U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town Under Scrutiny for Ties to Alabama Power and Balch
[Update: July 10, 2020: Town has abruptly resigned. CDLU sparked probe forces resignation of disgraced U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town.]
During the pandemic quarantine, we, the CDLU, received a letter from the U.S. Department of Justice dated April 7, 2020 confirming that the Office of the Inspector General had reviewed our formal complaint from December against the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama Jay E. Town, and had forwarded the matter to the Office of Professional Responsibility and the General Counsel of the Executive Office of the United States Attorneys.
Providing the Department of Justice with hard copies of the jaw-dropping photos of Town chugging down cocktails with former Balch & Bingham partner and Alabama Power CEO Mark A. Crosswhite, we also supplemented our complaint with two additional packets of evidence and information.
Town’s alleged dirty work for Balch (a half-baked deposition) and refusal to investigate the Newsome Conspiracy Case, allegedly blocking the FBI at least four times, has caused keen interest in his behavior, including possible prosecutorial misconduct.
Prosecutorial misconduct?
Yes, Town’s alleged secret deal to keep Alabama Power “unmentionable” during the North Birmingham Bribery Trial.
Town had a bright future ahead but threw it all away because of a half-baked deposition and alleged misconduct that appears to help his friends at Alabama Power and Balch.
As we wrote to the DOJ:
[We], the CDLU, have sought the affirmation of inherent goodness and best practices from Balch & Bingham, Alabama Power, and the U. S. Attorney’s Office in this fight against injustice and unsavory conduct regarding the Newsome Conspiracy Case. All three parties have disappointed us. In our 19 years of advocacy, working closely with law enforcement and federal investigators, we have never, ever been blocked or derailed. We believe you, the Office of Professional Responsibility, have the ability, the tenacity to correct a wrong.
As the saying goes, power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
