Fortune has taken a downward turn for many of Trump's Alabama allies, and now the U.S. Justice Department must step into the muck and seek answers

Jeff Sessions and Donald Trump

 

During the four years of the Donald Trump presidency, a small army of Alabamians -- one could call them "lackeys" -- maintained close ties to the White House. Many of them had connections to the North Birmingham bribery scandal, which still is generating plumes of foul odor. Now is the time for federal invesgigators to sift through the wreckage and sort out the bad actors, asserts banbalch.com Publisher K.B. Forbes -- and he even provides a handy roadmap. Under the headline "Is the U.S. Department of Justice Probing Trump-Era Lackeys from Alabama?" Forbes writes:

Since November, we have been told by high-level sources that a federal investigation is ongoing in Birmingham and focused on “obstruction” and other alleged crimes. Balch & Bingham appears to be in disarray, suffering from internal strife since late last year and we know that something is going on.

In Tuesday’s post, we outlined five areas that could potentially lead to more federal indictments.

Today, we list a cast of characters that should be interviewed by federal investigators.

Undoubtedly, backers, insiders, lackeys, and stooges from Alabama who were tied to the Trump Administration appear to have tried to protect their web of power, allegedly obstruct justice, possibly cover up alleged criminal acts, and limit additional investigations during the North Birmingham Bribery Scandal, Trial, and aftermath.

Let's take a numerical look at Forbes' scorecard, which includes a number of characters who might develop tight sphincters if the feds come knocking on doors. We start with a pair who forever will be joined at the hip in symbolizing the toxic fumes that envelop Alabama's corporate, political, and courthouse environments:

(1) Jay Town and Mark Crosswhite --

The photos of Alabama Power CEO and former Balch partner Mark A. Crosswhite enjoying refreshing cocktails at the Moon Shine Lounge with then-U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town, allegedly at the height of the North Birmingham Bribery Trial, symbolize the enormous power, bottomless financial resources, and unlimited influence Alabama Power has.

The ties between the Three Stooges (Balch, Alabama Power, and Drummond) and the Trump Administration were intensely close.

The common denominator is the Trump Administration appointees, such as . . . 

(2) Jeff Sessions --

When President Donald J. Trump, as a candidate, was to be endorsed by then-U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions in 2016, the original venue was to be at the hangar of Black Hall Aerospace in Huntsville, a Balch & Bingham client.

Sessions' number one lifetime donor was Alabama Power, while his number two lifetime donor was Alabama Power’s sister-wife Balch & Bingham, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Sessions' high profile leads to . . . 

(3) Jeffrey H. Wood --  

After Trump’s victory in 2016, Jeff Sessions became U.S. Attorney General and Balch partner Jeffrey H. Wood, a lobbyist who was on Capitol Hill on behalf of Alabama Power at the height of the North Birmingham Bribery Scandal in 2016, was nominated as Assistant Attorney General of the Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD). From Sessions and Wood, the Alabama-related appointments started flowing like a raging river, leading to . . . 

(4) Luther Strange -- 

Balch stooge and Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange was appointed U.S. Senator in February of 2017 after Sessions became U.S. Attorney General. The biggest, if not smelliest, alleged crime we uncovered was the $25,000 contribution alleged bribe to Luther Strange that was allegedly hand-delivered by the Drummond family to Strange after he signed and sent a letter drafted by Balch against the North Birmingham CERCLA matter, on official Alabama Attorney General letterhead. Beyond the alleged bribe contribution to Strange, federal authorities should look at the alleged “just-cut-a-check-and-don’t-ask-questions” bribery ring involving some of the most powerful corporations in Alabama. Each and every executive at Drummond, including “confused” General Cousel Blake Andrews, every member of Drummond’s Board of Directors, and all Drummond family members involved with the company need to be interrogated by federal investigators. Then, along came . . . 

(5) Trey Glenn --

Trey Glenn, the former Executive Director of the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) and a Balch & Bingham consultant, was appointed EPA Administrator for the Region Four in August of 2017. Glenn lasted about a year on the job, and he could make for a terrific federal witness. Here's why: In November of 2020, AL.com reported that Glenn had struck a plea deal in his criminal ethics case writing:

Last week, [Glenn] pleaded guilty to three misdemeanor violations of the Alabama Ethics Act. As part of the deal, prosecutors dropped felony charges against him, and he won’t spend any time in jail. Instead, he must pay $10,000 in fines and keep his nose clean during two years of unsupervised probation.“Part of the understanding is that Mr. Glenn will testify truthfully in any matter in which we call him and subpoena him as a witness,” Alabama Ethics Commission General Counsel Cynthia Raulston told the court.

        From there, our roadmap circles back to . . . 

(6) Jay Town -- 

That summer of 2017, Jay E. Town was nominated and confirmed as U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama. Town arrived from the Richard Shelby orbit to become  an important Trump ally and appointee. But he seemed to step into prosecutorial doo-doo: (a) Town allegedly told others, according to sources, that his nomination was confirmed too late in 2017 by the U.S. Senate for him to kill the North Birmingham Bribery Trial and that some would have to stand trial; (b) Town appears to have cut a secret deal to keep Alabama Power “unmentionable” during the trial; (c) After the criminal convictions in 2018, Town refused to expand the North Birmingham Bribery investigation and declared that Balch’s Joel I. Gilbert and ex-Drummond executive David Roberson were “lone wolves,” which law enforcement officers and others saw as a betrayal; (d) Town never pursued additional charges or suspects in the North Birmingham Bribery Scandal. Consultants Trey Glenn and Scott Phillips were left free until both of them were indicted by a local grand jury in Jefferson County for ethics violation in 2018; (e) Town never pursued Luther Strange or investigated the alleged bribe $25,000 contribution; (f) Town allegedly blocked four different FBI investigations of the Newsome Conspiracy Case; (g) Knowing there are no such things as coincidences, the half-baked deposition with Verizon in the Newsome Conspiracy Case appears to be a centerpiece in the alleged dirty work linked to Town; (h) And what law firm represents Verizon regularly? McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter in Morristown, New Jersey, just one mile away from Verizon’s Corporate Headquarters. And who worked for McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter before his career as a prosecutor? Jay E. Town. We can't think about Town without thinking of his drinking buddy . . . 

(7)  Mark Crosswhite -- And that brings us to the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol. During the 2019-2020 election cycle, the single largest contribution from Alabama Power Employees Federal PAC went to the Rule of Law Defense Fund, the entity that launched robocalls the day before the insurrection mob marched to, and desecrated, the U.S. Capitol. The robocall stated, “The March to Save America is tomorrow in Washington, D.C…. At 1:00 p.m., we will march to the Capitol building and call on Congress to stop the steal,” according to The Washington Post. In addition, allegedly Alabama Power had a secret deal where it was “unmentionable” during the North Birmingham Bribery criminal trial. Alabama Power was the only entity that donated to the money-laundering entity known as the Alliance for Jobs and the Economy (AJE) that did NOT testify during the trial in 2018. Was the utility and its agents “unindicted masterminds?” Alabama Power was briefed regularly about the North Birmingham shenanigans. Crosswhite boasted in 2016 that he enjoys being the final decision maker as the leader of the utility. When speaking to investigators, will Crosswhite admit he made the final decision to funnel $25,000 to the Rule of Law entity or will he blame others? Will he even acknowledge an alleged secret deal with the Office of the U.S. Attorney or will that remain unmentionable?

How did the Alabama lackeys fare once they became enmeshed in Trump World? Not so well, as Forbes notes:

Strange was defeated in 2017;


Sessions was fired in 2018 and lost his election for U.S. Senate in 2020;

Trey Glenn resigned in 2018 and was indicted shortly thereafter by a local grand jury;

Wood was shown the door in 2019;

Jay E. Town resigned and fled in the middle of the night in 2020;

The CEO of Balch’s client, Black Hall Aerospace, was indicted in 2020; and


President Trump’s Economic Advisory Councils were disbanded in 2021.

 As new events crackle around the Superfund scandal, individuals and entities connected to it have not exactly projected an aura of calm. Writes Forbes:

The Three Stooges (Drummond Company, Balch, and Alabama Power) fiercely sought protective orders in December of 2020 in the rebirth of the North Birmingham Bribery Scandal -- via David Roberson’s $75-million civil lawsuit, which has since been sealed in its entirety.

What are they afraid of? The Three Stooges have shown concern and vivid panic, and investigators need to probe.

Crosswhite, Town, Glenn, Strange, Sessions, Wood and others close to them should be interviewed by criminal investigators if they haven’t been already.

We know something is going on.

Forthcoming book focuses on Trump's toilet habits and reports that White House aides believe he was obsessed with flushing history down the crapper

 

A major U.S. news outlet is out this morning with the following headline: "Haberman book: Flushed papers found clogging Trump WH toilet." That's from Axios, and it's not a joke. In it's morning e-newsletter, the headline becomes "Trump's toilet dump." And that's not a joke either. The story originates in a forthcoming book by The New York Times' Maggie Haberman and reveals that staff believed Trump flushed so many presidential papers that at least one White House crapper routinely backed up. From Axios:

While President Trump was in office, staff in the White House residence periodically discovered wads of printed paper clogging a toilet — and believed the president had flushed pieces of paper, Maggie Haberman scoops in her forthcoming book, "Confidence Man."

The revelation by Haberman, whose coverage as a New York Times White House correspondent was followed obsessively by Trump, adds a vivid new dimension to his lapses in preserving government documents. Axios was provided an exclusive first look at some of her reporting.

Haberman reports Trump has told people that since leaving office, he has remained in contact with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un — whose "love letters," as Trump once called them, were among documents the National Archives retrieved from Mar-a-Lago.

The news of White House toilet-flushing comes as the National Archives has reportedly asked the Biden Justice Department to examine Trump's handling of White House records, amid the congressional investigation into the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol.

This story might sound like something out of The Onion, but it has serious, even criminal, implications. Reports Axios:  

The Washington Post reports that National Archives officials "suspected Trump had possibly violated laws concerning the handling of government documents." The National Archives later retrieved 15 boxes from Mar-a-Lago, The Post reported. 

Archives officials found possible classified material in the returned boxes, The New York Times learned.

While in office, the former president blithely flouted the Presidential Records Act, which required him to preserve written communications concerning his official duties. 

Trump routinely tore up documents and after leaving office brought substantial written materials back to Mar-a-Lago. 

A Trump spokesman didn't respond to a request for comment about the plumbing matter.

Will Haberman's book be a best-seller? You probably can count on it:

Haberman’s Confidence Man — subtitled The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America — will be published Oct. 4 by Penguin Press. 

The publisher says it traces Trump's early life in New York and "his decades of interactions with prosecutors" — then follows him through four years in the White House, and on to his post-presidential life in Palm Beach.

This is the book Trump fears most. Among Trump aides, Haberman's book has been the most discussed of the bookshelf of books from reporters who covered Trump's campaigns and White House. 

Several advisers were unhappy about his decision to talk to her as part of his marathon conversations with book authors at Mar-a-Lago. But they concluded he couldn’t help himself and couldn't be stopped.

As Matrix "melts down," the "Three Stooges" bumble, and Roberson lawsuit rises from the dead, feds need to unearth a full cast of North Birmingham wrongdoers

Jay Town and Mark Croswhite at Moon Shine Lounge

 

U.S. District Judge Abdul Kallon wrote during the North Birmingham Superfund bribery trial that grand-jury testimony indicated more than one or two Balch & Bingham attorneys were involved in the scheme to bribe former State Rep. Oliver Robinson (D-Birmingham). David Roberson, the former Drummond Company vice president who was convicted in the case (along with former Balch lawyer Joel Gilbert), later told The Washington Post that roughly 20 Balch attorneys were involved in the scandal.

So why were only two Balch lawyers indicted in the case -- and Steven McKinney eventually was dismissed? How many bad actors did federal investigators miss, because of false testimony, doctored evidence, or orders from someone above their heads? Those questions hang heavy in the air, especially now that Balch has been returned as a defendant to Roberson's $75-million civil case -- and evidence mounts that the criminal trial might have only scratched the surface of possible wrongdoing.

Those questions, and more, receive an airing at banbalch.com under the headline "More Federal Criminal Indictments Needed Against Three Stooges." Writes Publisher K.B. Forbes:

In 2017, we asked, who on Balch’s Executive Committee knew about the bribery scheme?

As the judge in the criminal case wrote during the trial, “[Balch partner Joel I.] Gilbert told the grand jury that others at the law firm ‘were aware of [the] engagement’ of Robinson on behalf of Roberson’s employer, and Defendant [Balch partner Steven] McKinney testified that Gilbert told him that ‘the government affairs guys vetted [the agreement with Robinson’s Foundation] and said it was okay.'”

But Gilbert had lied to McKinney as he had done to Roberson.

David Roberson told The Washington Post in 2020 that beyond convicted felon and ex-Balch partner Joel I. Gilbert, allegedly another 20 Balch & Bingham attorneys were involved in the North Birmingham Bribery Scandal.

So how many Balch partners or attorneys were involved in stamping their seal of approval on the purchase of corrupt politician Oliver Robinson?

How many more individuals at Balch knowingly were involved in processing the over $360,000 in bribes to Robinson?

That might be the single biggest question surrounding the Superfund Scandal, and answers could flow from the Roberson civil case. But the matter should not end there, Forbes writes, pointing a finger directly at the "Three Stooges" referenced in his headline:

With the Alabama Supreme Court saying Balch must stand trial for fraud in ex-Drummond executive David Roberson’s $75-million civil lawsuit, more criminal indictments are needed.

The Three Stooges of this horrific saga known as the North Birmingham Bribery Scandal need to be held accountable.

The rebirth of the North Birmingham Bribery Scandal may go on for another three or four years in secret, in a sealed and closed Star Chamber.

However, federal investigators can and must dig deep into the shenanigans.

Larry, Curly and Moe have been replaced by “Lying” Balch, “Confused” Drummond, and “Unmentionable” Alabama Power.

As for doctored evidence, signs of that have only grown since the criminal trial. Writes Forbes:

How many documents, invoices, and/or emails have been tampered with and by whom?

On December 1, 2014, convicted ex-Balch & Bingham partner Joel I. Gilbert dispatched a letter of intimidation to GASP, the health and environmental public charity that they tried to undercut.

According to Balch billing documents, Gilbert may have been on vacation the week of Thanksgiving 2014, because his last billing is for Friday, November 21, 2014. The letter is dated December 1, 2014, a Monday, but nothing shows up in the December billings.

Who paid for that letter? Were there alterations of billing documents and invoices?

Balch allegedly may have provided a manipulated invoice to federal authorities during the North Birmingham Bribery Trial as the original invoice.

Drummond claimed in pleadings before the Roberson case was sealed in its entirety that “Balch’s first draft of the invoice was incorrectly addressed to Blake Andrews (the company's general counsel) …”

Drummond’s lawyers were so furious that the original invoice was being used in the $75 million civil lawsuit, Drummond even subpoenaed the former secretary of convicted felon and ex-Balch partner Joel I. Gilbert. She handwrote “It should be David Roberson” on the invoice.

Who really cares who actually scribbled down the change?

The undisputed fact is the original invoice was changed. Was Roberson duped, signed off on the corrupt invoice, and set up as the “fall guy?”

Federal investigators need to only look at an example of the alleged alteration of evidence in the Newsome Conspiracy Case—the future RICO suit against Balch that currently is awaiting further indictments.

Nothing should surprise federal investigators. Nothing.

What about a possible immunity deal that likely would have allowed Roberson to shine stark light on the scandal -- and kept him out of prison? Why was it rejected?

According to sources, the federal government wanted Roberson to honestly testify about the alleged bribes from Drummond Company to politicians.

The testimony the feds also sought included details of an alleged bribery ring of “do-not-ask” but “just-send-the-check” co-conspirators. But Roberson’s criminal attorneys allegedly rejected a full-immunity deal. Roberson would be a free man today.

With the criminal attorneys being paid generously by Drummond Company, some observers wonder: Was the rejection of the immunity deal done solely for Drummond’s benefit at Roberson’s expense?

Meanwhile, the Matrix Meltdown, which includes revelations about Alabama Power, slowly is playing out in Alabama and Florida. Where might that lead? Forbes provides clues:

What really angered Alabama Power is the alleged secret deal with disgraced U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town in which Alabama Power was “unmentionable” during the criminal trial. Company representatives have called the allegations a “conspiracy theory.”

The jaw-dropping photos of Town and Crosswhite at the Moon Shine Lounge are not a “conspiracy theory.”

Now Alabama Power has more controversy, with alleged secret indemnity agreements and multi-million-dollar contracts not requiring detailed invoicing.

The Matrix Meltdown is causing a storm of documents to be leaked and a published report outlined how Alabama Power allegedly dished out $2.5-million to Joe Perkins, the founder of the obscure political consulting firm Matrix, without the need to provide itemized invoices.

For years, incredible rumors and colorful innuendo circulated around Matrix, now in the middle of an ugly, two-state divorce between founder Joe Perkins and his once-protege Jeff Pitts.

The allegations include using actors, smearing political opponents, setting up AstroTurf campaigns, hiring brain-dead journalists, engaging in fear-tactics, and more.

Federal investigators reportedly are sniffing along that trail. Where, and to whom, might that inquiry lead?

Alabama Supreme Court ruling appears to affix the label "third-party risk" to Balch & Bingham, and such a sticky tag likely will be a booger to wash away

A recent Alabama Supreme Court ruling appears to place the label "third-party risk" on Birmingham's Balch & Bingham law firm. That finding raises serious questions about the firm's future, according to a post at banbalch.com. Under the headline "Lethal Blow to Balch & Bingham?" Publisher K.B. Forbes writes:

The decision by the Alabama Supreme Court two weeks ago declaring that Balch & Bingham will stand trial for fraud in ex-Drummond executive David Roberson’s $75-million civil lawsuit appears to be a lethal blow to the once-prestigious, silk-stocking law firm.

The Alabama Supreme Court noted in its decision that the embattled law firm argued that “Balch had owed no duty to Roberson because Drummond, not Roberson, was Balch’s client. . . . ”

During the course of the Roberson appellate proceedings, Balch declared that the firm:

1. “owed no duty” to tell the truth to a client’s representative and
2. had the audacity to say lying to or misleading someone is a legal service

Both foolish arguments without a doubt have made Balch a third-party risk.

 What could that mean? Forbes explains:

Observers appear to agree that the third-party risk of Balch looks like it will impact their clients that are heavily regulated. Shareholders and institutional investors are demanding the highest adherence to legal compliance and social responsibility, while frowning on any kind of third-party risk.

No general counsel or government attorney can justify hiring Balch & Bingham any longer because the firm appears to be a third-party risk.

If you hire Balch, you could be misled or lied to and could end up in federal prison like David Roberson.

Balch lies to a client’s representative and appears to say it is justified because the firm owes no duty to the executive, only the entity he works for.

Balch lies and says in open court that misleading someone or lying is a legal service.

Is it a good idea to make such arguments in court, especially when the matter winds up on appeal before the state's highest court, producing a published opinion that can be read by most anyone? Forbes answers with a resounding no:

The absurdity and sheer stupidity of Balch’s arguments were shredded and gutted in the Alabama Supreme Court decision.

Even Southern Company, Balch’s top client and parent company of Balch’s sister-wife siamese-twin Alabama Power, has compliance rules that state:

We also expect our suppliers/contractors, in their work with us, to conduct themselves with honesty, integrity, fairness and a commitment to legal compliance. Suppliers/contractors are expected to comply with all applicable laws and regulations and certain Southern Company policies….

And now who is waiting in the wings?

Balch’s competitors.

The vultures and wolves smell blood and are salivating for every sweet morsel of Balch’s current clients as well as any seasoned Balch partner, attorney, or staff member that currently works at the embattled law firm and is ready to head to the emergency exit.

The exodus and hemorrhaging begin.

Underground discharge of pollutants into the Black Warrior River joins the list of environmental woes facing Drummond Company and Alabama Power

Black Warrior River

 

Were concerns about the unlawful discharge of pollutants through underground water a driving force behind the North Birmingham Bribery scandal? The question arises from an article at the Birmingham Business Journal, and banbalch.com addresses it in a post under the headline "Drummond, Alabama Power, and the “Illegal Discharge of Pollutants through Underground Water.” Writes Publisher K.B. Forbes:

Is the contamination of underground water the possible genesis of the North Birmingham Bribery Scandal, born at the offices of Balch and Bingham?

The Birmingham Business Journal reported this week:

The U.S. District Court of the Northern District of Alabama determined that substantial, contaminated sub-surface flow discharging from Drummond’s site into the Black Warrior River near Praco on a daily basis is an illegal discharge of pollutants through underground water in violation of federal law.

Is Alabama Power’s Miller Steam Plant next?

That question grows from a CNN report two months ago about environmental issues facing Alabama Power. From banbalch.com:

This past December, CNN reported that the EPA was probing Alabama Power. CNN’s visual and interactive story on polluting ash ponds outlined potential environmental disasters and the “money-making” schemes surrounding those foolish decisions.

Alabama Power’s Barry Plant (and toxic ash pond) near Mobile, Alabama was a central figure of the investigative story and highlights the controversy surrounding the future of these contaminated ash ponds.

But Alabama Power’s Miller Steam Plant appears to raise more questions and concerns than Barry.

As we reported in March of last year:

North Birmingham appears to have been a sideshow, a distraction to the real objective: squashing the tiny environmental group GASP before the group could start probing the Miller Steam Plant, one of the biggest greenhouse polluting, coal-burning plants in the nation, according to recent news reports.

We, the CDLU, are not environmentalists.

However, having investigated numerous unsavory businesses and inept government agencies in the past two decades, we understand that something at the Miller Steam Plant in Jefferson County made Alabama Power concerned, gravely concerned.

We believe that concern could have been what environmental groups like GASP and others have been discussing for years: ash ponds of coal waste next to water supplies.

Now we have obtained a letter filed… with the Alabama Department of Environmental Management by an environmental engineer who writes:

While I am certain that the current use of these ash ponds complies with current standards, past practices (unregulated at the time) may have resulted in highly toxic wastes being deposited in the ponds.

[T]he fact that the Miller facility was constructed in the late 1970’s, prior to the full implementation of the federal TSCA and RCRA regulations mean that it is possible that PCBs, asbestos, and boiler cleaning wastes could have been placed (legally) in the pond. When coupled with the fact that much older Powell Avenue Steam Plant ash was placed in the past, I believe, at a minimum, ADEM should have required APC to conduct historical research to determine if the extent, if any, toxic substances were placed in the pond.

What needs to happen next? That requires a multi-pronged answer:

[The EPA] needs to investigate if historic toxic waste was ever placed into the ash pond and test deep inside the ash pond, and the water in and around the ash pond, known as the Locust Fork.

Has there been seepage? Have toxins knowingly been entered into the water supply? Did anyone know and cover this up?

Then there is Drummond’s other headache: Ketona Lakes. We addressed hat issue last year, writing:

For over 35 years, the site of two former quarries has been hidden from public view. Located in Jefferson County, not far from North Birmingham and smack in the middle of the City of Tarrant, the Ketona Lakes are quarries now filled with water.

The water is allegedly extremely contaminated and toxic.

Sources tell us that Drummond acquired the property when it purchased ABC Coke, and the site had extensive underground pipes that used to go directly underground to ABC Coke.

Drummond allegedly sealed off the pipes, tore down all physical structures, and then secured, fenced, and fully abandoned the site in 1985, thinking no one would know or care.

Ketona Lakes was the site of a former chemical company and decades of harmful chemicals and toxins have allegedly stayed in the soil and water.

As the SEC probes the Crosswhite Scandal and federal investigators interview hired smear artists allegedly affiliated with the Matrix Meltdown, the EPA and U.S. Department of Justice should dig deep into these alleged toxic sites, and the overflowing resources and web of entities and officials used to protect them from scrutiny, some for decades.

What prompted the FBI to conduct a raid at a residence on Overton Road in -- of all places -- Birmingham's "Tiny Kingdom" of Mountain Brook?

A home on Overton Road in Mountain Brook

The FBI recently conducted a raid at a home on Overton Road in Mountain Brook, AL, according to a report at WBRC. For those not familiar with the area, Mountain Brook essentially is Birmingham's version of Beverly Hills. It's not that famous people necessarily live there, but the place reeks of money -- big money, old money. Locals call it the "Tiny Kingdom," and suffice to say, it's not the kind of place you expect to see law enforcement conducting an operation. So what's going on? Information, at the moment, is scarce. But we have this from WBRC:

A home on Overton Road was raided by the FBI Wednesday, according to Mountain Brook Police.The raid was a result of an ongoing FBI investigation. Details about the investigation and the result of the raid have not been made available. According to Mountain Brook PD, there is no known threat to the public at this time.

According to a report at banbalch.com, the raid has been a hot topic of conversation in the Birmingham area:

The chattering class in the elite enclave of Mountain Brook is on fire after an FBI raid last week.

WBRC Fox 6 reported last Wednesday:

A home on Overton Road was raided by the FBI Wednesday, according to Mountain Brook Police. The raid was a result of an ongoing FBI investigation. Details about the investigation and the result of the raid have not been made available. According to Mountain Brook PD, there is no known threat to the public at this time.

Although our sources could not confirm what the raid was exactly about, the action appears to be for a white-collar crime in which no one appears to have been arrested (yet) and documents, electronic devices, and hard evidence probably were seized.

Our high-level sources could not confirm or deny if this raid was related in any way to the Matrix Meltdown or Crosswhite Scandal. The raid could be for a completely unrelated crime.

But the chattering class keeps on chattering!

Both banbalch.com and Legal Schnauzer have been reporting on a number of topics that have connections to Mountain Brook. But so far, we see no sign that the raid involved any of those stories.

"Pimps of Mississippi" continue dismal performance with administration of COVID-related rent-assistance program for Alabama's neighbor to the west

The Pimps of Mississippi

The performance of Birmingham's Balch & Bingham law firm with a pandemic-related rent-assistance program in Mississippi doesn't seem to be getting much better with time, according to a report at banbalch.com. Under the headline "Update: 'Pimps of Mississippi' Rental Assistance Debacle Still Turning Tricks," Publisher K.B. Forbes writes:

The latest available data from the U.S. Department of Treasury shows that contractual cronyism appears to be inefficient while making Balch & Bingham generous fees.

At the end of November, Balch, the “Pimps of Mississippi,” had disbursed a mere 43 percent of the $186 million cash cow, not even the half-way mark!

The embattled firm looks like fools when compared to Harrison County, which disbursed all of their resources to those in need, 100 percent, according to the federal data.

As The Washington Post reported in August:

Balch and [the Mississippi Home Corporation] agreed to a $3.8 million budget for the firm to help administer the program, including a charge of $135-per-hour for the review of 30,000 applications, according to a March letter from Balch to MHC. In addition to the review of applications, Balch’s role in the rental relief program was meant to include helping draft rules and regulations, “designing and overseeing program administration,” and training staff, according to the letter.

All of this includes some sobering irony, Forbes notes:

This is the same firm that evicted a Habitat for Humanity tenant at the height of the pandemic.

And people really wonder why Balch is heckled and called pimps, whores, or worse?

Bomb threats usher in the first day of Black History Month at Historically Black Colleges and Universities around the country, including one in St. Louis, MO

 

St. Louis was one of several cities around the country to report bomb threats yesterday at a Historically Black College or University (HBCU). The threats came on the first day of Black History Month. The target in St. Louis was Harris-Stowe State University, which dates to 1857. From a report at KSDK:

The first day of Black History Month began with bomb threats for several Historically Black Colleges and Universities across the country, including Harris-Stowe University, where classes were canceled and moved to remote learning.

St. Louis police were called there shortly after 4:30 a.m. for a report of a bomb threat at the campus in mid-town St. Louis. Police swept the campus and gave the “all clear,” according to St. Louis police spokeswoman Evita Caldwell.

“Whether or not it’s connected to a national issue would be part of the ongoing investigation,” Caldwell said.

In an era where Donald Trump supporters conducted a deadly assault at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, it's not unreasonable to think the threats could be part of a national issue:

A police source tells 5 On Your Side a man called the university, threatening to blow it up and kill as many Black students as he could. Police canines helped search the campus, and no explosives were found. 

Harris-Stowe University also contacted the FBI, according to a press release from the university.

“We are working with the proper authorities to thoroughly investigate this potential threat,” the release stated. “The safety of our campus community is paramount, and we are taking every step, in conjunction with campus safety, law enforcement and the FBI to ensure the well-being of our community.”

That includes canceling classes. Harris-Stowe University later announced classes would be held remotely for the remainder of Tuesday and campus activities were canceled for the day.

Due to weather, the campus would continue remote instruction until Friday.

NBC News reports other Historically Black Colleges and Universities were targeted Monday, including:

• Howard University in Washington D.C.
• Southern University, A&M College in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
• Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Florida
• Albany State University in Georgia
• Bowie State University in Maryland
• Delaware State University

Ali Alexander gets caught using the word "rebellion" in reference to Jan. 6, so now he's trying to separate himself from his own language, caught on tape

Ali Alexander

 

Alabama-connected extremist Ali Alexander is trying to distance himself from his use of the word "rebellion" related to Jan. 6, according to a report at Right-Wing Watch (RWW), which is a project of People for the American Way. Writes RWW's Kristen Doerer, under the headline "Upset He Got Caught, Ali Alexander Denies Video of Him Encouraging ‘Rebellion’":

Trump loyalists were storming up the U.S. Capitol steps, fighting with police, when the far-right leader of the Stop the Steal campaign, Ali Alexander, left the Capitol steps for the terrace of One America News Network’s building on Constitution Ave. Overlooking the Capitol, Alexander pointed to the Trump loyalists streaming across the Capitol grounds, past barricades and overrunning police, before turning to the camera. 

“This is we the people,” he said. “Now, I want to say something. I don’t disavow this. I do not denounce this.” 

“This is completely peaceful, looks like, so far,” Alexander added, though he had seen the violence up close. “And there are a couple of agitators that I obviously don’t endorse.”

In conclusion, he told his followers, “StoptheSteal.us is going to be the home of the rebellion against an illegitimate government.”

Oops, looks like Alexander -- once known as Ali Akbar -- stepped in some doo-doo there, and Doerer did, in fact, catch him at it:

This Right Wing Watch reporter captured that video, which was posted on the Stop the Steal Twitter account by Alexander’s associate Michael Coudrey at 4:26 p.m. on Jan. 6, 2021.

Now, a year later, Alexander is claiming that the video is “basically a deep fake,” telling OAN’s John Himes on Dec. 13 that “Twitter trolls” targeted him, causing him to lose everything and setting up the House select committee investigating the attack on the Capitol to come after him.

In the “exclusive” OAN segment, Alexander was introduced as an organizer claiming to be targeted by the Jan. 6 committee “simply because he’s a conservative.”

“And what I said is I disavow and denounce the violence and the agitators who were inside. I refuse to denounce the peaceful protesters that were outside,” Alexander insisted. “What they did is they chopped out the part that said I do not denounce this, and they clipped up that video and said Ali does not denounce the violence.”

“And now, I’m being investigated by the select committee that says, ‘You refused to denounce this, you supported the violence, look where you said 1776 here.’ And now, I’m, I’m basically on trial for supporting America’s founding!” Alexander protested. 

Presumably, Alexander or Coudrey has a copy of the original video they posted that day and could prove such claims by simply releasing it. The fact that they haven’t done so is telling. 

Alexander may be frustrated by his own choice of words on OANN’s terrace on Jan. 6 because he got caught—“rebellion,” after all, isn’t peaceful—but that doesn’t make them any less true. 

It's amusing to see a bomb-thrower like Alexander tripping over his own words to distance himself from careless language. And as Doerer notes, this is a guy with a history of using inflammatory language:

And Alexander’s message on Jan. 6 is entirely in keeping with what he had been saying in the days and months leading up to the insurrection. 

Alexander launched the so-called Stop the Steal campaign just days after the 2020 presidential election as then-President Donald Trump began to slip in the vote counts; both he and Jack Posobiec had floated the idea of rebooting the campaign earlier in the fall as reality began to set in among right-wing activists that Trump could well lose the presidency. 

At the basis of the campaign was the Big Lie—the false narrative that the election was stolen from Trump. Calls for “rebellion” and “revolution” were ubiquitous at Stop the Steal rallies, as were attacks on election officials and Republicans who stood in the way. Violence broke out after two large rallies held in Washington, D.C., in November and December, with the Proud Boys hate group roaming the streets looking to brawl with counterprotesters or antifascist activists, and Alexander telling the Proud Boys that he was “Proud of my dudes.”

Alexander had spent the night prior to the insurrection hosting a Stop the Steal rally at Freedom Plaza, where threats of violence, Christian nationalism, and conspiracy theories mixed in a toxic brew on stage. The message, Right Wing Watch’s Peter Montgomery reported at the time, was clear: Congress needs to reject Biden electors—or else. 

Alexander took to the lectern. “Victory or death! Victory or death!” he shouted, as the crowd joined in. “Our government is only our government if it is legitimate. And our government loses its legitimacy when it loses the consent of the people.”

“I want them to know 1776 is always an option,” Alexander said. “Our government should be afraid.”

The Matrix Meltdown -- with Alabama Power and Balch & Bingham at its core -- has left an alleged unsavory trail of misdeeds for investigators to track

What might be called the Matrix Meltdown -- with Alabama Power and Balch & Bingham at the center of it -- has left a winding trail that federal investigators reportedly are following. Where will it lead, and who might come tumbling down as a result? A post at banbalch.com brings those questions to the fore, under the headline "Numerous Dirty Deeds? Matrix Meltdown Amplifies Alleged Criminal Misconduct." Writes Publisher K.B. Forbes:

The Matrix Meltown is an ugly reality: two entities suing each other in two states, “Sloppy Joe” Perkins’ lawyers issuing worthless demand letters, internal Matrix documents being slowly leaked, media following the non-profit entities and money laundering trail, and allegedly federal investigators probing possible obstruction of justice and Civil Rights violations.

Matrix is closely tied to Alabama Power and its sister-wife, siamese twin Balch & Bingham.

The obscure political consulting group has a legendary if not a mythical reputation of engaging in alleged dirty tricks and alleged sinister if not criminal misconduct.

Is it true or fantasy?

Now everything is on the table and up for scrutiny. Will investigators connect the dots?

How ugly has the recent history become of those caught in the Matrix Meltdown? Forbes provides a rundown:

Since 2017, our blog has documented atrocious misconduct. As we have repeatedly said, in Alabama there are no such things as coincidences.

Let’s start with the Newsome Conspiracy Case. Burt Newsome, an innocent lawyer minding his own business who had no issues with Balch & Bingham, was allegedly targeted, falsely arrested and defamed by the once-prestigious, silk-stocking law firm in an alleged attempt to steal his business servicing banks.

Let’s review some of the alleged staged acts, beginning with the Verizon mess.

• The half-baked deposition of an alleged Verizon employee who appears to have been an actor.
• The bogus deposition with Verizon appears to be a centerpiece in the alleged dirty work linked to disgraced ex-U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town.
• And what law firm represents Verizon regularly? McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter in Morristown, New Jersey, just one mile away from Verizon’s Corporate Headquarters.
• And who worked for McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter before his career as a prosecutor? Jay E. Town.

Newsome and his family wound up in somebody's cross hairs:

• The smashing of his wife’s car window at a gym in which her purse was stolen. Law enforcement alleged she was targeted. Video surveillance of the incident shows the suspects driving around allegedly specifically looking for Newsome’s vehicle.
• The sick operatives who sent the Newsome family a threatening package: Five pieces of luggage and numerous clothing outfits. There were approximately three dozen outfits for mom and the four Newsome children. Was Newsome going to be injured, killed or murdered?  Or were the wife and children going to “disappear” on a permanent vacation?
• Exactly two years and a month later, Newsome was injured in a head-on accident. He was gravely injured and nearly killed. Some even claimed the act was an alleged act of attempted murder.

The trail then leads to Drummond Company and one of its former executives:

Now let’s look at the case of ex-Drummond executive David Roberson who filed a $75-million civil case against Balch and Drummond.

• Roberson’s 90-year-old mother-in-law returned to her home in Jasper in 2019 after a hospital stay to find the windows of her home shattered, both in the front yard and backyard. Nothing was stolen from the home. Was it a message of intimidation and fear?
• As ex-Drummond Company executive David Roberson was driving along Highway 280 in Shelby County a year ago, someone apparently shot out his rear driver’s window. Roberson was shaken up, scared, and rightly so. With glass blown exclusively inside the car, the projectile was obviously aimed at the driver’s side and missed Roberson’s head by inches.

Forbes' own public charity, Consejo De Latinos Unidos (CDLU) has not been spared:

        Then there is the orchestrated campaign against us, the CDLU, which                     utterly backfired, and has raised the eyes of investigators.

• Some buffoons attempted to smear and intimidate CDLU’s Executive Director but instead terrorized the wrong family at the wrong address in July of 2020. The family has since moved.
• An actor impersonated CDLU’s Executive Director and used the existence of his then-8-year-old daughter in an attempt to illegally obtain confidential financial information.
• The continued harassment of CDLU’s accountants by morons who demanded copies of our tax filings when they should have contacted us directly.
•  An embittered stalker and failed real estate agent was caught on security cameras at CDLU’s Birmingham offices (shut down at the time due to COVID-19) sitting in his black pick-up truck for 15 minutes before grilling the receptionist at the business next door, providing a false name and bogus cell phone number one-off from his real cell phone number. Idiot!
• The writing of several hilarious articles in the Alabama Political Reporter that included the idiotic defense of Balch & Bingham. The public ripped the publication to shreds.
• The public humiliation of a once-respected investigative journalist who allegedly amputated his brain for 30 pieces of silver.

Alabama has been riddled with corruption for decades, but this current saga is both ongoing and unsettling:

Was Matrix, in anyway, involved in any or none of these dirty deeds?

Did Alabama Power (which pays Matrix millions) or its sister-wife Balch back any or none of these acts financially?

From what we have been told, investigators appear to be tracking down and interviewing the buffoons, idiots and morons involved in these alleged unsavory and criminal acts.

Disgraced ex-U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town fled in the middle of the night after resigning. He could have been a current candidate for U.S. Senate, but the photos of him slamming back cocktails with Alabama Power CEO and former Balch partner Mark A. Crosswhite were political suicide.

Now with Sloppy Joe and the Matrix Meltdown; the Crosswhite Scandal and secret million-dollar contracts; and Balch’s internal strife, who else truly wishes to hang themselves… or are they ready to cooperate with criminal investigators about these acts?