 |
| Hugo Black Courthouse |
Two assistant U.S. attorneys (AUSAs) in the Northern District of Alabama apparently resigned about 24 hours after federal judge Abdul Kallon announced his resignation last week, according to a report at banbalch.com.
Who are the USAs, what do their resignations mean, and are they tied to the curious Kallon announcement, where he stated plans to give up a coveted lifetime appointment -- apparently because his wife had received an attractive job offer from out-of-state? Those are just three entries on a growing list of unanswered questions swirling around the Hugo Black Courthouse in downtown Birmingham. But the questions add to the sense that something big is brewing on the local legal scene.
A federal judge makes a stunning resignation announcement, followed by two U.S. attorneys hitting the exits? Those kinds of events are well outside the norm. Writes Ban Balch Publisher K.B. Forbes:
Over the weekend, the same high-level sources who accurately told us about Federal Judge Abdul K. Kallon’s abrupt resignation last Wednesday, alleged that two Assistant U.S. Attorneys in Birmingham have resigned a mere 24 hours later.
Yesterday, we, the CDLU, reached out to the Public Affairs Specialist for the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama. We finally spoke at about 2:00 p.m. CDT yesterday afternoon.
We told her that we had heard that two AUSAs had resigned last Thursday.
She stated, “Oh yes…,” and then caught herself, saying after a pause, “I’ll have to check on this. Do you have names?” We told her that we did not, but we were calling to verify the news and obtain the names since it is highly unusual for two AUSAs to resign simultaneously.
She asked what blog we were, and we told her BanBalch.com the site that published the photos of disgraced ex-U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town having cocktails with Mark A. Crosswhite, the Chairman and CEO of Alabama Power and former partner at embattled law firm Balch & Bingham. She acknowledged that she knew the site.
The public affairs specialist suddenly was in no hurry to confirm what a reliable source already had told Forbes:
We emphasized that we wanted to hear it from the horse’s mouth since last week our reliable source also told us of Judge Kallon’s resignation and we spoke to his clerk who confirmed the fact with a sigh.
She never replied even though we texted her cell phone Monday evening asking her to confirm or deny. This morning, we let her know we were on a drop-dead deadline. We left her a voicemail a little before 12:30 p.m CDT today.
The silence was beyond deafening, and confirmed to us that the reports of twin resignations had merit.
Now, moments ago she replied via text, “We have no comment.”
Maybe we know something we shouldn’t know.
It's telling the number of politically connected cases tried by "retired" US Attorney Jay Town that had very "interesting" outcomes. I wonder what Newsom, Tjoflat and Carnes will do with the Watkins appeal next week? The investigations going on in DC regarding all the corruption that has taken place in the Northern District of Alabama should prove enlightening.
ReplyDeleteYou make some very interesting points, @4:52. Jay Town left quite a trail of destruction in his wake -- for some people, while favored folks walked away without a scratch. Our "injustice system" is an absolute mess because of folks like Jay Town and similar types who came before him.
ReplyDeleteRichard Shelby and Jeff Sessions really know how to pick winners.
Donald Watkins had an insightful article about his post the other day:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.donaldwatkins.com/post/appeals-court-to-hear-watkins-case
Re: Dnnald Watkins appeal:
ReplyDeleteBy: Donald V. Watkins
Copyrighted and Published April 17, 2022
Three years ago, I was railroaded and convicted in a U.S. District Court in Birmingham, Alabama (USA) on trumped up wire, mail, and bank fraud charges. On Tuesday, April 26, 2022, a three-judge panel of the U. S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit is scheduled to hear the appeal in my case.
The hearing will begin at 9 a.m. CST at the Frank M. Johnson, Jr., Federal Courthouse in downtown Montgomery, Alabama. It is open to the public.
[Click here to read the Watkins Opening Brief, the Government's Responsive Brief, and the Watkins Reply Brief in the 11th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.]
USA v. Donald V. Watkins, Sr., and Donald V. Watkins, Jr., is the first case listed on the Court's docket for April 26th. The Court will hear legal arguments from attorneys representing my son, Donald V. Watkins, Jr., and and me, as well as the Government. The arguments are expected to last one hour.
I am represented in the appeal by Montgomery, Alabama attorney, Mark Englehart, who is a true friend and remarkable human being. Attorney Englehart sat by my side thronughout my entire three-week trial in 2019. He has one of the best legal minds in the nation and is a brilliant appellate lawyer.
Whether We Win or Lose the Appeal, We Have Already Served Our Time In Prison
Donald, Jr., was found "Not Guilty" of bank fraud charges, but "Guilty" of a conspiracy charge to commit wire and mail fraud. He was sentenced to 27 months in a prison camp and was released last year.
I received 60 months in prison. I was denied an appeal bond by U.S. District Court Judge Karon O. Bowdre and entered prison on August 28, 2019.
On April 14, 2020, the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) executed an agreement to transfer me to home confinement, but this transfer was blocked by Birmingham federal prosecutor Lloyd Peeples. Peeples feverishly lobbied the FCI Talladega Warden, the BOP's Central Office in Washington, and the U.S. Probation Office in Birmingham to oppose my release to home confinement.
On November 3, 2020, Judge Bowdre denied a motion filed on my behalf for a compassionate release based upon my age (71 at the time) and pre-existing health conditions that exposed me to the highest risk of serious illness or death from COVID-19.
What has Donald Watkins time in prison been like? Pretty nasty.
ReplyDeleteThereafter, the BOP deliberately placed me in prison cells with federal inmates who were unvaccinated and who were diagnosed with confirmed cases of COVID-19. The BOP also entrusted my daily care to convicted gang leaders and murderers for more than three months at the U.S. Penitentiary in Atlanta, even though my extremely low custody classification score prohibited my exposure to violent prisoners.
USP Atlanta was closed in July of 2021 due to widespread graft and corruption among the staff and inmate population. Convicted gang leaders literally ran the prison. The prison's 1,800 inmates were transferred to other BOP prison facilities.
I am presently incarcerated at the Federal Prison Camp at La Tuna in Anthony, New Mexico. By the time the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals decides my case, I will likely be released from prison.
Regardless of the outcome of the appeal, two innocent men were sent to prison in this case. We were guilty of being black in Alabama and highly successful in business.
I will be watching the results of the Watkins' appeal closely as well as the other cases presided over by Town. I don't think it's a coincidence that Town sent the Watkins case to an Alabama grand jury shortly after he was appointed....the very same case a grand jury in New Jersey looked at and declined to indict on two years earlier.
ReplyDeleteWww.adamurdercoverup.com, the murder coverup at the u.s.attorneys office for n /,a,it's the truth
ReplyDeleteWww.adamurdercoverup.com is the truth,sad what these deceitful officials conspired t o do involving also some of the most prominent families in birmingham alabama involvement.
DeleteMust read;soon to be public record.
The case has a protective order as of now.
The world will be in shock when it go public.