-Toolen? Funny, I thought about making a similar excursion, but I've never been able to do it, for a variety of reasons, including the fact I've always lived a long way from Mobile. Another was that I figured McGill-Toolen, as a private, Catholic school, probably could keep me from seeing a yearbook anyway. Not sure a public school could lawfully keep me (or you) from researching yearbooks, which normally are kept in the school library. But I'm guessing McGill-Toolen probably can make such restrictions--although I would be interested in hearing a lawyer's take on this.
Thanks for sharing your experience. It sort of confirms what I suspected would be the school's approach to such inquiries. It also seems to confirm that a review of the yearbooks would include pictures of Bill Pryor that look exactly like the young man in the photo. Is that how you took the school's response?
I have said this below and will again. We need someone with some balls to step up and demand a EPMO order be filed with the court. A EPMO "Emergency Penis Measurement Order" is a sure fire way of getting to the bottom of what many are calling PenisGate. With our courts moving more to the right the EPMO orders are being filed more than any other time in history. The last most talked about order being the Michael Jackson case years ago. Now however with the likes of Mr. Rove calling the shots, penis size has replaced "failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted" as being the "biggest" reason for refusing to grant summary judgment. To the far right, size does matter and they are hands on when a EPMO order needs filing. Another "tool" that could be used to resolve this is a EPLUO". By using a Emergency Penis Line Up Order we could match which penis went with which judge. This PenisGate has gone on "long" enough, it's time for a happy ending:-)))))
That is great stuff, @11:30, one of the funniest comments in the history of LS. It made me LOL, and that is greatly appreciated. Do lawyers have to receive special training in order to specialize in EPMOs and EPLUOs? Does it take awhile to get the "hang" of such work. (Sorry, couldn't resist.)
I think you certainly have found a way to get to the bottom of PenisGate, and we need a resolution right now.
Mr. Schnauzer, have you ever looked into Judge Pryor's relationship with Kevin Newsom, a lawyer at Bradley Arant? If you check that out, I think you will find some very interesting information.
There also is intriguing info making the rounds about another Bradley Arant lawyer, Matthew Lembke, and I'm looking into that myself.
Just a couple of tips for you.
I've not heard about the Pryor/Newsom story, @1:07, but sounds like I need to look into that. If anyone has details, feel free to leave comment here or contact me via private e-mail at rshuler3156@gmail.com.
Have heard some interesting tales about Matt Lembke. In the process of tracking those down to see if they are legit.
Here is the money quote from Mr. Belville at BadPuppy:
"I look at the photographs and I believe that is a young Bill Pryor."
Love it, and I think he's absolutely right.
I assume you know your arrest and incarceration was driven by those determined to punish you for writing about Bill Pryor? Do you think it's wise to keep writing on that subject?
Oh, yes, I'm absolutely aware the Pryor story drove my kidnapping (that's what it was, not an arrest) and incarceration. Not sure that was the only cause, but it was the primary cause--and that's been clear to me for a long time. In fact, I more or less wrote that before I even was arrested, as the posts at the following URLs show:
http://legalschnauzer.blogspot.com/2013/09/law-enforcement-pays-multiple-visits-to.html
http://legalschnauzer.blogspot.com/2013/10/alabama-sheriffs-department-resorts-to.html
http://legalschnauzer.blogspot.com/2013/09/sheriff-targets-blogger-who-broke-bill.html
You ask if it's wise to continue reporting on that subject. I assume you mean, "Is it wise for my personal safety?" That's generally not a question journalists ask themselves when working on a story. The questions usually are more like:
* Is this accurate?
* Is this written in a clear, understandable way?
* Is this story informative or at least entertaining for the reader?
* Is this important for the public to know?
Those aren't the only questions you ask in the midst of preparing an article, but you probably get the idea. The question, "Am I likely to be murdered or kidnapped (again) if I write on this subject?" doesn't usually come up.
If it needs to come up in this case--and I don't doubt that maybe it does--that says an awful lot about Bill Pryor and his associates.
Enough about Ashley Madison. I want to see a data dump for badpuppy.com. Better yet, how about one for Grindr?
Here is my "money quote" from Chad Belville:
"If those images were removed to protect Pryor and Pryor knew about it, then Pryor intentionally covered up or failed to disclose he posed nude, he committed ethical violations."
That is an excellent money quote, @7:37. I would take issue, a bit, with Mr. Belville's characterization that Pryor committed an ethical violation. Pryor almost certainly lied to Congress, and that's a crime. It's much more than an ethical violation. And it's a big reason this story is so important. Bill Pryor should be removed from the bench and sent to prison. He committed a crime, and Chad Belville (as a lawyer and former prosecutor) understands that. I'm guessing Belville toned down his statement because he hasn't seen all the evidence. But what he's talking about is criminal activity.
Thanks for this anonymous. We need to see the whole..mm mmm enchilada. Roger if you need any black boxes, let me know! A small task w/mspaint!
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