During the Motion to Recuse her honor in the Newsome Conspiracy Case, Judge Carole Smitherman verbally attacked Burt Newsome, displayed flagrant bias, and then implicated her family.

“You have attacked my family unfairly,” she yowled, according to court transcripts.

Why would she say “family?” In his Motion to Recuse, Newsome pointed out that her husband, State Senator Rodger Smitherman had sat in multiple, secret Star Chamber hearings and been the recipient of about $30,000 in campaign cash from Balch affiliated entities or individuals.

Smitherman should have said her husband, but either way she showed unrestrained judicial bias.

As we reported, Balch & Bingham’s new attorney who replaced Schuyler Allen Baker, Jr. as lead attorney in the Star Chamber is Andrew “Andy2K” Campbell, of the boutique law firm Campbell Guinn.

State records show that Andy2K donated $2,000 to her honor on February 6, 2018, the same day as another law firm involved in the Newsome Conspiracy Case—Hare, Wynn, Newell & Newton made a $500 contribution.

Hare, Wynn, Newell & Newton had also donated $2,500 to Senator Smitherman in August according to state records, the same month a Hare Wynn employee was deposed and represented by the managing partner of Hare Wynn at a Newsome Conspiracy Case deposition.

Looking more closely at Andy2K, a review of 31 contributions he made since 2013 shows this is the first contribution he made to Judge Carole Smitherman, according to the state’s digital records.

And who was paid on that same day as Andy2K’s generous contribution? The daughter of the Judge and the Senator.

A family affair indeed.

In his 25-page unsolicited response to Newsome’s Writ of Mandamus, Andy2K, wails about our blog and the donations to the Smithermans we, the CDLU, exposed. Andy2K calls the donations legal contributions, not bribes.

So thought indicted co-conspirators Joel Gilbert, Steven McKinney, and David Roberson when they funneled $360,000 in donations to Oliver Robinson.

Writing to the Alabama Supreme Court, Andy2K quotes directly from our blog:

A review of 131 contributions made by Hare, Wynn, Newell & Newton since 2013 shows this is the first contribution they made to Smitherman, according to the state’s digital records. Why now? Why Smitherman? What were they trying to influence? And who authorized or signed the check?

Although we are honored that the esteemed court will read our work and see our satirical cartoons, we, like many in the advocacy, journalism, and legal professions, are shaking our heads in disbelief.

Who will Andy2K quote next month as he wails? Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist John Archibald? Vanity Fair? GASP? The Root?

In the interim, send the man a box of Kleenex.

Hard evidence hurts.

What the folks at Balch & Bingham cannot seem to grasp is that while on its face the contributions to the Oliver Robinson Foundation were legal, the alleged “official acts” by then-State Representative Oliver Robinson (dispatching letters on state letterhead written by Gilbert, meeting with the EPA, coached and then appearing before the AEMC, etc.) make them alleged bribes.

As our friends at the U.S. Department of Justice clarified:

If the connection is causally direct – if money was given essentially to purchase or ensure an official act, as a “quid pro quo” then the crime is bribery. If the connection is looser – if money was given after the fact, as “thanks” for an act but not in exchange for it, or if it was given with a nonspecific intent to “curry favor” with the public official to whom it was given –then it is a gratuity.

Judge Carole Smitherman and State Senator Rodger Smitherman received over $32,000 in campaign cash from those entities associated with or funded by Balch or Balch clients including a campaign contribution to Judge Smitherman in February from Balch’s new lead counsel, Andy2K.

Although investigators may debate which contributions were alleged bribes, which were alleged gratuities, or which were neither in the Newsome Conspiracy Case, these questionable contributions, many of which are first-time contributions, appear to have been given at critical junctures in the case, according to Newsome’s Writ of Mandamus.

Now let’s look at the hard evidence.

• Alabama Power provided $2,500 to Rodger Smitherman received on Wednesday, July 26, 2017. Alabama Power helped found Balch, is Balch’s top client,  and Alabama Power’s current top three executives are all former Balch partners.
• The Alabama Power PAC was run at the time by a former Balch partner, Alexia Borden.
• On Monday, July 31, 2017,  Balch filed a motion to strike the amended Newsome case from late June.   A hearing was set for August 31, 2017.
• Disregarding the hearing set for August 31, 2017, Judge Carole Smitherman, without a hearing, approved the motion to strike on Wednesday, August 2, a gross miscarriage of justice and judicial bias.
• In between these events, the alleged contribution and the signed order to strike, Smitherman apparently joined her husband on a junket to Biloxi, Mississippi.
• According to his expenditure reports, he spent over $1,700 in resources to attend the Southern Legislative Conference at the Hard Rock Casino between July 29 through August 2, 2017. A preliminary review of the photos on the SLC site seem to show that neither Smitherman attended any of the events.
• When did Smitherman order this motion to strike? While driving up the interstate? What do the phone records show and who was she speaking to before carrying out an official act?

Now with no real explanation except an impossible one to justify the presence of her husband inside hearings of the secretive Star Chamber, Smitherman in an apparent fit of hostility and anger retaliated against Newsome’s Writ (calling for her recusal) by filing 44 orders against Newsome the day after the Writ was filed.

As we described the other day,  Smitherman wrongly tossed out two critical affidavits falsely saying they had missed a October 10, 2017 deadline.

And when did she sign the order obligating everyone to file by October 10th?

On October 11th.

Shall we have lunch, your honor, yesterday at 12:30 p.m.? How does your schedule look?

Hard evidence hurts.

We now understand why Schuyler Allen Baker, Jr. hasn’t made any further stupid mistakes now that the veil of the secretive Star Chamber was ripped wide-open.

He was replaced by Andy Campbell of the boutique law firm Campbell Guinn to defend Balch & Bingham earlier this year.

And what did Andy do?

According to the Newsome’s Writ of Mandamus, Andy Campell donated $2,000 directly to Judge Smitherman’s campaign in February, one of the bigger donations to the Queen of the Star Chamber.

Unbelievable.

Steve Feaga, the Chief Compliance Officer at Balch and based in Montgomery, surely looks like he was hired in an act of window dressing.

If he truly had the oversight and control, Feaga should have blocked the hiring of Andy2K and any prospective firms who may have been engaged in influence peddling or dispersing campaign donations in Jefferson County.

We had written about the questionable campaign donations funneled to Smitherman and her husband starting last December, but Balch looks like they don’t give a hoot about appearances of improper conduct.

We do not know Andy2K, but people may ask, how old is he? He’s old enough to know better.

The alleged conduct of greasing the wheels, to hip-hop a judge, to intimidate others, and manipulate the legal system appears to be symptoms of a RICO entity.

Corruption breeds stupidity.

So what can campaign contributions buy you? Bias? Favoritism? Court orders that are way out of order?

In the massive Writ of Mandamus calling on Judge Carole Smitherman to be recused and her 44 retaliatory orders be stricken, Burt Newsome provides indisputable evidence of courtroom bias, flagrant injustice, and judicial sloppiness that even justices of the Alabama Supreme Court will roll their eyes when they read it.

In one of her retaliatory orders, Smitherman throws out two of the most critical affidavits showing that the single phone number connecting the alleged co-conspirators was indeed a pre-paid cell phone number. She writes that “they wree [sic] submitted after the deadline for discovery….”

Wrong!

As Newsome’s Writ states that the affidavits were due on October 10, 2017:

“Plaintiffs, out of an abundance of caution, filed both the affidavits of Robert Serrett and John Manning on October 10, 2017 based on the earlier Order of Judge Smitherman and the dates agreed amongst the parties….” 

Both affidavits were in compliance with the retroactive order, but Judge Smitherman still struck the affidavits as untimely anyway. A review of the affidavit filing stamp shows that they were indeed filed with the court on October 10, 2017 as required by Judge Smitherman’s order.

Judicial sloppiness, stupidity or corruption?  Maybe all three.

Corruption breeds stupidity. Read the orders here.

In the Newsome Conspiracy Case, Judge Carole Smitherman was angry, seething in the secret Star Chamber hearing where she refused to recuse herself.

She lashed out at Newsome. She continually interrupted Newsome and his lawyer. And she repeatedly talked down to them in anger.

She unequivocally affirmed the appearance of reckless bias and alleged judicial misconduct.

We always knew anger is the enemy of logic.

And Judge Smitherman may have had a Freudian slip of the mouth. According to the transcript, Smitherman said to Newsome:

You have attacked my family unfairly, and that is wrong. You and the person who you said you didn’t know and you had nothing to do with this website that you sent all over America.

Why would she so stupidly implicate her entire family?

Do her daughters have something to do with the hidden shenanigans and $30,000 in cash contributions? Is there more to investigate in this Freudian slip? A family affair?

We understand one daughter is a paid consultant on both her and her husband’s political campaigns.

Obviously, in her rambling outburst she is angrily speaking about BanBalch.com and us, the CDLU.

As advocates who provide a voice to the voiceless, we work to end miscarriages of justice, unconscionable business practices, and inept conduct by government agencies.

Our reporting about the allegations, the unsavory conduct, the criminal trial, and the secretive Star Chamber may ruffle feathers.

But these feathers, for the most part, are dirty and smell of corruption. 

We asked almost a year ago, “Will Carole Smitherman be the Next Oliver Robinson?”

With her husband sitting in on the secretive Star Chamber hearings,  thousand of dollars greasing her and her husband’s campaigns, and her blatant bias in the Star Chamber, the question now is:

Will Both Smithermans be the Next Oliver Robinson?

In the ongoing criminal bribery trial, according to news reports, Alabama State Senator Rodger Smitherman is listed as a defense witness for indicted Balch & Bingham partners Steven McKinney and Joel Gilbert, and Drummond Company executive David Roberson.

Senator Smitherman received what looks like two pay through contributions from Drummond: one through BIPAC in November for $5,000 and another in April from NEWPAC for $5,000.

Why is Drummond supporting Smitherman? Could it be to help obtain favorable and supportive testimony?

Or was it a pay through on behalf of Balch in their foolish fight with Burt Newsome?

We may have an answer.

The ugly and repugnant secrets of the unconstitutional Star Chamber in the Newsome Conspiracy Case are now out in the open.

The most shocking: Judge Carole Smitherman allowed her husband to sit in on multiple closed and sealed hearings of the Star Chamber.

Was the Senator there as an enforcer for any of the alleged co-conspirators? Was he there to make sure Newsome was eventually screwed? Was he showing he was good for the $30,000 in campaign cash he received by groups affiliated with, supported by Balch and/or their clients?

Judge Smitherman had the audacity to say her husband had been there to take her to the doctor. Really? Why wasn’t he sitting in her chambers or outside in the hallway?

The mathematical probability of having multiple doctors appointments on the same day as the multiple secret Newsome Conspiracy Case hearings is equal to winning the lottery without buying a lottery ticket.

Her foolish excuse is as bad as Balch’s ridiculous explanation that the cell phone number linking all the co-conspirators in the Newsome case was from a telemarketer.

After Newsome filed a motion for recusal, the hearing discussing the order was so flagrantly bias, so out of order, you can feel and hear the displaced anger from Judge Smitherman as she repeatedly interrupted Newsome and his lawyer, but let the attorneys for the co-conspirators ramble on.

Please take a few minutes to read the fascinating transcript of the secret Star Chamber hearing that includes alleged judicial misconduct and blatant injustice here.

Is Balch & Bingham really this stupid?

We knew the secretive Star Chamber would be used to hide alleged perjury, criminal conduct and other allegations of unsavory misconduct.

Now the secret veil has been ripped wide open at the same time as a criminal trial against two partners in the firm has started.

There are over 400 pages of horrific evidence in the Writ of Mandamus filed with the Alabama Supreme Court after Carole Smitherman refused to recuse herself as  presiding judge of the Star Chamber.

The following day after the Writ was filed, Judge Smitherman retaliated filing 44 orders trying to gut and disembowel Newsome.

Instead the Star Chamber and alleged miscounduct has disemboweled the judicial system in Alabama.

A gross miscarriage of justice probably seen as a glorious and triumphant victory by the idiots who let this happen, Balch & Bingham’s staunch defenders, most loyal clients, and trusted political allies will regurgitate in disgust as details emerge over the coming days.

Even U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and his staff will feel butterflies as they read the evidence and alleged misconduct.

And Sessions and others will say, are they really this stupid?

Judge Carole Smitherman, the patron saint of the secretive and unconstitutional Star Chamber, may have more problems after she and her husband,  State Senator Rodger Smitherman, accepted $30,000 in questionable contributions from entities funded by, associated with, or run by former associates of Balch & Bingham.

The U.S. Department of Justice is cracking down on judicial corruption. Yesterday a Supreme Court Justice in the highest court in the State of West Virginia was arrested.

Having provided information to the U.S. Department of Justice on alleged corruption and possible criminal conduct here in the judicial branch of Alabama, we were encouraged with the news from West Virginia. Fox News reports:

A West Virginia Supreme Court justice faces up to 395 years in prison and $5.5 million in fines after being hit with a 22-count indictment on numerous charges of fraud and corruption.

Allen H. Loughry II, a 47-year-old justice at the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, was charged by a federal grand jury on Wednesday with fraud, false statement, and witness tampering offenses.

Loughry was arrested by FBI agents on Wednesday morning at his home and was taken to the federal courthouse in Charleston for processing and to schedule his arraignment. He was not expected to be detained pending his trial.

“Public corruption is a top investigative priority for the FBI,” FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Nick Boshears said. “It erodes public confidence and undermines the Rule of Law. We want the people we serve to know the FBI will hold those accountable who betray the public’s trust.”

Following up on our recent correspondence about the Ronnlund Debacle, we spoke to and sent the DOJ this past Monday dozens of pages of new evidence of alleged corruption.

Loughry and similar officers of the court in Alabama must be held accountable no matter who or how powerful their benefactors may think they are.

And Balch & Bingham’s friends on the bench should wisely keep away from insidious behavior or even the appearance of improper judicial conduct, like the unconstitutional and secretive Star Chamber.

On August 14, 2017, we foreshadowed what could happen in the future with the post “Will Carole Smitherman be the next Oliver Robinson?”

Judge Carole Smitherman is the presiding judge of the secretive and criminal Star Chamber that was formed two weeks after our post was written.

Oliver Robinson is the former Alabama State Representative who was indicted in a bribery scheme along with two Balch & Bingham partners and a Drummond Co. executive that allegedly suppressed African-Americans from getting their toxic and contaminated property tested in North Birmingham.

We wrote at the time:

Will Smitherman allow Balch and others to abuse her credibility as a  respected constitutional law professor like Balch abused Robinson’s credibility and legacy as a UAB basketball star?

Will Smitherman protect her legacy as the first African-American female mayor of Birmingham, who served with distinction on the city council or toss it aside for 30 pieces of campaign silver?

Will Smitherman stand up to the lying sacks of marbles once and for all and treat all parties with fairness and due process regardless of campaign contributions?

Time Smitherman took the reins back.

And then came the “campaign contributions” not only directly to Judge Smitherman, but the vast majority to her husband, Alabama State Senator Rodger Smitherman.

Over $30,000 in cash.

The contributions were given by entities involved in the Newsome Conspiracy Case, funded or closely tied to Balch & Bingham partners, or run by former Balch & Bingham partners. Some contributions look like pay-throughs from Drummond Co. Others were entities supported by the two indicted Balch partners.

Half of the contributions were from first-time contributors, according to state digital records kept since 2013.

Maybe the contributions are just “coincidental” but what will investigators find?

We created this chart last year.

We can now add six additional entities used for contributions to the Smithermans and modify the known amount to over $45,000.

Since the Star Chamber has been tightly sealed for 265 days and counting, we have no idea what is happening except that it in itself is a miscarriage of justice.

We also learned the 30 pieces of silver we foreshadowed looks like they came in $1,000 denominations.

Shame on the Smithermans!

Today marks 250 days since Judge Carole Smitherman created the unconstitutional and secretive Star Chamber to allegedly shield Balch & Bingham from public exposure in the horrific Newsome Conspiracy Case.

We actually feel sorry for Schuyler Allen Baker, Jr., the lead Balch & Bingham attorney on the case, who fought for the foolish Star Chamber at the height, the peak of two federal probes.

Really, what in the hell was he thinking?

We have called the Star Chamber and the questionable and “coincidental” contributions to Judge Smitherman and her husband Alabama State Senator Rodger Smitherman Balch’s Waterloo.

Balch’s Waterloo saw the end of the prestige and honor that Balch & Bingham used to hold in Birmingham, the abdication of brilliant legal minds replaced with what appears to be foolish pettiness.

When Balch fired Clark A. Cooper on March 3, 2017, they should have settled the Newsome Conspiracy Case.

Again we ask, what in the hell were they thinking?

Although we have not been able to write about the Newsome Conspiracy Case for 250 days, as we told an investigative reporter, Balch & Bingham is the gift that keeps on giving.

From keeping indicted partner Joel I. Gilbert on the payroll, to the mass exodus of money-making partners, from dispersing public relations fluff, to the alleged whites-only land grab in Vincent, Alabama, Balch has more problems than that of Burt Newsome.

Gagged by the Star Chamber, Newsome, a blue-collar attorney, father of four young children who paid his way through college and nights in law school, has become the mouse that roared in silence.

Balch, and Schuyler, have learned the hard way as the old saying that mothers like to say: “Be careful for what you wish for.”

The CDLU has investigated, written about, and exposed, not one, two, or three other questionable “contributions” but four in total so far to State Senator Rodger Smitherman, the husband of Judge Carole Smitherman, the Queen of the Star Chamber.

Alabama Power’s donation, the fifth questionable contribution, was held under wraps as a courtesy to Tom Fanning, the CEO of Southern Company who called us in November. The donation was the first one made in this “series” of “coincidental” contributions.

As we told the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. in January while providing the affirming documentation:

Alabama Power provided $2,500 to Rodger Smitherman on July 26, 2017.  The PAC, [was] run at the time by a former Balch partner, Alexia Borden. On July 31, Balch filed a motion to strike the amended Newsome case from late July.  A hearing was set for August 31, 2017, but Judge Carole Smitherman, without a hearing, approved the motion to strike on August 2, a miscarriage of justice.  In between these events, the alleged [contribution] and the signed order to strike, Smitherman apparently joined her husband on a junket to Biloxi, Mississippi.  According to his expenditure reports, he spent resources to attend the Southern Legislative Conference between July 29 [through] August 2, 2017. A preliminary review of the photos on the SLC site seem to show that neither Smitherman attended any of the events.

“All those engaged in public corruption must be brought to justice, and it matters not their benefactor or station.” — U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town

Public corruption in Alabama makes headlines again, a little over six months after two Balch and Bingham partners were indicted in an alleged bribery scheme.

The Birmingham Business Journal wrote:

A longtime Alabama lawmaker from Vestavia Hills, a health care CEO and a former chairman of the Alabama Republican Party were arrested on Monday on public corruption charges.

The arrests stem from the trio’s involvement with a legislative bill in 2016 focused on insurance coverage of medical treatments.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Alabama Rep. Jack D. Williams, 60, of Vestavia Hills; lobbyist Martin J. “Marty” Connors, 61, of Alabaster; and G. Ford Gilbert, 70, of Carmichael, California, who owns Trina Health LLC; were charged with conspiracy to commit bribery related to federal programs, conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud, and honest services wire fraud.

So what does this mean? That the U.S. Attorney in the Middle District of Alabama Louis V. Franklin, Sr. and the U.S. Attorney of the Northern District of Alabama Jay E. Town are cracking down on public corruption.

As Town said in September after the Balch indictments: “All those engaged in public corruption must be brought to justice, and it matters not their benefactor or station.”

We applaud both U.S. Attorneys and federal investigators for their outstanding work tackling the most powerful (and who appear to be the most corrupt).

This is excellent news not only for the African-Americans who were suppressed in North Birmingham, but also to the descendants of slaves who were overlooked in an alleged whites-only property grab in Vincent, Alabama and for Burt Newsome who was a victim in an alleged criminal conspiracy to defame and steal his business.

We hope the scrutiny includes the questionable “contributions” to Judge Carole Smitherman’s husband State Senator Rodger Smitherman as she was considering sealing the Newsome Case and moving it into an unconstitutional and secretive Star Chamber.

Go, Jay, go! Go, Louis, go!

As we pointed out in different posts starting in December, Judge Carole Smitherman’s husband Alabama State Senator Rodger Smitherman received first-time contributions and other political cash tied to Balch & Bingham or the co-conspirators of the Newsome Conspiracy case, a case that Judge Smitherman is presiding over.

Influence peddling? Corruption? Or just coincidence?

Now comes Judge Carole Smitherman’s first campaign disclosure report of the election season, and guess who has donated to her heavily?

Attorneys and law firms. No surprise.

But what will surely raise eyebrows is the $500 contribution from Hare, Wynn, Newell & Newton.

As we wrote on December 15th:

In mid-August, Sharyn Lawson, the wife of the gentleman who had pulled a gun on Burt Newsome, was deposed. She is the sister-in-law of one of the alleged co-conspirators.  Her son was also deposed.

Both of them were represented by the esteemed  managing partner at Hare, Wynn, Newell & Newton, D. Leon Ashford.

On or about August 31, 2017,  the sealing of the entire Newsome Case since its inception and the creation of a Star Chamber where court proceedings are done with no public access or information available were put into effect.

On that very same day,  Senator Smitherman listed receiving a donation from Hare, Wynn, Newell & Newton for $2,500, according to campaign disclosure reports. (See actual documentation here.)

Just a coincidence?

Sharyn Lawson, a highly respected former paralegal at Hare, Wynn, Newell & Newton, worked for the law firm for decades.  No wonder she and her son were represented by the managing partner.

This morning. a review of 142 contributions made by Hare, Wynn, Newell & Newton since 2013 shows this is the first-ever contribution they made to Judge Carole Smitherman, according to the state’s digital records. This coincides with the first- ever contribution they made to State Senator Rodger Smitherman, according to the state’s digital records.

Why now? Why the Smithermans? What were they trying to influence with $3,000?

The unconstitutional and criminal Star Chamber Smitherman created is a disgrace to the legal institutions of the State of Alabama. And accepting campaign cash from anyone associated with the Star Chamber case is beyond unethical.

Both Smithermans must refund those questionable checks or face the consequences.

The blackout and secretive proceedings of the unconstitutional Star Chamber remain sealed and unknown almost six months later.

No one close to Balch or working at Jefferson County can tell us what is happening in the Newsome Conspiracy Case—not even Judge Carole Smitherman’s most trusted acquaintances.

Silence. Darkness. Secrecy.

Although the parties could be in the middle of jury selection or settlement talks, the only thing we have found is what looks like smelly corruption: first time contributions and other political cash to Judge Smitherman’s husband, State Senator Rodger Smitherman.

Then again, it could be all a coincidence.  Rodger that!