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Part 1: Greasing the Wheels for a Star Chamber?
Another headache for Balch & Bingham. We have been reviewing closely the contributions given to Smitherman. And something smells. No, we are not talking about contributions to Judge Carole Smitherman who created an unconstitutional and secretive Star Chamber in the Newsome Conspiracy Case. We are talking about her husband, State Senator Rodger Smitherman. We looked at several different contributions given to Senator Smitherman after the co-conspirators, including Balch & Bingham, were all linked together in the Newsome Conspiracy Case by a single burner cell phone number in an amended complaint filed on June 30, 2017. We have found several questionable…
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Media, Feds Zone In on Balch’s Russian Connection
With the recent idictment of Michael Flynn, the CDLU has been approached by the most esteemed media outlets about Balch & Bingham’s success at changing Russian sanctions in 2015 for Russian-linked aerospace company Black Hall Aerospace, Inc. a/k/a AAL USA, Inc. Likewise, federal investigators near Quantico are zoning in on our posts about Balch’s Russian activities, including their foolish website scrub. We do not know if this is activity from the Office of Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III or a separate investigation spurred by our contacts on Capitol Hill. In November, we wrote how Balch’s success in changing Russian…
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Blackout and Black Eyes
As we approach the 100-day mark since its inception, the corrupt Star Chamber created to allegedly conceal unethical and possible criminal actions in the Newsome Conspiracy Case has been effective. The complete blackout of the procedures, hearings, filings or actions is extreme. Even our anonymous sources at the courthouse have been unable to provide us with information about the case. We wonder… Is the case under mediation at an impartial setting? Has Balch finally come to their senses and are involved in settlement negotiations? Or are they picking a jury as we write? Has Judge Carole Smitherman tossed out parts…
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Pure Hogwash and Phone Perjury
We told you so. The statement that the pre-paid wireless phone number connecting all the alleged co-conspirators in the Newsome Conspiracy Case is a “routing switch” is pure hogwash. Going to a major wireless carrier (T-Mobile), we found that the number central to the Newsome Conspiracy Case is eligible for porting and available for transfer to another carrier. Thus (205) 410-1494 is not a routing switch. As we wrote in early October, by sealing the Newsome Conspiracy Case and conducting secret Star Chamber proceedings, we strongly believe Judge Carole Smitherman may be covering up alleged criminal acts and perjury. Balch…
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Did Balch Use or Abuse Alabama Power?
As we reviewed the Robinson Bribery Case, which involves a bribery scheme surrounding the North Birmingham CERCLA/Superfund site, we found an interesting fact that we believe may cause another Balch client, Alabama Power, to scream foul. Former Balch lobbyist Jeffrey H. Wood, the current acting Assistant U.S. Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources whose nomination we successfully blocked, met with congressional staff or members on Capitol Hill in 2016, around the time of the alleged bribery scheme. According to lobbying disclosure reports, Wood met on Capitol Hill to discuss CERCLA/Superfund laws and policies in the second quarter and third quarters of 2016.…
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Another Chapter…
What will it take for Balch & Bingham to come to their senses? A management change? More indictments? More partners fleeing? We, the CDLU, have engaged in fights for goodness and justice for almost 17 years. In addition, we have provided or secured over $10 million in medical services for the sick and the dying. Our track record is solid and includes: Fighting a corrupt adult day care center that protected a sexual predator for almost a year who sexually abused developmentally disabled adult children and transmitted an STD to these innocent children. The center was eventually shut down because…
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Star Chamber Now Sinking Balch’s Reputation
Balch & Bingham lost half of their paying D.C. lobbying clients in recent months. On top of that, a 20-year veteran at Balch & Bingham, William F. Stiers, left the firm last week. Besides the federal indictments and two ongoing federal probes what else is sinking Balch’s reputation? The Star Chamber. Foolishly, Balch partner Schuyler Allen Baker, Jr., at the height of public scrutiny and the aftermath of Oliver Robinson’s plea deal, pushed for the sealing of the Newsome Conspiracy Case where all proceedings are now held in secret with no public information or access available. The Star Chamber is…
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Now a Liability? Balch’s Success in Changing Russian Sanctions
The Washington Post made a strong observation as they wrote about Russian ties to the President’s orbit of advisors. “While Trump has sought to dismiss these Russia ties as insignificant, or characterized the people involved in them as peripheral figures, it has now become clear that special counsel Robert S. Mueller III views at least some of them as important pieces of his sprawling investigation of Russian meddling in last year’s presidential campaign. Documents released last week as part of Papadopoulos’s guilty plea show that Mueller’s team is deeply interested in the Trump campaign’s operations, including possible links to Moscow,…
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Stiers Jumps Ship; Firms Terminating Balch & Bingham as Lobbyists
[UPDATE: Politico.com quotes Stiers as saying, “The Balch platform is great for energy and environmental issues but my portfolio doesn’t sync with that.” Come on! Stiers worked for Balch for 20 years, and he just figured out he was out of sync? We actually think bribery allegations, federal indictments, criminal conspiracies, and website scrubs didn’t sync with Stiers.] William F. Stiers, the Balch lobbyist whose resume and website profile were scrubbed of any references to successfully changing Russian sanctions in March, has jumped ship. Stiers is now working for another Alabama law firm, Maynard Cooper. In late June, we wrote…
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Forensic Audit of Russian-Linked Black Hall Aerospace
Concealment, perpetuation, and personal gain. Those words ought to sound familiar to prosecutors at the Office of Special Counsel of the U.S. Justice Department. On May 23, 2017, Balch & Bingham attempted to deceive the public and Politico.com of their lobbying efforts on behalf of Russian-linked Black Hall Aerospace, saying they “previous represented” the firm owned by Soviet immigrant Oleg Sirbu when in fact they were still representing them at the time. But why on or about March 2, 2017, after we had exposed their connection to the Russian-linked aerospace company, did Balch scrub their website of all references to…
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Mueller, the Russians, and Balch
Now is the time for Mueller and his G-Men to go deep into the intricate ownership, corporate structure, financial records, and wire transfers of Black Hall Aerospace. With the federal indictment today of Paul Manafort and his associate Rick Gates, K Street is shaking as two lobbying firms, The Podesta Group and Mercury, were hired in an alleged criminal scheme to influence Capitol Hill on behalf of the government of the Ukraine. The two lobbying firms allegedly pocketed $2 million in fees. Allegedly laundering $12,000,000 and not registering as foreign agents, Manafort and Gates are not the only ones facing…
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Influence Peddling in DC
Why exactly did Balch & Bingham retain, as reported by The American Lawyer, “W. Warren Hamel, chair of Venable’s investigations and white-collar defense group in Baltimore, to represent it in the government’s corruption probe?” As we wrote at the end of August when the corrupt Star Chamber was formed, sources told us legal representatives of a Balch partner were “allegedly vigorously trying to prevent any indictment or prosecution through direct channels in Washington, D.C.” Two indictments later, that effort obviously failed. According to the The American Lawyer, W. Warren Hammel served as “chief of the environmental crimes and enforcement office…
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Equal Protection Under the Law
We have some good news today. With the alleged suppression of poor African-Americans in North Birmingham and the creation of a secretive and corrupt Star Chamber to allegedly hide perjury and possible criminal acts in the Newsome Conspiracy Case, Balch & Bingham partners need to be investigated and brought to justice for the alleged trampling of Civil Rights. Civil Rights violations have a long history in Alabama and in 2017 the irony is that two African-Americans were allegedly used as tools to do the dirty work: Oliver Robinson and Judge Carole Smitherman. Burt Newsome was falsely arrested. The night before…
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AT&T Letter: Perjury or Intentional Obstruction of Justice?
The Newsome Conspiracy Case highlights what appears to be unethical, maybe even criminal behavior. The letter sent to AT&T in early 2016 appears to have been sent to prevent phone records from being released to Newsome’s legal team. The claims in the letter justifying the withholding of information are knowingly 100% false: there was no objection filed at the time and no valid court order was needed to release the information. Perjury? Some think so. We think it appears to be an intentional obstruction of justice. Balch & Bingham leaders need to pull their heads out of the sand and…
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Damn Lies, Crimes, and Perjury
Two important questions: Why did Judge Carole Smitherman seal the entire Newsome Conspiracy Case five weeks ago without a hearing? Why are all proceedings now done in secret in a Star Chamber in Birmingham with no public access or public schedule available? We strongly believe Smitherman may be covering up alleged criminal acts and perjury. She appears to have been duped by Balch & Bingham and the alleged co-conspirators. Balch stated in court that a single phone number connecting all the Newsome co-conspirators was at first from a telemarketer. After we publicly ripped their foolishness (to the delight of the wine drinking,…
