Investigation of Trump-era DOJ abuses shows signs of reaching into Alabama and making life miserable for the Jeff Sessions Gang that has held our state back

 

Jeff Sessions and Donald Trump

An investigation into apparent corruption at the Trump Department of Justice (DOJ) -- involving a secret scheme to spy on journalists, Democratic members of Congress, and other perceived enemies -- could reach deep into Alabama, according to a report at banbalch.com. That's because the spying scheme reportedly started under former Trump Attorney General and former U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL). Adding to the intrigue are Sessions' longstanding ties to three legal and corporate entities -- Balch & Bingham, Drummond Company, and Alabama Power -- that have been at the heart of the North Birmingham Superfund scandal, which featured gross environmental racism and a bribery scheme that apparently was largely covered up -- at least as it involved white, conservative politicos, such as Sessions and his allies. 

Here is one more angle to consider: Sessions might be short, but his tentacles are long, and our research indicates they reach some of the state's most hallowed legal institutions, such as the Alabama Supreme Court and the Alabama State Bar, not to mention the state's federal district courts. We have reported for almost 14 years on the corruption that riddles Alabama-based courts -- routinely denying justice for everyday citizens -- and our sources suggest much of that is tied to Sessions and his cronies. Writes Ban Balch Publisher K.B. Forbes, under the headline "As Investigations Probe Political Misconduct by Trump DOJ, Alabama Becomes Ground Zero":

After four years of blogging on the alleged corruption in Alabama, we believe the egregious misconduct by the “Trump machine” in Alabama will become a national embarrassment.

Media and investigators can easily probe disgraced ex-U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, Jay E. Town, who appears to have acted as a political agent for the Three Stooges of Alabama (Drummond Coal, Alabama Power, and embattled law firm Balch & Bingham).

All Three Stooges were closely tied to ex-U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions (Alabama Power and Balch & Bingham being his number 1 and number 2 lifetime donors respectively when Sessions was a U.S. Senator).

Insiders in D.C. tell us the Congressional and internal DOJ probes will take a hard look at Sessions and his goons.

Former U.S. Attorney General William Barr has already distanced himself from the alleged surveillance of members of the U.S. House of Representatives and their staff members.

Much of this ugliness has roots in the Birmingham-area boardrooms largely populated by white elites -- and Republicans. Writes Forbes:

Two-years ago, The Washington Post revealed new details about the corrupt North Birmingham Bribery Scandal and that how allegedly up to 20 more people at Balch were involved in the conspiracy to suppress African-Americans from testing their toxic property by the EPA. 

After the criminal conviction of a Drummond executive David Roberson and Balch partner Joel I. Gilbert in 2018,  U.S. Attorney Town stunned the public and law enforcement representatives when he declared the two were in essence the only ones involved—a “lone wolf” theory.

During the trial Alabama Power was allegedly unmentionable and never called to the stand.

The trial is over, but the stench seemingly won't go away:

Then in 2020 we obtained the jaw-dropping photos of Town chugging cocktails with Mark A. Crosswhite, CEO of Alabama Power and an ex-Balch partner allegedly at the height of the criminal trial. That lead to our formal complaint with the Office of Professional Responsibility and Town’s resignation last July.

This year, the Three Stooges have shown uncontrolled panic as ex-Drummond executive David Roberson’s $75 million civil lawsuit proceeds.

Even the Alabama Supreme Court unanimously sided against Drummond.

Like the Trump DOJ that gagged media outlets, Drummond tried to gag us, the CDLU, and silence our blog, but the judge prohibited their tactics of fear, suppression and intimidation.

And as a cherry on the top, Alabama Power’s biggest federal employee PAC donation in 2020 was to the Rule of Law Defense Fund, the entity behind the robocalls that spurred the insurrection on January 6^th.

As for Sessions' tentacles, consider this from a May 25 Legal Schnauzer post: 

Why does it matter that Jeff Sessions -- a former U.S. senator from Alabama and once the state's attorney general -- has an apparent affinity for attacks on a free press? Well, it matters to me because I have firsthand  experience with such attacks, having been beaten and abducted from my own home in Birmingham and tossed in jail for five months for daring to report at this blog on government corruption in Alabama and beyond..

Multiple sources tell Legal Schnauzer that Sessions and his allies -- Rob Riley, Luther Strange, Doug Jones, and Steve Windom -- have extraordinary influence with the Alabama State Bar. I have reported critically on all of those individuals, except Windom, so is it any wonder I have documented evidence of the Alabama State Bar trying to deny my right (and Mrs. Schnauzer's right) to an attorney in a civil matter involving my unlawful imprisonment? Not to me. Is it possible such skulduggery, which could qualify as obstruction of justice, wire fraud, and perhaps other crimes under federal law, still is going on? That would not surprise me one bit.

The Alabama Supreme Court, of course, oversees the administration of the state's entire court system, including the Alabama State Bar. We have written dozens of posts over the years about rulings from state appellate courts that have little, or nothing, to do with the facts and black-lettter law governing the cases -- not to mention similar rulings from federal district courts in the state. And judges in those federal courts are members of, and influenced by -- you guessed it -- the Alabama State Bar.

Does that mean many of the crooked rulings emanating from Alabama-based courts -- often favoring corporate, legal, and institutional entities, while screwing everyday citizens -- can be traced to Jeff Sessions and (to borrow a phrase from Forbes) "his goons"?

Our educated guess is that the answer is yes. And our fervent prayer is that federal and Congressional investigators, while probing the spying scandal, will dive deeply into Alabama and hold the Jeff Sessions Gang accountable for all they've done to turn Alabama into a sewer.

Our position here at Legal Schnauzer is that Alabama has the natural resources, the strategic geographic location, the weather, the beauty, the funds (if spent wisely), and the charm to become one of the most attractive and desirable states in the country. But we've kept ourselves in the vice-like grips of lowlife Neanderthals like Sessions (and Richard Shelby) for so long that they've held us back to a frightening degree. How unfortunate is that? In my view, Alabama has more unrealized potential than any other state in the country. That statement might not sound like a compliment. But it's a statement filled with hope.

Getting rid of Jeff Sessions -- perhaps via a criminal probe that ends with lock-ups for him and some of his goons -- would be a wonderful first step toward a brighter future for all Alabamians.