Was shot into David Roberson's vehicle an assassination attempt, designed to silence him over a lawsuit against Drummond and Balch Bingham?

David Roberson's vehicle after shooting.

 

The plaintiff in a $75-million lawsuit against Drummond Company and the Balch Bingham law firm was driving south on U.S. 280 near Birmingham on Friday when someone fired a shot into his vehicle.

Former Drummond executive David Roberson escaped shaken, but apparently unharmed. Details about the incident are scarce at the moment, but Roberson reported it to law enforcement. This marks the second time someone connected to the lawsuit has met with violence that apparently was designed to intimidate, severely injure, or kill. Burt Newsome, attorney for Roberson and his wife Anna, was hit head-on in a crash where the driver of an SUV appeared to veer directly into Newsome's Volkswagen Jetta. Newsome sustained a broken leg, which required insertion of a titanium rod during trauma surgery at UAB, along with other injuries.

These incidents, taken together, raise all kinds of unsettling questions. Was the shot at Roberson an assassination attempt, one that barely missed its target? What about the Newsome crash? Just how thuggish and contemptible are those in the Drummond and Balch hierarchies? Would they actually stoop to murder -- perhaps the hiring of a hit man -- because of a civil court matter? Is anyone in law enforcement going to conduct a serious investigation of these events. We are not aware of any real investigation into the Newsome crash, so one must wonder: Is the Roberson shooting going to be blown off, too? Is anyone in the corporate or legal communities going to speak out about such debased behavior? What about political leaders?Are they OK with life in Alabama looking like a scene from The Godfather?

The shot at Roberson blew out the left rear window on his vehicle, right behind the driver's seat. It came on the same day that Newsome filed documents in the trial court indicating Drummond had lied in responses to discovery. Roberson is seeking attorney fees and other expenses associated with discovering the truth (More on that in an upcoming post.) This is from a report at banbalch.com:

Sometimes we feel we are living in a John Grisham novel.

As ex-Drummond Company executive David Roberson was driving along Highway 280 in Shelby County on Friday morning, someone apparently shot out his rear driver’s window in an alleged assassination attempt.

Roberson was driving to his lawyer’s office.

And what was Roberson dropping off?

A slew of documents that appear to show Drummond Company and its General Counsel Blake Andrews lied in civil court pleadings. Roberson appears to have been the “fall guy” who allegedly was set up.

Drummond Company CEO Richard Mullen and Southern Company CEO Tom Fanning need to have a “come to Jesus” meeting and stop the uncontrolled behavior by their subordinates.

The ramifications of the misconduct, alleged cover-up, alleged obscuring of documents, and alleged manipulation of the prosecution in the North Birmingham Bribery Scandal by their subordinates is boiling over and could lead to additional criminal investigations.

Now with an alleged assassination attempt, Alabama Power CEO Mark A. Crosswhite and Drummond Company General Counsel Blake Andrews both need to be immediately fired or retired. 

The photos of Crosswhite slamming back cocktails with disgraced U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town, allegedly during the height of the North Birmingham criminal trial, are now even more significant.

The “confusion” of Blake Andrews appears to be a crock, a lie, as Roberson was allegedly set up.

David Roberson is 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.

Why would anyone truly try to silence Roberson at this juncture? 

Just days before Friday’s shooting, we reported about the most foolish and puzzling act by attorneys for Drummond Company: the asking of Roberson about bribes that have nothing to do with his lawsuit.

In his reply, Roberson discusses the alleged illegal bribe to Balch & Bingham stooge Luther Strange.

What other secrets does Roberson know?

As we wrote about in July of 2019, Roberson could sing to the feds and let them know about bribes and other alleged crimes and misdemeanors.

Now with shattered glass in his back seat, Roberson may be obligated to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

God help us all!

 

 

B'ham lawyer Burt Newsome --in court battles with Drummond, Balch, and Alabama Power -- is injured in vehicle crash that appeared to be intentionally set up

Burt Newsome

Birmingham attorney Burt Newsome, who is in court skirmishes with several of Alabama's corporate and legal titans -- Drummond Company, Alabama Power, Balch and Bingham -- is scheduled for emergency surgery today after being hit in a vehicle crash that, sources say, appeared to be intentionally caused.

Newsome was driving yesterday afternoon in "The Narrows" area of old U.S. 280 in Shelby County when he attempted to turn left on a green light. A large SUV from the other direction came straight toward  Newsome's Volkswagen Jetta, causing him to swerve in an effort to avoid contact. The other driver was able to maneuver the SUV into a position where he could hit Newsome head on.

Was this an attempted murder? It's too early to provide a definitive answer, but law enforcement is investigating, and Newsome reportedly is calling for an independent investigation of Drummond, Alabama Power, and Balch.

From a report on the crash at banbalch.com, under the headline "Breaking News: Newsome Gravely Injured; FBI Probe Demanded":

Burt Newsome, one of the leading banking lawyers in Alabama who has successfully challenged and humiliated Balch Bingham after he allegedly was targeted, falsely arrested, and defamed by a conspiracy allegedly spearheaded by a Balch partner, was gravely injured in a mysterious auto accident Thursday afternoon.

The incident comes hours after Legal Schnauzer published an article linking Balch to a Wallace-era highway scandal that involved the Imperial Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, Robert Shelton.

The late Schuyler A. Baker, Sr. was at one time a top attorney at Balch Bingham, and also a staunch segregationist who was part of racist Governor George Wallace’s inner circle. He was mentioned in The New York Times article about the highway scandal.

His son, Schuyler Allen Baker, Jr., is currently General Counsel at Balch and has been at the firm since 1974. Schuyler, Jr. vowed to fight Burt Newsome and the Newsome Conspiracy Case to the death.

The mysterious and near-death accident comes exactly two weeks after a hearing on ex-Drummond Executive David Roberson’s $75-million lawsuit against Drummond Company and Balch  Bingham. Newsome is representing Roberson.

According to sources, Newsome spent six hours with leading trauma physicians after sustaining numerous and severe injuries; and he will undergo extensive surgery early Friday morning.

 

Newsome's legal battles started when Balch officials allegedly framed him for a crime and distributed his mugshot to various clients in an effort to steal his lucrative bank-servicing practice. Newsome represents former Drummond executive Dave Roberson in a $75-million lawsuit related to the North Birmingham Superfund bribery scandal, in which two Balch partners were indicted.

The vehicle crash comes near the end of a week in which banbalch.com and Legal Schnauzer have reported on Balch's connections to the George Wallace administration, segregation, and a Wallace-era highway-funds scandal that reportedly involved Robert Shelton, imperial wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.

It also comes after a recent hearing in the Roberson lawsuit, which did not appear to go well for the defendants, sources say.      

Ban Balch publisher K.B. Forbes asks the pivotal question: Was the vehicle crash intentional?

We remind our readers that Newsome’s family was threatened with a “permanent vacation” when a package with luggage and clothing was sent to them in 2018 following the targeted break-in of his wife’s car. Newsome is the father of four children.

The accident also comes just two months after Balch Bingham buffoons attempted to smear us, the CDLU, and Newsome.

The orchestrated efforts by Balch defenders, including hiring a “burn down Hoover” rabble-rouser who was later arrested by three different law enforcement agencies, has completely and utterly backfired.

An email was dispatched late Thursday night to the FBI asking for a probe of the accident, Balch Bingham, their sister-wife Alabama Power, and Drummond Company to see if they were involved in any of the events targeting Newsome, his family, and his life.

We pray for the Newsome Family during this difficult time.

Director Christopher Wray admits FBI botched sexual-abuse case regarding USA Gymnastics, which fits with his ties to Russia and various Alabama political thugs

USA gymnasts Simon Biles, McKayla Maroney, and Ali Raisman

 

The United States might soon be in need of a new FBI director after Trump nominee Christopher Wray admitted before a Senate panel yesterday that his agents failed to protect scores of female gymnasts who were victims of sexual assault at the hands of serial predator Larry Nassar. Four gymnasts testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee that the FBI mishandled their reports, flatly falsifying victim statements in some instances.

Wray, who has connections to the Deep South (including Alabama) was a dubious choice to lead the FBI from the beginning, considering his professional ties to Russia and to the "Alabama Gang" of right-wing bad actors, which includes former Trump Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Wray even could have roundabout ties to Alabama's 2022 Republican Party primary for the U.S. Senate if Rob Riley (son of former Gov. Bob Riley) chooses to make a run, as he reportedly is considering.

Multiple sources tell Legal Schnauzer that Riley and Wray have been chums since their time together at Yale Law School, with Riley serving as senior law journal editor in 1990-91 and Wray graduating in 1992. If Wray's directorship at the FBI turns into a scandal -- one marked by mistreatment of sexual-abuse victims -- would that be an impediment to a possible Rob Riley U.S. Senate run?

That's a probing question, given that Riley has significant ethical baggage on his own. In 2008, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) fined him $10,000 for his role in a campaign-finance ethics case. In 2013, Riley sought my unlawful arrest and incarceration over a civil case of alleged defamation, which received national and international news coverage for its blatant trampling of First Amendment principles. I was arrested because Riley sought a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction, both of which have been found to be unlawful prior restraints under more than 200 years of First Amendment law. (See Near v. Minnesota, 283 U.S. 697 (1931). It makes you wonder what Riley and Wray learned at Yale about constitutional law -- and if either one of them even supports a free press. Sara Rafsky, of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) wrote an insightful analysis of Rob Riley's trampling of free-press rights and even spotlighted press statements he made that are plainly false.

As for Christopher Wray, if his FBI botched the U.S. gymnastics case, how many other cases has the bureau screwed up or ignored completely? Consider two cases of what appear to be attempted murder in the Birmingham area:

(1) The Bert Newsome vehicle crash -- In September 2020, Birmingham attorney Burt Newsome was hit head-on by a large SUV as he was engaged in litigation involving powerful corporate and legal entities -- Balch & Bingham, Alabama Power, Drummond Company -- in Alabama. From our report on the crash: 

The questionable ethics of the Balch Bingham law firm have been unmasked for the public, most prominently in the North Birmingham Superfund bribery case; perhaps most stunningly in the head-on vehicle crash that nearly claimed the life of attorney Burt Newsome, a recent courtroom adversary of Balch and its clients (Alabama Power, Drummond Company).

Evidence from the scene suggests the crash might have been staged, perhaps designed to intimidate, injure, or even kill Newsome. He did, in fact, sustain grave injuries, but is recovering from emergency trauma surgery and has even made a few trips to the office. 

[We invite you to check the crash-scene photo (below) and note the SUV's wheels are turned sharply right, directly into the driver's compartment of Newsome's vehicle; a similar turn to the left might have missed the Newsome car altogether, or at least, placed the impact on the passenger's compartment, which was vacant. Does this mean the SUV driver meant to hit not only Newsome's car, but the area where Newsome was seated?]

Two big questions: If the incident was staged, who staged it? Why was a Norfolk Southern employee driving the SUV, many miles from the company's local HQ in Irondale? We do not have the answers at this time.

(2) The shooting into David Roberson's vehicle on U.S. 280 -- In late February 2021, former Drummond executive David Roberson was driving south on 280 when someone fired a shot into his vehicle. From our report on the incident: 

The plaintiff in a $75-million lawsuit against Drummond Company and the Balch Bingham law firm was driving south on U.S. 280 near Birmingham on Friday when someone fired a shot into his vehicle.

Former Drummond executive David Roberson escaped shaken, but apparently unharmed. Details about the incident are scarce at the moment, but Roberson reported it to law enforcement. This marks the second time someone connected to the lawsuit has met with violence that apparently was designed to intimidate, severely injure, or kill. Burt Newsome, attorney for Roberson and his wife Anna, was hit head-on in a crash where the driver of an SUV appeared to veer directly into Newsome's Volkswagen Jetta. Newsome sustained a broken leg, which required insertion of a titanium rod during trauma surgery at UAB, along with other injuries.

Our research indicates that Christopher Wray's FBI has shown little or no interest in either case -- and the same goes for local law enforcement. Why? The USA Gymnastics case indicates Wray's FBI doesn't take much of anything seriously -- even child sexual abuse, of girls who went on to become athletes with world-class skills. From a report at Axios: 

Before a rarely unified Senate panel, the head of the FBI apologized for his agents failing to protect scores of U.S. gymnasts who were victims of sexual assault. 

"I am deeply and profoundly sorry to each and every one of you," said Director Christopher Wray.

Four gymnasts — McKayla Maroney, Simone Biles, Aly Raisman and Maggie Nichols — testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee and detailed how the FBI mishandled their reports.

• Maroney said the FBI "chose to lie about what" she said about the abuse she suffered at the hands of Larry Nassar and "protect a serial child molester rather than protect, not only me, but countless others."
• Raisman said agents told her "to keep" her reports "confidential and not tell anyone."
• Biles also blamed "an entire system that enabled and perpetrated his abuse.”

The bottom line: "I am sorry that so many people let you down over and over again, and I am especially sorry that there were people at the FBI who had their own chance to stop this monster back in 2015 and failed," Wray told the victims. 

Nassar is serving 40–175 years in prison. The FBI fired an agent accused of failing to properly investigate the sexual assault allegations, Wray said.

That Wray's FBI has proven to be incompetent and crooked should be no surprise to those who know about the director's previous associations, including those in Alabama. We will address those in upcoming posts.

(To be continued)

 

Burt Newsome crash scene

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?

Why was a state trooper present so quickly for vehicle crash that nearly killed lawyer Burt Newsome, and why does incident report differ with evidence at the scene?

Image No. 1 -- see notes at end of post.

A state trooper's report on a vehicle crash, which has been the subject of multiple posts here at Legal Schnauzer, is inaccurate, according to a party who was severely injured in the incident.

Attorney Burt Newsome, in fact, says the mere presence of a state trooper raises questions about how the crash unfolded and how it was investigated. Further, Newsome says, the trooper's report differs in numerous respects from what Newsome saw with his own eyes as the crash unfolded in September 2020.

Image No. 2

Newsome wound up with a severely broken right leg, and photos taken at the scene indicate he likely was very close to being fatally injured. In the general time frame, Newsome was involved in high- stakes litigation with several corporate and legal powerhouses in the state -- including Alabama Power, Southern Company, Drummond Company, Balch & Bingham, and Matrix LLC.

Perhaps of most note, Newsome was the attorney for former Drummond executive David Roberson in a $75-million lawsuit against Drummond and Balch & Bingham for breach of contract and fraudulent misrepresentation. Did someone see attempted murder as the only way out of a courtroom jam -- likely created by a plaintiff [Roberson] with a strong case, and an attorney who refused to be scared away?

Image No. 3

Newsome was driving a Volkswagen Jetta and was hit by a man driving a Ford Explorer. Based on photos taken at the scene, it is remarkable that Newsome survived.

Was Newsome targeted for the vehicle crash because he refused to cave in to a number of intimidation tactics (see here and here) and drop the case or settle it on bad terms for his client?

The images with this post tend to suggest that the state trooper produced an incident report that appears to be off target.

First, let's consider the trooper's narrative on the incident report.

* It says vehicle No. 1 (the green Ford Explorer) was traveling westbound on Shelby County 280, making a left turn on County Road 11. But a photo taken moments after the crash shows the Explorer's wheels turned sharply right. That's a strange way to make a left-hand turn.

* According to the narrative, Driver No. 1 said, as he was trying to turn left, a vehicle in front of him turned right onto County Road 11, obscuring his view. But a diagram and photos show it is impossible to turn right going west at that intersection because there is no roadway to turn onto; County Road 11 dead ends at that intersection.

* The narrative states that Driver No. 1, as he was turning left, did not see vehicle No. 2 (Newsome's Volkswagen Jetta), and the Jetta struck him in the intersection. Photos taken moments after the crash show the intersection was clear, and the crash did not happen in that area.

* The narrative says Driver No. 2 (Newsome) saw the Explorer making a left-hand turn and tried to swerve left to avoid him. But the Explorer swerved right, hitting Newsome virtually head-on. Photos from the scene are consistent with Newsome's version of the crash.

All of this raises many disturbing questions, so let's start with this one: Why was it odd for a state trooper to be on the scene? Newsome explains:

Shelby County typically does not use state troopers to write up accident reports that occur within its jurisdiction, unless it is a fatality or a major crash with life-threatening injuries.

An employee of Newsome's law office immediately began taking photos at the crash scene, and Newsome says those photos tell a very different story from what the trooper's diagrams show:

Image No. 4

It is clear in the photo that [name deleted] took right after the crash that, after the Explorer started to turn left on County Road 11, he gunned it straight towards me - and then when I attempted to veer LEFT he turned RIGHT into me and struck the right side of the vehicle. If I had not been able to slightly veer left avoiding a head-on collision, he would have killed me. The photo clearly shows the Explorer turning RIGHT, trying to hit me head on.

But, look at the police report.  He wrote up that the vehicle was turning left on County Road 11, and that I was going straight, and the drawing shows the Explorer turning right instead of turning LEFT like it truly was -- and it shows the Explorer striking me on the left side and not the RIGHT. Plus, after he straightened up and gunned it at me - he had gone well past the turn onto CR 11. The drawing is patently false. 

Was the trooper happy about the Newsome employee's presence, with a camera? No, says Newsome:

The trooper ordered [name deleted] to quit taking pictures at the scene. He was screaming at her to stop taking pictures.

Just a few of many troubling questions from this incident: 

(1) Did someone pay to have Burt Newsome killed?

(2) Why did law enforcement mostly ignore the crash and produce an incident report that appears to be flawed?

(3) Can the trooper's report be explained by honest mistakes? 

(4) Was Newsome targeted because of the $75-million Roberson lawsuit?

(5) What does this say about the "justice system" in the Birmingham area?

(6) Does an attorney put his life on the line when he brings a civil case against powerful entities in Alabama -- and treats his client's claims with seriousness? 

Notes on images

* Image No. 1 -- (top) diagram from the trooper's report; (bottom) view from the side, just after impact, with the Explorer's wheels turned sharply right.

* Image No. 2 -- View of the impact from the other side of what is shown in Image No. 1. Again, the Explorer's front wheels can be seen turned right.

* Image No. 3 --  View of an empty intersection, post crash, showing the incident report incorrectly had the crash happening in that intersection. Newsome's vehicle actually was hit outside the intersection, past the turn to County Road 11.

* Image No. 4 -- A photo illustration, from above, of the crash scene at impact.

Alabama might be entering an era where ingrained public corruption is unmasked and punished, thanks largely to a small public charity and its dogged CEO

K.B. Forbes

 

Alabama might be entering an era where the public corruption that has plagued the state for decades might finally be held to account. That we've reached such a point owes largely to a Birmingham-based public charity and its CEO, K.B.. Forbes, writing at the blog .banbalch.com, reports former attorney/banker/entrepreneur Donald Watkins.

How toxic has Alabama's corporate, political, and legal environment become? Watkins states that bad actors have "targeted for destruction" three online journalists who have reported widely on corruption -- Forbes, Watkins, and me (at this blog, Legal Schnauzer).  That doesn't count Shelby County attorney Burt Newsome, who was targeted for a head-on vehicle crash that appears to have been deliberately staged -- or Newsome client and former Drummond Company executive David Roberson, who had someone shoot into his vehicle while he was driving on U.S. 280.

Where might an apparent federal investigation be headed? It's probably too soon to say, but Watkins hints that more stunning events could lie ahead. That might include the resignation of a second federal judge in the Northern District of Alabama, accompanied by curious circumstances like those that  trailed the recent surprise resignation of U.S. Judge Abdul Kallon.

If accountability does come to pass, it apparently will be driven largely by non-traditional journalism, with Forbes blazing the trail. Writes Watkins:

As Alabamians, we all owe Kevin B. Forbes, co-founder and chief executive officer of Consejo de Latinos Unidos (CDLU), a great debt of gratitude. CDLU is a nationally recognized consumer healthcare advocacy group that exposed and helped to bring to an end hospital price gouging of uninsured patients. More recently, Mr. Forbes and CDLU have turned their attention to cleaning up ingrained corruption in the U.S. Attorney's office and U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama, which is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama (USA).

Mr. Forbes has authored nine investigative reports, spurred three Congressional hearings, and worked coast to coast to improve healthcare for all. His written complaints to the U.S. Department of Justice have succeeded in shining a much-needed spotlight on out-of-control public corruption in the Northern District's "rigged" criminal justice system. This time, criminal investigators in Washington, Georgia, and Florida are moving to curb it.

Born and raised in California, Forbes once taught English as a second language to working Latino students at a post-Secondary vocational school near Watts, South Los Angeles, California. As the son of a Latino immigrant, Mr. Forbes is fluent in Spanish. He has lived in Chile and Mexico.

Corruption in Alabama largely has gone unchecked. But the CDLU and Forbes have ushered in a new culture, Watkins writes:

On December 4, 2019, Forbes and CDLU launched a three-year long fight in Washington against public corruption in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Alabama. His unrelenting anti-corruption campaign is now bearing fruit that will benefit Alabamians and the nation for decades to come.

As a direct result of Mr. Forbes' and CDLU's courageous anti-corruption campaign, we have seen the following stunning turn of events that threatens to jail Alabama's most powerful political, business, and political figures:

Watkins then cites eight major incidents that were largely tied to Forbes' reporting at banbalch.com:

(1) The abrupt midnight resignation of U.S. Attorney Jay Town in 2020 after photographs taken in 2017 showed an ethically compromised Town chugging down cocktails with Alabama Power Company CEO Mark Crosswhite during the height of his office's criminal investigation into allegations of bribery and corruption that was linked directly to Alabama Power, former state Rep. Oliver Robinson (D-Birmingham), the Drummond Company, and the law firm of Balch & Bingham. The goal of the bribery scheme was to defeat an initiative by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to add a predominantly black neighborhood in North Birmingham as a Superfund clean-up site. Alabama Power provided $30,000 of the money that was used to bribe Rep. Robinson. At least 21 Balch attorneys played some part in the bribery scheme, as well. Yet, neither Alabama Power, nor Crosswhite, nor none of Balch's 21 participating attorneys, nor Drummond Company CEO Mike Tracy was charged in the bribery scheme. Over the objection of honest federal law enforcement officials in Birmingham, Jay Town shut down the bribery and money laundering investigation after meeting with Crosswhite. Only one "fall-guy" from Drummond and one from Balch were indicted, tried, and convicted, along with Robinson, who pleaded guilty. Borrowing a page from a 1980 RICO conspiracy, bribery, and fraud case in Birmingham federal court that was "fixed" to benefit executives at Alabama Power and the Drummond Company, Jay Town steered the North Birmingham Bribery case away from Mark Crosswhite and Mike Tracy and was rewarded with a cushy, high paying general counsel's job that U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Alabama) arranged for him with Huntsville-based defense contractor Gray Analytics after his resignation.

(2) The demotion of Jay Town's handpicked First Assistant U.S. Attorney Lloyd Peeples in 2021, who has burrowed himself into the Office as the head of its Criminal Division. Peeples is a failed Homewood, Alabama, pizza restaurant owner with a dismal record on operating businesses and a documented history of hostility towards blacks and women. Despite his failure as a businessman, Jay Town had Peeples running the multi-million dollar U.S. Attorney's office on a day-to-day basis while Town drew a full-time salary for ceremonial work.

(3) The 2021 meltdown of perennial political "dirty tricks" artist Joseph Perkins, Jr., and his PR firm, Matrix, LLC. In September of 2021, former Matrix CEO Jeff Pitts filed a lawsuit against Perkins in Florida alleging, for the first time in public, that Perkins engaged in (a) extortion, (b) abuses of the legal process in Alabama, and (c) an ongoing racketeering enterprise. Perkins, who is a confessed federal lawbreaker, has handled Alabama Power's "dirty tricks" operations on an outsourced basis for nearly two decades. Perkins and his companies are under a multi-agency and multi-state multiple law enforcement investigation that began in Florida. Alabama Power has historically funded Perkins and his entities using secret contracts that paid Perkins tens of millions of dollars, "without invoicing." Perkins' work as a "dirty tricks" operator is notorious and has garnered him lucrative contracts with Auburn University, Georgia Power Company (Atlanta), and the Southern Company (Atlanta) that deliberately obscure the nature of his work.

(4) The abrupt resignation of U.S. District Court Judge Abdul K. Kallon on April 5, 2022. Kallon presided over the 2018 North Birmingham Bribery Trial involving Oliver Robinson, Drummond Company executive David Roberson and Balch partner Joel I. Gilbert, which portrayed Roberson and Gilbert as "lone wolves" in the bribery scheme. Kallon's resignation comes as federal investigators are probing obstruction of justice charges in the North Birmingham Bribery Trial.

(5) The unexpected "retirement" of Drummond CEO Mike Tracy. Drummond is Alabama Power's longtime coal supplier for its dirty coal-fired power plants like the one Alabama Power operates at the Miller Steam Plant in Jefferson County, Alabama. This plant is the Number One air polluter in America. Tracy personally approved payments to two ethically-conflicted consultants who lobbied the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) to officially oppose the EPA clean-up initiative in North Birmingham. To conceal these payments from EPA officials and the public, Balch & Bingham General Counsel Blake Andrews paid these consultants directly and was later reimbursed by Drummond with Mike Tracy's expressed blessing. To the consternation of honest law enforcement investigators, Jay Town made sure Mike Tracy and Blake Andrews were not indicted or prosecuted for their roles in the bribery scheme.

(6) The April 2022 suicide of Balch & Bingham lawyer, William Dice Lineberry. Mr. Lineberry was the lawyer who helped set up the money laundering entity "Alliance for Jobs and the Economy" (AJE), which was the entity that was used to: (a) receive corporate donations from willing participants in the bribery scheme and (b) funnel over $360,000 in bribery money to Oliver Robinson.

(7) The April 7, 2022, resignations of two Assistant U.S. Attorneys in Birmingham with reported connections to the Office's investigation of the North Birmingham Bribery Scandal.

(8) The reported designation of Alabama Power Company CEO and ex Balch partner Mark A Crosswhite as a "target" of a multi-state federal probe into charges of RICO conspiracy, bribery, and obstruction of justice. Federal investigators are also probing the relationship between Southern Company CEO Tom Fanning and Mark Crosswhite. At Fanning's request and without any prior notice to Alabama Power ratepayers or its state and federal regulators, Crosswhite funneled tens of millions in "bailout money" from Alabama Power's coffers to the Southern Company for a boondoggle nuclear power plant in Mississippi that: (a) the Southern Company is constructing, (b) has been grossly over budget for more than a decade, and (c) is not intended to provide any electricity for Alabama Power's customers. An earlier probe into this matter by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission was reportedly "fixed" by Sen. Richard Shelby with senior SEC officials in Washington to extricate Alabama Power and the Southern Company from civil and criminal exposure for this secret and unlawful diversion of Alabama Power's ratepayer funds.

Watkins quickly adds that a number of "open questions" remain on the table:

There are open questions as to whether Joe Perkins is cooperating with federal authorities in the new multi-state probe. Perkins reportedly possesses "dirty secrets" files on compromised public officials and regulators who may have accepted laundered campaign contributions and other "things of value" in exchange for taking official action to help Alabama Power Company, Georgia Power Company, and the Southern Company sustained their respective business monopolies.

Because of the number of individual culprits and corporate entities involved and the scope of Perkins "dirty tricks" operations, it appears that federal investigators are considering a potential RICO charge against the principal participants.

Additionally, at least one more federal judge in Birmingham may be implicated in the criminal probe and may be forced to resign.

Forbes' role goes beyond journalism. As head of a public charity, he also engages in advocacy -- and that has helped bring a national focus to problems in Alabama. Writes Watkins:

Mr. Forbes and CDLU sent letters to the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) at the U.S. Department of Justice on December 4, 2019, January 9, 2020, and January 29, 2020 that detailed widespread and credible allegations of public corruption and obstruction of justice spearheaded by Jay E. Town while he served as U.S. Attorney and Lloyd Peeples served as his First Assistant U.S. Attorney. [Click here to view Forbes' 12/4/19, 1/9/20 and 1/29/20 letters to OPR.]

Both Jay Town and Lloyd Peeples have checkered backgrounds. Yet, they were warmly received in the Birmingham federal courthouse that served as the citadel for formal FBI COINTELPRO operations in Alabama, from 1956 to 1972, and informal COINTELPRO activities from 1972 to the present.

This is the same Birmingham federal courthouse where former Chief U.S. District Court Judge Frank McFadden reportedly "fixed" the 1980 "Coal Fraud Trial" case against Alabama Power Company chief financial officer and Drummond Company director Walter F. Johnsey, Drummond Company CEO Gary Neal Drummond, state senator Joe Fine, and four other defendants, all of whom were charged with operating an ongoing criminal racketeering enterprise. Lead prosecutor Broward Segrest would later explain how and why the case was "fixed." Segrest's account of how and why McFadden "fixed" the case for Alabama Power and Drummond was subsequently confirmed by former Blount, Inc., CEO and Republican gubernatorial candidate Winton Blount III, and another high level executive at Blount, Inc. After "fixing" the case for Alabama Power and Drummond, McFadden resigned and was promptly rewarded with a job as general counsel at Blount, Inc.

This appears to be the same playbook that was used in the North Birmingham Bribery Scheme. After the case was allegedly "fixed," Jay Town resigned and was rewarded with a cushy, high-paying job as general counsel at Huntsville-based Gray Analytics.

Does exposing Alabama corruption come with risks? Yes, it does -- as we know firsthand. Writes Watkins:

The only Alabama media organizations to investigate and publish news articles on the chokehold that Alabama Power Company, Drummond Company, Balch & Bingham, Joe Perkins, Matrix, and Senator Shelby have on federal law enforcement agencies and federal judges in Alabama have been Kevin Forbes and CDLU, Roger Shuler and his online publication, Legal Schnauzer, and www.donaldwatkins.com.

Despite his status as a confessed federal lawbreaker, Joe Perkins is the "hunting buddy" of Sen. Shelby and Chief U.S. District Court Judge Scott Coogler (Birmingham). It is unclear as to who picks up the tab for these hunting excursions.

Mr. Forbes, CDLU, Mr. Shuler, Legal Schnauzer, and I have been targeted for destruction by this band of culprits. Joe Perkins' handwritten notes outlined his plan to destroy me and was published on this news site in September of 2021. 

Note that Alabama mainstream publications have been largely absent on these stories. But Watkins hints that national news outlets might pick up the slack -- and he provides a much-deserved hat tip to K.B. Forbes and his public charity:

    A grateful public thanks to Kevin B. Forbes and CDLU for the courage and tenacity they have shown     in rooting out the ingrained corruption in the U.S. Attorney's Office and the U.S. District Courthouse     for the Northern District of Alabama. The job is not finished, but substantial progress has been made     in eradicating this corruption.

    The Washington Post, which reported on "Alabama's Watergate" on April 3, 1977, now has a chance     to report on the floodgate of public corruption at the highest level of federal law enforcement in           Alabama 45 years later. At www.donaldwatkins.com, we will do our part to support Mr. Forbes, CDLU, Roger Shuler, and Legal Schnauzer.

An Alabama judge, in an apparent effort to protect the state's "Big Mule" corporations, is unlawfully sealing court files to ensure the public remains in the dark

 

The crookedness of Alabama's judiciary, which has been the primary topic of Legal Schnauzer (our reason for being, you might say) since the blog began in June 2007, has found the spotlight of AL. com, the state's largest mainstream news outlet, and prize-winning columnist John Archibald, according to a report from K.B. Forbes, publisher of the banbalch.com blog and CEO of its parent organization, the CDLU public charity and advocacy group.

Forbes and Archibald administer a public thrashing of Jefferson County Circuit Judge Tamara Harris Johnson, a distinction she has earned with her law-defying botch job on a $75-million lawsuit that grew out of the North Birmingham Superfund Bribery Scandal, a criminal matter that involved some of Alabama's best-known and most-powerful "Big Mule" companies, drawing national news coverage in the process. As a Black female Democrat, Johnson might seem an unlikely candidate to carry water for corporate wrongdoers, such as Drummond Company, Alabama Power, and their favored law firm, Balch & Bingham. But that clearly is what she is doing in the civil fraud case brought by former Drummond executive David Roberson, who claims his former employer and Balch & Bingham conspired to make him the fall guy in the North Birmingham criminal case.

Judges in the Birmingham area can serve for decades without receiving much in the way of media scrutiny, but Forbes and Archibald do a masterful job of calling out Johnson, treatment she richly deserves for unlawfully sealing the Roberson lawsuit to ensure that the public has no idea what is going on in a matter of national interest. Under the headline "The Stench of Lies and Criminal Acts: Southern Company Racketeering Enterprise Successfully Erodes Alabama Judiciary," Forbes writes:

Two-time Pulitzer Prize winning journalist John Archibald has ripped the legal mockery and lies of a Southern Company stooge, blocking access to ex-Drummond executive David Roberson’s $75-million civil lawsuit against embattled law firm Balch & Bingham and Drummond Company.

Southern Company’s criminal racketeering enterprise is in full-throttle, on overdrive.

--------------------

In a skewering, Archibald writes:

You want to know what happened when a former coal company executive – one convicted in the bribery of former Alabama Rep. Oliver Robinson – sued his powerful bosses and their powerful lawyers for putting him in that bind?Of course you do. So do we.

But don’t hold your breath. Even in those polluted neighborhoods that started this thing. Finding basic facts – even the status of the case – is like, well, like finding a body in a Walker County coal mine.

Because a Jefferson County judge says “this is not a public issue.”

Despite the First Amendment. Despite Alabama open records laws. Despite appearances and the stench emanating from Judge Tamara Harris Johnson’s court.

“You just have to take my word,” she said.

  -----------------------------

Those guffaws you hear are coming from Forbes'direction:

Take her word?

Let’s look at the record.

In December of 2020, Alabama Power was in sheer, uncontrolled panic about the civil rebirth of the North Birmingham Bribery Trial.

Allegedly using the enormous weight of their racketeering enterprise, resources, and agents, Southern Company heavily fought back.

On Wednesday December 13, 2020, Alabama Power and Alabama Power CEO Mark A. Crosswhite objected to discovery and intent for deposition requests by Roberson.

That same day in Drummond’s pleading before the Alabama Supreme Court calling for a stay on discovery and depositions, Alabama Power and Crosswhite are mentioned as an example of the “burden and expense” the rebirth was causing.

On Sunday, December 17, 2020, unheard from since the summer of 2018, Steven McKinney, the former Balch & Bingham partner who was indicted but acquitted in the North Birmingham Bribery Criminal Trial, came out of obscurity and retirement; and objected to discovery and intent to deposition requests, giving his old comrade Crosswhite an assisted tackle.

Trying to obscure their panic, Mark A. Crosswhite, the former Balch partner and now ex-CEO of Alabama Power, had his team of attorneys at White, Arnold, & Dowd, led by white-collar criminal attorney Mark White, file an avalanche of hard-copy, paper court pleadings at the courthouse in office, over the counter, that same week.

The two Marks offered a 22-page pleading asking for a protective order in part because of us, the CDLU and this Website, BanBalch.com.

Was Johnson protecting anyone at Southern Company, Alabama Power, Drummond, and their associates? Forbes provides background that strongly suggests the answer is yes. In other words, the judge had become a corporate water carrier. Writes Forbes:

Alabama Power whined that we outlined correctly that Alabama Power, Mark Crosswhite and “an all-star reunion show” would be subpoenaed in the rebirth of the North Birmingham Conspiracy Case.

Judge Johnson eventually succumbed to the enormous pressure of the racketeering enterprise and blocked the discovery and deposition of Crosswhite, Alabama Power, and anyone tied to Southern Company in January of 2021.

In February of 2021, we reported about the written testimony from the case in which Roberson answered to a list of admissions provided by Drummond. Roberson outlines an alleged bribery scheme involving ex-U.S. Senator Luther Strange and Drummond in which Strange, then-Attorney General of Alabama, was allegedly bribed to sign letters opposing the North Birmingham EPA clean-up effort.

Two days after our report that struck a raw nerve, Josh Moon, brain amputee of the discredited Alabama Political Reporter and alleged CDLU stalker, published a report apparently on behalf of  Southern Company that viciously attacked us, the CDLU, about the $2-million grant that we had received in 2019, falsely alleging it was tied to attacking Balch & Bingham, the sister-wife of  Southern Company.

 Soon, the situation would turn even uglier, Forbes reports:

Southern Company’s criminal racketeering enterprise had authorized the payment of $120,000 to Alabama Political Reporter (APR) in August of 2020 to allegedly defame and smear us through July of 2021.

Two days after Moon’s smear piece was published, Roberson’s car window was shot out as he was driving along Highway 280 in Birmingham. Some claimed the criminal act was an assassination attempt; others claimed it was a warning.

We also published a report on the Balch & Bingham invoice that appeared to be manipulated and intentionally changed from Drummond’s “confused ” general counsel’s name to Roberson’s name.

Shortly thereafter in March of 2021, Judge Tamara Harris Johnson sealed the entire case solely, it appears, for the benefit of the Southern Company criminal enterprise.

A prominent entity has sought to intervene in the case and have the records unsealed. But Judge Johnson, apparently now a compliant water carrier all the way, has resisted. Writes Forbes:

Johnson created another Star Chamber so that Southern Company’s criminal enterprise can lie, cheat, and manipulate the system just like they did in the Newsome Conspiracy Case.

Now more than two years later, the Energy and Policy Institute, according to Archibald, filed to intervene and open the case up. The Alabama Media Group filed brief in support of opening the case.

But Judge Johnson wants to keep the alleged corruption, bribes, and set up of the “fall guy” hidden.

 Archibald writes:

Johnson has ordered the case sealed, lock, stock and coal-smoking barrel. Court dates are invisible on Alacourt, the state’s online court record system, and elsewhere. Even headings of past and scheduled hearings are stricken, because Johnson says it’s none of your business.

“This is not a public issue,” she told lawyers this week.

Why?

“It is strictly an employment matter,” she said.

Forbes wasn't buying that:

An employment matter? That is a large spoonful of human waste.

Setting up an executive as a fall guy and sending him to federal prison is not an employment matter.

The reality is the Southern Company criminal racketeering enterprise appears to have been involved in the North Birmingham Bribery Scheme since day one.

        North Birmingham’s population is 92.5 percent African American.

When confronted about why Balch lobbyist Jeffrey H. Wood was on Capitol Hill at the height of the bribery scheme, inquiring about North Birmingham on behalf of Alabama Power, Kerr was silent for five seconds before regurgitating a canned legal answer.

Kerr was caught blind-sided, with his legal pants on the floor. Kerr appeared to have been protecting the criminal enterprise, and looked the other way.

Southern Company Executive Chairman Tom Fanning and current CEO Chris Womack also have looked the other way and let Crosswhite, Alabama Power, Mark White, Balch, embattled political consulting firm Matrix, LLC, and Matrix’s founder, “Sloppy Joe” Perkins run out of control.

Fanning authorized, and Womack supported, an internal investigation about the secret surveillance in 2017 of Fanning and his then-girlfriend, Kim Tanaka, that concluded with no conclusion. An utter farce!

What about the potential fallout from all of this? Forbes provides clues:

Millions of investor resources at Southern Company were wasted on personal vendettas and efforts to defame an innocent man falsely as a rapist. In addition, the company foolishly terrorized innocent children.

As we have documented, law enforcement, including the former U.S. attorney who resigned in disgrace in 2020, were compromised and appear to be agents of Southern Company’s RICO enterprise.

Upcoming civil RICO cases, derivative lawsuits, and federal probes may finally expose the truth, and force a deep, forensic investigation into all the criminal shenanigans, including the ex-parte communications between Judge Johnson and the criminal enterprise that has eroded the Alabama judiciary.

Take our word for it!

Newly filed documents in $75-million lawsuit indicate Drummond lied in response to discovery requests regarding former exec David Roberson in EPA case

Drummond Coal

 

Documents filed last Friday in a $75-million lawsuit indicate Drummond Company lied in its response to requests for discovery. David Roberson, plaintiff and a former Drummond executive, has moved trial judge Tamara Harris Johnson for an award of attorney fees and other expenses associated with uncovering the truth in the matters related to the apparent false responses. Roberson also moved the trial court to deem the facts as admitted.

The court filings came on the same day that someone fired a ahot into Roberson's vehicle as he drove south on Highway 280 toward the office of his attorney, Burt Newsome, in Shelby County.

The apparent falsehoods in Drummond's discovery responses involve issues central to Roberson's claim that Drummond set him up to be the fall guy in the North Birmingham Superfund bribery trial. Let's take a look at each of the three issues, including Drummond's responses and Roberson's evidence suggesting the responses were false:

(1.) Payment of Balch Bingham invoices

A.  Roberson's request: Admit or deny that the original invoice from Balch Bingham for reimbursement of Balch's payment to the Oliver Robinson Foundation was addressed to Blake Andrews (Drummond's general counsel).  

B. Drummond's answer: Denied.

C. Roberson's response: Attached is the original invoice from Balch Bingham to Drummond Company for reimbursement of Balch's payment to the Oliver Robinson Foundation for Robinson to do acts that were deemed illegal and resulted in the conviction of David Roberson, which was addressed to Blake Andrews. See plaintiffs' Exhibit 1. Said invoice was located by the Robeersons after an exhaustive search.

(2.)  Roberson is made the contact for payment of invoices to the Robinson Foundation

A. Roberson's request: Admit or deny that Blake Andrews, after receiving the original invoice addressed to him for reimbursement of Balch's payments to the Oliver Robinson Foundation had Balch change the contact person on these invoices to David Roberson. 

B. Drummond's answer: Denied.

C. Roberson's response: Attached is the original invoice from Balch Bingham to Drummond Company for reimbursement of Balch's payment to the Oliver Robinson Foundation for Robinson to do acts that were deemed illegal and resulted in in the conviction of David Roberson, which was addressed to Blake Andrews. See plaintiffs' Exhibit 1. Said invoice was located by the Roberson's after an exhaustive search. Written on said invoice by Blake Andrews are the words "should be David Roberson." Attached as plaintiffs' Exhibit 2 is the new invoice that was created by Balch to David Roberson after Blake Andrews instructed the change to be made where Mr. Roberson could unknowingly be approving the illegal invoices.

(3.) Drummond's assurance that David Roberson would receive full salary and benefits throughout the criminal-appeals process.

A. Roberson's request: Admit or deny that after David Roberson's indictment and conviction for matters related to Drummond, Balch, and the proposed North Birmingham Superfund site, Drummond CEO at that time, Mike Tracy, told both David and Anna Roberson that they had nothing to worry about financially and that David Roberson would be kept on Drummond's payroll at his current salary with full benefits until the criminal appeals process was completed.

B. Drummond's answer: Denied.

C. Roberson's response: Attached is the affidavit from George Barber, former president of the Alabama Coal Association, stating that Mike Tracy told him that David Roberson would be on Drummond's payroll with full benefits throughout the appeals process and that he had communicated the same to David and Anna Roberson as well. See plaintiffs' Exhibit 3.