By Donald V. Watkins ©Copyrighted and Published on July 24, 2018 This time has come for some straight talk in America. We are in the midst of a new war that is very different from anything we have ever known in the past. It is seemingly random and each act of violence is killing scores of innocent civilians and injuring hundreds of others. The combatants do not wear military uniforms and do not respect territorial boundaries. They attack soft targets in the general population without warning. They kill men, women and children without hesitation. They are terrorists. Their ultimate goal is to acquire and detonate a nuclear bomb inside the U.S. or one of its territories. Except for America’s nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 during the final stages of World War II, no other group has detonated a nuclear bomb on a civilian population. Today’s headlines are filled with terrorist attacks inside the U.S. and around the world. They are increasing in regularity and deadliness. Make no mistake about it, America is the Number One enemy on the list of the world’s known international terrorist groups. In their view, we represent all that is evil in the world. To them, we are the “infidels”. We have to stop the spread of global terrorism. We need every ally we can get in this fight. Failure is not an option. Everything else is secondary. The most effective step in fighting terrorism within our borders is solidarity as a nation. Remember, our enemies do not see us as rich, middle class, poor, white, black, Hispanic, male, female, straight, gay, young, old, rural, urban, Christian or non-Christian Americans. They see us as Americans. They kill us as Americans. In the eyes of terrorists, we are all indiscriminate targets for death. During the closing day of World War II, Japanese pilots flew kamikaze missions in which they crashed their planes into U.S. warships. This was the last desperate play in the Japanese playbook to stem the tide of the war in their favor. It failed. Today, a single terrorist is prepared to give his/her life to take ours in great numbers. This is the first play in the playbook of terrorist warfare. They are getting better at it and their numbers are growing. Americans no longer have the luxury of putting down, mistreating, or demeaning fellow Americans who are not members of our racial, religious, gender, or socio-economic group. When a terrorist strikes, we will never know which American is the one who might save our lives during such an attack. It could be the homeless man we stepped over on the way to church, or the woman we ridiculed after she complained about sexual harassment on the job, or the black teenager we thought was a thug simply because of the color of his skin and way he wore his hair, or the gay man we snickered at as he passed by us in the restaurant, or the Muslim man standing on the corner waiting for the bus. We have the close the ignorance gap that feeds our propensity to lightly dismiss the legitimate concerns of fellow Americans simple because we are operating from a position of political strength or we are catering to the whims of our own racial group and/or socio-economic class. The quicker we deal with our personal prejudices, the sooner we can start uniting to effectively fight terrorism, domestically and abroad. In the war against terrorism, the side that is the most committed to unity and victory wins. This is the only way we can defeat suicide soldiers. We must see each other as Americans. We must not divide ourselves into categories of rich, middle class, poor, white, black, Hispanic, male, female, straight, gay, young, old, Christian or non-Christian Americans. Fighting each other is a distraction that allows the terrorists to win. We cannot win the war on terrorism if we remain divided along racial and gender lines and we continue to hate on our fellow Americans because they are different from us. Our strength as a nation has always been in our diversity and unity. Immigrants from all over the world built this country. Some were brought here as slaves; some came as prisoners; others came as indentured servants; but most came as freed men and women. We have to set aside the artificial distinctions that divide us. We are all Americans. Native Americans were here first. The rest of us are permanent guests in their country. Christopher Columbus did not “discover” America because it had already been “discovered” by the indigenous population thousands of years before Columbus arrived here. Similarly, I could not go to a populated territory during my international travels and claim to discover and own this territory by the divine right of the Watkins Family. Regardless of how we became Americans, we are all citizens of this great nation. America is the greatest civilization the world has ever known. This fact, together with other geo-political matters, makes America the Number One enemy of international terrorists. We must stop looking at each other as the enemy. Peaceful protestors are not our enemies. Mainstream news media organizations are not our enemies. America's intelligence gathering agencies are not our enemies. Political adversaries are not our enemies. Terrorists are. They have no hesitation in killing us. Let’s focus on stopping them. PHOTO: Map of global terrorists attacks, as of 2015.

By Donald V. Watkins ©Copyrighted and Published on July 17, 2018 Online journalist Roger Alan Shuler published an article today reporting that former Alabama governor Robert Bentley ordered the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (“ALEA”) to open a criminal Investigation on Shuler and me for exposing his marital cheating and public corruption scandal with his lover, Rebekah Caldwell Mason. Bentley was also the Chief Magistrate of Alabama when the order was given, but he provided law enforcement officials with no evidence that Shuler or I had engaged in any wrongdoing. To his credit, then-ALEA Chief Spencer Collier refused to open the criminal investigation Bentley requested. Bentley later fired Collier. In March 2017, Collier confirmed to me that Governor Bentley requested a criminal investigation that targeted me. Bentley's June 23, 2018 deposition testimony in Collier's wrongful termination case affirms this fact. Unlike Spencer Collier, John D. Harrison, then-Superintendent of the Alabama State Banking Department, went along with a separate Bentley order to place my Birmingham-based bank and me under heightened regulatory scrutiny. Working in concert with the FDIC, the State Banking Department launched a full-scale, coordinated "Blitzkrieg" investigation of Alamerica Bank and me that has been ongoing for five years. To provide political cover for this illegal regulatory activity, the State Banking Department encouraged the FDIC to take the lead in trying to run me out of the banking business. As an accommodation to the State Banking Department, the FDIC trumped-up baseless allegations that I violated Regulation O with respect to a loan the bank made to one of my business partners and a loan that was made to one of my sons. Regulation O governs bank loans to executives and directors of the bank. I was chairman of the bank at the time these loans were made, but I had no role in their application process, underwriting, or approval. In my case, the FDIC has repeatedly refused to recognize that both loans fell squarely within the well-known, published exceptions to Regulation O. This has not been the case with similarly situated bank officers and directors. I formally answered the FDIC’s allegations and denied all of the charges, while asserting my affirmative defenses. My case is in front of an FDIC administrative law judge, but it has been stayed indefinitely. My case will likely have to start over in light of a June 2018 U.S. Supreme Court ruling declaring the process used by federal agencies like the FDIC and SEC for selecting and assigning administrative law judges to be unconstitutional. I lodged the same objection to the selection of the administrative law judge in my FDIC case. Based upon what is happening in Washington, the public knows that federal regulatory agencies have become convenient tools for imposing and enforcing political agendas and for administering retribution against targeted individuals. My case is no different. In fact, the "non-public" agency files in this state/federal regulatory investigation of Alamerica Bank are filled with racially derogatory references to me. What is worse, another Birmingham, Alabama-based federal agency that is involved in a parallel investigation of the same two loans transactions has at least two reputed white supremacists embedded in the agency who are reportedly actively working on my case. Interestingly, Alamerica Bank has never asked the State Banking Department or FDIC for any favors. We did not seek or take the “bailout” money that hundreds of banks around the nation gleefully requested and accepted during the Great Recession of 2008. We survived the Recession by managing our bank in a prudent fashion. We have never been required to “recapitalize” Alamerica Bank. We have never participated in the symbolic “window dressing” programs that the FDIC claims it offers to minority-owned financial institutions. Despite the sustained efforts of state and federal bank regulators since 2013 to harm Alamerica Bank and me, the Bank’s regulatory capital ratios at the close of 2017 exceeded the 13.3% national average and were among the best in the banking industry. Alamerica Bank is one of only nineteen African-American-owned banks in the United States. Within this group, we are the only one that state and federal regulators are actively trying to collapse (without any success to-date). For the record, no judicial body has ever found that I have violated any state or federal banking industry rule or regulation. John D. Harrison, the former Superintendent of the State Banking Department, announced on June 23, 2016, that he was retiring, effective on June 30, 2016. Harrison gave no reason for his abrupt retirement announcement. Governor Robert Bentley resigned in disgrace after pleading guilty to ethics violations on April 10, 2017. Today, Bentley and Rebekah Mason are working together in his private, Tuscaloosa, Alabama-based dermatology clinic. PHOTO: Former Alabama Governor Robert Bentley's Mugshot.

By Donald V. Watkins ©Copyrighted and Published on February 6, 2018 AL.com published an article today about my personal and business relationship with Charles Barkley. As is often the case, the article truncated the relationship and placed it in a negative light. The article tried to portray Mr. Barkley as the “victim” in a securities fraud case filed in 2016 by the Securities and Exchange Commission. In truth, Charles Barkley is still my friend and the businesses referenced in the article are doing well. The SEC Litigation The SEC filed suit against Masada Resource Group, LLC, Watkins Pencor, LLC, Donald V. Watkins, P.C., and me alleging that: (a) I had “duped” professional athletes in connection with the sale of Watkins Pencor economic participations to them; (b) I used the proceeds from these sales for personal expenses, without authorization; and (c) the Masada-Waste Management, Inc., transaction in 2011 and 2012 was not a real acquisition effort by Waste Management. The lawsuit was accompanied by a press release that was circulated internationally. After taking the depositions of former Texas Lt. Governor Ben Barnes and Masada General Counsel David Minkin in 2017, and after reviewing thousands of Masada-related documents refuting these allegations, the SEC essentially abandoned these false claims. On December 22, 2017, the SEC retooled its “fraud” case to focus only on three loans provided to Donald V. Watkins, P.C., by Charles Barkley between 2010 and 2013. The loans totaled $2,150,000. Mr. Barkley increased his economic stake in my companies by virtue of his lender status, which is why he made the loans. Mr. Barkley is also my partner in an international oil and gas company that discovered 522 million barrels of oil and 583 billion cubic feet of methane gas in October 2015. This company is undertaking the geotechnical work program required to commercially extract this oil and gas. I own 21.5% of this company. Mr. Barkley has a 20% economic stake in my equity portion of this company. The SEC has never claimed that Masada, or my oil and gas company, lacks value as a business enterprise. Likewise, they have never claimed that any investor in these two companies has lost money. On November 10, 2017, Mr. Barkley gave a deposition in the case that was very favorable to Masada and the other defendants from a legal standpoint. His deposition clarified earlier statements made by Barkley in an October 2017 Declaration that was prepared by the SEC attorneys and given to Barkley to sign with no one present, except the SEC lawyers. In writing Mr. Barkley’s Declaration, SEC attorneys cherry-picked a handful of expenses out of more than $50 million spent to develop Masada’s business growth to support their false narrative that Barkley’s money was used for my personal expenses without his authorization. In law, they call this technique “twisting” the truth. Mr. Barkley corrected this false narrative in his deposition. On January 26, 2018, I filed my own sworn Declaration in the case, which addressed and refuted all of the allegations of “fraud” in connection with the Barkley loans. My Declaration is a publicly available court record. As my Declaration makes clear in great detail, Mr. Barkley and Glenn Guthrie (Barkley’s financial advisor at national investment banking firm Raymond James) conferred the power and authority upon me to undertake every financial transaction that the SEC has challenged in this case. Furthermore, Mr. Barkley’s financial advisor was kept in the loop on the background, documentation, and details of the three loan transactions in question. Interestingly, the SEC has never mentioned the prominent role of Mr. Barkley’s financial advisor at Raymond James, or my many dealings with him over the years. The SEC went out of its way to portray Barkley as a “duped” athlete who was taken advantage of by me. In truth, Mr. Barkley is a brilliant businessman, great friend, and wonderful person. I am confident that the defendants will prevail in the scaled-downed version of the SEC’s case. The cornerstone documents that govern my business relationship with Mr. Barkley are solid. The SEC has abused its civil enforcement authority and government resources to carry out a person vendetta in this case where: (a) the SEC does not regulate any of the private businesses involved; (b) the two identified “victims” of the alleged “fraud” have not lost any money in the businesses or in the financial transactions at issue; (c) all of the businesses named in the lawsuit are operating globally today; (d) one of the two “victims” dismissed his private “securities fraud” litigation against the same defendants; and (e) the five-year statute of limitations has run on the disgorgement claims referenced in the SEC’s complaint. Masada’s business records are in order, and we run a great company. The company has been subjected to heightened scrutiny by multiple domestic and international government agencies and has successfully “passed” this scrutiny every time. The Disputed FDIC Regulatory Issue In concluding its article, AL.com referenced a long-running dispute between the Federal Deposit Insurance Company and me. Here is the truth about this matter: The FDIC issue first arose in 2013 after I began to publicly criticize former governor Robert Bentley for his misconduct in office. Bentley, using his executive powers and influence over the State Banking Department, encouraged state and federal regulators to place Alamerica Bank and me under heightened scrutiny. For political reasons, federal regulators have taken the lead in trying to run me out of the banking business. The FDIC made trumped-up allegations against me that have zero merit. I disputed these allegations in 2013 and they are disputed now. At some point, these allegations will be heard in an administrative proceeding. I have already filed a formal answer to the allegations denying all of the charges and asserting my affirmative defenses. I am highly confident that we will prevail in this dispute. In making its unfounded allegations, the FDIC has refused to recognize well-known, codified exceptions to the general regulation it seeks to enforce in my case. My conduct is expressly covered and permitted by the published exceptions to this general regulation. Based upon what is happening in Washington, the public knows that federal regulatory agencies have become convenient tools for imposing and enforcing political agendas. My case is no different. The FDIC has never lifted a finger to help Alamerica Bank, or me. To the contrary, the FDIC has placed Alamerica Bank and me under a level of scrutiny that it would never imposed upon my white counterparts in the banking industry. Furthermore, the FDIC has tried every regulatory trick in the book to deliberately “fail” or “collapse” Alamerica Bank. Fortunately for the banking public and me, the FDIC has been unsuccessful in these improper efforts. While I am not on the Bank’s board, I serve on the board of directors for Alamerica Bank’s holding company. I am also the bank’s largest shareholder. We must always remember that the combined negligence of the FDIC and SEC contributed to the collapse of several Wall Street Banks and hundreds of other banks across America during the Great Recession of 2008. Alamerica Bank made it through the Recession without seeking or receiving any federal bailout money. Today, Alamerica is profitable and enjoys one of the highest Tier 1 capital ratios of any bank in Alabama.

By Donald V. Watkins ©Copyrighted and Published on July 14, 2018 Last week was a historical moment for Nabirm Energy Services (Pty) Ltd., a Namibian-based oil and gas company in which I am one of four shareholders. Nabirm’s shareholder group consists of two African-based shareholders and two African-Americans. On July 13, 2018, Nabirm submitted its formal application for a second renewal of the company’s 2012 Petroleum Exploration License (“PEL”). The application was accompanied by the evidence required for demonstrating advancement in the company’s geotechnical work program for development of its oil block and proof of its payment of the applicable license fees. We are hopeful that the renewed license will be issued within the next couple of weeks. To my knowledge, Nabirm is the only African/African-American-owned business on the globe that has: (a) applied for and received a PEL for a valuable offshore oil block in the Walvis Basin; (b) self-funded its oil and gas exploration and development activities through every geotechnical phase undertaken to date; (c) established and maintained a full-service headquarters in Namibia, complete with a state-of-the-arts electronic data room by industry standards; (d) undertaken and completed a 2D seismic geotechnical work program, data analyses, and environmental impact assessment without relying on a publicly traded international oil company to perform these functions for the company; (e) discovered 522 million barrels of oil and 583 billion cubic feet of methane gas; (f) scoped and defined its 3D CESM geotechnical work program with a highly qualified Norwegian company; and (g) secured the first renewal of its original PEL and submitted an application for a second license renewal. This is a remarkable achievement for a handful of African/African American businessmen who have banded together in a show of strength and unity to break the color barrier in the international oil and gas exploration and production industry. It took the collective efforts and combined resources of our small shareholder group to reach this point in the company’s history. Our Historic Journey Started in 2011 Nabirm’s journey began in early August of 2011 when our Namibian-based, U.S.-educated shareholder/Chief Executive Officer brought this business opportunity to me.  I introduced it to a close friend of mine who owns a highly successful medical equipment supply business in Montgomery, Alabama. Nabirm was formed by the three of us later that month. In 2012, I used my relationship with a senior executive for ExxonMobil’s African operations to assess Nabirm’s oil block for its potential commercial viability.  This executive encouraged us to pursue exploration and development activities within our oil block. Next, an African-based company led by two Cameroon businessmen joined our shareholder group in 2014 and provided Nabirm with the capital and technical expertise needed to undertake and complete our 2D seismic program.  From there, our CEO kept the company’s development activities moving forward on a brilliantly executed business plan. Along the way, I was able to provide all of the corporate legal services needed without requiring the payment of attorney’s fees or the reimbursement of expenses during the exploration and development phases of the business. Finally, our shareholder group was able to self-fund the substantial fees required in connection with the company’s two consecutive license renewal applications. Today, Nabirm’s four shareholders still own 100% of our oil and gas company, free and clear of encumbrances. Last week’s break-through moment came at a time while oil prices were surging. When we submitted our second license renewal application on Friday, oil was trading at $72 per barrel. The estimated costs of extracting oil offshore during commercial operations is about $15 per barrel. Making History in the Uranium Exploration Business On March 27, 2012, Nabirm Gobal, LLC, made history when the company was awarded a uranium concession by Epangelo Mining Company (Pty) Ltd., which is the Republic of Namibia’s national mining company. Nabirm Global is the U.S.-based parent company of Nabirm Energy Services. The Namibian government lifted a national moratorium on uranium concessions for nuclear fuels so that Nabirm could compete for this concession against Iran’s state-owned Iranian Foreign Investment Company and others. Nabirm worked closely with the U.S. State Department to make sure that the company had the best chance of winning this uranium concession. Our success in winning the concession kept this strategic asset out of the hands of the Iranians at a time when they were desperately trying to develop a nuclear weapons program. A "Minnow" in a Sea Full of Giant International Oil and Gas Companies On January 16, 2015, Upstream magazine published an article about the completion of Nabirm’s 2D geotechnical program.  Upstream is a UK-based trade magazine for the global oil and gas industry. Nobody in the industry thought Nabirm could get its 2D seismic work done without turning to the major oil companies for outside financing.  They were wrong. The Upstream article called Nabirm a “minnow” and said, “Neither Arowolo nor Watkins has a background in the upstream oil and gas world, although they are supported by a technical team of four people.” Of course, Olayinka Arowolo is the company’s CEO. Nabirm is now preparing for its 3D phase of petroleum development activities, followed by data analyses and the drilling of test wells. We are the only private, African/African-American-owned oil company that is developing a confirmed “unrisked” recoverable oil resource in the Walvis Basin for commercial extraction. We are working in the same Basin alongside of several publicly traded international energy companies. These include: (a) ExxonMobil; (b) UK-based Tullow Oil; (c) Maurel Prom, a Paris stock exchange oil company; (d) London-based Chariot Oil and Gas; (e) ONGC Videsh, Ltd., which is India’s state-owned petroleum company; (f) Madrid-based Repsol, and (g) Total, a French oil conglomerate. It has been a privilege to make this history journey in the oil and gas industry, along with my fellow shareholders.  We are proud of what our company has been able to achieve against all odds. Never have so few shareholders accomplished so much in the oil and gas industry with such few resources. Finally, I am firmly convinced that Nabirm will successfully reach its final destination in this long and difficult journey. We will break the color barrier in the global oil and gas industry by becoming the first African/African-American-owned oil and gas company to operate commercial-scale oil and gas wells. Trailblazing is hard, but it is also thrilling work. PHOTO: The logo for Nabirm Energy Services (Pty) Ltd., an oil and gas exploration company headquartered in Windhoek, Namibia.

By Donald V. Watkins ©Copyrighted and Published on July 9, 2018 Just when you thought the Greater Birmingham Humane Society might try to improve its tarnished image in the aftermath of the controversial role the non-profit organization played in a scandalous “rescue” mission of Cavalier King Charles Spaniels at a 2014 Wheaton, Missouri auction, we learned that GBHS has recently resumed its “unholy” alliance with Birmingham, Alabama attorney/dog “rescuer” Angie Ingram and her Alabama Puppy Mill Project. GBHS and Ingram are apparently joined at the hip in words and misdeeds. In 2015, Angie Ingram’s “Cavalier Group of Greater Birmingham” (now know as “Cavalier Rescue of Alabama, Inc., d/b/a “The Cavalier Rescue”) teamed with GBHS CEO Allison Black Cornelius and board member Lisa Thompson to persecute fellow rescue partners and financial supporters who raised $268,000 for the Missouri “rescue” operation and who subsequently discovered questionable “insider” dealings, ethical lapses, and abusive conduct involving Ingram and her CGGB companions following the “rescue”. In an effort to silence these “whistleblowers”, Ingram, Thompson and a handful of their minions sued them for defamation. Freebasing on Ethical Lapses Court records, corporate documents, donor records, non-profit tax returns, news articles, and related records revealed a laundry list of disturbing conduct between Ingram and Cornelius that detailed the pair’s propensity to freebase on ethical lapses, conflicts of interest, and abusive conduct towards humans and animals. This conduct includes the following: 1. After Angie Ingram and CGGB raised $268,000 in donor money to “rescue” Cavaliers in Missouri, they engaged in “insider” adoption transactions that resulted in Ingram and her friends taking ownership of Gideon and four other Cavaliers that were purchased for a total of $36,750 in donor money. During the funding solicitation campaign headed by "rescuer” Brittney Wilk, Ingram’s group never disclosed that its organizers intended to keep some of the highest price Cavaliers for themselves. They promised donors that the "rescued” Cavaliers would first go into Cavalier Rescue USA’s respectable foster home program. From there, the Cavaliers would be adopted to pre-screened, qualified families who sought them as house pets. Instead, Ingram’s group cherry-picked the expensive Cavaliers they wanted, allocated these dogs among themselves, and adopted them to each other without any approval from Cavalier Rescue USA’s board of directors. The Cavaliers that were left over went into the foster home program. Afterwards, the "rescuers” disassociated themselves from Cavalier Rescue USA and later formed Cavalier Rescue of Alabama. Many observers have called this conduct a “scam”. 2. Allison Black Cornelius and Lisa Thompson aided and abetted Angie Ingram in harassment, bullying, and intimidating the “whistleblowers” who exposed the highly questionable “insider” adoption transactions referenced above. 3. Angie Ingram and her minions orchestrated an intense campaign of harassment that targeted Terri Easterbrooks’ reputable Lineville, Alabama Cavalier breeding business. This harassment subsequently drove Easterbrooks to attempt suicide. 4. Angie Ingram and her cohorts engaged in judicial “forum shopping” for the defamation lawsuit filed by Lisa Thompson and her co-plaintiffs against the “whistleblowers”. Allison Black Cornelius, who strongly encouraged the lawsuit, gave Ingram and Thompson a pro-plaintiff affidavit to assist them in litigating the case. The lawsuit has languished in the Alabama state court system for more than three years. 5. Under Cornelius’s reign as CEO, GBHS has systematically killed hundreds of healthy dogs and cats each year due to “overcrowding” simply because they could do it with impunity. The slaughter of healthy and treatable animals continues. In May alone, GBHS killed a self-reported 87 healthy and treatable dogs and cats. 6. Cornelius used GBHS employees and resources to conduct her private “for profit” Blackfish business on GBHS time. For reasons that are unknown to the public, GBHS's board of directors continues to tolerate this highly questionable business practice. 7. GBHS created and used a deceptive fundraising video that featured adorable little kittens that were killed immediately after the filming ended. 8. Cornelius systematically subjected GBHS employees and non-employee supporters of animal rights to “gaslighting” and other abusive practices. The New GBHS-Ingram Deal Last week, Cornelius and Ingram announced that GBHS and the Alabama Puppy Mill Project are teaming up again to push a puppy mill bill in the 2019 session of the Alabama legislature. According to recent posts on the Alabama Puppy Mill Project’s Facebook page, Ingram’s “for profit” organization is raising funds to hire a lobbyist and “will partner again with GBHS so donors can get the tax deduction” for donations that drive the Puppy Mill’s political agenda. This admitted commingling of "for profit" and non-profit organizational resources and efforts for the purpose of generating donor tax deductions to support a publicly admitted political agenda is highly suspect. If a complaint is filed with the Internal Revenue Service regarding this slick, closely coordinated, politically driven, tax deduction scheme, it will likely bring heighten scrutiny to the Alabama Puppy Mill Project, GBHS, participating donors, and sponsors of the proposed legislation. In the past, Allison Black Cornelius has allowed Angie Ingram’s Alabama Puppy Mill Project to use GBHS’s Snow Drive address for business purposes. The phone number listed on the Puppy Mill Project's website was registered to Blackfish, which is Cornelius’ private consulting firm. The phone number is also the same number Cornelius uses for GBHS business. After series of investigative articles about GBHS and Cavalier Rescue of Alabama were published between April 28 and June 20, 2018, the listed address and phone number were removed from the Alabama Puppy Mill Project’s website. GBHS’s Board of Directors Has Failed the Public In 2017, GBHS's board of directors issued a formal statement announcing that it had "investigated claims that Allison Black Cornelius improperly directing society funds for her personal use, disposing of new and useable donated goods, and providing extraordinary raises for herself and other top executives." The board said its investigation found no evidence supporting these claims. The statement also proclaimed that "the Board of Directors continues its full and unequivocal support of Allison Black Cornelius and the staff of the GBHS, and will continue to uphold its duty to the stakeholders of the GBHS by performing its oversight responsibilities with diligence and care." The board's 2017 statement made no reference to the plethora of internal and external documents relied upon in recent media investigations into Cornelius’s GBHS activities. These documents tell a very different story and rightfully call into question the board's failure to properly exercise its oversight responsibility over CEO Allison Black Cornelius. PHOTO: The Alabama Puppy Mill and Greater Birmingham Humane Society logos.

By Donald V. Watkins ©Copyrighted and Published on June 20, 2018 I am not a dog owner, but a lot of my friends are. Until recently, I did not know much about “puppy mills” and so-called dog “rescue” groups in Alabama and around the nation. Prior to learning about a Cavalier named “Gideon”, my focus as a person and lawyer had been on the prevention of cruelty to people. On November 22, 2016, a close personal friend of mine sent me this Facebook private message: “My friend, Maggie Dawson, from England, needs an attorney to take her case concerning Gideon, the Cavalier King Charles dog that she has been trying to get back for two years. She was recently ruled against and her local attorney is John Grey. I think there was a summary judgment. Angie Ingram is the #@*&#@ lawyer/newly turned animal activist who is giving Maggie fits…. [Online journalist] Roger Shuler apparently knows Angie well. She is a former collections attorney and from Roger's posts she is the s--- of the earth. Maggie needs someone that will fight for her and someone that can put Angie in her place. Do you have anyone that you could recommend that may take a look at her case?” My friend and I worked together in the past on a successful effort to clean up state government in Alabama. I have tremendous respect for my friend’s civic activism, dedication, and fighting spirit. Unfortunately, I did not know anyone practicing in the animal rights advocacy area at the time, and I told my friend so. I soon forgot about her request for help. On October 20, 2017, my friend reached out to me again about another animal welfare issue. This time she wrote: “Hi, is there anything you can do to spotlight the Greater Birmingham Humane Society's euthanasia rate. According to their own records they have gone from a 37% rate to either an 88 or 90% rate. The director is drawing a six-figure salary and there are some shady dealings apparently going on.” Three days later, I promised my friend that I would look into this situation. After I procrastinated for nearly two weeks, my friend asked me whether I was ignoring her question about GBHS. I said, “no”. On November 20, 2017, my friend sent me this message: “I guess by now you know that I'm persistent on things that are important to me. Here's an eye opener that you really should read. [She attached a powerful animal advocacy article written by former GBHS staffer Phil Doster]. In many ways this is as much a cesspool as anything else you've been reporting on. There's so many dirty people involved in this entire mess and the mainstream media just won't look in to it. Donald, I'm asking as a personal favor... even though I know you're up to your eyeballs with the [Roy Moore] and [Megan Rondini] investigations .... to please look in to this.” I promised my friend that I would research this situation in December, but I continued to procrastination for two more months because I did not fully understand the magnitude of the issues involved in the animal advocacy world. On February 8, 2018, my friend sent me this message: “I have a case I'd like to discuss with you concerning the bogus use of a defamation lawsuit here in Birmingham.” I called her the next morning. Our conversation that morning was the beginning of my introduction to the highly questionable conduct and pervasive abuse of power by Birmingham, Alabama attorney Angie Ingram and her “Cavalier Group of Greater Birmingham”. This group teamed with GBHS CEO Allison Black Cornelius and board member Lisa Thompson to wreak havoc on fellow rescue partners and financial supporters who had raised $268,000 for a 2014 Cavalier “rescue” operation at an auction in Wheaton, Missouri. As I poured over court records, corporate documents, donor records, non-profit tax returns, news articles, and related records for the next two months, I was shocked by the questionable dealings, ethical lapses, and abusive conduct depicted in this treasure trove of documents. The list of disturbing conduct includes the following incidents: (a) Angie Ingram and her Cavalier Group of Greater Birmingham raised $268,000 in donor money to “rescue” Cavaliers in Missouri and then engaged in “insider” adoption transactions that resulted in Ingram and her friends taking ownership of Gideon and four other Cavaliers that were purchased for a total of $36,750 in donor money; (b) Allison Black Cornelius and Lisa Thompson aided and abetted Angie Ingram in harassment, bullying, and intimidating the “whistleblowers” who exposed the “insider” adoption transactions referenced above; (c) Angie Ingram and her followers orchestrated a campaign to ruin Terri Easterbrooks’ reputable Cavalier breeding business, which subsequently caused Easterbrooks to attempt suicide; (d) Angie Ingram engaged in judicial “forum shopping” for a “defamation” lawsuit filed by Lisa Thompson and her co-plaintiffs against the “whistleblowers”; (e) in recent years, GBHS systematically killed hundreds of healthy dogs and cats each year due to “overcrowding”; (f) Ms. Cornelius used GBHS employees and resources to conduct her private “for profit” Blackfish business on GBHS time; (g) GBHS created and used a deceptive fundraising video that featured adorable little kittens that were killed immediately after the filming ended; and (h) Ms. Cornelius systematically subjected GBHS employees and non-employee supporters of animal rights to “gaslighting” and other abusive practices. The chart below presents Gideon’s tragic story and describes the conduct of the people involved in it. Nothing in my background as a civil rights attorney and longtime proponent of ethics in government had prepared me for what I discovered while working on this series of investigative articles. GBHS, the agency that was founded in 1883 to prevent cruelty to animals and people, has inflicted unimaginable pain and suffering upon both groups. What is worse, GBHS’s board of directors has condoned the CEO’s cruelty to animals and people. The board has also sought to neutralize and normalize this growing scandal by proclaiming its full and unequivocal support of Allison Black Cornelius. Meanwhile, Lisa Thompson's “defamation” lawsuit against the “whistleblowers” has languished in the Alabama court system for more than three years. Even during recent mediation talks, Thompson and her co-plaintiffs are still trying to silence the “whistleblowers”. Allison Black Cornelius continues to “moonlight” on GBHS’s time. GBHS continues to kill scores of healthy animals every month. Cornelius also pressures "rank and file" GBHS employees to sign non-disclosure agreements. Maggie Dawson has never stopped in her efforts to get Gideon back home. Gideon was adopted to Mandy Johnson, who is one of Angie Ingram's friends and a co-plaintiff in Lisa Thompson's "defamation" case. The public's fight for accountability and transparency in the animal rescue and welfare business continues. Gideon’s story has shed much-needed light on the Alabama power-players in this business who play “dirty” in the name of “good”. CHART: Gideon's story.

By Donald V. Watkins ©Copyrighted and Published on May 28, 2018 On May 18, 2018, President Donald Trump tweeted a bold new claim -- the U.S. Department of Justice ("DOJ") planted an FBI informant inside his 2016 presidential campaign to spy on his political activities for the benefit of the Hillary Clinton campaign. “Spygate” is the label Trump has given to this claim. To many Americans, “Spygate” seems incredulous. Interestingly, history provides important clues as to whether “Spygate” is plausible. Here are three well-documented, high profile examples of DOJ/FBI lawlessness that no one can dispute: 1. The FBI’s COINTELPRO Campaign. In 1976, the Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities of the United States Senate, commonly referred to as the "Church Committee", launched a major investigation of the FBI and COINTELPRO, the Bureau's official, centralized campaign from 1956 to 1971 to smear and harass activists for social justice and equal opportunity in America. Under COINTELPRO, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover ordered FBI agents to "expose, disrupt, misdirect, discredit, or otherwise neutralize" individuals and organizations targeted by the program. During the COINTELPRO campaign, the FBI and other federal law enforcement agencies routinely lied, cheated, and framed targeted individuals and organizations. By the early 1960s, the FBI identified Dr. King as “the most dangerous Negro of the future in this nation”. In 1964, The Bureau tried to convince Dr. King to committed suicide by anonymously mailing him a suicide letter that had been written by the FBI. The suicide letter, which referred to Dr. King as an “evil, abnormal beast”, was prepared two days after the announcement of King’s impending Nobel Peace Prize. The letter was accompanied by an audiotape recorded by the FBI that allegedly contained a series of King's sexual indiscretions. Dr. King was told the audiotape would be released to media organizations nationwide if he did not acquiesce and commit suicide prior to accepting his Nobel Peace Award. "There is only one way out for you. You better take it before your filthy, abnormal, fraudulent self is bared to the nation,” stated the FBI letter. The Final Report of the Church Committee confirmed the primary methods used by the FBI to carry out the objectives and abuses of COINTELPRO. They included: a. Infiltration: Agents and informers did not merely spy on political activists. Their main purpose was to discredit, disrupt and negatively redirect action. Their very presence served to undermine trust and scare off potential supporters. The FBI and local police exploited this fear to smear genuine activists as agents. b. Psychological warfare: The FBI and local police used a myriad "dirty tricks" to undermine progressive movements. They planted false media stories and published bogus leaflets and other publications in the name of targeted groups. They also forged correspondence, sent anonymous letters, and made anonymous telephone calls aimed at disrupting legitimate, peaceful protests. c. Harassment via the legal system: The FBI and local police abused the legal system to harass targets and make them appear to be criminals. Officers of the law gave perjured testimony and presented fabricated evidence as a pretext for false arrests and wrongful imprisonment. They discriminatorily enforced tax laws and other government regulations and used conspicuous surveillance, "investigative" interviews, and grand jury subpoenas in an effort to intimidate activists and silence their supporters. d. Illegal force: The FBI conspired with local police departments to threaten dissidents; to conduct illegal break-ins in order to search dissident homes; and to commit vandalism, assaults, beatings and assassinations. The object was to frighten or eliminate dissidents and disrupt their movements. e. Undermine public opinion: One of the primary ways the FBI targeted organizations was by challenging their reputations in the community and denying them a platform to gain legitimacy. Director Hoover specifically designed programs to block leaders from "spreading their philosophy publicly or through the communications media". Furthermore, COINTELPRO created and/or controlled negative media for the purpose of undermining civil rights and political organizations. COINTELPRO was successfully kept secret until 1971 when Director Hoover declared that the centralized COINTELPRO campaign was over, and that all future counterintelligence operations would be handled on a case-by-case basis by local FBI field offices. The FBI and DOJ have publicly admitted that Congress and the American people rightfully criticized COINTELPRO for abridging First Amendment rights and for other reasons. Despite these frank admissions, the FBI continued its abusive COINTELPRO practice of interfering with and stifling freedom of speech well after 1971. "The problem persists after Hoover….", stated U.S. Magistrate Joan Lefkow in 1991, "The record before this court shows that despite regulations, orders and consent decrees prohibiting such activities, the FBI had continued to collect information concerning only the exercise of free speech." According to a report by the DOJ’s Inspector General (“IG”), the FBI improperly opened investigations on American activist groups between 2001 and 2006, even though they were planning nothing more than peaceful protests and civil disobedience. The FBI improperly monitored groups including the Thomas Merton Center, a Pittsburgh-based peace group; People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA); and Greenpeace USA, an environmental activism organization. Also, activists affiliated with Greenpeace were improperly put on a terrorist watch list, although they were planning no violence or illegal activities. 2. The FBI's Attempted Coup D’etat in Birmingham, Alabama. From 1988 to 1992, the FBI used all of its traditional COINTELPRO tactics in an attempt to oust Dr. Richard Arrington, Jr., as the duly elected mayor of Birmingham Alabama. Arrington became a COINTELPRO target in 1972 following his election to the Birmingham City Council in 1972. The FBI’s Birmingham field office continued COINTELPRO operations for many decades after the Bureau’s Washington headquarters ended its centralized COINTELPRO activities in 1971. Records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act showed that Dr. Arrington was one of 1,897 civil rights activists targeted by the FBI for neutralization. In October 1979, Dr. Arrington became Birmingham’s first African-American mayor. He won re-election in 1983 and 1987 by wide margins. Arrington’s growing influence on Alabama’s statewide political scene made him a local COINTELPRO target. Eventually, local FBI agents convinced federal prosecutors in Birmingham that it was time to take Arrington out as mayor. Birmingham FBI agents stalked and harassed Mayor Arrington from 1988 to 1992 looking for any evidence of criminal wrongdoing. A few weeks prior to Dr. Arrington’s October 1991 re-election, federal prosecutors, at the urging of local FBI agents, publicly named Mayor Arrington an “unindicted co-conspirator” in the fraud trial of another individual.  The sole purpose of this public disclosure was to damage Arrington’s re-election bid and aid another candidate favored by local FBI/DOJ officials. Dr. Arrington decried this attempted coup d'etat. On Election Day, Arrington swept to victory on the strength of his solid record of achievement as mayor and his broad-based popularity with voters. Mayor Arrington was never indicted for any criminal offense. In 1992, DOJ officials in Washington cleared Mayor Arrington of all allegations of wrongdoing, and issued the first-ever public apology to a sitting public official for smearing his name.  Dr. Arrington’s case was the first documented FBI-led coup d'etat of a duly elected mayor on U.S. soil. The FBI’s targeting and harassment of Mayor Richard Arrington, Jr., is detailed in the Congressional Record-Senate at S2533-2546 (March 9, 1990). 3. The FBI's Investigation of Federal Judge U.W. Clemon. In 1980, the American Bar Association vigorously opposed President Jimmy Carter's nomination of Attorney U.W. Clemon to a federal judgeship in Birmingham. The ABA said publicly, repeatedly, and loudly that Clemon was "unqualified" for the position. At the time, the Birmingham News, along with its COINTELPRO media teammate, the Montgomery Advertiser, bashed President Carter for making the nomination and U.S. Senator Howell Heflin (D-Alabama) for supporting it. Both men courageously endured the torrid of political hell unleashed by these newspapers during Judge Clemon's Senate confirmation process. Despite this spirited opposition, Clemon won Senate confirmation and became the first black U.S. District Court judge in Alabama history. The local office of the FBI despised Judge Clemon because of his long history as a civil rights activist and his fairness on the federal bench. As was the case with Mayor Richard Arrington, FBI agents constantly looked for ways to "neutralize" Judge Clemon and force him off the judicial bench. In 1996, federal prosecutors formally notified Judge Clemon of their intent to indict him on various fraud-related charges arising from his sister’s operation of a non-profit school in Los Angeles. The lead political group responsible for Judge Clemon’s judicial appointment to the federal bench in 1980 immediately launched an investigation into allegations of prosecutorial misconduct in Clemon’s case. This investigation produced a comprehensive report to the U.S. Attorney General on the prosecutorial misconduct. Based upon this report, the DOJ terminated the criminal investigation of Judge Clemon with no charges filed. Judge Clemon went on to become the chief judge of the federal bench in Birmingham for ten years. He served with distinction on the bench until his retirement on January 31, 2009. In August of 2013, Judge Clemon received the American Bar Association’s highest award -- the 2013 John H. Pickering Award -- for his outstanding legal ability and his distinguished record of service to the profession and community. The Pickering award was an incredible but fitting end to Judge Clemon’s judicial career. Is Trump Right About "Spygate"? President Donald Trump is in the best position to know whether "Spygate" is a modern-day reincarnation of old school FBI/DOJ COINTELPRO tactics. History sheds some light on his claims. Only time will tell whether President Trump is the biggest COINTELPRO “target” to date. Over the course of time, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., evolved from an early COINTELPRO target to the first and only African-American (and non-President) to have a Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. and a national holiday in his honor. PHOTO: President Donald Trump's May 18, 2018 tweet about "Spygate".

By Donald V. Watkins ©Copyrighted and Published on July 1, 2018 Terry Jackson "Sweet T" Bunn, Jr., (left) and Jason Stephen Barksdale (right) at Innisfree Irish Pub on July 1, 2015, the night these two men changed Megan Rondini's life forever. Tomorrow will mark the third anniversary of Megan Rondini’s reported rape case. Megan was a 20-year-old University of Alabama honors student who accused Terry Jackson “Sweet T” Bunn, Jr., of raping her at his Cottondale, Alabama home during the early morning hours of July 2, 2015. Sweet T was 34-years-old at the time. Sweet T and his close friend, Jason Stephen Barksdale, picked up Megan Rondini as she was walking home after a night of socializing with her friends at Innisfree Irish Pub on University Boulevard in Tuscaloosa. They took Megan to her apartment first. Before entering the apartment, Barksdale attempted to hand Sweet T an item that he pulled out of his back pocket. Sweet T stopped him for the moment and the two men then entered the apartment behind Megan. Once inside the apartment, Sweet T stated during a July 2, 2015 interview that, “…. [Megan] made a drink for me and my friend.” Later in the short and friendly interview, Sweet T affirmed that “[s]he made us a drink at her residence ….”. In his July 6, 2015 police interview, Sweet T admitted for the first time that Megan made herself a drink, as well. When Sheriff’s Department investigators accompanied Megan Rondini to her apartment following her July 2nd interview, they did not collect or test the glasses for the presence of any “date rape” drug even though Megan exhibited gaps in her memory and reported to investigators that she did not remember leaving Innisfree or taking Sweet T and Jason Barksdale to her apartment. Deputy Josh Hastings and Investigator Adam Jones were the lead investigators assigned to Megan Rondini’s rape case. Both men were experienced criminal investigators. Jones has been with the department for nearly 20 years in an investigative capacity. Hastings was promoted to the rank of sergeant in April of 2016. Sweet T is the son of Terry Jackson Bunn, Sr., a rich and powerful donor to the Crimson Tide Foundation. Reportedly, Bunn, Sr., was also an “Honorary Tuscaloosa County Deputy Sheriff” who held a Sheriff’s badge and commission card at the time. The Rondini-Bunn Sexual Encounter No one disputes that Megan Rondini had a sexual encounter with Sweet T in the early morning hours of July 2, 2015. She claimed it was rape. Sweet T initially denied the encounter and even denied that Rondini had been to his house. After talking to his lawyer, Sweet T changed his story. He admitted the sexual encounter at his home, but claimed it was consensual. After escaping from Sweet T’s house following the sexual encounter, Megan went directly to DCH for a rape examination. DCH did not have a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner who had special training to conduct sexual assault evidentiary exams for rape victims. The staff on duty only performed a routine rape kit exam and collected a urine sample from Megan. Sheriff’s Department investigators were called to DCH by the Tuscaloosa Police Department because Megan told the hospital staff she had been sexually assaulted and she wanted to press criminal charges against the man who raped her. Upon arriving at DCH, Investigator Adam Jones obtained a recorded audio statement from Megan. At the time, Megan did not know Sweet T’s real name. When she gave investigators his nickname -- Sweet T -- they immediately knew him as “TJ”. They told Megan his real name -- Terry Jackson Bunn, Jr. They repeatedly referred to him as “TJ” while talking to Megan at DCH. Even though Megan was reporting a rape complaint against Sweet T, Investigator Jones classified his initial crime report as a “Special Inquiry”. A “Special Inquiry” is the lowest classification assigned to sexual assault complaints during Tuscaloosa Sheriff Ron Abernathy’s tenure. A shocking 50% of all sexual assaults in Tuscaloosa are classified as “Special Inquiry”. Designating Megan Rondini’s rape case as a “Special Inquiry” had the operative effect of shielding Terry Jackson Bunn, Jr.’s name from any public association with a Sexual Assault investigation. It also showed favoritism to the “suspect” at the very start of the investigation. Furthermore, this designation obfuscated the nature of the crime under investigation and would hamper a search of public records for Incident Reports of sexual assault crimes that named “Sweet T” as a "suspect". Megan’s case received this classification before investigators took any statements from Sweet T and/or third-party witnesses, before the alleged crime scene (i.e., Sweet T’s house) had been visited, searched and photographed, and before Megan’s rape kit and urine sample had been forensically tested (which never occurred). Sheriff Abernathy, who unsuccessfully tried to intervene on Sweet T’s behalf to quash an earlier rape investigation during Sheriff Ted Sexton’s term in office, ordered investigators to “script” Megan Rondini’s rape case, according to confidential sources familiar with the situation. The investigators dutifully complied with this order. As a result, Megan’s rape complaint was down-graded a “Special Inquiry”. Going forward, Megan would catch hell from investigators Adam Jones, while Sweet T would be afforded cushy, special treatment by Josh Hastings in an effort to aid him in escaping prosecution. During her police interview, Jones turned the tables on Megan by accusing her of a variety of felony property offenses for acts she committed while fleeing the scene of her alleged rape. Through their words and deeds, these property-related crimes appeared to be much more important to investigators than Megan's sexual assault allegations. In fact, only 21 minutes of Megan’s hours-long interview are dedicated to the sexual assault, with the bulk of the remainder focused on the property-related charges against her. By the time Jones read Megan Rondini her Miranda rights, she had been up for approximately 24 hours, spent a night drinking with friends, claimed she was sexually assaulted, escaped from what she believed was a locked room by climbing out a second story window getting bruised and scraped in the process, went to the hospital and underwent a rape kit/forensic examination, been questioned about the assault while in the hospital and then went to meet with Investigator Jones at the Sheriff’s Department to continue the interview. Prior to the interview, Megan’s father, Mike Rondini, spoke with Investigator Jones who was very anxious and eager for Megan to come to the station only hours after being released from DCH Regional Hospital. Mr. Rondini expressed concern that an attorney was not available to represent Megan, especially because he understood the accused was a person of some influence in the community. Investigator Jones’ response to having an attorney present was, “Whatever for?” Jones went on to claim his unit was specially trained to handle high profile cases. Sweet T’s First Version of His Sexual Encounter With Megan After taking a statement from Megan at DCH, Jones, Hastings and two other investigators visited Sweet T at his residence at 6:45 a.m. on July 2, 2015. He invited them into the house. He consented to a search of his home and allowed them to take photographs. Investigators asked Sweet T if he had come home with a female. Sweet T lied to them by stating that he had not. While investigators were taking photos of the scene, Adam Jones heard a window shut inside the residence. Investigators confronted Sweet T about the window and he advised them that he wanted to speak to his lawyer, which he did. Jones, Hastings, and the other investigators left the residence. They returned about two hours later. Even though Sweet T had given permission for a search of his residence, the investigators did not remove the occupants from the house or secure the crime scene before leaving after their initial visit. In fact, they left Sweet T and Jason Barksdale alone at the scene after Sweet T had been told he was the “suspect” in Megan’s rape case. This failure of duty by the investigators gave Sweet T an ample opportunity to remove, altered, tamper with, or otherwise destroy evidence in the residence after they retreated from the scene. Sweet T’s Second Version of His Sexual Encounter With Megan After investigators returned to the Sweet T’s residence at approximately 8:30 that morning, Attorney Jason Neff spoke to Sweet T and he again gave investigators permission to search his residence. This time, Sweet T and Barksdale were asked to exit the house. The investigators processed the scene and collected Sweet T’s bedsheets. They also collected several items outside the house. Investigators also interviewed Sweet T and Barksdale at the scene. Each man gave a statement. After speaking with Neff, Sweet T abandoned his first version of the “truth” and provided a second version of the “truth”. In the new version of the “truth”, Sweet T acknowledged that Megan was at his house in the early hours of the morning. He had seen Megan in Innisfree Irish Pub that night and on prior occasions, but did not know her name. Sweet T said that he and Barksdale picked Megan up as she was walking home alone. They took Megan to her apartment, where she made a drink for Barksdale and him. Sweet T omitted the pertinent fact that Megan made a drink for herself. Sweet T claimed that he was not drunk. He also said Megan decided she wanted to go to his house. Sweet T claimed that Megan was “outgoing” and “very flirtatious”. Once they got to his house, Sweet T said they had “consensual sex” without him using a condom. He also stated that he did not ejaculate during the encounter. Finally, Sweet T claimed that Megan had stolen his money and car keys at the house. Sweet T’s second interview on July 2nd lasted 6 minutes and 32 seconds. No questions were asked about the use of a "date rape" drug. By law enforcement standards, the interview was cursory, low-keyed, and even filled with moments of laughter. Jason Neff advised the investigators that Sweet T was going out of town and that he and Sweet T would speak to them further, if needed, upon their return from a pre-planned, 4th of July extended holiday weekend. Later that day, Sweet T traveled to the Bunn family’s home on Ono Island, Alabama. He hung out at the beach with his parents, Neff and his wife Christine, and other friends of the family. This trip facilitated Sweet T’s preparation of a third version of the “truth”. Sweet T’s Third Version of His Sexual Encounter With Megan Sweet T’s third version of the “truth” was videotaped at the Sheriff’s Department on July 6, 2015. This is the interview where Sweet T talked about playing “hardball” with Megan. He repeated and enhanced the scripted statements he gave to investigators on July 2nd. By now, Sweet T was claiming Megan had stolen one of his credit cards and hundreds of dollars in cash, in addition to his car keys. In truth, Megan only took $3, which she gave to a cab driver who came to pick her up at his house after the incident. Sweet T confided in Attorney Neff that he would drop the felony “breaking and entering” and “theft of property” charges against Megan, if she would drop her rape charge against him. Even though Adam Jones bullied Megan throughout her videotaped interview at headquarters on July 2nd, she refused to drop the rape charge against Sweet T. She also would not sign a “Refuse to Prosecute” form that Jones provided to her. In contrast to the laughter and camaraderie exhibited between the investigators and Sweet T during his interview at the house, there was no laughter or bonding occurring during Megan’s videotaped interrogation by Jones. What is more, Jones re-victimized Megan by casting her as a felony suspect and reading her Miranda rights while Megan was trying to press a rape charge against Sweet T. Unlike the Incident Report prepared in Megan's rape case at 4:30 a.m. on July 2, 2015 that listed Sweet T’s “Offense” as “Special Inquiry”, the Incident Report prepared on Sweet T’s behalf at 8:29 a.m. that morning listed the “Offense” against Megan as “Theft of Property Second Degree” and “Unlawful Breaking and Entering a Vehicle”. In a July 6, 2015 police interview, Investigator Josh Hastings helped Sweet T’s clean up his initial lie to investigators that he did not bring Megan to his house. Hastings suggested an innocent explanation for this false statement. Sweet T readily adopted Hastings’ explanation and made it his own. Hastings then ended his ingratiating interview with Sweet T with this telling “good ole boy” declaration: “The way I look at, man, if it was me on the other side of it, I would want you to do the same for me.” Helping Sweet T Escape Criminal Justice After concluding their “investigation”, Jones and Hastings prepared a “Case Report” that pleased Sweet T and Sheriff Abernathy. According to the report, Megan “never told [Sweet T] to stop or showed any form of earnest resistance”. Then-District Attorney Lyn Head rubber-stamped the report. With that, the “scripting” of this rape case was complete. Megan Rondini’s case had been reduced to a “she said; he said” rape case. Sheriff Abernathy and DA Head sided with the “he said” version. During the course of the investigation, no one disclosed Terry Jackson Bunn, Sr.’s official relationship with the Tuscaloosa County Sheriff’s Department to Megan Rondini or her family. Likewise, Sheriff Ron Abernathy made no effort to refer Megan’s rape case to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency for an independent investigation. He simply cleaned up this matter in-house. The rape kit and urine sample Megan taken by hospital personnel to substantiate her rape accusation against Sweet T were never analyzed. These evidentiary items could have buttressed Megan’s version of the sexual encounter from a forensic standpoint. The investigators apparently did not want a scientific answer to the question of whether Megan Rondini was the victim of a drug-facilitated rape. They also did not want Sweet T’s second and third versions of the “truth” undermined by any kind of scientific evidence. Sweet T “tipped” DA Attorney Lyn Head for a job well done when he sent her a $500 laundered, campaign contribution after his rape case was reviewed by a grand jury and no charges were filed. The Bunn family also made generous, laundered campaign contributions to Lyn Head before and after Megan filed her rape charge against Sweet T. Epilogue A depressed and dejected Megan Rondini committed suicide on February 26, 2016. Her purpose-driven life as a respected University of Alabama honors student and beloved daughter and sister changed forever on that dreadful July 2, 2015 morning at Sweet T’s house. Sweet T stole Megan's joy, spirit, and zest for life. He did not know Megan’s name, age, status in life, or anything else about her. In Sweet T’s eyes, Megan Rondini was truly a “nobody” who was only good for a drug-induced one-night stand. On the third anniversary of Megan Rondini’s rape report, Sweet T is a free man. He and Jason Barksdale are still cruising Tuscaloosa area bars and clubs in search of young coeds for sexual gratification. Both men picked up a DUI charge in 2016. Sweet T’s second DUI arrest in three years occurred on the date of Megan’s death. Barksdale’s third DUI arrest in twelve years occurred on May 28, 2016. Both men are still “best buddies”. Sheriff Ron Abernathy continues to defend the actions of his investigators in Megan's rape case. To date, no state or local prosecutor has shown the courage or willingness needed to initiate any criminal charges in connection with the Megan Rondini rape case.

By Donald V. Watkins ©Copyrighted and Published on June 29, 2018 Yesterday, a federal judge in Atlanta handed the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) a “gift” ruling on one of the claims in its September 1, 2016 “securities fraud” lawsuit against three of my companies and me. In issuing its ruling, the Court distanced itself from documentation that was timely and properly submitted by the defendants that disputed and refuted this claim. In a dismissive fashion, the Court said it would not “troll a 20-page statement of facts, 25-page declaration, and more than 400 pages of attachments to divine what facts Defendants intend to rely on” in opposing the SEC’s December 2017 motion for a partial summary judgment. No trolling was necessary, as the 25-page declaration provided the Court with the specific facts and proper citations to the 400-pages of supporting documentation that directly disputed the SEC’s claims. Click here to read the declaration. The SEC’s motion focused on three loans I obtained from former NBA player Charles Barkley to grow my businesses. Barkley is one of a small number of economic participants in theses businesses. He was also a creditor. By employing a hyper-technical interpretation of the Court's local procedural rules to justify its refusal to consider the defendants’ opposing evidence, the Court freed itself to rely solely upon the documents submitted by the SEC in support of its ruling. Of course, the SEC's documentation ignored my legal authority to borrow money from Barkley and to expend these funds for business purposes related to Masada Resources Group, LLC, and affiliated entities/persons. In a footnote, the Court made a passing reference to the cornerstone Masada Operating Agreement. This document was expressly incorporated into the two-page purchase agreement that assigned Barkley a defined percentage of my economic participation in the Masada family of companies. According to the Court, “[t]he document does not, as Defendants argue, state that Mr. Barkley “agreed to be bound by all of the terms and conditions of the Masada Operating Agreement.” Yet, in plain language, the Operating Agreement in question specifically states in Section 13.3 that: “Each assignee…. shall, by his or her acceptance of a Membership Interest, be deemed to be bound by all of the terms and conditions of this Agreement…”. The Court further observed: “Indeed, there is no indication Mr. Barkley ever saw the 1998 Masada Operating Agreement on which Defendants’ entire argument hinges.” In making this excuse for Barkley, the Court completely ignored the undisputed evidence that Charles Barkley’s financial adviser at Wachovia Securities (who later moved to investment banking giant Raymond James) handled the due diligence, loan documentation, and subsequent communications for each one of the financial transactions in question. Furthermore, this financial adviser actually signed the Watkins-Barkley purchase agreement on behalf of Barkley. Again, this rebuttal information was furnished to the Court in the 25-page declaration, but was ignored by the Court. Interestingly, neither the SEC, nor the Court, made any claim that Masada is not an ongoing international business enterprise, or that Barkley has lost any money in connection with this venture. Neither entity mentioned the undisputed fact that: (a) I served as CEO of Masada for more than 12 years without taking a dime of the Manager’s compensation that was expressly authorized in the Operating Agreement; (b) I permitted Masada to maintain its headquarters in my Southside office building during this time period without paying any rent; and (c) I voluntarily deferred millions of dollars in authorized expense reimbursements owed to me during this time period in order to grow the company into an industry leader. To project the appearance that I used Barkley’s loan proceeds for personal use, the Court cited a couple of transactions involving payments to my ex-wife and my ex-girlfriend from the Barkley loans. However, the Court completely ignored the undisputed facts presented in the 25-page declaration that: (a) my ex-wife was a Masada creditor who was entitled to periodic repayments; (b) my ex-girlfriend was a Masada vendor who was entitled to be paid, along with other creditors; (c) the Masada Operating Agreement authorized me to make payments to creditors and vendors in the regular course of business, including those individuals with whom I had a personal relationship; and (d) Barkley received the increased economic participation that he requested in exchange for making the loans (which said increase he retains to this day). Every transaction challenged by the SEC and cited in the Court's ruling was specifically authorized in the Masada Operating Agreement. Every one of them was presented to the Court in its proper context in the 25-page declaration. Furthermore, the Operating Agreement was written and adopted eight years before I became CEO of the Masada family of companies. The Court’s ruling also claimed that I misrepresented or omitted pertinent factual information during my solicitation of the loans in question. Yet, Barkley testified under oath that: (a) his financial adviser handled the loan transactions for him; (b) he personally never read or relied upon any of the loan-related correspondence at issue; and (c) he was a pre-existing Masada business associate of mine who made the loans because he was seeking to increase his economic interest in my businesses, which occurred. The Court made no reference to these facts. Once the Court divorced the Barkley transactions from the core documents that formed the business relationship and governed my conduct as the company’s Manager, the Court was then free to characterize the loan transactions and expenditures in the truncated and grossly misleading context that was presented in the SEC’s motion for partial summary judgment. In doing so, the Court erred as a matter of law and fact in ruling that Barkley had been “defrauded” and that the expenditures in question had no business purpose. By objective standards, the Court’s ruling was a “gift” to the SEC. The personal animus and character assassination embedded throughout the Court’s ruling suggests that the road to vindication in this case will be a long and difficult one. Regardless, my attorneys will take the appropriate legal steps to challenge the Court’s erroneous ruling. In the end, we will prevail. PHOTO: Charles Barkley.

Posted on June 26, 2018 On July 2, 2015, Terry Jackson “Sweet T” Bunn, Jr., and Jason Stephen Barksdale changed Megan Rondini’s life forever. Sweet T’s quest for a quick one-night stand robbed Megan of her joy in life and exposed her to a justice system in Tuscaloosa where well-connected sexual predators, sex addicts, GHB users, and low-life males can abuse women with impunity and get away with it. Megan Rondini, a 20-year-old University of Alabama honors student, took her life after Sweet T escape criminal justice in her rape case. July 2, 2018 marks the third anniversary of Megan Rondini’s reported rape case. For over a year, I have been waiting for the right time to tell the full story of Jason Barksdale role in Megan’s tragic rape case. Now is the time. I have been sitting on a mountain of evidence about Barksdale, including his hook-ups with women before and after his 2014 divorce. I usually quote excerpts from emails and text messages generated by the subjects of my articles. I did not do so in Sunday’s introductory article about Jason Barksdale because the photos and text messages he sent to these women are too graphic and sickening to post. By his own words and deeds, Barksdale exhibits a propensity to engage in reckless conduct that is fueled by his alcoholism and sexual addiction. This conduct has the potential to harm innocent people in his presence, including his adorable young daughter (who will be 5-years-old on the third anniversary of Megan's rape case). Based upon the engrained culture of protectionism and male privilege in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, I have decided to closely monitor the court proceedings described in Sunday's article to determine whether the Guardian Ad Litem and the Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court will adequately protect the safety and welfare of Jason Barksdale's daughter during the pending litigation involving his visitations with her. This is one case where there must not be a failure of justice. Stay tuned to learn a lot more about Jason Stephen Barksdale. PHOTO: Terry Jackson "Sweet T" Bunn, Jr., (left) partying with Jason Barksdale (right) at Innisfree Irish Pub on the night of July 1, 2015.

By Donald V. Watkins ©Copyrighted and Published on June 24, 2018 Jason Stephen Barksdale will be 40 years old on September 11, 2018. He graduated from Holt High School. Jason has no college education. He recently quit his job as a “quality control” employee at the Mercedes Benz plant in Vance, Alabama and is now supporting himself by cutting grass. Jason’s ex wife, Johanna, divorced him after she caught him cheating with other women. Johanna is a successful real estate agent in Tuscaloosa who comes from a very respected family. Johanna and Jason are the parents of a beautiful daughter named Julianna, who will be 5-years-old on July 2, 2018. According to his friends, Jason missed Julianna’s second birthday party because he was partying at the beach. He attended Julianna’s third birthday party, but was distraught after he was arrested on May 28, 2016 at 2:34 in the morning in Orange Beach, Alabama for DUI after a night of drinking at the legendary Flora-Bama Lounge/Restaurant. Jason had a female passenger with him at the time of his DUI arrest who had to be sent home in a taxi. Jason’s friends say he missed Julianna’s fourth birthday party. The event was held two days after a June 22, 2017 BuzzFeed News article thrust him into the national spotlight as the man who was with 37-year-old Terry Jackson “Sweet T” Bunn, Jr., when 20-year-old University of Alabama honors student Megan Rondini accused Sweet T of raping her at his Cottondale home during the early morning hours of July 2, 2015. Sweet T and Jason spotted Megan Rondini socializing with a group of her friends at Innisfree Irish Pub in Tuscaloosa on the night of July 1, 2015. Sweet T and Jason left the pub when Megan exited the premises and proceeded to walk home. The men offered Megan a ride home to her apartment. She was familiar with Sweet T and accepted the ride home. Megan invited Sweet T and Jason into her apartment for a drink. A video inside her apartment building shows Megan leading Sweet T and Jason down a hallway and into her apartment. Megan was not staggering in her walk or exhibiting any difficulty in her mobility. Megan did not remember much about how she got to Sweet T’s house after the three of them left her apartment. She remembered the unwarranted sexual encounter with Sweet T and her escape from his second floor bedroom. She reported the sexual encounter as a rape. Sweet T said it was a consensual one-night stand. Jason claimed he was asleep in another part of the house. Tuscaloosa County Sheriff’s investigators never fully explored Jason Barksdale role on the night in question. Under orders from Sheriff Ron Abernathy to “script” Megan’s rape case, the investigators assigned to Megan Rondini’s rape case worked hard to undermine her allegations against Sweet T and to downgrade the reported rape charge to a “Special Inquiry”. Sheriff Abernathy and local law enforcement officials were well aware of Sweet T and his “street” reputation as a “dirt bag” who regularly trolled Tuscaloosa’s local bars and clubs in search of young women for sexual conquests. In fact, Abernathy had previously intervened on behalf of Sweet T in another reported rape case. Jason is Sweet T’s best friend and trusted confidant. Sweet T was the “best man” at Jason’s 2012 wedding to Johanna. Jason is an alcoholic. It is a problem that has plagued him for most of his adult life. Sweet T and Jason share a common passion – they love partying with young women, getting them high on alcohol and/or drugs, and having sex with them while they are inebriated or incapacitated. Jason is also a sex addict. Jason constantly engages in sexting that consists of sending lewd messages and photos of his erect penis to his sexual prey. Jason relishes his friendship with Sweet T because it provides him with derivative access to the perks and privileges that flow from his association with one of Alabama’s richest and most influential families – the Terry Jackson Bunn, Sr., family. The Bunn family is a member of the oligarchy that runs Alabama. Two events have returned Jason Barksdale to the spotlight. Both are deeply troubling. Did Barksdale Supply the “Date Rape” Drug Sweet T Used on Megan Rondini? GHB, or Gamma Hydroxybutyrate, is a central nervous system depressant that is commonly referred to as a “date rape” drug. GHBis illegal in Alabama. Sweet T and Jason were known users of GHB on their sexual prey. GHB is often added to a victim's drink without her knowledge. When a drink is spiked with GHB and unknowingly consumed by the date rape victim, she will usually experience unexpected change in her mood or sensory perception such as feeling happy, groggy and sleepy, or generally disorientated on all counts. She may not be able to remember everything that happened to her before or after ingesting the drug. Megan Rondini’s hospital records and police report provide a host of clues that she was the victim of an unobtrusively administered dose of GHB. She had no recollection of going back to her apartment that night with Sweet T and Jason. Her recollection of going to Sweet T’s house was fuzzy, as well. Megan indicated to the investigators that she had gaps in memory about how she left the pub and how she ended up in Sweet T’s car. The investigators failed to ask Megan questions to determine what she did and did not remember, and did not try to pinpoint any time in the evening when someone might have unobtrusively administered GHB to her. Furthermore, Sheriff’s investigators never tested her urine sample to determine from a forensics standpoint whether Sweet T or Jason spiked Megan’s drink at the apartment. Investigators and prosecutors closed the case after claiming that Megan did not resist Sweet’s sexual advances on the night in question. With that, Sweet T was a free man. After Sweet T escaped criminal justice with the direct intervention and assistance of Sheriff Ron Abernathy, Megan Rondini committed suicide. Last week, I watched a short video clip of Megan leading Sweet T and Jason down the hall and into her apartment. I watched this video over and over again. Then I noticed something I had missed before. When Sweet T realized that Megan was going to let Jason and him enter into her apartment, Sweet T clasped his hands three times in celebration. Jason then reached into his pocket for something that he tried to discreetly hand to Sweet T. At that point, Sweet T turned to Jason and gestured for him to hold up for a moment. In his police interview, Sweet T acknowledged that he and Jason had drinks at Megan’s apartment. He was unsure whether Megan had a drink. Oddly, there were no glasses on the kitchen counter when Megan returned home from her police interview during the early morning hours of July 2, 2015. This interview occurred (a) after Megan escaped from Sweet T’s home with the help of friends, (b) after she had immediately traveled from Sweet T's home to a local hospital for a rape kit exam, and (c) after she was taken from the hospital to the Sheriff’s Department to file a rape report. Did Barksdale Engage in Inappropriate Behavior With His Daughter? Jason Stephen Barksdale is a material witness in the Megan Rondini rape case. He is an alcoholic, a known sexual predator, and self-professed sex addict. He has been known to supply Sweet T with GHB on multiple occasions. Barksdale sends images of his penis to women in a juvenile effort to impress them. He was a serial cheater while he was married to Johanna. In 2016, Jason was busted for DUI and pled guilty to the charge. By all objective measures, Jason Barksdale is a danger to himself and to others in his presence. On December 11, 2014, Johanna divorced Jason Barksdale. She apparently had enough of his marital cheating and juvenile antics. The couple’s divorce decree required Jason to have Julianna at the home of his parents by 8 p.m. during his child visitations. Overnight visitations were ordered to occur at the home of Julianna’s paternal grand parents. In April 2018, Julianna was returned to Johanna following a visitation with Jason. Julianna told Johanna that she had spent the night at Jason’s home, and not the home of her paternal grandparents. Julianna also told Johanna that she had bathed with Jason during this unauthorized overnight visitation at Jason’s home. In early May of 2018, Johanna filed a court petition to hold Jason in contempt for his unauthorized conduct. The petition referenced the bathing incident in several paragraphs. On May 7th, Jason filed an answer to the petition in which he denied bathing with Julianna. In denying this allegation, Jason effectively claimed that Julianna was lying on him. Independent evidence uncovered during the course of my investigation indicates that Julianna was telling the truth about the bathing incident with Jason. Tuscaloosa County Circuit Judge Philip N. Lisenby appointed Attorney Debra Sutton as a Guardian Ad Litem to represent the legal interests of Julianna in this matter. Johanna’s contempt of court case against Jason is pending. Courthouse insiders are extremely concerned about this case because (a) Julianna is an innocent young girl whose father has exhibited a reckless disregard for his own life, as well as the lives of females in his company and (b) Jason is connected to Sweet T, whose family has a history of using its political clout to compromise the civil and criminal justice system in Tuscaloosa on multiple occasions. Courthouse insiders do not want a failure of justice in this case. We will monitor this case closely to ensure that the Guardian Ad Litem represents Julianna’s interests in a full and competent manner. We will also monitor the trial proceedings to ensure that justice is administered in a fair and impartial manner in this case. Jason Stephen Barksdale’s history of alcoholism, sexual addiction, association with Sweet T, and juvenile sexting demands nothing less. VIDEO: Megan Rondini, Terry Jackson "Sweet T" Bunn, Jr., and Jason Barksdale inside her apartment building during the early morning hours of July 2, 2015. PHOTO: Jason Barksdale is Terry Jackson "Sweet T" Bunn, Jr.'s best friend, drinking buddy, and confidant.

By Donald V. Watkins ©Copyrighted and Published on June 17, 2018 Every 501(c)(3) non-profit organization has a board of directors that is responsible for overseeing the fiscal affairs and operational activities of the charity. The Greater Birmingham Humane Society (“GBHS”) is no exception. Proper oversight has been lacking at GBHS since Allison Black Cornelius took over as interim CEO in September 2014. As a result, GBHS has become a killing ground for healthy animals in need. This lack of board oversight has also created a breeding ground for Ms. Cornelius’ many conflicts of interest and abuse of employees. Ms. Cornelius has been known to rant and rave through the halls of GBHS’s Snow Drive headquarters, bare-footed, using the F word, and other inappropriate language in the presence of volunteers and foster care providers. When employees complained about this unprofessional conduct, nothing was done to correct it. Ms. Cornelius routinely subjected employees to “gaslighting” in order to silence their voices and allay their growing concerns about the inhumane treatment of the animals in GBHS’s care. She is notorious for threatening and bullying employees. Those who complained were fired and denied unemployment compensation. She also bad-mouthed them after they were gone. Remaining staff members were strongly discouraged from associating with staffers who left voluntarily or who were fired. A handful of senior management employees received huge salary increases at the beginning of 2016 when GBHS was struggling to pay its vendor bills. What is worse, Ms. Cornelius had a terrible habit of using GBHS staff members, resources, and equipment for Blackfish’s business and her personal needs. The Board Gave Cornelius Free Reign Over GBHS Operations GBHS’s IRS Form 990 describes the board of director’s oversight role for the organization and its senior management personnel (e.g., chief executive officer, chief financial offer, etc.). In 2015, GBHS ended the year in the red because its expenses exceeded revenues by $309,790. GBHS’s IRS Form 990 for 2015 listed seventeen board members, led by Chairman David Young. Twelve of these board members spent one hour per week overseeing a $12.4 million non-profit enterprise. The board’s five officers, including Chairman Young, spent two hours per week in their oversight role. The Form 990 for 2016 listed 30 directors, four of whom were board officers. Twenty-five of the directors said they spent one hour per week on their oversight role. The four officers on the board claimed they spent five hours per week in this role. Only one board member – Charles K. McPherson, Sr. – claimed he spent 10 hours per week in his board member oversight role. According to the organization’s Form 990 for 2015, Ms. Cornelius spent 40 hours per week on her job. GBHS’s Chief Financial Officer, Mary Anne Levet, spent 40 hours per week in her job. With respect to conflicts of interests, GBHS reported on its 2015 and 2016 Form 990s that: (a) the organization had a written conflict of interest policy; (b) officers, directors, and key employees were required to “disclose annually interests that could give rise to conflicts”; (c) GBHS regularly and consistently monitored and enforced compliance with the policy. The first two representations were accurate. Based upon the numerous examples of conflicts of interest presented in this article, the third representation was not accurate. GBHS also reported to the IRS that it had a written whistleblower policy. This representation was true on paper only. In practice, employees and other interested parties who reported GBHS-related misconduct to Ms. Cornelius were subjected to horrendous abuse. In one case, this abused was actually set in motion when Ms. Cornelius sent to local attorney/GBHS “partner” Angie Ingram an email on February 8, 2015 suggesting that Ingram “sue the daylights out of this woman”, who happened to be a whistleblower named Heather Halldin. Rather than embracing Halldin and promising to investigate the financial improprieties raised in her “whistleblower” email, Ms. Halldin and her six fellow whistleblowers were subjected to three years of litigation waged by GBHS board member Lisa Thompson (and five co-plaintiffs) in a self-styled “defamation” case that seeks monetary damages for Ms. Thompson and her friends. Ms. Cornelius filed an affidavit in support of Ms. Thompson’s quest for monetary damages. Yet, this litigation support is not listed anywhere in GBHS’s Form 990 for 2014 or 2015 even though Ms. Cornelius’ July 10, 2015 affidavit is filled with references to GBHS and its board approved resources for a “rescue” of Cavalier dogs at a Wheaton, Missouri auction in November 2014 and the subsequent “insider” transactions that permanently placed the highest priced Cavaliers with GBHS’s “rescue” partners. Unlike the properly reported “Interested Persons” transactions for GBHS board members Lucy Thompson Marsh and Andy Prewitt, none of Ms. Cornelius’ “Interested Persons” transactions appear on GBHS’s Form 990 for 2014, 2015, or 2016. We had to dig those transactions out from under the cloak of secrecy that surrounds them. We should note that Ms. Cornelius has refused our repeated requests for an interview. Does Cornelius’ Commingling of Personal and GBHS Money and Resources Create Inherent Conflicts of Interest? On January 27, 2015, Allison Black Cornelius became GBHS’s permanent CEO. The Board understood at the time that Ms. Cornelius would need to wind down her private Blackfish consulting business to fulfill this role. It afforded Ms. Cornelius adequate time to do so. The board expected that Ms. Cornelius would devote her full time and energy to managing GBHS’s challenging financial and operational affairs. GBHS reported on its Form 990 for 2016 that Ms. Cornelius worked 60 hours per week. Since January 2015, Ms. Cornelius has engaged in the following activities with the tacit or express GBHS board approval: 1. Ms. Cornelius repeatedly used GBHS resources to run her Blackfish consulting business. Rather than winding down her Blackfish business activities, Ms. Cornelius appears to be ramping them up. On March 27, 2017, Ms. Cornelius incorporated a spinoff of Blackfish called “Blackfish Strategies, LLC”. Just last month, Ms. Cornelius took a break from her fulltime GBHS job to lead a “Standards for Excellence” graduate class for non-profit leaders under the banner of Blackfish Consulting for the Richland County Foundation’s Osborne Meese Academy in Mansfield, Ohio. 2. Ms. Cornelius used Courtney Underwood, GBHS’s Director of Marketing and Outreach, to oversee her Blackfish business activities during GBHS working hours. Ms. Underwood’s duties included Blackfish billings, managing calendars, copying materials, and preparing for Blackfish conferences and seminars. At least one other highly paid GBHS management employee used her valuable time and GBHS’s copiers to reproduce commercial-scale volumes of Blackfish handout materials on more than one occasion. 3. At the beginning of 2016, GBHS was struggling to pay its regular bills on a timely basis. It finished 2015 in the red. Vendor accounts were delinquent and vendors were refusing to ship orders. Yet, Ms. Cornelius, with the approval of the board of directors, received a salary increase from $96,600 in 2015 to $125,000 in 2016. In addition to her salary increase, Ms. Cornelius received approximately $16,500 in net bonus income. Upon the recommendation of Ms. Cornelius, Ms. Ramona Graffeo, GBHS’s Human Resources Officer, saw her salary raised from $55,000 to $85,000. Ms. Mary Anne Levet, GBHS’s CFO received an increase in compensation from $63,750 to $85,000. Ivana Sullivan, GBHS’s Director of Shelter Operations, saw her salary increased from $50,000 to $60,000. 4. While GBHS was paying Ms. Cornelius salary and bonus money, she was traveling on behalf of Blackfish to give lectures and seminars on non-profit leadership and avoiding conflicts of interest. GBHS Chairman Art Edge claimed in a June 1, 2018 interview that Ms. Cornelius donated her speaker fees to GBHS. Unlike the “ Business Transactions Involving Interested Persons” listings for board members Lucy Thompson Marsh and Andy Prewitt, no such cash donations, loans, or in-kind contributions appear for Ms. Cornelius on GBHS’s Form 990 for 2015 and 2016. 5. Ms. Cornelius regularly used Courtney Underwood and other staffers as valets to run personal errands (e.g., going to the dry cleaners, picking up medicines from pharmacies, etc.) during GBHS working hours. Ms. Underwood reportedly helped Ms. Cornelius’ son pack for college and move to Tuscaloosa for his studies at the University of Alabama in 2015. She reportedly used GBHS’s large van with a GBHS logo to facilitate this move. 6. Ms. Cornelius used this large GBHS van to move some of her personal belongings from her house that was sold, to her lake house on Smith Lake. Another employee said Ms. Cornelius and her husband used this truck to haul gravel on a personal project. 7. Ms. Cornelius insisted that one GBHS staffer drive or ride with her to a Blackfish conference in Kentucky or Indiana. This was an overnight trip and Ms. Cornelius did not want to go alone. The staffer was upset and did not want to go. This was an exempt staffer who was paid for at least 8-16 hours for this trip. 8. After Ms. Cornelius fired staffers who served as her personal valets, she told people that she would ruin them if they ever talked negatively about her or their GBHS experiences. 9. Ms. Cornelius freely commingled GBHS financial transactions with her personal transactions. She made numerous personal purchases using her GBHS business credit card. Some of these expenses were eventually reimbursed. Interestingly, Birmingham-Jefferson County Transit Authority executive director Barbara Murdock reportedly used her company credit card for personal transactions in 2016 and was terminated last month even though she reimbursed one of these expenditures. 10. GBHS reportedly paid for moving Blackfish items when ABC closed her business office. Courtney Underwood worked for days on GBHS’s payroll as she prepared the Blackfish office for closure. All of these items were brought and stored at GBHS. Most of these items were not used by GBHS. As such, they were not treated as in-kind donations. Rather, GBHS provided free storage space for Blackfish furnishings and personal property. 11. Ms. Cornelius reportedly used GBHS’s veterinary clinic for free vet visits, flea and heartworm preventative treatments for all her dogs. She would have staff bathe and groom her dogs. Ms. Cornelius got collars, leashes, and dog toys from GBHS’s gift shop without paying for these items. 12. GBHS reportedly bought Ms. Underwood a laptop to use, but it was also used for Ms. Cornelius’ Blackfish business on Underwood’s GBHS and personal time. 13. Ms. Cornelius allowed Angie Ingram’s “for-profit” Alabama Puppy Mill Project to use GBHS’s Snow Drive address for business purposes. The phone number listed on the Puppy Mill website was registered to Blackfish. It is the same number Ms. Cornelius uses for GBHS business. After I began publishing my investigative articles on GBHS and Cavalier Rescue of Alabama, the listed address and phone number were removed from the Alabama Puppy Mill Project’s website. Questionable Financial Practices? Barfield, Murphy, Shank, and Smith, LLC, is a Birmingham, Alabama CPA firm. It prepared GBHS’s 2016 Financial Statements (on September 26, 2017) and its 2017 Financial Statements (on April 2, 2018). Both financial statements contain the following disclaimer: “Management is responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of these financial statements…. ; this includes the design, implementation, and maintenance of internal control relevant to the preparation and fair presentation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error.” The Barfield firm’s CPA role was limited to “expressing an opinion on these statements based on our audit.” With that in mind, we have learned that GBHS engaged in the following questionable financial practices: 1. Jazz Cat Ball (“JCB”) is GBHS’s largest fundraiser and costs thousands of dollars to host. All items purchased for the JCB had a general ledger account to be charged. After the event, when reports showed the JCB did not meet its expected financial goals, Ms. Cornelius directed that JCB expenses be spread among the different cost centers or departments to improve the revenue look on GBHS’s books. 2. After each GBHS cost center submitted its budget for the fiscal year ending on September 30, 2017 based on their best knowledge, and based on actual historical data, Ms. Cornelius ordered these numbers changed to show inflated projected income. 3. BP Deepwater Horizon Settlement: Ms. Cornelius directed that GBHS file a claim for BP Deepwater Horizon Settlement money. The CFO advised ABC against this, but Ms. Cornelius ordered it to be done. GBHS, whose Form 990 for 2016 describes no discernible business activities in the affected oil spill areas, received $182,975 in BP settlement money. This money is listed on page 10 of the Form 990 as “miscellaneous revenue” that is “Related or exempt function revenue”. Wasteful Spending? While GBHS was killing healthy dogs, cats and other animals because of “overcrowding”, Ms. Cornelius was directing her staff to purchase three large-screen TVs for the lobby of the Snow Drive headquarters, where one would do just fine. The TVs cost $800-900 each, plus $400 each to mount. Ms. Cornelius also sent six people on business trips to Las Vegas and New Orleans for conferences. Additionally, she spent $12,000 for marketing software. Ms. Cornelius used $1,000 in GBHS donor money to buy a Birmingham K9 Kevlar vest and night vision goggles. She then donated this equipment to the Birmingham Police Department’s K9 Unit as part of a concerted effort to solicit the Unit's support when GBHS pitched its new one campus “gifting” idea to the City of Birmingham (which owned the proposed 27-acre campus site). This inducement did not work, as a portion of the site was later sold to another entity. Ms. Cornelius gave Kailyn Harris, a GBHS adoption counselor, a black Ford SUV owned by GBHS to drive for business and personal use. GBHS paid all insurance, gas, and maintenance for the vehicle for more than two years. Reportedly, Ms. Cornelius took this action against the advice of GBHS’s CFO. Ms. Harris was eventually fired in 2017, but was allowed to keep the SUV after her termination. The Board Supports Ms. Cornelius In 2017, GBHS's board of directors issued a formal statement announcing that it had "investigated claims that Allison Black Cornelius improperly directing society funds for her personal use, disposing of new and useable donated goods, and providing extraordinary raises for herself and other top executives." The board said its investigation found no evidence supporting these claims. The statement proclaimed that "the Board of Directors continues its full and unequivocal support of Allison Black Cornelius and the staff of the GBHS, and will continue to uphold its duty to the stakeholders of the GBHS by performing its oversight responsibilities with diligence and care." The board's 2017 statement made no reference to the plethora of internal and external documents relied upon in our investigation. These documents tell a very different story and rightfully call into question the board's exercise its oversight responsibility. Stay tuned for the finale in this incredible story of documented waste, abuse, and mismanagement at GBHS. PHOTO: The reception area at GBHS's Snow Drive headquarters.