Category Archives: Drummond

Southern Company Knocked Against the Ropes: Federal Probe Confirmed as Criminal RICO Complaint Lodged

The Form 8-K filing confirms that a federal probe is moving forward.

As we wrote last Thursday, both Southern Company and Florida Power and Light (FPL) appear to be preparing to negotiate “deferred prosecution agreements” with the U.S. Department of Justice.

But Southern Company has been knocked against the ropes according to a bombshell post on news blog DonaldWatkins.com.

On January 27, 2023, a criminal complaint was filed with Mr. Kenneth Polite, Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, that alleged a litany of violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act by: (a) Southern Company, Inc., (b) Alabama Power Company, (c) Matrix, LLC, (d) Joseph W. Perkins, Jr., (owner of Matrix), and (e) others RICO participants who worked in concert with them.

The major goals of the alleged racketeering enterprise were to: (a) target, influence, compromise, corrupt, control, and/or destroy individuals and entities that posed a perceived or real threat to Alabama Power’s monopoly in Alabama as an energy producer and provider, (b) perpetuate Alabama Power’s ironclad control of local, state, and federal elected and appointed officials in Alabama, and (c) protect, expand, and solidify its grip on the political affairs in the state of Alabama.

The complaint also alleges that the named offenders engaged in criminal antitrust conduct against certain Watkins-owned biomass-to-energy businesses that competed on a commercial scale against biomass-to-energy businesses owned and/or controlled by the Southern Company in the same U.S. markets.

The complaint was accompanied by a detailed Proffer of Evidence that named the specific offenders and outlined the nature and scope of the RICO and antitrust conduct that adversely impacted the complainants and caused them severe economic harm.

The named complainants are: (a) Donald V. Watkins, Sr., (b) Donald V. Watkins, Jr., (c) Donald V. Watkins, P.C., (d) Watkins-Pencor, LLC, (e) the Donald Watkins Agency, Inc., (f) DNA Centers of Alabama, Inc., and (g) Highland Virtual Suites, LLC, all of which are/were owned by the complainants during the racketeering conspiracy period.

The criminal RICO complaint could help consolidate the numerous criminal allegations against the embattled utility and its highly paid stooges: Balch & Bingham and Matrix, LLC. Drummond Company (and others) may also be viewed as a possible participant in this RICO scheme.

In another bombshell post, DonaldWatkins.com outlines possible indictments against Southern Company, Florida Power & Light, and Matrix, LLC founder “Sloppy Joe” Perkins, the Oompa Loompa of Alabama politics.

On January 25, 2023, NextEra Energy (NEE) and Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) filed a Form 8-K with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announcing that “Allegations of violations of law by FPL or NEE have the potential to result in fines, penalties, or other sanctions or effects, as well as cause reputational damage for FPL and NEE, and could hamper FPL’s and NEE’s effectiveness in interacting with governmental authorities.”

The Form 8-K stated that “FPL’s and NEE’s business and reputation could be adversely affected by allegations that FPL or NEE has violated laws, by any investigations or proceedings that arise from such allegations, or by ultimate determinations of legal violations.

The violations of law referenced in the 8-K stem from the clandestine “dirty tricks” work Joe Perkins’ Matrix, LLC, performed for these companies.

On the same day of NEE’s Form 8-K filing, chief executive officer Eric Silagy was ousted as CEO of FPL.

In November 2022, the Southern Company ousted Mark Crosswhite as Alabama Power’s chief executive officer, effective on December 31, 2022.

The Southern Company has not issued a Form 8-K filing yet, but may do so after an internal investigation by the Atlanta-based King & Spalding, LLP, law firm centering on Matrix’s “dirty tricks” work for the Southern Company and Alabama Power is completed.

The Form 8-K filing confirms that a federal probe is moving forward. NEE would never risk writing about potential violations of law in an SEC filing unless there was an ongoing probe.

In October of 2021, we learned that a federal probe of obstruction of justice against Alabama Power and Crosswhite had been launched over the North Birmingham Bribery Trial.

In July, we had both phone and written communication with the U.S. Department of Justice regarding the money laundering of over $50 million using 18 tax-exempt entities as foolishly outlined by Sloppy Joe in a since-deleted post on Yellowhammer News, an Alabama Power controlled “news” website.

In addition to the highly anticipated civil RICO lawsuits to be filed in the next 30 to 60 days, the filed criminal RICO complaint and ongoing federal probes are putting insurmountable pressure on Southern Company, knocked against the ropes as spectators anticipate a technical knock-out.

Attempted Murder by Southern Company? Ongoing Investigation Reveals Explosive New Evidence Linking Crosswhite Advisor to Newsome Head-On, Near-Death Collision

We’ve said it before: there is no such thing as a coincidence in Alabama.

And now the connections to the Southern Company criminal enterprise are solidifying on a case of what some would call attempted murder.

In 2019, we, the CDLU, uncovered the fact that the cop that pulled over Burt Newsome in his staged arrest in 2013 was the son of an Alabama Power executive. The executive was also a long-time client of Balch & Bingham.

Now, with a highly anticipated civil RICO lawsuit in the works, the corruption of law enforcement is getting a deep review.

How many other abuses under the authority of color has Southern Company’s criminal enterprise engaged in?

The CDLU, working with investigators, has found stunning evidence in the near-death, head-on car collision of Burt Newsome. The investigation is currently ongoing.

The accident occurred on September 10, 2020, at the height of the aggressive campaign of terror by Southern Company’s criminal enterprise against Newsome and his family.

Newsome

Southern Company paid for luggage to be sent to the Newsome family as a threat to his wife and four young kids. Creating fear, Newsome’s wife was targeted, and her car window was smashed in.

Two weeks before the head-on accident, Southern Company paid for a smear site that falsely called Newsome a rapist.

Newsome refused to end the Newsome Conspiracy Case and refused to drop ex-Drummond executive David Roberson’s $75 million civil lawsuit.

Even with all the threats and lies, Newsome was not intimidated.

Was the car accident planned as the ultimate way to end both lawsuits? Death?

Highly unusual, a State Trooper arrived on the scene only minutes after the accident, as if he were a fox in waiting.

The accident occurred on a County Road and in Shelby County only Sheriff Deputies can draft up an accident report; State Troopers are called only when a fatality is involved.

Were they expecting Newsome to be dead?

The accident report by the State Trooper is completely inaccurate and photos taken at the scene prove that the accident report was deliberately misleading.

The accident report’s attempts to show that the person who hit Newsome was simply making a left turn and that Newsome hit him straight up. That is false.

Newsome was driving a blue Volkswagen Jetta and the other driver was driving a green Ford Explorer.

Newsome saw the person appearing to come straight at him and Newsome made a defensive move and swerved to his left just beyond a yellow “suicide” lane. However, the driver of the other vehicle then turned to his right and appears to have gunned it towards Newsome.

The other driver’s wheels are turned to the right and appears that he was driving straight, not turning at all to his left.

The accident report attempts to imply that the accident happened as Newsome was entering the intersection. It did not.

A photo taken at the scene clearly shows that the entrance and center of the intersection is clear. You can clearly see the yellow “suicide” lane

Looking westbound, Newsome was driving eastbound (towards the camera).

The side-by-side graphic below shows what the state trooper filed and what would be a more accurate visualization of the accident where the wheels of the Ford Explorer were actually turned to the right. In addition, the accident report attempts to show that Newsome (Car #2) was going straight and then moved to his right, a falsity. The opposite is true.

The State Trooper attempted to prevent photos from being taken. A photo taken from another angle of the accident shows that the Ford Explorer’s left tire is also facing to the right.

When you look at the photos and compare them to the accurate visualization, the state trooper’s report is definitively inaccurate and wrong.

But more troubling than the photos and inaccurate if not false accident report is the narrative provided by the state trooper.

In the narrative, the trooper states that the driver of the green Ford Explorer stated, “as he was going to make his left turn another car in front of him was making a right turn on County Road 11, and he did not see vehicle #2 behind the non-contact vehicle and as the non-contact turned right he was turning left and vehicle #2 entered the intersection and struck him.”

That is absurd and impossible!

You cannot turn right going westbound or you will end up on a mound of dirt.

Even if a car coming in the opposite direction was turning to the right, there is a dedicated right turning lane.

Nothing would be obscured.

Mark White

The ongoing investigation has not only found that the accident report was severely inaccurate and at times false, there is now solid evidence of connections between the state trooper and a known business associate of Mark White, the most trusted advisor of disgraced ex-CEO of Alabama Power, Mark A. Crosswhite.

White is a white-collar criminal attorney who represents Alabama Power and attended the North Birmingham Bribery Trial every day, according to court observers.

The business associate also appears to be linked to the individual(s) who allegedly filed the false police report in 2013 that led to Newsome’s staged arrest in the Newsome Conspiracy Case by the son of an Alabama Power executive.

Investigators are digging deep into the relationships between the state trooper, White’s business associate, and the driver of the green Ford Explorer who allegedly works at Norfolk Southern, a Southern Company transportation provider.

Burt Newsome is an Iron Man and has vigorously fought back against the corrupt judicial system and co-conspirators. After the accident, he rehabilitated himself and has successfully grown a respected law office with more clients, more victories, and precedent-setting decisions.

Investigators are asking, since Newsome would not give-in, did Crosswhite order the final solution? Was Mark White stupid enough “to follow orders?”

This is an ongoing investigation, and we will provide further updates.

RICO: Southern Company and the Corruption of the Alabama Judicial Branch

A simple case of breach of contract and misrepresention was sealed in its entirety. No minors, or victims of sexual assault or domestic violence were involved.

So why was the case sealed then?

Because the case was tied to Southern Company, its subsidiary Alabama Power, and/or sister-wife Balch & Bingham.

Observers have been stunned by the sheer control that Southern Company has over judges and the judicial branch in Alabama.

The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization.

With the numerous documents, financial records, and insurmountable evidence of Southern Company’s criminal enterprise, now the greasing and corruption of the judicial branch of Alabama is under scrutiny.

The simple case of breach of contract and misrepresention is ex-Drummond executive David Roberson’s $75 million civil lawsuit against Drummond Company and Balch & Bingham.

No developments in the case are currently available because of the gag order, sealing of the case.

And the motions to seal the case were made shortly after disgraced ex-Alabama Power CEO Mark A. Crosswhite was subpoenaed to testify.

Known as the rebirth of the North Birmingham Bribery Trial, the case caused uncontrolled panic by Alabama Power, Drummond, and Balch before it was sealed.

And why does Southern Company seal a case?

So they can cheat and hide high crimes and misdemeanors.

Look at the Newsome Conspiracy Case where Southern Company’s attorneys at Balch & Bingham sealed the case in its entirety, known as a secret Star Chamber.

The entire case was “won” on a counterfeit order that even Balch admitted was counterfeit.

The counterfeit order was embarrassingly affirmed by the Alabama Supreme Court after contradicting an earlier, split-decision.

Judge Smitherman

Judge Carole Smitherman, who presided over the Newsome Conspiracy Case, was completely bias, calling Newsome’s pleadings an attack on her family.

Why would she allude to her family?

Because her husband, Alabama State Senator Roger Smitherman received over $30,000 in legal bribes contributions from Southern Company linked PACs and donors at critical junctures during the case. Senator Smitherman even sat in on the secret Star Chamber hearings of the Newsome case when no one outside of the case was supposed to be in the courtroom.

Crosswhite’s inappropriate relationship with disgraced ex-U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town helped Alabama Power to be “unmentionable” during the North Birmingham Bribery Trial and allegedly prevented a broader investigation after the convictions, that could have led to indictments of Southern Company employees.

Except for Regions Bank in Birmingham, Alabama has no Fortune 500 companies headquartered in the state.

Why?

Because of the high risk of a failed and compromised legal system.

What company CEO would want to deal with a corrupt and bias “system of justice” controlled and manipulated by a corrupt few in Jefferson County and Montgomery?

The rule of law and the people’s court sadly does not exist, but RICO actions against Southern Company and its criminal enterprise can bring an end of an era of uncontrolled corruption and flagrant miscarriages of justice.

Hear, hear!

Part 6: Signed Docs Affirm Alabama Power’s Alleged Criminal Enterprise; Will Southern Company Fire “Sloppy Joe” Perkins?

The signed documents we have received anonymously, on top of the financial records, are truly earth-shattering. They appear to confirm Alabama Power/Southern Company’s alleged criminal enterprise.

In September we wrote:

Crosswhite more than ever is unfit to serve. He appears to show unwavering loyalty to Balch, Matrix, Mark White, and a web of non-disclosure agreements, blank checks, front groups, pay throughs, and secret contracts instead of Fanning or Southern Company.

Southern Company must cut the ropes with this alleged posse of deplorable and disloyal actors, who appear to be bald-face liars. Terminate Balch. Terminate Matrix. Terminate Sloppy Joe. Terminate White. Fire Crosswhite!

Now that Crosswhite has been ousted, Southern Company CEO Tom Fanning needs to clean house starting with “Sloppy Joe” Perkins and his obscure political consulting firm, Matrix.

Peoples

Perkins’ signature is on documents in which Jeff Peoples of Alabama Power paid him mid-five figures to allegedly terrorize Burt Newsome, his young twins, his entire family.

Why would Peoples, Alabama Power Executive Vice President of Customer and Employee Services, be involved in such alleged acts? Why would a utility company entangle themselves in an alleged criminal enterprise including terrorizing innocent children and families?

The mid five-figures given to Sloppy Joe is on top of the over $2 million paid to Perkins and his entities yearly allegedly without the need for an invoice.

Although described as involving “transportation,” the obscure and vague contract appears to affirm the alleged dirty-deeds tied to Matrix.

Transportation services and trade secrets seem to be synonymous with high crimes, dirty-deeds, and acts of terror.

With Alabama Power allegedly spending hundreds of thousands through Matrix to allegedly smear Newsome falsely on a website as a rapist in July and August of 2020,  there is not much left to stretch when looking at the alleged crime of attempted murder against Burt Newsome that occurred on September 11, 2020.

Newsome was injured in a head-on accident two weeks after the smear website went live.

He was gravely injured and nearly killed. Some even claimed the act was an alleged intentional act to silence Newsome, who is the lead attorney in ex-Drummond executive David Roberson’s $75 million civil lawsuit against Alabama Power’s sister-wife Balch  & Bingham, and Drummond Company.

The other driver allegedly works for Norfolk Southern, a long-time business partner of Alabama Power and Drummond.

The photo appears to show oddly that the other driver in the green Ford Explorer, who made a left turn in front of Newsome,  turned right when Newsome attempted to swerve around him.

Currently, the Roberson case is under seal in a secret Star Chamber. The sealed proceedings could be hiding, obscurring, and consealing high crimes and criminal misconduct.

Ironically, one of the highest campaign contributors to the judge presiding over the Roberson case is the illustrious Andrew “Andy2K” Campbell, who incredibly represents Sloppy Joe, Matrix and Balch.  (Campbell donated $3,000. Maybe he should now be called Andy3K.)

Before the case was sealed,  Alabama Power and Crosswhite were in sheer panic and vigorously fought to have protective orders approved.

The rebirth of the North Birmingham Bribery Trial appears to be a grave threat to Alabama Power.

Before the case was sealed in 2021, was Alabama Power trying to intimidate Newsome?

Everything we, the CDLU, have received is being turned over to the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including “Sloppy Joe’s” trade secrets.

Fanning must terminate the Oompa Loompa of Alabama politics, Sloppy Joe, and clean house.

The Crosswhite era is over, and the posse loyal to him needs to be removed like a bad cancer.

Terminate Matrix. Terminate Sloppy Joe. Terminate White. Terminate Balch.

Part 5: Alabama Power’s Brain Amputee Josh Moon Allegedly Stalked Hispanic Advocacy Group

Josh Moon, who we, in 2020, originally thought had amputated his brain for Balch & Bingham, appears to have foolishly made the ultimate sacrifice for Alabama Power possibly through their paid stooges at the obscure political consulting firm Matrix.

Moon, who was dumped as a regular columnist at the Montgomery Advertiser in 2016, has worked at the discredited Alabama Political Reporter (APR) ever since.

The anonymous financial documents we received show that APR allegedly received $120,000 plus other pay-throughs from Alabama Power in 2020 to allegedly publish smear pieces on us, the CDLU.

But Moon went one step deeper in the rancid manure: he allegedly stalked and harassed the CDLU.

Now photographic and video evidence from August 2020, shows Moon showing up to our then-corparate headquarters, demanding from the receptionist at the office copies of CDLU’s 990 tax filings.

Problem was it was the receptionist for the business next door. CDLU had shut down our offices in March of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Moon builds up courage in his black pick up in CDLU’S parking lot

Possibly so ashamed of acting like a Bangkok whore for Alabama Power, Moon waited about 15 minutes in the parking lot before building enough courage to enter the building.

Moon left a fake name (Bill) and a phone number that was one digit off from his real cellular phone number when the receptionist offered to get his request to us.

What an idiot!

In 2014, while at the Montgomery Advertiser, Moon wrote about the controversies surrounding reducing coal-burning emissions, stating at the time:

I am almost convinced that our state leaders could hear a business proposal for dumping toxic waste directly on the Gulf beaches and their first question would be: “Uh, yeah, what’s the earning potential on that?”

Moon also ironically discusses the paid, partisan websites bought by power companies similar to how APR was allegedly “bought” with a generous six-figure “advertising” budget:

That’s why every time this issue is discussed on the partisan websites, which also are bought by power companies, there’s always an image of the black-faced coal miners pausing momentarily from the day’s work. 

But by the fall of 2020, Moon appeared to have bent down on his knees for Alabama Power. Discussing the enormous controversies concerning toxic coal ash ponds, Moon states:

However, when you look at the actual, real-life options for this stuff — and I can’t believe I’m going to say this — but the plan from Alabama Power seems to be a fairly good one. 

Dumping toxic waste 750 yards from the Mobile River is part of Alabama Power’s plan, and Moon can’t even believe his own words of support.

What a sell-out!

So what caused the 180° change? Money? Financial stress? Economic needs?

Journalism in general has seen massive layoffs, liquidations, consolidations, and buy outs. Many former journalists have gone to the private sector and left journalism behind.

In 2019,  Moon attempted to become a real estate agent. 

When he began allegedly stalking us, the CDLU, we found that he had no listings at Next Move Realtors and by September of 2020 Moon had let his real estate license lapse, according to state records.

Moon appears to have failed as a realtor.

The Google Maps image of the real estate office in 2020 cleary captured what appears to be Moon’s black crew-cab pick up truck in front of their offices. The truck looks identical to the one parked in our parking lot, where Moon waited for about 15 minutes.

Same crew-cab truck?

Not only was Moon allegedly stalking our corporate headquarters, he appears to have driven in front of the home of our Chief Executive Officer, K.B. Forbes, according to an image captured by security cameras. Although blurred by movement, the vehicle, a black crew-cab pickup, looks like Moon’s pickup truck. Because of threats, Forbes and his family were at a secure location in Mexico at the time.

Moon’ s alleged stalking and harassment was a futile exercise.

All of CDLU’s 990 tax returns are available at guidestar.org or the Nonprofit Explorer at Propublica.org. And the public can request a copy and the CDLU is required by law to provide a copy within 30 days.

Moon must have known this.

Moon as a teenager with a thick mullet and a functioning brain.

Even just a few days ago, we got our third request in three years from a woman, originally from Alabama, who now lives in California, requesting a copy of our 990. She has been the only one to do so in the past decade. No one else has.

Moon appears to be too arrogant to ask for the 990 himself.

So why in heaven’s name did Moon appear at our offices in 2020?

To provoke fear? To intimidate? To harass? To stroke his ego?

Or was he performing a failed “happy ending” during his dismal career as an alleged Bangkok whore for Alabama Power?

And he dare calls himself an “investigative journalist.”

What a disgrace!

Burnt Turkey: Crosswhite Ouster Rocks Balch; Bombshells Coming Next Week

Using the stock-in-trade excuse like his drinking buddy, ousted Alabama Power CEO and ex-Balch partner Mark A. Crosswhite claims he needs to “spend more time with his family,” echoing disgraced ex-U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town’s same line of bull.

Over a year ago, we reported that Crosswhite was “allegedly telling bourgeois insiders that he has the lock and key to the C-Suite at Southern Company, Alabama Power’s parent company.”

$21 million in 2021

The current CEO of Southern Company Tom Fanning made over $21 million last year.

Crosswhite did not give that opportunity up to spend more time with his family and you, our dear reader, know his excuse is a crock.

As we wrote just last week, Crosswhite’s abrupt demise was caused by his unwavering loyalty to alleged racist law firm Balch & Bingham and absolute confidence in “Sloppy Joe ” Perkins, the founder of obscure political consulting firm Matrix.

So furious at the collapse of his career, sources claim, Crosswhite allegedly refuses to even talk to his ex-law partners at Balch.

Rocked by Crosswhite’s ouster, Balch, sources claim, is allegedly in utter turmoil, near collapse as Balch’s lifeline may come to an end this year.

Just like Balch arrogantly thought they could make millions when their stooge ex-U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions was made U.S. Attorney General in 2017, Balch appears to have bet the farm on Crosswhite’s eventual coronation as CEO of Southern Company.

The anticipated coronation instead became a resounding condemnation.

A fluff piece on Crosswhite’s ouster in Yellowhammer News affirms Crosswhite’s alleged anger at Balch & Bingham, by omitting Balch’s name, writing, “Crosswhite represented the company in private practice for 17 years before serving Southern Company in an official capacity.”

17 years at Balch as a partner forgotten down an Orwellian memory hole!

No wonder Balch celebrated their centennial anniversary in secret, hidden on a hilltop, last month.

Current Southern Company CEO Tom Fanning will have more horse stalls to clean up next week as we reveal more bombshells that could lead to possible criminal indictments.

The stench of horse manure is intense and overwhelming.


To our dear readers (including our friends at Balch, Drummond Company, and Alabama Power), we wish you and yours a Happy Thanksgiving!

Another One Bites the Dust! Ex-Balch Attorney and Alleged Pedophile Espy Pleads Guilty

Another ex-Balch attorney is headed to federal prison.

According to the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama this late afternoon, Chase T. Espy, 36, pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography.

Espy will be sentenced in January.

According to the U.S. Attorney:

The plea agreement filed states the investigation was initiated when Espy engaged in online chats with undercover law enforcement whom Espy believed was a 15-year-old girl.  Upon being arrested, Espy’s cell phone was seized, and a search warrant was obtained.  From this search, approximately 69 videos and four images of child sexual abuse material were found.

Espy will join ex-Balch partner Joel I. Gilbert in the federal prison system.

Gilbert was found guilty of six federal crimes including money laundering and bribery during the North Birmingham Bribery Trial.

Now insiders are telling us more Balch partners could possibly join the federal prison system.

Balch attorneys and stooges are allegedly being investigated and could be be held accountable by the U.S. Attorney in the alleged Elderly Exploitation Scandal of 2020 that targeted Joann Bashinsky (Mrs. B), the grandmother who was worth $218 million and allegedly lied to by a Balch partner and allegedly abused by a probate judge who resigned abruptly in May of 2020.

Just two weeks ago, the U.S. Attorney stated:

“Crimes against older adults target some of the most vulnerable people in our society,” U.S. Attorney Escalona said. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office and our law enforcement partners will continue to vigorously pursue individuals who target older adults in the Northern District of Alabama.” 

The alleged federal investigation of ex-Balch partner and current CEO of Alabama Power Mark A. Crosswhite has been amplified by the foolish conduct of Matrix founder Sloppy Joe Perkins who outlined an alleged criminal enterprise involving the money laundering of over $50 million through 18 tax-exempt entities. Perkins, Alabama’s Oompa Loompa, is paid millions every year by the utility.

Meanwhile, in a hidden, secretive Star Chamber, ex-Drummond executive David Roberson’s $75 million civil lawsuit is gaining strong interest of law enforcement officials since nothing is publicly available and potential criminal misconduct may have been intentionally obscured with these protective orders filed in early 2020.

And now observers are asking, is Balch’s former Chief Compliance Officer Stephen P. Feaga cooperating with federal investigators and giving them a deep, inside perspective or evidence of potential misconduct at the embattled law firm?

The quiet before the storm.

And all the while, the civil RICO lawsuits are still waiting quietly in the wings.

Alleged Attempted Coup D’Etat at Drummond Company Affirms Lost Path of Management Team

The aftershocks of the North Birmingham Bribery Trial proved that Drummond’s top management brass appears to be foolish enough to abandon corporate and family loyalty.

After Drummond executive David Roberson was convicted in July of 2018, Drummond immediately vowed to fight for justice on his behalf, noting his conviction was unfair and unjust and that Balch had misled Roberson.

Mike Tracy

Six months later, in February of 2019, then-Drummond CEO Mike Tracy appeared to do a 180 and abruptly fired Roberson. Then 12 days after firing Roberson, Tracy dispatched a cold-hearted letter yanking support to Roberson’s charity of choice: a school that caters to developmentally disabled, special needs, and autistic children.

In the spring of 2019, David and Anna Roberson filed a $75 million civil lawsuit against Balch and Drummond (now under seal in a secretive Star Chamber.) Under intense scrutiny at the time, Tracy abruptly announced his retirement as CEO that summer of 2019.

But was Tracy through? No. He still, today, serves on Drummond’s Board of Directors.

Now sources tell us that Tracy and Drummond Vice Chairman Bruce Webster (above, top right) allegedly attempted a coup d’etat against the Drummond family this past August, three years after Tracy’s resignation as CEO.

Tracy and Webster allegedly attempted to sell Drummond Coal Company and John Drummond, the Chairman, had to fly in voting family members to block the sell, to block the alleged coup d’etat.

Mind you, John Drummond was in mourning. His wife had died of COVID-19, according to sources.

Why in heaven’s name were Tracy, Webster, and others allegedly willing to sell the coal company without unanimous consent of the Drummond family?

Were they taking advantage of the the family patriarch John Drummond at his lowest, saddest and most depressing moment?

Were there secret, undisclosed financial agreements that would benefit them or none at all? Was a generous pay-day on the horizon or not?

Interestingly, the price of coal has doubled since the beginning of the year; and now with the energy crisis and Ukraine war, coal could increase further in value.

As observers, we believe family and corporate loyalty to Drummond has been lost, extremely lost. Each member of Drummond’s management team was made wealthy because of the Drummond family and its companies. The team regrettably appears to have lost their path.

The late Garry Drummond was fiercely loyal to his employees and his company. He would have backed the Robersons over the buffoons at Balch & Bingham that lied to Roberson in regards to the North Birmingham Bribery Scheme.

And if there had been an attempted coup d’etat by members of his management team, Garry Drummond would have fired them all.

Meanwhile, David Roberson sits in federal prison for at least another year or so and sources claim he has lost 50 pounds and is severely ill.

Regardless of the scandal and criminal trial, David Roberson saved the company over $100 million. The Robersons have known the Drummonds for decades. Anna Roberson went to school in Jasper, Alabama with numerous Drummond siblings and cousins.

Like Garry Drummond, the Robersons have been fiercely loyal to the Drummond Company and the Drummond family.

Why has Drummond’s management team abandoned the Robersons? Why have they attempted to sell the coal company? Where is the loyalty? Have they indeed lost their path?

The Drummond Family must rise up, protect their family, and their companies.

Loyalty demands it.

Yearbook: Anna Roberson (née Swindle) among Drummond siblings and their Thorne cousins.

Irrefutable: Paid Actors and Mouthpieces Spin Yarn for Matrix and the Three Stooges

It’s a chorus line indeed!

“Behind the Mask,” a video production from 2013, was originally a “smear and fear” piece but now it is irrefutable evidence that the Three Stooges (Alabama Power, Balch, and Drummond Company) appear to have utilized Matrix’s alleged dirty deeds, paid actors, and questionable mouthpieces to attack perceived enemies.

Four years ago, we wrote about paid actors and controversies circling electric utilities at the time. While Alabama Power denied they used actors to attend public meetings, their half-answer at the time raised two critical questions:

  1. Were actors ever hired for any other purpose on behalf of Alabama Power?
  2. Has any other “third-party” vendor of Alabama Power ever engaged in conduct to create AstroTurf campaigns and bogus testimonials?

Now in 2022, the answers appear to be “yes” and “yes.”

Sources state the video was allegedly produced and created by Matrix, the obscure political consulting firm, on behalf of PACE, Partnership for Affordable Energy, an alleged AstroTurf entity that media called “in effect a subsidiary of Matrix.”

And the cast of characters is stunning.

Alabama Power Chairman and CEO Mark A. Crosswhite’s most-trusted advisor, white-collar criminal defense attorney Mark White is in the video talking about utility rates and the controversy surrounding the “return on equity” perspective.

Really? A criminal attorney spinning yarn about utility rates?

“Return on equity” Guru

Then there is Catrena Norris Carter, who comes out as an alleged “outraged” board member of the League of Women Voters in Alabama for the League calling for more transparency regarding utility rates and billing. She has the foolish audacity to say on the video that it is “unfortunate that once again the poor and underprivileged gets preyed upon.”

During the North Birmingham Bribery Scandal, Norris Carter was the operative who was paid monthly while “unknowingly” providing Drummond Company with intelligence reports on the poor African-American community that was targeted and “preyed upon.”

So now, who is preying on whom?

Last year, on a Vice News podcast about the North Birmingham Bribery Scandal and Drummond Company, Norris Carter, after the FBI came knocking on her door, declared, “I felt naive. I felt like, ok Catrena, this is what your folks be talking about with dealing with big companies. So you know that’s one of the lessons that I learned sometimes the hard way.

Learning the hard way or “unknowingly” spinning yarn?

Naive but paid monthly

Then there is the group of fake environmental protestors, the paid actors and smear campaigns that we wrote about in 2018. These actors are all wearing face masks years before COVID-19 became a global pandemic to obscure their identities.

The video scoffs at the fake environmentalists, with the narrator saying, “And then you have these people…”

These people were staged actors that were falsely but intentionally portrayed as environmental activists.

Actors acting as environmentalists; dogs acting like pets.

In 2018, we gave background on the fake environmentalists:

Eddie Curran, an investigative journalist who formerly worked at the Mobile Register for two-decades, wrote a post about the bogus environmentalists that appear to have been thespian and dance students from Birmingham that showed up outside the Alabama Public Service Commission in Montgomery after the meeting began, and left before the meeting was over. Joining them was a video camera crew.

Curran, who provided us with detailed notes of the incident and identities of some of the “actors,” said the staged protest of “arty liberal” phonies was done to simply smear a Public Service Commissioner named Terry Dunn.

The fake environmentalists were simply actors.

Actors who were fraudulently portraying liberal environmentalists in support of Terry Dunn, a conservative Republican politician.

All that was missing were some tambourines and a bong.

This video production includes a Balch & Bingham partner, Dan McCrary, who was representing Alabama Power at the time.

McCrary, a now 42-year legacy partner at Balch, is seen skewering public participants over rate comparisons with Mississippi.

Dan the Man Skewering Away

The alleged Matrix video called “Behind the Mask” is a wonderful piece of evidence that has Alabama Power attorneys, alleged Drummond agents, and Balch partners all tied together, arm-in-arm, in a chorus line.

And who were the targets of this high-end “smear and fear” production?

Nelson Brooke, the Black Warrior Riverkeeper who co-founded the tiny environmental group known as GASP, and the Southern Environmental Law Center.

Ironically, last month Brooke and the Southern Environmental Law Center won a major federal consent decree against Drummond Company.

A news release reported:

In a major victory for the health of the lower Locust Fork and the Black Warrior River, a federal judge in Birmingham has granted the request by Black Warrior Riverkeeper to approve a consent decree requiring Drummond Company to clean up its abandoned Maxine Mine site. The approval was finalized after a May filing. The mine, which was the largest underground mine in the state, produced tons of coal per year after opening in the 1930s but has sat abandoned since operations stopped in the 1980s.

Now grab a bag of popcorn, and watch and enjoy the “smear and fear” propaganda that is helping investigators connect the dots.

And who is behind the bigger and smellier mask? Matrix and the Three Stooges of course.

Sleepless in Seattle: Kallon Demotes Himself and Joins Perkins Coie

Former Federal Judge Abdul K. Kallon has fled Birmingham and gone to one of the farthest places away from the cesspool of Jefferson County, Alabama: Seattle, Washington.

Kallon joins Perkins Coie as a partner, according to a news release.

In April, he announced his abrupt resignation; Kallon cited the usual “family time” excuse. According to media at the time, his wife obtained a job out of state but no one has been able to verify the fact.

As we asked in June:

Did Federal Judge Abdul K. Kallon agree to a secret deal to keep Alabama Power “unmentionable” during the North Birmingham Bribery Trial because of his past financial agreements and possible embarrassing personal behavior?

On June 23rd, DonaldWatkins.com published an indepth report on Kallon’s alleged financial and personal behavior that was a bombshell, causing shockwaves in the legal community.

Why would a young federal judge, on the cusp of earning senior status, resign and demote himself to become a partner at a law firm in a state where he has yet to be licensed to practice law?

Did any or none of The Three Stooges (Alabama Power, Balch, and Drummond Company) have damaging information on Kallon and controlled him by figuratively squeezing his testicles?

Or was Kallon offered a deal in the alleged ongoing federal probe of obstruction of justice involving Alabama Power Chairman and CEO Mark A. Crosswhite?

Resign and cooperate sounds a lot better than refuse and be prosecuted.

Kallon may be sleepless in Seattle, having possibly tossed a future U.S. Supreme Court appointment down the toilet because of his alleged interactions with The Three Stooges.

Now he is far away. Farther away. Farthest away.

“Thanks be to God,” he says, he thinks, he prays.

They’re All Losers! Matrix Meltdown Settles; Criminal Probes Heat Up

The fat lady hasn’t sung yet.

The Matrix Meltdown is over in civil court according to a court filing yesterday afternoon.

The Matrix Meltdown was an embarrassing fight that spilled raw sewage and, the alleged criminal and unethical behind-the-scenes details of the obscure political consulting firm and their agents.

The explosive deposition with Jittery Jeff won’t happen.

The civil war between Sloppy Joe Perkins and his once-protégé Jittery Jeff Pitts may be over for now and the Three Stooges (Alabama Power, Balch, and Drummond) can breathe a momentary sigh of relief.

Jittery Jeff and Sloppy Joe with his lollipop

But the irreparable damage is done.

The criminal probes related to the Matrix Meltdown are only heating up.

Florida investigators allegedly are working with federal authorities on possible civil rights and money laundering violations involving ghost candidates, tax-exempt entities, and intentional voter confusion and suppression efforts.

At the same time, federal investigators are allegedly looking at the secret million dollar contracts given to Sloppy Joe by Alabama Power that do not require an invoice.

The U.S. Department of Justice is allegedly probing the 18 tax-exempt entities that laundered over $50 million that Sloppy Joe outlined in a now deleted post on yellowhammernews.com.

And they’re all losers because of this fight that caught them with their panties down.

A young Crosswhite

But the biggest loser is Alabama Power Chairman and CEO Mark A. Crosswhite.

He may have forced Sloppy Joe to settle after embarrassing allegations were published that Crosswhite allegedly spied on his boss and his then-girlfriend.

But the North Birmingham Bribery Scandal isn’t over. The rebirth is alive. And Crosswhite knows it.

As we correctly stated, national media are digging deep into Alabama and North Birmingham with a lengthy exposé published just this morning by Propublica.org.

David Roberson’s $75 million civil lawsuit continues in the dark, in a secret Star Chamber.

And federal investigators are allegedly looking into obstruction of justice allegations involving Alabama Power and Crosswhite during the North Birmingham Bribery Trial, where Alabama Power was “unmentionable.”

The baggage is still there and more has been learned these past 90 days than what was known these last 5 years.

Crosswhite should be furious at Sloppy Joe, Balch and even his most trusted advisor, Mark White.

Crosswhite’s problems appear to have expanded exponentially because of those closest to him.

And all of Crosswhite’s entanglements started in 2014. When will they end?

2027?

Dropping Like Flies! Judge Kallon Officially Steps Down Today

The stench from the North Birmingham Bribery Scandal still stinks and those involved are dropping like flies. The carcasses are piling up.

Presiding Judge Abdul K. Kallon officially resigns today citing the usual stock-in-trade b.s. excuse of “spending more time with family.”

Disgraced ex-U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town was forced to resign and fled in the middle of the night after inappropriate photos of him drinking libations with the embattled CEO of Alabama Power Mark A. Crosswhite were published. Town, too, left to “spend more time with family.”

Two Assistant U.S. Attorneys allegedly turned in their resignations in April, a day after Kallon announced his resignation.

Mike Tracy, CEO of Drummond Company, abruptly retired a year after the trial. Tracy was facing criticism for firing ex-Drummond executive David Roberson and ending Drummond’s funding of Roberson’s favorite charity, an organization that helps children with autism, six-months after Roberson was found guilty.

William “Bo” Lineberry

William “Bo” Lineberry, the Balch partner who set up the money laundering entity in the North Birmingham Bribery Scandal known as the Alliance for Jobs and the Economy (AJE), committed suicide days after Kallon’s retirement announcement.

Balch & Bingham, Alabama Power’s sister-wife, appears to have lost millions of dollars in fees as money-making partners exit the firm and clients terminate the embattled firm.

Trey Glenn was forced to resign as an EPA Administrator after being exposed as a Balch stooge.

Matrix, which dropped a reprehensible mailer that discouraged poor African-American residents from having their toxic and contaminated property tested by the EPA, appears to have collapsed. Matrix founder Sloppy Joe Perkins is involved in a horrific and ugly legal fight with once-protégé Jittery Jeff Pitts, exposing dark if not criminal secrets.

Alabama Power’s CEO Mark A. Crosswhite allegedly spied on his boss and his boss’ then-girlfriend. With baggage accumulating, Crosswhite is allegedly on his way out and sources claim he is under federal investigation for alleged obstruction of justice.

With ex-Drummond executive David Roberson and Ex-Balch partner Joel I. Gilbert sitting in the federal big house, how many more could join them?

Will Southern Company step in and mop up this mess or is it too late?

Perkins’ Purgatory? Alleged High Crimes and Spying Rock Three Stooges as Carcasses Stack Up

Did Crosswhite find out if his boss Tom Fanning wears boxers or tighty whities?

When the news story broke in June that Matrix agents allegedly spied on a journalist in Florida, our first reaction was, what’s the big deal? This is nothing compared to what happens in Alabama.

Less than three weeks from today, Federal District Judge Abdul K. Kallon will step down.

The presiding judge of the North Birmingham Bribery Trial appears to be another carcass in the long history of “use, abuse, and dispose of” mentality of Alabama powerbrokers.

Shall we dance the tango?

Kallon will join the elite ranks of disgraced ex-U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town, former U.S. Senator Luther Strange, former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, disgraced ex-EPA administrator Trey Glenn, ex-Probate Judge Alan L. King, ex-State Representative Oliver Robinson, along with numerous other carcasses of agents and stooges that have stacked up over the past five years for having allegedly danced tango with one or more of the Three Stooges (Alabama Power, Balch and Drummond).

Like the slasher movie franchise Friday the 13th, how many more idiots will drive up to Crystal Lake just to be murdered? How many more idiots will “bow down and kiss the ring” of one or more of the Three Stooges just to eventually be turned into burnt toast?

“Sloppy Joe” Perkins created a living purgatory when he published a rambling statement on yellowhammernews.com in late June outlining a criminal enterprise involving 18 tax-exempt entities that allegedly laundered over $50 million, only to have it deleted 8 days later

Then the bombshell revelation exploded last week that Alabama Power executives were spying on Southern Company CEO and Chairman Tom Fanning and his then-girlfriend.

Alabama Power denied the allegation, but why would the esteemed attorneys for “Jittery Jeff” Pitts, Perkins’ ex-CEO and once-protégé, put that in a pleading?

Sources tell us that Pitts allegedly has irrefutable and rock solid evidence of Alabama Power Chairman and CEO Mark A. Crosswhite’s alleged involvement in the surveillance of Fanning who is to retire this year.

AL.com reported more details of the surveillance:

The listed “target” of the surveillance was Kimberly Tanaka, a fitness club owner and then-girlfriend of Fanning, but private investigator Derek Uman surveilled Tanaka and Fanning at her work and at his home.

Tanaka said she was in a serious and public relationship with Fanning that ended abruptly in 2017. She was unaware of the surveillance until recently.

“This was all news to me and I still don’t know why,” she told AL.com…. “It’s a little unnerving.”

She said she had no idea why anyone would think following her would put pressure on Fanning.

Uman, founder of Clear Capture Investigations of Gainesville, Fla., staked out Fanning’s Atlanta home and photographed him running on a wooded hill on a cul-de-sac leading to his secluded house. Uman followed and videoed Tanaka, gathered photos and billed then-Matrix CEO Pitts $6,881.55 for surveillance, travel, meals and more. 

Unbelievable!

So if true, did Crosswhite find out if his boss Tom Fanning wears boxers or tighty whities? Did the surveillance cause the relationship in any way “to end abruptly?” 

Although the media has not mentioned this, the spying on Fanning occurred in 2017,  at the time of the  anticipated and eventual indictments in the North Birmingham Bribery Trial. Was Crosswhite concerned Fanning was going to cooperate with federal authorities? 

Perkins’ Purgatory could also  seriously impact Drummond Company and their “confused” general counsel Blake Andrews. 

What revelations does Pitts know about the coal company?

Will Pitts’ deposition in the Matrix Meltdown bring to light secret operations, an orchestrated campaign, and the alleged set-up of “Fall Guy” and ex-Drummond executive David Roberson?

All this to consider as federal investigators quietly probe the alleged misconduct stirred by “Sloppy Joe’s” big mouth, big ego, and big mistake.

Matrix Meltdown: “Influencing Litigation,” Secret Star Chambers, and Criminal Obstruction of Justice

What a week. What a month. And we’re only on day 5.

In “Jittery Jeff” Pitts’ court filing earlier this week, he outlines alleged misconduct by Matrix’s founder “Sloppy Joe” Perkins including allegedly setting up phony groups and digital websites to intimidate individuals while influencing litigation.

Is Pitts referring to the North Birmingham Bribery Trial, David Roberson’s $75 million civil lawsuit, or the Newsome Conspiracy Case? Or all three?

All three litigated cases involve alleged criminal obstruction of justice.

Alabama Power and their sister-wife Balch & Bingham were involved in all three cases, two of which were sealed in their entirety, creating secret Star Chambers where no public information is available.

Alabama Power was “unmentionable” during the North Birmingham Bribery Trial and allegedly disgraced ex-U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town let this travesty of justice occur.

Over 20 other Balch attorneys were allegedly involved in the North Birmingham Bribery Scandal and numerous Alabama Power executives were briefed regularly on the developments.

Now people are asking, was Town’s bullshit “lone wolves” theory a Matrix creation?

Town resigned months after we published photos of Town inappropriately slamming-back cocktails with Alabama Power Chairman and CEO and ex-Balch partner Mark A. Crosswhite, allegedly during the height of the North Birmingham Bribery Trial.

While Alabama Power’s parent company Southern Company denied any involvement in Newsome’s case, we later learned that the cop-son of a now-retired Alabama Power executive ( Vice President of Environmental Affairs) was involved in the staged arrest of Newsome.

Was Matrix involved in any way with the Newsome Conspiracy Case, as Sloppy Joe’s daughter claims?

Balch used all its political might and a counterfeit order to “beat” Newsome. In the end, Balch won a $242,000 judgment while losing tens of millions (if not $100 million) in client fees and lobbying fees, while legacy partners left in droves.

In Roberson’s civil case, Balch, Drummond Company, and Alabama Power panicked and vigorously sought protective orders. The case was sealed. While no information is available on the case or proceedings, David Roberson appears to have been set up as a “fall guy.” His lawyer, Burt Newsome of the Newsome Conspiracy Case, was hit head-on in 2020 and his law firm’s bank check book was stolen in the middle of the night.

The tactics have utterly failed, and actually appear to have backfired.

As federal investigators probe these allegations of criminal obstruction of justice and the abuse of the judicial system in Alabama , the curiosity of what explosive developments could come to light during Jeff Pitts’ deposition becomes even more interesting.

Alabama Power Rocked to the Core; Will Crosswhite Resign or Retire?

Did Mark A. Crosswhite mislead parent company Southern Company about Alabama Power’s involvement in the North Birmingham Bribery Scandal or the Newsome Conspiracy Case?

[This post originally appeared on November 22, 2020. Crosswhite resigned on November 21, 2022. Click here to read about his resignation. ]

In early 2017, Balch & Bingham allegedly told the now indicted, former CEO of Black Hall Aerospace Paul Daigle that we, the CDLU, were “nothing” to worry about.

With the indictment last Tuesday caused by CDLU’s advocacy and persistence, sources tell us Balch attorneys were allegedly stressed out that same night, working late into the evening.

This past week, inside sources tell us, associates at white-collar criminal defense firm White, Arnold & Dowd allegedly were working overdrive including Saturday morning, researching and learning about not only us and Black Hall Aerospace but allegedly reading all of BanBalch.com’s posts on Alabama Power CEO and former Balch partner Mark A. Crosswhite.

And who is a key partner at White, Arnold & Dowd?

Mark White and he is Alabama Power’s outside criminal attorney, and apparently a close confidant of Crosswhite.

Mark White

White, who tries to play himself as Mr. Incognito, is visible more often than not. White allegedly attended every single day of the North Birmingham Bribery Trial, and was present at the May 2019 court hearing of ex-Drummond executive David Roberson’s $75 million civil lawsuit against Balch and Drummond and the criminal hearing of Balch stooges Scott Phillips and Trey Glenn earlier this year.

With the resignation of disgraced ex-U.S. Attorney Jay E. Town, the unexpected death of Balch’s Schuyler Allen Baker, Jr., and the indictment of Paul Daigle, Alabama Power has been rocked to the core, raising uncomfortable questions.

Did Crosswhite or White strike the secret deal with Town to keep Alabama Power “unmentionable” during the criminal trial? Did Crosswhite mislead parent company Southern Company about Alabama Power’s involvement in the North Birmingham Bribery Scandal or the Newsome Conspiracy Case? What truly was Alabama Power’s role with the money laundering entity Alliance for Jobs and the Economy (AJE)? Was Alabama Power in anyway involved in the idiotic orchestrated campaign this past summer in which an innocent family was terrorized by paid buffoons?

Unlike other Southern Company wholly-owned subsidiaries, Alabama Power appears to operate completely differently, looking more like a vengeful gang of arrogant fraternity members instead of level-headed corporate executives.

When we first met with federal investigators in 2017 about Balch & Bingham, they were more concerned about Alabama Power rather than Balch.

With the rebirth of the North Birmingham Bribery Case, ex-Drummond executive David Roberson’s civil legal team will be able to drill down and get the facts, follow the money, and connect the corrupt dots. Alabama Power will be stark naked with nowhere to hide or strings to pull.

Likewise, the current investigations into the attempted killing of Burt Newsome, and the stalking and criminal acts against the CDLU may lead to more exposure.

Either way, Crosswhite is the only one to blame for his foolish reliance on and unwavering loyalty to Balch.

The only question left for Southern Company’s leadership is: Should Crosswhite resign or retire?