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Update: Ex-CEO of Balch Client Pleads Guilty to “Filing False Claim”
Paul Daigle, the ex-CEO of Black Hall Aerospace, a former client of Balch & Bingham, has pled guilty to count 6 of his 9 count indictment, admitting to filing a false claim with the U.S. Department of Defense. Daigle is obligated to pay restitution of $52,968. The plea deal culminates a five-year odyssey for us, the CDLU. We first alerted the U.S. Department of Justice of the alleged criminal misconduct with a fax to Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III in May of 2017. Balch & Bingham stupidly mocked us in court pleadings in the Newsome Conspiracy Case. As we…
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Drummond, Newsome Conspiracy Case, North Birmingham Bribery Case, Russian Sanctions Website Scrub, Southern Company, Special Counsel Mueller, Spotlight on Balch & Bingham
Update: Motion Denied; Criminal Trial Date Set for Ex-CEO of Balch & Bingham Client
The indictment shook Balch stooges and defenders who had foolishly dismissed our work with law enforcement. In 2019, in Balch & Bingham’s 69-page brief before the Alabama Supreme Court in the Newsome Conspiracy Case, the embattled law firm complained that they were not mentioned in the Report by Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III, writing: BanBalch.com also stated that BanBalch.com/CDLU.org had been in contact with the Office of Special Counsel Robert Mueller about Balch. The now-public Mueller Report, however, does not mention Balch. Did the foolish leadership at Balch truly believe that we were not in contact with the Office of the Special Counsel…
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Drummond, Elderly Exploitation Scandal, Mississippi Controversy, North Birmingham Bribery Case, Russian Sanctions Website Scrub, Southern Company, Spotlight on Balch & Bingham
Three Years Later, Balch Partner’s Criminal Conviction Stings Three Stooges
Three years ago today, Balch-made millionaire and esteemed partner Joel I. Gilbert was convicted on all six-federal charges, including bribery and money laundering. Will Gilbert be reporting to prison soon, now that he has lost his appeal? If Gilbert had reported to prison during his appeal, due to COVID-19, he probably would have been released early like the bought-and-paid-for ex-State Representative Oliver Robinson was. Instead, he’ll probably now have to serve the entire 5-year sentence. Convicted along side Gilbert was ex-Drummond Executive David Roberson who will serve two and a half years. In his early 70s, some ask, is this…
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CDLU Provoked Probe: Ex-CEO of Balch & Bingham Client Charged With Afghan War Contract Fraud
Patience they told us. Patience. CDLU’s letters, faxes, emails, phone calls, and meetings with the Office of the Special Counsel, the U.S. Department of Justice, and FBI since 2017 have finally paid off. This late afternoon, the U.S. Department of Justice released this statement: The former chief executive officer of a U.S. government contractor was charged today in connection with schemes to defraud the U.S. Department of Defense regarding contracts related to U.S. military efforts in Afghanistan. Paul Daigle, 40, was charged with conspiracy, four counts of wire fraud, and four counts of false claims in an indictment filed today…
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Newsome Conspiracy Case, Russian Sanctions Website Scrub, Southern Company, Spotlight on Balch & Bingham
Balch & Bingham Dooms Jeff Sessions
When he was a U.S. Senator, Jeff Sessions’ number 1 and number 2 lifetime political donors were, respectively, the sister-wives, Siamese twins of Alabama: Alabama Power and Balch & Bingham. Once the most powerful politician in Alabama, 68% of his party’s voters picked another candidate instead of Sessions on Super Tuesday. Why has Sessions, who came in second, been so bluntly rejected? Because of his ties to Balch & Bingham and the corruption born at the embattled law firm. Fox News reports: President Trump has little sympathy for former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who now faces a runoff election after failing…
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Russians Try to Scrub Jeff Sessions Ties to Ex-Balch Client, a Russian-linked Aerospace Company
Balch & Bingham’s former client Black Hall Aerospace a/k/a AAL USA, Inc. appears to have become radioactive. Just hours after trial balloons were sent out two weeks ago outlining a possible U.S. Senate run by ex-U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, we, the CDLU, received a letter via email on Wednesday, October 30, from a Russia law firm asking us to remove a court document from our website. The court document outlines a bitter 2017 fight between Soviet-born immigrant Oleg Sirbu and the then-corporate management of Black Hall Aerospace, based in Huntsville, Alabama. Later that day, we were alerted by our…
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Another Balch & Bingham Carcass? Black Hall Aerospace Tumbles as Probe Continues
In their 69-page brief before the Alabama Supreme Court in the Newsome Conspiracy Case, embattled law firm Balch & Bingham whines that they were not mentioned in the Report by Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III, writing: BanBalch.com also stated that BanBalch.com/CDLU.org had been in contact with the Office of Special Counsel Robert Mueller about Balch. The now-public Mueller Report, however, does not mention Balch. Does the foolish leadership at Balch truly believe that we were not in contact with the Office of the Special Counsel because Balch failed at getting an honorable mention in the redacted report? Are these…
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Year-End Update: Russia-linked Scandal
Our sources in Washington, D.C. tell us the allegations against Black Hall Aerospace a/k/a AAL USA Inc. were referred to investigators in Huntsville. We strongly believe our conversations with the Office of the Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III may have spurred multiple probes. Both the Military Criminal Investigations Command and a Special Inspector General of the Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Defense are allegedly still probing the company. The Special Inspector General is looking specifically at Afghanistan operations. With the change of leadership in the U.S. House of Representatives, our outreach and debriefing of…
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Winds of Change
[UPDATE: U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions was asked to resign as of 1:45 p.m. CST. He was ousted by the President. Read more here.] Although many speculate that Balch & Bingham’s top connection in Washington, D.C. U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions will be replaced, other moves are coming that could impact the embattled law firm. Congressman Adam Schiff will become the new Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee and declared this morning that he will enforce oversight that the current Congress “abdicated.” Just up the the Golden State Freeway from CDLU’s home office in East Los Angeles, we visited with…
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Second Shot for Black Hall Aerospace
An update to our June post about ex-Balch & Bingham client Black Hall Aerospace a/k/a AAL USA, Inc. losing a piece of a $25 billion military contract: the winners of that contract have been pulled, and Leidos and Black Hall now have a second shot to win the award, but it is not a sure thing. Washington Technology reports: Leidos and Black Hall Aerospace will get a second shot at a $25.5 billion logistics contract now that the Army has decided to pull back awards to the six original winners and conduct a new evaluation. Leidos and Black Hall filed…
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Ex-Balch Client Loses Piece of $25 Billion Pie
As we wrote recently, our efforts reporting about Black Hall Aerospace a/k/a AAL USA, Inc. appears to have spurred three different federal probes. Balch & Bingham had represented Black Hall as the Huntsville-based aerospace company lobbied on Capitol Hill to have Russian sanctions changed. The sanctions were successfully modified in November of 2015. We have called on the federal government repeatedly to conduct a forensic audit of Black Hall Aerospace, especially since they were the beneficiary of federal monies as a subcontractor to aerospace giant Leidos. The skyrocketing revenue growth by Black Hall looks unusual. Black Hall alleges Balch fired the aerospace…
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Balch’s Website Scrub Spurs Multiple Probes
We learned late last week that the two parties at Black Hall Aerospace a/k/a AAL USA, Inc. Soviet-born Oleg Sirbu, the alleged owner who lives in Dubai, and military veteran Paul Daigle, who serves as CEO, have settled their civil case. The question now is: what will criminal probes find? We learned two-weeks ago that the Office of the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Defense is looking into the matter, and have now also confirmed that the Military Criminal Investigations Command is also investigating. Balch & Bingham successfully changed Russian sanctions for the firm and then scrubbed their…
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Did Balch & Bingham’s Deception Lead to OIG Probe?
Our high-level sources confirmed yesterday evening that the Inspector General at the U.S. Department of Defense is looking at Black Hall Aerospace, Inc. a/k/a AAL USA, Inc., the Russian-linked aerospace company for which Balch & Bingham had successfully changed Russian sanctions. We hope the OIG takes a deeper look at Balch & Bingham’s influence peddling in Washington, DC on behalf of Black Hall Aerospace. In May of 2017, Balch & Bingham appears to have deceived the public and Politico.com about their relationship with the Russian-linked company owned by Oleg Sirbu, a Soviet-immigrant who lives in Dubai. Politico.com reported then that…
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Did Balch Terminate Stiers? Russian Link Clarified
After 20 years at Balch & Bingham, William F. Stiers, their top-Washington, D.C. lobbyist, left the firm in November. Stiers announcement came shortly after half of Balch’s paying lobbying clients dumped the firm that October. In our 48 minute conversation yesterday with Paul Daigle, the CEO of Black Hall Aerospace, Inc., Daigle alleges that Stiers was fired and may have been given time to find a new position as a courtesy. Saying that Stiers was an upstanding professional, Daigle opined that Stiers may have not wanted to adhere to demands by Balch. In November, Politico.com quoted Stiers as saying, “The…
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Balch Allegedly Fired Black Hall Aerospace
Yesterday, we had a 48 minute phone conversation with the CEO of Black Hall Aerospace, Inc., Paul Daigle, who had written to us via email at the end of January. We spoke of many things, and listened carefully to the military veteran who has been involved in heated civil litigation with Oleg Sirbu, the Soviet-born immigrant. Balch & Bingham represented Black Hall Aerospace as lobbyists in Washington D.C. between 2014 and 2017. Mr. Daigle told us that he wanted to reach out to us last year, when we initially exposed the fact that Balch & Bingham had represented a Russian-linked…
