By: Donald V. Watkins
Copyrighted and Published on September 23, 2021
Handwritten notes by Tuscaloosa, Alabama-based "dirty tricks" operator Joe Perkins surfaced last week and were published on an exclusive basis on this online news website on September 19, 2021. In his notes, Perkins stated that he would "reach out directly to those [Donald Watkins] defrauded and see if we can get them on record." Perkins was looking for "things they may have already said about Watkins [and] why [they] will be useful."
Perkins' notes raise serious questions about whether he and/or his "dirty tricks" surrogates tampered with witnesses who gave statements to U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigators between 2016 to 2018, as well as those who testified in the criminal proceedings in USA v. Donald V. Watkins from 2017 to 2019. Did Perkins' "dirty tricks" campaign, as outlined in his handwritten notes, influence the testimony of these witnesses, directly or indirectly? If so, did Perkins, and those who acted in concert with him, obstruct justice in these two federal cases?
Did Joe Perkins Successfully Reach Government Witnesses and Taint Their Testimony?
Perkins' notes evidence his nefarious "dirty tricks" plan to solicit former business associates of mine who purchased an economic stake in my energy-related companies and convert them into my potential adversaries. Seven of these individuals, all of whom are African-American, eventually ended up giving witness statements to the SEC and/or testifying as witnesses for a Birmingham federal prosecution team led by homegrown bigot and failed pizza restaurateur, Lloyd Peeples.
These seven witnesses were part of a group of thirty accredited investors who, in consultation with their Wall Street investment banking advisers and/or lawyers, purchased economic interests in my companies from 2001 to 2010. The other twenty-three investors were contacted by the SEC and/or Birmingham federal prosecutors at some point between 2016 and 2019 and they all declined to support the trumped-up civil and criminal fraud charges against me.
In 2018, the SEC dropped all of its highly-publicized allegations of fraud with respect to these 30 purchases and converted its 2016 lawsuit against me into a debt collection effort on behalf of one business associate who loaned me a total of $2,150,000. The lender was also my personal friend. The loans in question had been rolled over multiple times and were never in dispute. Additionally, the lender never complained about these loans or pursued a private lawsuit to collect the money owed.
What is more, a New Jersey federal grand jury investigated these same business transactions over a six-month period in 2015 and 2016 and found no wrongdoing on my part. Mr. Andrew Kogan, Head of the Economic Crimes Division of the U.S. Attorney's Office for New Jersey, personally supervised the investigation. Kogan is a nationally known and respected economic crimes prosecutor. Lloyd Peeples is not.
Interestingly, four of the twenty-three individuals who declined to support Peeples' trumped-up fraud charges against me happened to be white. Three of them are chief executive officers of major companies, and one is a former state court judge on the trial court and appellate court benches in Alabama. All of them are personal friends of mine and none of them desired to participate in the Alabama-style judicial lynching of me and my son.
Did Joe Perkins Use Local Political Hustlers in His "Dirty Tricks" Campaign Against Me?
Joe Perkins is known for conducting his "dirty tricks" operations through surrogates who are often independent contractors. Many of these contractors, in turn, hire subcontractors to perform a lot of the smearing and character assassination work in the community and on social media. Most of these subcontractors are nothing more than political hustlers who peddle gossip, spread lies, and spew a steady stream of toxic disinformation in the Birmingham community. One of these hustlers had direct and continuous contact with several prosecution witnesses in my criminal case. He actually lived with one of the prosecution's key witnesses while he was unemployed. He is known to have spread false and misleading information about me and my business activities. Today, this individual is a business associate with another one of the prosecution's key witnesses. Was he a Joe Perkins "dirty tricks" minion?
Many of the individuals who received campaign money that was raised by Perkins' political consulting firm, Matrix, LLC, distanced themselves from me out of fear of retribution from Perkins. As Perkins' notes showed, he was compiling a "list of [Watkins'] enemies and supporters." Perkins specifically targeted "all elected officials." Recognizing that Perkins had the ability to cut off their campaign funding and destroy their lives, nearly all of the elected officials who traditionally supported me quickly abandoned me once they learned that Perkins was on the war path. Sadly, this group includes three well-known black former public officials who I personally saved from imprisonment after federal and state prosecutors targeted them in separate public corruption probes.
Does "Probable Cause" Exist to Open a Federal Criminal Investigation Into Joe Perkins' "Dirty Tricks" Activities?
Joe Perkins' notes and his campaign of "dirty tricks" in my case constitute "probable cause" to commence a federal criminal investigation into his activities. The following hard questions must be asked and answered during this investigation:
1. Did Joe Perkins and/or his "dirty tricks" surrogates contaminate the testimony of government witnesses in the SEC and criminal cases?
2. Did the witnesses who were contacted by Joe Perkins or his "dirty tricks" operatives disclose this improper contact to: (a) the attorneys handling the SEC lawsuit, (b) Lloyd Peeples, (c) members of Peeples' Birmingham prosecution team, and/or (d) the Birmingham federal grand jury that indicted me and my son? For the record, this improper witness contact, if it occurred, was never disclosed by the SEC or Peeples to the defense team in the civil and criminal cases.
3. If Joe Perkins and/or his surrogates contacted government witnesses in the civil and criminal cases, did this contact amount to witness tampering and obstruction of justice? If so, what federal law enforcement agency will conduct the criminal investigation into this improper activity? It certainly cannot be Lloyd Peeples and his colleagues in the U.S. Attorney's Office in Birmingham. Peeples is as tainted as Perkins. Someone with the stature of Mr. Andrew Kogan would be best suited to conduct this federal criminal probe.
4. Why is Congresswoman Terri Sewell (D-AL) dragging her feet on getting President Joe Biden to appoint a new U.S. Attorney in Birmingham? Did Joe Perkins, Matrix, and/or persons affiliated with them raise campaign money for Ms. Sewell? Does U.S. Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL) and/or Joe Perkins control Ms. Sewell's voice and her vote?
5. What, if anything, did Lloyd Peeples know about Joe Perkins' "dirty tricks" campaign in my case? When did he know it? What did the Department of Justice know about Peeples' documented history of hostility towards blacks and women prior to rehiring him in 2017 and allowing him to prosecute my case?
6. Was Kyle Hanky, Peeples' team member from the Department of Justice in Washington, an objective, unbiased prosecutor in my criminal case, or was he contaminated by Birmingham connections to the case? For example, did Hanky once work and live in Birmingham? If so, did his Birmingham community connections taint his objectivity in my criminal case?
7. Did Joe Perkins co-opt and influence any government official working on my case inside the Birmingham federal courthouse with his "dirty tricks" campaign to discredit and destroy me?
Epilogue
The stench from Perkins' notes cannot be ignored and may even reach deep into the Department of Justice in Washington. I will get to the bottom of this designated political "hit" on me and my son. I will find out who ordered it and who all were involved in its execution.
Perkins lives and thrives in a dark snake pit of "dirty tricks." I intend to expose all of the snakes crawling around in this pit.
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