Mood appears to go from bad to worse as fallout from the North Birmingham Bribery Scandal continues to hover over embattled Balch & Bingham law firm

Mark Crosswhite

A grim mood has settled over Birmingham's Balch & Bingham law firm, engulfed in scandal for more than nine years -- and the sour mood shows little sign of lifting soon, according to a report at banbalch.com.

How bad have things gotten? Consider these revelations from the Ban Balch report, published by K.B. Forbes, CEO of the CDLU public charity and advocacy group:

* Mark A. Crosswhite, the ex-Balch partner and current CEO of Alabama Power, sources claim, is furious to the point he allegedly is not speaking to Balch’s top brass. 

* Crosswhite, sources say, is out of the running for CEO and Chairman of Southern Company and Crosswhite allegedly blames Balch and the Matrix Meltdown for that apparent downturn in his career.

* Other sources state that an ongoing federal investigation related to the alleged obstruction of justice in the North Birmingham Bribery Case is weighing heavily on Crosswhite.

Forbes then reveals a scoop that is not likely to lighten the mood at Balch:

In addition, we, the CDLU, learned from our DOJ sources that the pedophilia/kiddie porn investigation related to ex-Balch attorney and alleged pedophile Chase T. Espy is still ongoing.

In addition, a broader and deeper probe of the app used by Espy to solicit a child for sex is part of a national investigation into child trafficking and exploitation.

With this revolting baggage and alleged cover-up of Espy’s misconduct, we are not surprised that Crosswhite is not on speaking terms. With children possibly being harmed, will Alabama Power finally cut the ropes with Balch?