Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Jessica Garrison claims all who were close to her knew that reports of an affair with Luther Strange were false--but her ex-husband tells a very different story


Cars are backed up trying to enter VictoryLand casino in
Macon County. The facility reopened at 2 p.m. today.
(From montgomeryadvertiser.com)
(Note at 3:10 p.m.: A helpful reader points out the irony of this report about the relationship between Jessica Garrison and Luther Strange being published on the same day that VictoryLand reopens. In fact, the casino reopened about one hour ago, and a report from The Montgomery Advertiser today indicates cars are backed up trying to enter the facility. A sign that Luther Strange has been neutered regarding gambling issues? Might be too early to say for sure. Ironic? A definite yes on that.)

Alabama Republican operative Jessica Medeiros Garrison claimed in an article last fall at marieclaire.com that everyone who knows her knew that reports of her extramarital affair with state Attorney General Luther Strange were false.

It turns out that claim, like quite a few others Garrison made in the Marie Claire piece, is not quite true.

Her husband at the time, Tuscaloosa insurance man and school-board president Lee Garrison, did not know whether the claims were true or false -- and he admitted to being familiar with rumors that were flying around the state, including one that had Luther Strange being the biological father of the Garrisons' child.

How do we know Lee Garrison's feelings on the subject? We asked him. And we recorded the interview for a series of brief YouTube videos. (See videos below.)

Here is how marieclaire.com described Jessica Garrison's version of events, in an as-told-to story that apparently included no questions from the magazine's writer, Liz Welch. Here are Garrison's words:

My saga started in July 2013. A friend texted me, asking, "Do you know this guy, Roger Shuler?" I didn't, but quickly learned he was the political blogger behind the website Legal Schnauzer and author of a new post that would forever change my life: "AG Luther Strange Has a Messy Extra-Marital Affair with Ex-Campaign Aide Jessica Garrison."

That was my name in a headline, alleging I had had an affair with my friend and former boss, Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange. (I managed his 2010 campaign.) I was shocked—it was usually the politicians whose names were dragged through the mud, not mine. Honestly, it was so ludicrous that I did something like a proverbial shoulder shrug and tried to move on. And thankfully everyone who knows me knew it wasn't true . . .

Not everyone, Jessica, including the man you were married to at the time. In our interview, Lee Garrison said he did not know if the affair story was true or not. He and his attorneys looked into a number of issues during the divorce, and asked pointed questions, but never were able to nail down the facts.

Lee Garrison did state, in heartfelt and firm tones, that the child in question -- Michael Garrison -- is his. Lee Garrison's statements convinced us, and we never reported that Luther Strange was the boy's biological father -- even though Jessica Garrison, and possibly Strange, claimed under oath that I had published such reports, and they largely formed the basis for her $3.5-million default judgment against me in a defamation lawsuit. That judgment, by the way, is void as a matter of law and can be attacked as such at any time.

What is Lee Garrison's take on all of this? Let's take a look at highlights from five videos that comprise our interview with him:

Video No. 1

At the time of his divorce from Jessica Garrison, Lee Garrison was well aware of widespread rumors that his wife had an affair with Luther Strange, for whom she served as campaign manager. Lee Garrison said he never was able to nail down facts about an alleged affair, but he felt compelled to point out that Michael Garrison is his biological child. From the interview:

"My attorneys looked into a lot of different things, but never turned up anything. I will confirm that there is no question Michael is my child. You can look at him. He's got my nose, my mouth, and he's short, so there you go. . . . There's no question he is our child. I heard rumors (about an affair) but was never able to substantiate any of that stuff. . . . No infidelity was mentioned by either one of us in our divorce. . . . It was more of a personality disagreement than anything else."

Here is the video . . .





Video No. 2

So why is the divorce file sealed? Lee Garrison said he was unaware it had been sealed. That suggests Jessica Garrison requested the case be sealed. Why would she do that? She has not responded to multiple interview requests from us. Says Lee Garrison:

"I can ask my attorneys but from all the divorce documents I've got . . . I don't know of anything that was sealed.

"I didn't know of anything being sealed. We wound up with joint physical custody and joint legal custody. I pay child support, but no alimony."


Here is the video . . .





Video No. 3

Lee Garrison touched briefly on a business relationship, formation of a property-related LLC, he and Jessica Garrison had with Erik Davis Harp, who went on to be indicted as a ringleader in an offshore sports-gambling operation. Harp since has been arrested on a firearms charge in Bay County, Florida. Here is the video . . .





Video No. 4

Garrison said he was not able to obtain hard and fast proof of an affair. The divorce, he said, came largely when he and Jessica found themselves going in different directions. Here is the video . . .





Video No. 5

Lee Garrison closed the interview by reiterating that Luther Strange did not cause the divorce and that Michael Garrison is his child. But he also added a curious statement about the nature of big-time politics in Alabama:

"The gist is that Luther had nothing to do with the divorce, and Michael is our child. When you look at pictures of me at his age, he is the spitting image, so I'm not remotely worried about that . . . . In relation to all the other stuff, people ought to be accountable for whatever they do, especially when you get into public office. Jessica and Luther are big boys and girls, just like I am. When you step into the arena, you step into the arena."

Here is the video:



24 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mr. Garrison seems convincing re: the paternity of his son. Not so convincing on what he knows about wife's affair.

Anonymous said...

Agree with @2:29. For one thing, I don't think Mr. Garrison would feel the need to speak forcefully about his son's paternity if he didn't suspect his wife was lacking in the fidelity department.

Anonymous said...

Gotta give Mr. Garrison credit for agreeing to the interview.

legalschnauzer said...

Yes, Lee Garrison deserves credit, @2:48. He didn't have to do the interview, but he did. Jessica Garrison, on the other hand, never responded to multiple interview requests before any posts were written.

Anonymous said...

I find it ironic that you published this article on the same day that VictoryLand reopened. Perhaps Big Lutha has been neutered. He needs to be neutered in more ways than one.

legalschnauzer said...

Thanks for raising that point, @3:03. I didn't do that intentionally, but it does make for a pretty good angle. I think VictoryLand reopened about one hour ago. I've lost track of how many years it has been closed.

Report from Montgomery Advertiser sounds like cars were back up trying to get into the facility:

http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/politics/southunionstreet/2016/09/12/victoryland-facing-few-legal-threats----now/90277878/

S C said...


As Alabama Turns (and Turns) (and Gambles) (and Turns) (and Fights Gambling) (and Turns)

Anonymous said...

I need to go out and get me some strange tonight.

Anonymous said...

Here's what I don't get . . . I think most people would say Young Jessica is quite attractive, to the point that she probably doesn't have problems finding suitors. So why hasn't she remarried? Is her heart with Lutha? How long have she and Lee Garrison been divorced, anyway? Seems like it's been long enough for her to find a new hubby, if she wanted one.

legalschnauzer said...

Good questions, @6:04. The Garrisons divorce was final in Oct. 2009, so it will soon be seven years that Ms. Jessica (I like your term, "Young Jessica," better) has been a "free woman." Plenty of time to get remarried if she was so inclined. Lee Garrison has been remarried for quite some time. In fact, he has at least one child (maybe two) with his post-Jessica wife.

Anonymous said...

Aboard the Eliza Battle, Admiral Tryon informed the crew that he had spotted the pirate sloop "Revenge". The Admiral gave a military briefing as follows; " The Revenge has two female pirates aboard. The red head is Anne Bonny and the well-endowed one is Mary Read. They dress as men and fight more vicious than most men but will dress as women when seduction is the best solution. The captain is Calico Jack." The stranger ,in the shadows aboard the Eliza Battle, was looking through the spy glass. He informed the Admiral that the person on the sloop's fantail was Casino Jack.

Anonymous said...

Wish you could do an interview like this with Mr. Rebekah Caldwell Mason.

S C said...


Now,that is hilarious @ 9:34 p.m. , although i doubt "Mr. Mason" much trusts the phones anymore (post coital convos and post Bessemer convo)

Anonymous said...

In a earlier comment it was said that "witness for Milton Mcgregor's civil suit" Mike Hubbard needed to print flyers advertising Victoryland. Well Lo and Behold, the "al.com' article yesterday had a picture of Mike's Craftmaster Printers business partner Pat Dye talking to Milton Mcgregor at the reopening. You don't suppose coach Dye sat in that traffic Roger shows in the picture at the top of his post just to play Bingo. Mike is sending a message to Big Luther. "Ne Touchez pas le Chat San Avoir Le Gant."

Robby Scott Hill said...

Like I've said before, you can't believe anything these lawyers say. Robert F. Kennedy was shot twice in the back. Sirhan was in front. Robert's brother, John F. Kennedy, had at least three shots fired at him & we are supposed to believe Oswald made all three shots by himself with a right handed, single shot, bolt action rifle in less than 7 seconds?
Judge Vance was murdered with a nail bomb in the mail & we are supposed to believe Walter Leroy Moody did it? The bank building the FBI was using during the investigation was bugged by the Mafia & Ted Banks eventually blew the whistle on the coverup:

"In Federal Appeals court counterfeiter turned patriot Ted Banks blew the whistle on then Assistant U.S. Atty. Louis Freeh. Patriot Banks accepted a ten year addition to his sentence as the price of telling the truth. He pointed at Freeh from the stand and said "I lied and he told me to Lie, I never welded no bombs for Moody". Then FBI agent Whitehurst charged the FBI had fabricated evidence, ... then the Vance bomb was identified in the Unabom case as originating from Saratoga California.... then the world court threw out the Lockerby conviction cause FBI agent J Thomas Thurman could not be trusted...because he was not credible in their eyes after his role in the Vance debacle... and the US press is still silent."

http://www.unabombers.com/z19.htm

legalschnauzer said...

As always, thanks for your insights, Rob. Many people believe Don Siegelman is in prison largely because of what he knows -- or someone thinks he knows -- about the Vance assassination. Siegelman and Vance were law partners at one point, and Siegelman considered Vance to be his mentor.

I think I'm correct about this: Vance was replaced on the 11th Circuit by worthless right wing Alabamian Joel Dubina (father of U.S. Rep. Martha Roby), and now Bill Pryor (another Alabamian) is on 11th Circuit to watch over Bush interests. My memory is that the Bush Crime Family feared Vance was going to accept for appellate review a case out of Florida that could have shined light on the Bush drug-running operation that flooded our cities with crack cocaine in the 80s. Journalist Gary Webb was "suicided" for his reporting on that subject.

legalschnauzer said...

Here is a fall 2012 post I wrote about the Robert Vance assassination and its apparent ties to a Florida case that could have unmasked Bush family drug-running operations:


http://legalschnauzer.blogspot.com/2012/08/siegelman-case-has-roots-in-iran-contra.html

legalschnauzer said...

Interesting thought, @5:40. Are you thinking Hubbard and Dye have some way of fighting back against Big Lutha, some dirt perhaps? Here is translation I found of phrase you included:

Touch not the Cat Without the Glove

Anonymous said...

In Hubbard court documents, Hubbard's attorneys explicitly mention efforts by Luther Strange to get Jessica Medeiros Garrison jobs to facilitate her custody arrangement. One of those contacted by Luther was BCA's Mark Colson. The reason they did this was to show that Luther sought favors just like Hubbard did. It's in the court documents.

Anonymous said...

Timing is everything...this featured story will get more interesting in due time. Patience LS readers...

S C said...


I wonder what the ratio is - on any given day in Alabama - between Political Favors Owed & Political Blackmail Consummated

Robby Scott Hill said...

You're right Roger. Martha Roby was my City Councilwoman before she went to Congress. Most of what we were told were terrorist incidents & political assassinations since the Kennedy Brothers were methodically planned false flags by the intelligence community to gain control of oil & here lately, oil in Iraq. Just weeks before the 1990 Persian Gulf War, the Lockerbie investigators suddenly switched their focus from Iran to Libya. What if Al-Megrahi was framed by the same people who took Judge Vance out to lay blame on the Libyans & keep Syria & Iran on the sidelines during the First Gulf War? What if 9/11 was just a smokescreen to get us back into Iraq again? What if Siegelman knew too much about it & was not willing to help EADS get a lucrative tanker contract with the Air Force so it could profit from the new war in Iraq? What if some of the investors at EADS & its subcontractors were the same people who backed the prosecutions of Al-Megrahi & Moody which seem to be part of the run up to the wars in Iraq? All roads seem to lead to oil in Iraq. You have a lot of defense contractors out there like Mark Fuller who were also prosecutors & judges who needed to find ways to justify going to war to get them some profits. How far will the Republican Party go to achieve its own ends before the American People get wise & vote them out?

Robby Scott Hill said...

Lord Drayson's position as a Minister of State for Strategic Defence Acquisition Reform was abolished after he clashed with EADS: "In October 2005 the British Ministry of Defence warned European politicians to stop, as it sees it, interfering in the corporate governance of EADS. The former UK Defence Procurement Minister Lord Drayson hinted that the UK government, a major customer for EADS, may withhold future contracts. "As a key customer, we see it as important for EADS to move in a direction that is free from political interference."
Princess Diana was killed after she began her campaign to remove & limit the future use of land mines, many of which are produced by EADS. Many lost jobs, dead bodies & jailed inmates can be traced to defense contracting, EADS & the relentless pursuit of wealth in the Middle East.

Anonymous said...

Video 3 interesting.