Although his knee jerk reaction was to call it “fake news, ” U.S. Senator Luther Strange (pictured) has been linked to the bribery scandal that has rocked the Alabama law firm Balch & Bingham, when the Alabama Political Reporter reported, that “[Alabama] State Rep. John Rogers told federal investigators that he was approached by executives from Drummond Coal and then-Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange and offered what Rogers considered a bribe if he would lead the State’s and Drummond’s efforts against the EPA’s cleanup of a superfund pollution site in north Birmingham, a source close to Rogers told APR.
“Asked about the allegations, Rogers declined to confirm them, saying he didn’t want to talk about it ‘yet, because it’s too volatile.’ ‘I don’t want to get into that stuff right now,’ Rogers said. ‘You have to be careful about that. These people are dangerous. I’ll keep that to myself until a later time.'”
Last week, former State Rep. Oliver Robinson entered a plea agreement with federal authorities who revealed Balch had funneled $360,000 to Robinson who in turn discouraged poor African-Americans in North Birmingham from having their toxic and contaminated property tested by the EPA. Drummond is a client of Balch.
Balch and Drummond have made political donations to Strange, according to news reports.
As The Root reported in more descriptive or colorful language about the scandal:
“Spearheading a horseshit-sandwich campaign contradicted by EPA evidence, Robinson argued that the soil testing would lower property values. His daughter helped stoke distrust in the feds, sending out dissuading emails and erecting signs urging folks to “Get Smart Tarrant—Don’t Let EPA Fool You!” Ultimately, the NPL proposal died. The implicated companies have yet to contribute to the cleanup, and Robinson resigned last year—but not before taking bribes and implicating [Jeffrey H.] Wood, the acting assistant attorney general entrusted with protecting the environment, in a scandal.
“During that time, Balch & Bingham’s point lobbyist for Southern Co. and Alabama Power was a brilliant partner by the name of Jeffrey Wood. Before that, in 2014, Wood was also counsel for Alabama Sen. and Keebler elf-turned-Attorney General Jeff Sessions. To be legally safe here, none of this is to say that Wood had direct involvement in Robinson’s misinformation campaign or bribery.”
