Ali Alexander, with a history of attacking Alabama progressives, faces accusations of seeking "di-k pics" from teen boys, raising questions re: criminal charges

Donald Trump and Ali Alexander

 

Ali Alexander, who organized the Stop the Steal rally that preceded the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, has been accused of soliciting lewd photographs from teen boys. The allegations stem from an intramural feud with fellow right-winger Milo Yiannopoulos, who brought Alexander's activities to public attention, according to a report at The Daily Dot.

Alexander acknowledged some of the allegations against him were true, apologized for them, and indicated he plans to step away from public life, The Daily Dot reports. Alexander also claimed he had done nothing unlawful, but it remains to be seen if law-enforcement will agree with that.

With longstanding ties to Alabama, partly because of his alliance with Montgomery lawyer Baron Coleman and reported connections to the hideously corrupt Alabama State Bar, Alexander has made it a practice to attack and threaten progressive voices in the state, including retired attorney/activist Dana Jill Simpson and  yours truly here at Legal Schnauzer. Alexander also has ties to GOP operative Karl Rove, who long has engaged in Alabama politics, partly through Montgomery's Capell Howard law firm, which Rove reportedly considers his "home base" in the state.

We have addressed Alexander's ties to Republican money men and high rollers, including Rove and the late Foster Friess -- not to mention Donald Trump. For good measure, we provided details on Alexander's sketchy background. In short, Alexander has had brushes with the law and gay-related scandals before From an August 2018 post: 

An endorsement from Donald Trump was not enough to keep a billionaire backer of conservative causes from losing in Tuesday's Republican primary for governor of Wyoming. On a national level, the story suggests Trump's coattails might have grown flimsy. Closer to home, the story resonates because a growing body of evidence suggests the moneyed candidate in question -- perhaps unknowingly -- has contributed to corruption in Alabama's "justice system."

Foster Friess -- a financial backer of Karl Rove's Crossroads America, Rick Santorum's political campaigns, and the Daily Caller Web site -- finished second to state treasurer Mark Gordon, who will face Democrat Mary Throne in November's general election.

How has Friess possibly contributed to corruption in Alabama? That would be through the National Bloggers Club (NBC), an umbrella group for mostly obscure right-wing bloggers. Ali Akbar, a felon who went on a six-year spree of crime and fraud, somehow became head of the NBC -- and that largely explains Friess' unsavory impact on Alabama's already toxic political and legal environment.

How did Akbar, with multiple criminal convictions and a documented taste for seeking gay sex via the Grindr geosocial networking app, come to represent those hallowed GOP family values?  Perhaps Foster Friess asks himself that question from time to time, as he counts his billions. (Note: Akbar seems to be in the process of changing his name to Ali (Akbar) Alexander. That might be a wise move for a convicted felon and Grinder devotee, who has expressed a desire to run for public office.)

How did Alexander/Akbar come to target Simpson and me? It's a  peculiar, roundabout story, but this explains it - sort of: 

For now, our interest is in Akbar's apparent connections to two attacks on Alabama progressives:

(1) My kidnapping and five-month incarceration in 2013-14 for the "crime" of  blogging about mostly GOP-related corruption in Alabama's legal and political arenas;

(2) False allegations of misconduct (related mostly to a serious neck injury) against whistle blower, opposition researcher, and retired attorney Dana Jill Simpson, which caused her to be placed on inactive/disability status with the Alabama State Bar.

What makes Akbar (and perhaps the NBC) a suspect in these two instances. We are still researching the specifics, but we know this much:

(1) Akbar threatened Simpson, bragging online that he was going to come to Alabama, "dine with the Governor and then spend the afternoon cashing in favors with Alabama lawyers."

(2) Akbar was pissed at Simpson because she had written a letter to Obama campaign counsel Robert Bauer, in which she revealed Akbar's homosexual relationship with GOP guru Karl Rove.

(3) Akbar was pissed at me for reporting on the Simpson letter, and threatened a baseless lawsuit, via a Montgomery attorney and radio host named Baron Coleman.

My interactions with Alexander/Akbar could be filed under RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act). RICO, of course, is a major theme in our reporting on the long-running accounting-fraud scheme at Southern Company and its affiliates. In fact, we raised the possibility that Birmingham-area attorney Burt Newsome and his wife, Regina, might have a RICO cause of action after coming under attack in a series of ugly events. From an August 2018 post on that subject, which leads to a discussion of my odd encounter with Ali Alexander on RICO matters:

The wife of Birmingham attorney Burt Newsome recently was the victim of vandalism and theft from her vehicle while it was parked at a fitness center in Vestavia Hills, according to  a report at banbalch.com.

Regina Galiulina Newsome apparently was targeted while at Lifetime Fitness for a tennis lesson, according to her Facebook page. The incident, on July 30, came nine days after former Balch Bingham partner Joel Gilbert was convicted of bribery in the North Birmingham Superfund scandal. It also came after reports of a possible RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) lawsuit related to Balch's efforts to essentially steal Burt Newsome's lucrative collections practice and ruin his law business.

Was Regina Newsome targeted in an effort to intimidate her husband into forgoing a RICO lawsuit that could expose some prominent political figures -- including former U.S. Senators Jeff Sessions (now Trump attorney general) and Luther Strange, plus Strange's one-time  campaign manager, Jessica Medeiros Garrison?  . . . 

What happened in the Regina Newsome vandalism/theft case? It's peculiar on several levels, as banbalch.com reports:

With a RICO civil suit on the horizon and the conviction of Balch and Bingham equity partner Joel I. Gilbert on six federal counts, maybe it was time to take a look at the matter again with fresh eyes.

Who knows.

Then yesterday, two thugs targeted the wife of Burt Newsome who had gone to her gym. Video surveillance of the incident shows the suspects driving around allegedly specifically looking for Newsome’s vehicle.

After seeing the actions by the thugs, law enforcement’s first question to Mrs. Newsome was, “Do you have any enemies?” . . .

Notice the reference above to a looming RICO case. Is that the reason Regina Newsome was targeted? Based on personal experience, I'd say the answer is yes. Someone concocted a scheme in fall 2013 that made it look like I was pushing for a RICO lawsuit, on behalf of progressive activist Brett Kimberlin, against the right-wing National Bloggers Club, led by GOP and Karl Rove-affiliated felon Ali (Akbar) Alexander. It all grew from comments left at the Web site Breitbart Unmasked, by someone calling himself "RogerS."  Conventional wisdom in right-wing circles was that I was "RogerS," and this was just days before my "arrest for blogging." In fact, I was not RogerS, and I had no involvement in the Kimberlin matter.

What would a story about GOP corruption be without a mention of the "Orange Man" himself. This comes from a post dated Jan. 6, 2001 (of all days):

The "Stop the Steal" protest set for today in Washington, D.C., is more or less the brainchild of two right-wing agitators with ties to Alabama,, according to a report from the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). Reports Michael Edison Hayden at SPLC's Hatewatch:

A law firm associated with activists on the far-right fringe registered the Limited Liability Company (LLC) Stop the Steal in Montgomery, Alabama, in November, state records show. “Stop the Steal” is the name of a nationwide protest movement focused on overturning President-elect Joe Biden’s win in the 2020 election based upon unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud.

George Coleman of the law firm Baron Coleman registered the Stop the Steal LLC in Montgomery on Nov. 13. Far-right activist Ali (Akbar) Alexander, 35, the self-described “National Organizer” for the Stop the Steal, told Hatewatch over text that Baron Coleman represents him. Alexander promoted Stop the Steal events to Twitter soon after it became apparent that Trump lost the 2020 election and has done so persistently ever since. Baron Coleman registered the LLC one day before protesters associated with Ali’s Stop the Steal movement descended on Washington, D.C. The event gave way to violent clashes between Stop the Steal supporters and counterprotesters.

How is this for irony and impeccable timing? The Coleman-Alexander rally, designed to deprive Joe Biden of an electoral victory that -- by all credible accounts -- he earned fair and square, comes three days after news broke of Donald Trump's phone call to the Georgia secretary of state showing that Trump really is trying to steal the election. 

Do Coleman, Akbar, and their acolytes care about, or even recognize, the irony of such a situation? Probably not. Writes Hayden:

Hatewatch has so far been unable to determine what the LLC does, but it borrows from a brand name first associated with Roger Stone Jr. A former adviser to Donald Trump and a convicted felon, Stone first launched Stop the Steal during the 2016 election as a group of poll watchers tasked with disputing Democratic votes in urban, multiracial areas. Like the current iteration of Stop the Steal, Stone gathered the group together under the auspices of fighting voter fraud, as Hatewatch has reported. Hatewatch reached out to Stone by phone and email, but he did not respond.

Baron Coleman also represents Proud Boys founder Gavin McInnes in his defamation lawsuit against Southern Poverty Law Center, which is based upon its designation of them as a hate group. Alexander and lawyers for Baron Coleman appeared with McInnes outside the center’s headquarters in Montgomery on Feb. 4, 2019, when he announced that suit. Alexander told Hatewatch over text that Baron Coleman advised him in responding to Hatewatch’s request for comment.

“[Baron Coleman] advised me to tell you not to contact me while I’m representing a client suing y’all. Conflict of interest. Thanks!” Alexander wrote.

Alexander does not appear to be an attorney, so it is unclear what he meant by representing. Alexander is a far-right operative linked to a number of political smear campaigns and is known for posting disinformation to Twitter. One example of that behavior includes a sustained campaign he created promoting the unsubstantiated claim that Biden is “sick” and suffers from some form of otherwise unreported, degenerative illness. Mother Jones reported that Alexander is a convicted felon. Hatewatch obtained records showing Alexander entered a guilty plea on charges of “debit card abuse” in Tarrant County, Texas, in April 2008. He went by the name “Ali Akbar” at that time. . . .

As for Roger Stone, he seems to be creeping along the edges of the "Stop the Steal" orbit:

Stone appeared with Alexander in the trailer of an apparent film about Stop the Steal activism, which was published to Twitter on Dec. 9. The trailer also featured an appearance by white nationalist live-streamer Nick Fuentes and anti-immigrant pundit and VDARE contributor Michelle Malkin, among other activists who are promoting the falsehood that Trump won the 2020 election. Proud Boys have also turned up at Alexander’s events. At a Stop the Steal-linked event on Dec. 12, members of the hate group reportedly took down two Black Lives Matter banners from two historic Black churches in Washington, D.C., and destroyed them. The Washington Post reported that police were investigating the incidents on hate crime charges.

As you can tell, Ali Alexander has tentacles in a lot of right-wing pies. For now, our No. 1 question about what Alexander himself calls a "scandal": Could he face criminal charges for his apparently admitted solicitation of under-aged boys? 

News reports indicate Alexander currently lives in Texas, so it appears Texas law would govern any action prosecutors might take. This is from an article about Texas' online solicitation law:

The current Texas law defines the offense of Online Solicitation of a Minor in Penal Code Section §33.021 as follows:¹

(b) A person who is 17 years of age or older commits an offense if, with the intent to commit an offense listed in Article 62.001(5)(A), (B), or (K), Code of Criminal Procedure, the person, over the Internet, by electronic mail or text message or other electronic message service or system, or through a commercial online service, intentionally:

(1) communicates in a sexually explicit manner with a minor; or

(2) distributes sexually explicit material to a minor.

Alternatively, under subsection (c):

(c) A person commits an offense if the person, over the Internet, by electronic mail or text message or other electronic message service or system, or through a commercial online service, knowingly solicits a minor to meet another person, including the actor, with the intent that the minor will engage in sexual contact, sexual intercourse, or deviate sexual intercourse with the actor or another person.

Under this law, there are two separate and specific ways of being charged with Online Solicitation of a Minor. First, sending sexual explicit messages to a minor is an offense under Section (b). Second, soliciting a minor to engage in sexual behavior is an offense under Section (c).

Someone under the age of 17 cannot be convicted under Section (b) of this statute. However, anyone, including someone under 17, can be convicted of Online Solicitation of a Minor if they solicit (which means to ask, demand, or try to convince) a minor to engage in some sort of sexual contact under Section (b). However, there is a defense available, discussed in more detail below, that provides a safety net defense to someone who is not more than 3 years older than the minor and the minor consented.

Subsection (b) was recently amended, effective September 1, 2015, in Senate Bill 344, after the Court of Criminal Appeals determined that the law was unconstitutional. As it is currently written, in order for the messages to be a criminal violation under this statute, the person must have intent to commit any of the offenses listed in Article 62.001(5)(A), (B), or (K). Those offenses are:

• Continuous sexual abuse of young child or children (Penal Code Section 21.02)
• Indecency with a child (Penal Code Section 21.11)
• Sexual assault (Penal Code Section 22.011)
• Aggravated sexual assault (Penal Code Section 22.021)
• Prohibited sexual conduct (Penal Code Section 25.02)
• Compelling prostitution (Penal Code Section 43.05)
• Sexual performance by a child (Penal Code Section 43.25)
• Possession or promotion of child pornography (Penal Code Section 43.26)
• Trafficking of Persons (Section 20A.02(a)(3), (4), (7), or (8))

Texas law is convoluted, and much still is not known about Alexander's interactions with under-aged boys. But the story is picking up steam online, so it seems likely that a prosecutor will at least seek to investigate. 

What about possible punishment for individual convicted of this offense in Texas?

Online solicitation of a minor (a person under age 17) is a 3rd-degree felony in Texas. Punishment upon conviction is a state prison sentence of 2 to 10 years and a fine of $10,000. Upon release, the person also must register as a sex offender.