Part 5: Alabama Power Sweetens Smitherman

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.