Mark A. Crosswhite, the former Balch & Bingham partner and current embattled Chairman and CEO of Alabama Power, has a curiosity.
His most trusted advisor appears to be white-collar criminal attorney Mark White of White, Arnold & Dowd.
During the North Birmingham Bribery Trial, according to court observers, White was allegedly at the proceedings everyday.
Before the Roberson case was sealed, White was allegedly in court listening to every legal argument and motion.
We, the CDLU, even bumped into him outside the Jefferson County Courthouse after attending a heated hearing in Roberson’s $75 million civil lawsuit, before the secret Star Chamber was enacted and before the COVID-19 pandemic hit. White was chattering away on his cell phone, waiting for the street light to change.
What kind of CEO would put his fate in the hands of a white-collar criminal attorney?
Could that be someone or an entity that has committed high crimes and misdemeanors?
A CEO of an electric utility would understandably have a seasoned electric engineer, environmental resources consultant, or marketing person near his ear. Even a governmental affairs person would be a valuable advisor.
But why a white-collar criminal attorney?
Is the alleged misconduct surrounding Alabama Power and Mark A. Crosswhite too close to the edge or have they crossed the line?
With the Matrix Meltdown, the alleged unethical, immoral misconduct by Sloppy Joe Perkins and Jittery Jeff Pitts has spilled wide open.
Will the spilled sewage overwhelm Crosswhite?
When the story broke about Crosswhite and Alabama Power having allegedly spied on and conducted surveillance of his boss Tom Fanning and his then-girlfriend, Alabama Power (through a Southern Company spokesperson) denied it.
But then again federal investigators believe there are plenty of liars associated with Alabama Power who twist the truth like taffy.
Recently, Mark White filed court documents trying to quash Jittery Jeff’s subpoena of Alabama Power and all documents related to Sloppy Joe and Matrix. The panic has just begun.
The curiosity of having a white-collar criminal attorney as a trusted advisor is not so strange as it is telling.
