Porn Stars, Politicians, and Attorney-Client Privilege

With the President angered about the raid against his attorney, Michael Cohen, and the U.S. Attorney Office in the Southern District of New York responding to a referral from the Office of the Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III, the action sends a clear message to insiders and those who hide behind attorney-client privilege to engage in alleged unsavory if not criminal conduct: you will be investigated regardless of your status or political influence.

Balch & Bingham was thrown into similar “hot coals” in September in the Oliver Robinson bribery scheme to allegedly suppress poor African-Americans in North Birmingham from getting their toxic property tested by the EPA. While Cohen was funneling about $130,000 to a porn star to buy her silence, Balch appears to have spent $360,000 to buy a politician to silence a community that is 92.5 percent African-American.

Similarly, Balch & Bingham was involved with the legal matters related to an alleged “whites-only” land grab in Vincent, Alabama for the establishment of a limestone rock quarry. How much was spent on land owned by local politicians or their relatives? What may be hidden in those “attorney-client privileged” transactions? Why were Blacks excluded and not even approached until the deal was allegedly railroaded through?

Finally, the husband of a former partner at Balch & Bingham, Robert M. Ronnlund dispatched a letter to AT&T in January of 2016 that looks like an intentional criminal obstruction of justice in the Burt Newsome Conspiracy Case. The letter was sent only days after his wife was publicly named a partner at Balch.  As we asked in October:

Why in the heck would Ronnlund, who represents alleged co-conspirator Claiborne Seier in the matter, be writing to AT&T about another co-conspirator’s (John W. Bullock) phone numbers? How would Ronnlund know all the phone numbers associated with the other alleged co-conspirator? Is Balch in any way funding or paying for Seier’s defense? Bullock’s defense?

All these matters raise serious questions, and we hope Mueller and his team are investigating them or referring them to the District Offices of the U.S. Attorney in Alabama, regardless of what “attorney-client privilege” Balch may have promised.