By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on August 18, 2023 An Editorial Opinion Yesterday, Donald Trump’s criminal defense team proposed an April 2026 trial date for his federal criminal trial on election interference charges in Washington, D.C. Trump is charged with four felony counts in this case: (a) conspiracy to defraud the United States, (b) conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, (c) obstruction of an official proceeding, and (d) conspiracy against rights. The defense's proposed trial date was a dumb idea. Trump's lawyers look like amateurs for even proposing it. What is worse, this proposed trial date likely undermined whatever credibility Trump’s lawyers had left with U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is presiding over the case. Furthermore, Trump’s proposal for an April 2026 trial date was filed with the Court during the same week that we learned about the arrest of Abigail Jo Shry, the Texas woman who issued a threat on August 5, 2023 to kill Judge Chutkan and Congresswoman Shelia Jackson Lee (D-Texas). Anatomy of a Clown Show Donald Trump’s criminal defense team has been running a clown show since the FBI raided Mar-a-Lago in August 2022. The basic missteps listed below demonstrate to me that Trump’s lawyers do not have a clue about how to successfully defend his four criminal cases, and they do not have a winning game-plan for any one of these cases: 1. Jack Smith was too flawed to serve as Special Counsel in Trump’s criminal cases. Yet, Trump’s defense attorneys failed to move for his disqualification. Instead, they have allowed Trump to keep attacking Smith in the wrong way. 2. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has the weakest of the four state and federal criminal cases against Donald Trump. However, Trump’s lawyers are attacking Bragg in the wrong way, as well. At the rate his lawyers are going, they are going to give Bragg an easy victory. 3. U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon is a neophyte, pro-Trump trial judge, but Trump’s lawyers have not provided Cannon with a road map on how to kill Jack Smith’s classified documents case in her Miami courtroom. In fact, they have not offered Judge Cannon credible help on any aspect of Trump's case. 4. Donald Trump’s defense lawyers have not publicly and forcefully condemned the threats of violence against FBI agents, Department of Justice officials, and judges. As attorneys and officers of the court, they must do so. I have condemned these threats, even though I am not a member of Trump’s defense team and I have no personal or political allegiance to him. 5. Trump's lawyers allowed Fulton County District Attorney Fani T. Willis to out maneuver and out-lawyer them with a RICO charge, which has a mandatory minimum of 5 years of imprisonment in a Georgia state correctional facility. This charge could have been effectively circumvented early on during the grand jury investigation. Trump's attorneys are losing his criminal cases at a pace I have never seen before in my entire legal career. These attorneys are obviously not ready for "prime time" courtroom performances. Trump’s Proposed April 2026 Trial Date for His Washington Case is Pure “Bullshit” As my readers know, I currently hold the record in American jurisprudence for defeating federal prosecutors on 85 felony counts in the case of U.S. v. Richard Scrushy Trump is facing 91 felony counts, which is daunting. On November 4, 2003, the Department of Justice indicted Richard Scrushy, the former CEO of HealthSouth, on 85 felony counts of Sarbanes Oxley offenses and related charges. If convicted on all charges, Scrushy faced 650 years in prison. In the span of 13 months, my handpicked criminal defense team prepared for a trial that lasted six months. Our trial preparation included a review of (a) more than 6 million pages of seized HealthSouth documents, (b) a stash of secretly recorded audiotapes, and (c) hundreds of FBI transcripts of interviews with cooperating witnesses. We also identified, located, and prepared Scrushy's defense witnesses. Sixteen HealthSouth executive were charged in the HealthSouth case. Fourteen of them pled guilty and testified against Scrushy, including all five of the company’s chief financial officers since it was founded. On June 28, 2005, Richard Scrushy walked out of the federal courthouse in Birmingham, Alabama as a free man. Over a 19-month period, we prepared for trial, tried the case for 6 months, and defeated federal prosecutors on all 85 original counts. Scrushy’s case is featured in the May 11, 2020, "King Richard" episode of Netflix’s "Trial by Media" documentary series. My point with the Scrushy case is simple: It does not take competent criminal defense counsel 2 years and 8 months to prepare for a criminal case that has only four felony counts. Judge Chutkan knows this, and so do I. Donald Trump’s proposed trial date and the reasons asserted for it constitute an insult to Judge Chutkan's intelligence and judicial acumen. I don’t know who is running the clown show in Donald Trump’s criminal cases, but the lead clown seems to be doing everything within his power to lose all four of Trump’s criminal cases, and maybe the election itself.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on August 17, 2023 An Editorial Opinion Spirited debate about the appropriateness and efficacy of the four criminal cases pending against presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald J. Trump is perfectly fine within our democratic society. Threats of violence and acts of violence are never appropriate tools for political participation in our system of democracy. Specific Death Threats Made by Abigail Jo Shry Abigail Jo Shry, 43, of Alvin, Texas was arrested last week on a charge of transmitting a threat to injure a person via interstate commerce. Shry's threats were directed at Judge Tanya Chutkan, the federal judge who is presiding over Trump's election interference case in Washington, D.C., and Congresswoman Shelia Jackson Lee (D-Texas). A probable cause affidavit signed by Joshua Henry, a special agent with the Federal Protective Service in the Department of Homeland Security, describes Shry's threats to Judge Chutkan and Congresswoman Lee. Here is the pertinent excerpt from Joshua Henry's affidavit: Ms. Shry has admitted to making her call to Judge Chutkan's office. She also admitted that, if Congresswoman Lee travels to Alvin, Texas, federal law enforcement officials need to worry about her safety. Despite His Personal Baggage, Trump is the likely GOP Nominee for President Donald Trump has a public profile that includes 91 pending criminal charges, 26 sexual assault allegations, six past bankruptcies, five Vietnam-era draft deferments, four pending indictments, two failed impeachment attempts, one convicted Trump-owned company, one fake Trump university (that was shut down), one fake charity (that was shut down), a $25 million fraud settlement, a $5 million sexual abuse verdict, and a $2 million charity abuse judgment. Yet, a majority of Republicans voters support his candidacy for president. Despite his documented personal baggage, Donald Trump is expected to become the GOP's nominee for president. Barring divine intervention, Trump will likely win the presidency, as well. While it was within Ms. Shry’s First Amendment right to aggressively support Donald Trump's candidacy in every lawful way, she did not have a right to threaten the life of a federal judge and member of Congress in the exercise of this right. Nobody enjoys this right. Ms. Shry is now sitting in Texas jail, which is where she belongs. Shry does not deserve a release on bond because she is obviously a clear and present danger to our democracy. Epilogue At some point, Republican leaders and Donald Trump's MAGA supporters must publicly and forcefully denounce violence as an acceptable election tool. Their failure to do so sends the wrong message to the fringe elements in the MAGA movement. On August 14, 2022, I published an article in which I urged Trump supporters to stop threatening FBI agents, Department of Justice employees, and judicial officials. No Republican leader joined me in denouncing this kind of violence. I will say it again, violence has no place in the American political system!

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on August 14, 2022 An Editorial Opinion On Monday, August 8, 2022, the FBI raided Donald J. Trump's home at Mar-a-Lago in Florida. On August 11, 2022, Attorney General Merrick Garland held an unprecedented news conference to explain the procedures that led to the raid. On the same day, the Department of Justice (DOJ) asked a federal judge in Florida to unseal the search warrant documents. Trump did not oppose this move. On Friday, August 12, 2022, the search warrant was made public. The search resulted in the retrieval of 11 sets of the highest categories of top secret classified government documents relating to our defense and national security. The search warrant also listed the three categories of federal criminal laws that are at the center of the Trump investigation: (a) violations of the Espionage Act, (b) obstruction of justice, and (c) removing and destroying government documents. All three charges are serious felonies. Within Trump World, the search of Trump's Mar-a-Lago home was viewed as a declaration of war. To Trump's army of tens of millions of diehard supporters and "patriots," the raid on Mar-a-Lago represents the beginning of the nation's Second Civil War. In the aftermath of the raid, Trump World began threatening the lives of the FBI Director, FBI agents, the U.S. Attorney General, federal prosecutors, and federal judges. Donald Trump is the undisputed leader of a national movement of armed "patriots" throughout America. He is also the leader of the Republican Party at all levels of government. Trump World firmly believes there is a vast Deep State conspiracy to destroy Trump because he is standing up for their "Make America Great Again" values. Anybody who gets in the way of their political agenda is deemed to be an enemy. Trump's "Patriots" Are Armed and Ready to Commit Acts of Violence Donald Trump's "patriots" and supporters are well-armed with military-grade assault weapons. They include far-right para-military units and white supremacy militia groups who are ready, willing, and eager to shed blood for Trump. They have absolutely no confidence in the FBI, IRS, Border Patrol Agency, DOJ, and federal judiciary. Trump's "patriots" have demonstrated their propensity to engage in acts of violence. Their leaders planned, implemented, and participated in the violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. On Thursday, a Trump "patriot" armed with an AR-15 assault rifle and a nail gun attacked the FBI field office in Cincinnati, and was later killed. This attacker was reportedly part of the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6th. Threats of violence against FBI agents, DOJ officials, and federal judges are WRONG AND MUST STOP NOW! There are plenty of legitimate ways to challenge actual and/or perceived law enforcement abuse. I have done it for 48 years. I do not understand why Republican leaders in Washington refuse to publicly defend the men and women of the FBI, IRS, DOJ, and federal judiciary. Right now, Republicans are loathing them and placing the lives of these officials in great danger. Donald Trump and U.S. Senator Rand Paul have even suggested, without any factual basis, that the FBI planted incriminating evidence at Mar-a-Lago during the raid. I DO NOT believe any FBI agent planted incriminating documents at Trump's home. Does the FBI Cheat to Win High-Profile Criminal Cases? For the record, the overwhelming majority of FBI agents, federal prosecutors, and federal judges are dedicated, first-class professionals. However, a lot of them are not. I have dealt with my fair share of the bad ones. As an African-American and a trial lawyer with a record number of landmark cases, I have witnessed and/or experienced a wide array of misconduct by federal, state, and local law enforcement agents, prosecutors, and judges. Here are just a few examples of such misconduct: 1. In 2017, the FBI agents who secured the FISA warrant that launched the Russia investigation violated 17 key agency protocols for seeking court-ordered search warrants. 2. A March 1996 Report issued by DOJ's Office of Inspector General on the "Good Ol' Boys Roundup" detailed a litany of instances of racism and misconduct committed by 500 to 1,000 FBI, ATF, and DOJ agents and prosecutors in the Southeast each year, from 1980 to 1995. 3. In the 2015 case of USA v. Milton McGregor (Montgomery, Alabama), the lead FBI agent (Keith Baker) was secretly sleeping with the court reporter (Mallory Johnson, nee McCutchin) who recorded the grand jury proceedings and ensuing criminal trial against McGregor on bribery and public corruption charges. The prosecution withheld this information from defense attorneys for 11 days. 4. In USA v. Ted Stevens (Anchorage, Alaska), it was discovered in 2012 that federal prosecutors deliberately withheld exculpatory evidence that would have produced a verdict of acquittal in Stevens' 2008 trial on public corruption charges. Sen. Stevens died before he could clear his name in this criminal case. 5. The Congressional Record-Senate Journal documents the FBI's attempted coup d'etat from 1988 to 1992 to remove Richard Arrington, Jr. as the first black mayor of Birmingham, Alabama. The U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama who led this failed coup attempt was forced to take an early retirement because of his role in the coup. 6. In the case of USA v. Nathan Chapman (Baltimore, Maryland), U.S. Attorney Thomas M. DiBiagio (Baltimore, Maryland) targeted, indicted, prosecuted, and convicted Nathan Chapman, a distinguished African-American investment banker and gubernatorially-appointed Chairman of the University of Maryland Board of Regents, on trumped up Securities and Exchange Act violations. DiBiagio, a George Bush-appointee, issued an internal office memo directing his prosecutors to target, indict, and prosecute prominent Maryland democrats like Nathan Chapman, Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, and members of the Baltimore city council prior to the November 6, 2004 presidential election. DiBiagio demanded three front-page white collar/public corruption cases. Chapman's case was the first one. DiBiagio was fired in 2005 when news of his "targeting" memo was leaked to the press. Lt. Gov. Townsend and the council members were never prosecuted. Chapman died before he could clear his name in his criminal case. 7. In 1996, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles issued a pre-indictment letter to U.S. District Judge U.W. Clemon advising him of its plan to indict him on bogus conspiracy, bribery, and money laundering charges. The purpose of the indictment and prosecution was to remove Clemon from the federal bench before he could ascend to the position of Chief U.S. District Judge for the Northern District of Alabama. This nefarious plan was pushed by several white federal judges in the Northern District who hated Clemon, who was the first black federal judge in Alabama history. Acting on a Citizens Coalition complaint, Attorney General Janet Reno reviewed the FBI's misconduct in Clemon's case and nixed the rogue plan to indict him. The DOJ's attempted coup d'etat in Clemon's case is reported in the Congressional Record-Senate Journal. 8. In 1963, FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover approved the agency's plan to pressure Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., into committing suicide before he traveled to Stockholm, Sweden to accept his 1964 Nobel Peace Prize. 9. From 1975 to 1977, the local FBI aided and abetted the Montgomery, Alabama police department in a cover-up of the shooting-death of an unarmed and innocent Bernard Whitehurst. Officers planted a "throw-down" pistol by Whitehurst's body after his death. In 1977, the Washington Post featured the Whitehurst case in a front-page article titled, "Alabama's Watergate." A plaque commissioned by the city and unveiled on April 16, 2013 at police department headquarters summarizes the police misconduct in Whitehurst's case this way: "On December 2, 1975, Bernard Whitehurst was shot to death by a police officer in Montgomery, Alabama. He died behind a house on Holcombe Street, running from police officers who mistakenly believed he was the suspect in a robbery of a neighborhood grocery store. The facts were slow to emerge in this shooting of a black man by a white police officer. But investigations urged by the Whitehurst family, the city's daily newspaper, and the local district attorney revealed the following of that tragic event: that Whitehurst, 32, did not match the robbery suspect's description; that he was unarmed, despite the police claims that they returned fire after being fired upon; the gun found by his body had been confiscated by police in a drug investigation a year earlier, and was placed at the scene as part of a police cover-up. The shooting that cost Bernard Whitehurst his life led to the resignation of the city's mayor and public safety director, the resignation or termination of eight police officers and the perjury indictment against three police officers.....". What's On the Horizon for Donald Trump and Republicans First, Republican respect for the federal law enforcement community today is apparently in the toilet. Trump World is trashing the members of these agencies all day, everyday on FOX News and on right-wing online podcasts and media sites. Second, it is highly likely that Donald Trump will be indicted in Washington, D.C. on the criminal charges listed in the search warrant. Third, barring divine intervention, Trump will likely win the Republican nomination for president in 2024, whether he is indicted or not. Fourth, if Republicans do not retake control of Congress in the November midterm elections, I expect Trump's para-military forces and diehard supporters to tear this country apart with widespread violence. Fifth, Trump will NOT condemn this violence. In fact, he will revel in it. After all, these are Trump's "patriots" and they are ready to die for him. Epilogue Trump's recent experience in beating Special Counsel Robert Mueller and former FBI Director James Comey to a pulp appears to have prepared him for his fight with Merrick Garland, Chris Wray, the FBI, DOJ, and the federal judiciary. Since December 2019, Trump has repeatedly called FBI agents "scum" and no Republican stepped forward to defend them. Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin) has publicly stated that FBI whistleblowers are coming forward and providing his office with "insider" information about corruption within the agency. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has promised Congressional hearings on the leadership of the FBI. U. S. Sen. Rick Scott (R-Florida) has likened the FBI and DOJ to Hitler's "Gestapo." Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Green has called for defunding the FBI. Green has been joined in this call by a Republican Congressional candidate in Florida named Anthony Sabatini. Congressman Paul Gosar (R-Arizona) has advocated that Trump's "patriots" destroy the FBI. Trump World's attack on the FBI, DOJ, and federal judiciary is unrelenting and unprecedented in scope, scale, and viciousness. It is also inciting violence against members of the federal law enforcement community. FOX News, which is Trump's unofficial propaganda channel, continuously justifies Trump World's all-out assault on the federal law enforcement community. FOX is owned by Keith Rupert Murdock, an Australia native who has been engulfed in his own lawbreaking scandals since 2013. While I have aggressively fought in the political arena and courtroom against misconduct committed by specific FBI agents, DOJ officials, and judges when and where it was warranted, I have NEVER advocated VIOLENCE against any law enforcement officer, or DEFUNDING any law enforcement agency, or physically harming any judge. Furthermore, I have NEVER called any law enforcement official a derogatory name, even though they have publicly and privately called me: (a) the "Nigger lawyer from Montgomery," (b) that "son-of-a-bitch," (c) "Mayor Arrington's Nigger lawyer," and (d) much worse. Trump and his Republican sycophants in Washington have taken their disrespect of the federal law enforcement community to a gutter level that I never thought was possible in America. I am a longtime political Independent, a current "political prisoner," an online journalist, an attorney, an officer of the court, and a proud American. I know, first-hand, what it is like to be railroaded in the "rigged" federal criminal justice system. However, I am urging the people in Trump World to CEASE their non-stop threats of violence against FBI agents, DOJ officials, and federal judges, RIGHT NOW!

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on January 28, 2023 On January 27, 2023, a criminal complaint was filed with Mr. Kenneth Polite, Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, that alleged a litany of violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act by: (a) Southern Company, Inc., (b) Alabama Power Company, (c) Matrix, LLC, (d) Joseph W. Perkins, Jr., (owner of Matrix), and (e) others RICO participants who worked in concert with them. The major goals of the alleged racketeering enterprise were to: (a) target, influence, compromise, corrupt, control, and/or destroy individuals and entities that posed a perceived or real threat to Alabama Power’s monopoly in Alabama as an energy producer and provider, (b) perpetuate Alabama Power’s ironclad control of local, state, and federal elected and appointed officials in Alabama, and (c) protect, expand, and solidify its grip on the political affairs in the state of Alabama. The complaint also alleges that the named offenders engaged in criminal antitrust conduct against certain Watkins-owned biomass-to-energy businesses that competed on a commercial scale against biomass-to-energy businesses owned and/or controlled by the Southern Company in the same U.S. markets. The complaint was accompanied by a detailed Proffer of Evidence that named the specific offenders and outlined the nature and scope of the RICO and antitrust conduct that adversely impacted the complainants and caused them severe economic harm. The named complainants are: (a) Donald V. Watkins, Sr., (b) Donald V. Watkins, Jr., (c) Donald V. Watkins, P.C., (d) Watkins-Pencor, LLC, (e) the Donald Watkins Agency, Inc., (f) DNA Centers of Alabama, Inc., and (g) Highland Virtual Suites, LLC, all of which are/were owned by the complainants during the racketeering conspiracy period. Matrix is the Focus of Media, Law Enforcement Investigations in Florida and Washington The Watkins complaint was filed two days after NextEra Energy (NEE) and Florida Power & Light (FPL) filed a Form 8-K with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission announcing that “Allegations of violations of law by FPL or NEE have the potential to result in fines, penalties, or other sanctions or effects, as well as cause reputational damage for FPL and NEE, and could hamper FPL’s and NEE’s effectiveness in interacting with governmental authorities.” The violations of law referenced in this Form 8-K stem from the clandestine “dirty tricks” work Joe Perkins' Matrix, LLC, performed for these Florida companies. Some of this work is described in a December 22, 2022 article I published titled, “Joe Perkins and Matrix in Deep Trouble” and a December 19, 2022 article Nation Public Radio published titled, “In the Southeast, power company money flows to news sites that attack their critics.” In “Dirty Secrets: The Joe Perkins Files,” I detailed additional "dirty tricks" Joe Perkins and Matrix performed for Alabama Power Company and the Southern Company in the state of Alabama. On December 26, 2021, I revealed that Alabama Power had paid Perkins $2.5 million, without invoicing. I also published two of Perkins' secret contracts with Alabama Power, which covered the period from January 1, 2018 to July 31, 2019. Perkins has carried out "dirty tricks" operations for Alabama Power for nearly two decades. On January 18, 2022, I published an article that identified all of the red flags with the Perkins-Alabama Power contracts. Matrix promptly carried out an act of retaliation against me for publishing the Alabama Power Company contracts. The “dirty tricks” scandal that has engulfed NEE, FPL, Perkins, and Matrix in Florida pales in comparison to the scope and depth of “dirty tricks” Perkins and Matrix have performed for Alabama Power and the Southern Company in Alabama and Georgia. The array of people implicated in the Alabama scandal and related criminal probes has been mind-blowing for investigators. Legal observers who are familiar with the Florida, Georgia, and Alabama criminal investigations expect to see federal indictments in this growing multi-state racketeering scandal in the near future. The Watkins Complainants are RICO/Antitrust “Crime Victims” The Watkins complainants invoked their rights as RICO and antitrust “crime victims” within the meaning of the Crime Victims’ Rights Act, 18 U.S.C. § 3771, the Victims’ Rights and Restitution Act, 34 U.S.C. § 20141 (“VRRA”), and the Attorney General Guidelines for Victim and Witness Assistance. Under the VRRA, a “crime victim” is a person that has suffered direct physical, emotional, or pecuniary harm as a result of the crimes committed by the named RICO/antitrust offenders. The complainants have requested that the Department of Justice solicit their views as “crime victims” on major case prosecutorial decisions such as dismissals, plea negotiations, pretrial diversion for individual wrongdoers, and non-prosecution agreements for Alabama Power, Southern Company, and Matrix, in accordance with the Crime Victims’ Rights Act, VRRA, and Attorney General Guidelines for Victim and Witness Assistance. Finally, the complainants request that the Department of Justice in Washington: (i) immediately open a criminal investigation into this matter; (ii) methodically review the investigatory findings derived therefrom, and (iii) determine what legal action, if any, is warranted and appropriate with respect their complaint.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on February 1, 2023 An Editorial Opinion In 2003, I became involved in the HealthSouth accounting fraud scandal that ensnared each one of the five men who served as chief financial officer of the company and 17 other top company executives. The scandal caused HealthSouth’s stock to plummet, even though the company, itself, was not prosecuted by federal prosecutors. My client was Richard Scrushy, the former CEO of HealthSouth. Scrushy was originally indicted on 85 felony counts of Sarbanes-Oxley and related accounting fraud charges. If convicted on all charges, he faced 650 years in prison. Scrushy was the first CEO in the nation charged with violating Sarbanes-Oxley. In 2005, Scrushy walked out of the federal courthouse in Birmingham a free man. The defense team I led defeated prosecutors on all charges in Scrushy’s case. The other defendants, who were top HealthSouth executives, were not so lucky. They all served time in prison, except for James P. Bennett. Prosecutors dropped all charges against Bennett shortly after we won a July 2005 acquittal in Scrushy's case. The July 25, 2005 edition of Fortune Magazine profiled the Scrushy case in a feature article titled, “Donald Watkins: The Man Who Saved Richard Scrushy.” The February 2, 2005 edition of the Wall Street Journal labeled me the “real legal mastermind of the case.” The case was also featured on “60 Minutes." My role in the Scrushy case is featured in a May 11, 2020 Netflix documentary series titled, "Trial by Media," Episode #4, "King Richard." No white-collar criminal defendant before or since Richard Scrushy has defeated 85 felony charges in an individual case. The Racketeering Enterprise Operated by the Southern Company and Alabama Power Company Surpasses the Accounting Fraud Perpetrated By HealthSouth Executives. The $2.7 billion accounting fraud scheme carried out by HealthSouth executives was very bad, but it pales in comparison to the long-running, multi-state, racketeering enterprise operated by the Southern Company and Alabama Power Company during Mark Crosswhite’s tenure as CEO of Alabama Power. Crosswhite elevated the role of Joe Perkins and Matrix, LLC, to a level of “dirty tricks” that rivals anything a Hollywood screenwriter/producer could bring to life in his/her most ambitious film project. The Southern Company, Alabama Power Company, Matrix, Perkins and others acting in concert with them took money laundering to new heights. They also conquered every public official in Alabama that mattered, including law enforcement officials, at a rate of speed that would make Olympic sprinters envious. If there were watchdogs in Alabama who were supposed to be safeguarding the interests of Alabama Power’s consumers, they must have been anesthetized. None of them – not the governor, legislature, supreme court, public service commission, state Attorney General, or U.S. Attorneys in Montgomery or Birmingham – has ever barked at or bitten Alabama Power in order to protect the interests of the company's consumers. All of them turned their heads and looked the other way while the Southern Company's and Alabama Power's racketeering enterprise was in full swing in the state. The complete lack of effective regulatory oversight, consumer protection, and diligent law enforcement has allowed the Southern Company's and Alabama Power's racketeering to flourish in Alabama. Today, the Southern Company perceives the Joe Biden administration as weak and inept. Privately, the company believes it can hoodwink U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and his Department of Justice, head-fake the Department's chief of the Criminal Division, and run roughshod over the Department's career RICO prosecutors. They view Mr. Garland as "soft" on Wall Street corporate crooks. As such, the Southern Company is quietly seeking a non-prosecution agreement from the Department of Justice in Washington. The company believes it will get one by sacrificing a dozen or so senior management executives and promising to stop its racketeering conduct. Likely Impact of Racketeering Conduct on Shareholder Value My experience in dealing with publicly traded entities like HealthSouth, Wells Fargo Bank (which has a rap sheet longer than former New York Mafia boss John Gotti’s), Southern Company, and Alabama Power leads me to believe that the Southern Company’s stock will probably take a dive whenever the company discloses to its shareholders and the public that it is entangled with Matrix and Joe Perkins in a web of media and law enforcement investigations. On January 25, 2023, Florida Power & Light and NextEra Energy filed a Form 8-K with the U.S. Security and Exchange Commission in which these publicly traded utility companies disclosed serious regulatory and law enforcement problems that blew up on them last year because of their shady business relationship with Matrix in Florida. As a result of this 8-K regulatory filing, Joe Perkins and Matrix have become too toxic and radioactive for the Southern Company and Alabama Power. The Southern Company has been cleaning house at Alabama Power, Georgia Power, and inside the Southern Company since it announced Crosswhite’s “retirement” on November 21, 2022. Last week, at least 11 other top executives reportedly found out that they were “retiring” when they were escorted out of their respective headquarters at Alabama Power, Georgia Power, and the Southern Company. Based upon my experience in these matters, I believe it’s just a matter of time before the New York-based national class action attorneys file their shareholder lawsuits against the Southern Company for using shareholder money to run a racketeering enterprise. I also believe that additional criminal racketeering complaints will be filed with the U.S. Justice Department’s Criminal Divisions by other victims of this long-running racketeering scheme. Furthermore, I believe that severe civil RICO lawsuits will follow suit. Finally, I believe the cumulative effect of the Southern Company's and Alabama Power Company's self-inflicted legal quagmire will trigger a nosedive on Southern Company stock value and a big write-down law enforcement fines, penalties, for legal fees, restitution, and class action claims. All of these events will likely constitute a "material" impairment to the Southern Company's balance sheet and inflict long-term reputational damage to the corporation -- in my humble opinion.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on February 3, 2023 An Editorial Opinion The right to vote is sacred! Exercise it liberally! Women, Native Americans, and African-Americans had to fight to get the right to vote. I first gained the right to vote in Alabama when I was 18-years-old, thanks to the Voting Rights Act of 1965. At the time, nearly every white public official in Alabama proudly tried to defeat the letter and spirit of the Voting Rights Act. I exercised my right to vote religiously because I knew that millions of people of interracial goodwill protested across the nation to make my exercise of this right a reality. Many of these voting rights activists were beaten in Southern states like Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Louisiana, Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Florida in a futile effort to crush the voting rights movement. Some of them were viciously murdered in the hopes that their deaths would discourage African-Americans from seeking, gaining, and exercising the right to vote. In 2019, the state of Alabama gleefully purged me from its voter rolls. They said I was not "fit" to vote in Alabama. The state couldn't wait to disenfranchise my voting rights and silence my social media voice. Since its inception, Alabama has had an unrelenting historical agenda "to keep its black citizens economically, socially, and politically downtrodden, from the cradle to the grave." In Dillard v. Crenshaw, 640 F. Supp. 1347, 1359-60 (M.D. Ala. 1986), the U.S. District Court detailed Alabama's horrific history discrimination against blacks in nearly every aspect of public life. Today, a political candidate for a statewide office, or a legislative office from predominantly white district, who does not ascribe to the time-honored custom and practice of discriminating against blacks cannot be elected to public office in Alabama. Regardless of how hard they try, no man or woman will ever permanently disenfranchise me of my right to vote, and no man or woman will ever take my manhood from me. Every person who has tried to take my manhood from me has failed. Furthermore, the state of California has restored my right to vote. Today, I am a registered Independent voter, once again. We should all remember that racism never wins permanent victories in a multicultural society! Next week, I will begin the process of forming a California-based Super-PAC for the 2024 presidential election. I already have commitments to fund the Super-PAC with donations of up to $75 million between now and the 2024 election. The Super-PAC will register two million new Independent voters in six swing states before the 2024 elections. If you believe in participatory democracy for all eligible U.S. citizens, please join me in this new political investment in American democracy! Those who would disenfranchise all Americans of color, who would abuse and dishonor Native Americans, again, and who are currently stripping women of their constitutional rights, have America on her knees right now. We can and must stop them in their tracks! Our children and grandchildren are depending on us to fight their regressive political agendas.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on February 3, 2023 BREAKING NEWS --- Over the past two decades, the Southern Company, Alabama Power Company, and Georgia Power Company paid Matrix, LLC, and Joe Perkins (Matrix's owner) tens of millions of dollars to act as their special breed of well-fed, zealously protected, vicious, Pit bulls. From time to time, these electric utility companies would let Matrix and Perkins out of their kennels and direct them to maul critics, political adversaries, and anybody else who posed a real or perceived threat to their (a) monopoly in electrical power generation and (b) longtime suppression of effective regulatory oversight. An example of this proverbial Pit bull mauling is described in Joe Perkins' 13-pages handwritten notes of his plan to maul me to death. The notes speak for themselves. I survived the mauling by Matrix, Perkins, and those who acted in concert with them. My son and I were not the only victims of the Southern Company's reign of terror. I have spoken to other victims of the racketeering scheme operated by the Southern Company, Alabama Power Company, Georgia Power Company, Matrix, Perkins, and those entities and persons who acted in concert with them over the years. On January 27, 2023, Donald V. Watkins, Jr., and I filed a formal Criminal Complaint with the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice alleging numerous violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”) codified at 18 U.S.C. §§1961-1968 by: (a) Southern Company, (b) Alabama Power Company, (c) Matrix, (d) Perkins, and (e) others working in concert with them. The Complaint was accompanied by a Preliminary Proffer of Evidence. Today, we filed a formal complaint with Mr. Christopher T. Hanson, Chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), in which we challenged the fitness of the Southern Company and its affiliates to hold a license to own and operate Vogtle Nuclear Power Units 1, 2, 3, and 4 in Waynesboro, Georgia. Southern Company, acting by and through Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc., and Georgia Power Company, is involved in the ownership structure and operational control of Vogtle. Southern Nuclear is the designated “Operator” of Vogtle, while Georgia Power owns a 45.7% equity stake in this facility. In recent months, the Southern Company has been seeking a non-prosecution agreement from the Department of Justice on behalf of itself, Alabama Power, and Georgia Power. All three companies are directly implicated in our Criminal RICO Complaint as culpable parties in the Southern Company’s longtime, multi-state, racketeering enterprise. All three companies used Matrix and Perkins to maul innocent victims during their ongoing racketeering scheme. It does not appear that the Southern Company, or Southern Nuclear, or Georgia Power has disclosed this critical licensure-related information to the NRC while they await final regulatory approval to bring Vogtle Nuclear Power Units 3 and 4 online this year. Likewise, Southern Company has not disclosed its detrimental business relationship with Matrix or Perkins in any regulatory filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. On January 25, 2023, Florida Power & Light and NextEra Energy made such a disclosure in their Form 8-K filing. We believe that Section 2133(d) of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, prohibits any regulated person or entity that knowingly participated in an ongoing racketeering enterprise from owning and operating nuclear power facilities in the U.S. Section 2133(d) expressly states that “no license may be issued to any person within the United States if, in the opinion of the Commission, the issue of a license to such person would be inimical to the common defense and security or to the health and safety of the public.” By definition, a person/entity that operates a multi-state racketeering enterprise poses a great danger to America’s national security and public safety. We requested the NRC to: (i) immediately open a licensure and regulatory compliance investigation into this matter, in parallel with the Department of Justice’s criminal investigation; (ii) review the investigatory findings regarding the fitness of Southern Company affiliates to retain their participation as an operator (for Southern Nuclear) and principal owner (for Georgia Power) in the NRC licenses for Vogtle Nuclear Power Units 1, 2, 3, and 4, (iii) hold a public hearing on the identified licensure matter, and (iv) determine what legal action by the NRC, if any, appears to be warranted and appropriate in connection with this licensure and regulatory compliance complaint.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on February 8, 2023 BREAKING NEWS --- Just when you thought it could not get any worse in Alabama, we learned tonight from Rebecca Griesbach's reporting at AL.com that student leaders at Hillcrest High School in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama were told by an administrator that their upcoming Black History Month program should steer clear of civil rights era figures like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Rosa Parks. Students say they were also discouraged from focusing on major historical events like slavery and Reconstruction. Ms. Jamiyah Brown, a Hillcrest senior who is part of the Black History Month program committee, said she was told earlier this fall by a white administrator that the students should include more “current” black figures, “like Beyoncé,” in the production, and that “old stuff” made people feel uncomfortable. The administrator reportedly stated that Black History Month event shouldn’t mention figures before 1970. School officials have deny this claim. Earlier today, about 200 to 300 Hillcrest students staged a walkout in protest of the school's attempt to control and dilute the content of the Black History Month program. “We are disrespected, and the administration has created a climate of intimidation and bullying towards those that challenge authority,” said Ms. Brown. “When our parents seek to address these issues, the administration responds in a dismissive and hostile manner.” Ms. Brown also stated that Black students at the school were being “targeted and punished unjustly without justifiable reasoning.” The program is still scheduled for February 22, 2023, at 9 a.m. The Tuscaloosa County school district operates 36 K-12 schools for 18,766 students, 42% of whom are black. Of the system’s seven board members, only one is black. Tuscaloosa County is 32.9% black, according to 2020 census data. The school system’s superintendent is Dr. Keri Johnson, who is white. According to the Hillcrest High School page on the school system’s website, Hillcrest’s principal is Jeff Hinton, who is white. The other administrators at the school are Brad Armstrong, Cheryl Morrow, Kevin Thomas, all of whom are white. While Tuscaloosa County is represented by several black elected officials, including a black U.S. Congresswoman, not one of them has stepped-in to stop Hillcrest school officials from imposing their will on the student protestors regarding the kind of black people and civil rights events that school officials deem are worthy of inclusion in the Black History Month program. Finally, it should be noted that Dr. King has been dead since April 4, 1968. He is the only non-U.S. president with a Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. A federal holiday is also named after Dr. King. No one has explained why the inclusion of Dr. King in a Black History Month program would make students and faculty members at Hillcrest uncomfortable. This remains a mystery tonight.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on February 12, 2023 On October 21, 2020, I published an article asking the National Football League to bring back the "Negro National Anthem." On September 10, 2021, the Anthem made its debut at a regular season game between the Dallas Cowboys and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Today, Sheryl Lee Ralph will sign the Anthem at the Super Bowl game. History of the Anthem Most Americans have never heard of the “Negro National Anthem” that was sung in every segregated black school across the U.S. each morning during the Jim Crow era. The song is “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing” by James Weldon Johnson. I sang it every morning in K-12 class until I graduated from high school in May 1966. When court-ordered desegregation occurred across the nation in the late 1960s, most black public schools were closed. White administrators who ran the nation’s school systems forbade black students from singing the song at their newly desegregated schools. Like so many positive aspects of black culture, the “Negro National Anthem” became a casualty of the desegregation process. The same was true for academic awards and sports trophies earned by the closed black high schools. The value of this memorabilia was completely disregarded by white America, particularly in the Deep South. Here are the lyrics to “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing”: Lift ev’ry voice and sing, Till earth and heaven ring, Ring with the harmonies of Liberty; Let our rejoicing rise High as the list’ning skies, Let it resound loud as the rolling sea. Sing a song full of the faith that the dark past has taught us, Sing a song full of the hope that the present has brought us; Facing the rising sun of our new day begun, Let us march on till victory is won. Stony the road we trod Bitter the chastening rod Felt in the days when hope unborn had died Yet with a steady beat Have not our weary feet Come to the place for which our fathers sighed? We have come over a way that with tears has been watered We have come, treading our path through the blood of the slaughtered Out from the gloomy past 'Til now we stand at last Where the white gleam of our bright star is cast God of our weary years God of our silent tears Thou who has brought us thus far on the way Thou who has by Thy might Led us into the light Keep us forever in the path, we pray Lest our feet stray from the places, our God, where we met Thee Lest, our hearts drunk with the wine of the world, we forget Thee Shadowed beneath Thy hand May we forever stand True to our God True to our native land This song was inspirational and it helped an entire race of “despised” African Americans endure: (a) the suffocating oppression and sweltering heat of Jim Crow segregation laws in the Deep South, (b) the Ku Klux Klan lynchings, beatings, cross burnings, house and church bombings, and (c) the entrenched systemic racial discrimination against blacks in every aspect of society. This song encouraged us to lift our voices and sing until freedom rang out across America. It is as sacred to African Americans as the “Star Spangled Banner” is to white America. At the beginning of sports events, we sang the “Star Spangled Banner” followed by the “Negro National Anthem." Everybody stood for both songs. The Relevance of the “Negro National Anthem” Today Fast-forward to today. The majority of players in the NBA and NFL are African-Americans. In the era of George Floyd, Jacob Blake, Breonna Taylor, and Tyre Nichols, black professional sports players are looking for a positive way to support the growing call for racial justice in America. In past years, many of them have chosen to remain in their locker rooms, kneel or remain seated during the singing of the National Anthem. To me, this form of protest is divisive and disrespectful, especially for Americans whose athleticism affords them coveted membership in the top one percent of the nation’s income earners. Many of these professional athletes have pressured their leagues to contribute financially to an activist group called Black Lives Matter. I have no problem with Black Lives Matter sponsoring peaceful protests around the nation as a means of calling the nation’s attention to social justice issues. I realize that most white Americans dislike Black Lives Matter. Likewise, 75% of whites in America disliked Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., when he was assassinated on April 4, 1968. FOX TV talk show host, Laura Ingraham summed up white America’s attitude towards black athletes’ support for social justice protest when she said, “Shut up and dribble." Ingraham was expressing the sincere view of millions of white Americans who simply want to be entertained by black athletes. I think it is fitting and proper that the “Negro National Anthem” be sung immediately after the “Star Spangled Banner"at NFL games. The NFL is paying respect to both iconic cultural symbols. This approach is done all the time when two different nations are playing a game against each other. This approach also educates white America on a positive aspect of black culture and it gives black America some measure of the respect it deserves. Right now, white America knows almost nothing about black history, culture and our positive contributions to American society. As the ruling class in America for 400 years, white Americans never had a need to know this information. What whites know today about blacks is limited to the world of sports statistics and rap music. We are viewed as modern-day minstrels who are paid to entertain and/or serve white America. This is why Laura Ingraham boldly said, “Shut up and dribble” to the loud applause of white Americans. Epilogue Whether an African American is a professional athlete or supporter of Black Lives Matter, there are effective platforms and means available to change negative conditions in society. We should start with the rendition of “Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing” immediately after singing the “Star Spangled Banner” at the beginning of sports events and we should continue by registering black and brown Americans to vote. If there are white Americans who oppose the singing of the “Negro National Anthem,” the country needs to know who they are. My guess is that any opposition to the "Negro National Anthem" is limited to MAGA Republicans who do not see any value in Black Americans or in the preservation of our history.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on February 15, 2023 Since the beginning of 2023, the Atlanta-based Southern Company has issued four Form 8-K filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). On January 5, 2023, the company announced the retirement of CEO Tom Fanning. On January 11, 2023, the company announced the expected April 2023 start-up of Unit 3 at the Vogtle Nuclear Plant in Waynesboro, Georgia. On February 7, 2023, the company announced the retirement of Comptroller Ann P. Daiss. On February 14, 2023, the company announced the appointment of two new directors -- Mr. David E. Meador and Ms. Lizanne Thomas, effective April 1, 2023. A Form 8-K is known as a “current report” and it is the report that publicly traded companies must file with the SEC to announce major events that shareholders, Wall Street analysts, and potential investors should know about. To this date, the Southern Company has NOT disclosed in a Form 8-K that the company and/or certain of its executive officers have been designated as the "subjects" of a U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) criminal probe since last December. The Southern Company has NOT disclosed in a Form 8-K that the company was named as a wrongdoer in several criminal complaints filed with the DOJ’s Criminal Division on January 27, 2023 that alleged a litany of violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act and various criminal antitrust conduct. The other named wrongdoers are: (a) Alabama Power Company, (b) Matrix, LLC, (c) Joseph W. Perkins, Jr., (owner of Matrix), and (d) others RICO participants who acted in concert with them. The major goals of the alleged racketeering enterprise were to: (a) target, influence, compromise, corrupt, control, and/or destroy individuals and entities that posed a perceived or real threat to Alabama Power Company’s monopoly in Alabama as an energy producer and provider, (b) perpetuate Alabama Power’s ironclad control of local, state, and federal elected and appointed officials in Alabama, and (c) protect, expand, and solidify its grip on the political affairs in the state of Alabama. The Southern Company has NOT disclosed in a Form 8-K that the “fitness” of its affiliates to own and operate the Vogtle Nuclear Plant has been challenged in formal complaints filed with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The Southern Company has NOT disclosed in a Form 8-K that it is seeking a non-prosecution agreement from DOJ in Washington for its racketeering and antitrust conduct. Florida Power & Light and NextEra Energy Disclosed Their Law Enforcement Entanglements, But the Southern Company Has Not On January 25, 2023, NextEra Energy (NEE) and Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) filed a Form 8-K with the SEC announcing that “Allegations of violations of law by FPL or NEE have the potential to result in fines, penalties, or other sanctions or effects, as well as cause reputational damage for FPL and NEE, and could hamper FPL’s and NEE’s effectiveness in interacting with governmental authorities.” The Form 8-K stated that “FPL’s and NEE’s business and reputation could be adversely affected by allegations that FPL or NEE has violated laws, by any investigations or proceedings that arise from such allegations, or by ultimate determinations of legal violations.” The violations of law referenced in the 8-K stem from the clandestine “dirty tricks” work Joe Perkins' Matrix, LLC, performed for these companies. Some of this work is described in a December 22, 2022 article I published titled, “Joe Perkins and Matrix in Deep Trouble” and a December 19, 2022 article Nation Public Radio published titled, “In the Southeast, power company money flows to news sites that attack their critics.” In “Dirty Secrets: The Joe Perkins Files,” I detailed additional "dirty tricks" Joe Perkins and Matrix performed for Alabama Power Company and the Southern Company. On December 26, 2021, I revealed that Alabama Power had paid Perkins $2.5 million, without invoicing. I also published two of Perkins' secret contracts with Alabama Power. On January 18, 2022, I published an article that identified all of the red flags with the Perkins-Alabama Power contracts. The “dirty tricks” scandal that has engulfed NEE, FPL, Perkins, and Matrix in Florida pales in comparison to the scope and depth of “dirty tricks” Perkins and Matrix have performed for Alabama Power and the Southern Company in Alabama and Georgia. The array of people implicated in the Alabama scandal has been mind-blowing for investigators. Based upon my experience in successfully representing former CEO Richard Scrushy during the highly publicized $2.7 billion HealthSouth accounting fraud scandal and criminal proceedings from 2003 to 2005, the issuance of NEE’s Form 8-K signals that federal criminal indictments of top executives at NEE and FPL may be forthcoming. Hoodwinking DOJ and Wall Street Industry Analysts The $2.7 billion accounting fraud scheme carried out by HealthSouth executives occurred over a six-year period was very bad. However, the HealthSouth scandal pales in comparison to the long-running, multi-state, racketeering enterprise operated by the Southern Company and Alabama Power Company during Mark Crosswhite’s tenure as CEO of Alabama Power Company. Crosswhite elevated the role of Joe Perkins and Matrix, LLC, to a level of “dirty tricks” that rivals anything a Hollywood screenwriter/producer could bring to life in his/her most ambitious film project. The Southern Company, Alabama Power Company, Matrix, Perkins, and others acting in concert with them, took money laundering to new heights. They also conquered every public official in Alabama that mattered, including law enforcement officials, at a rate of speed that would make Olympic sprinters envious. If there were watchdogs in Alabama who were supposed to be safeguarding the interests of Alabama Power’s consumers, they were anesthetized. None of them – not the governor, legislature, state supreme court, state public service commission, state Attorney General, or U.S. Attorneys in Montgomery or Birmingham – has ever barked at or bitten Alabama Power in order to protect the interests of the company's consumers. All of them turned their heads and looked the other way while the Southern Company's and Alabama Power's racketeering enterprise was in full swing in the state. The complete lack of effective regulatory oversight, consumer protection, and diligent law enforcement has allowed the Southern Company's and Alabama Power's racketeering to flourish in Alabama. Today, the Southern Company perceives the Joe Biden administration as weak, distracted, and inept. Privately, the company believes it can hoodwink U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and his Department of Justice, head-fake the Department's chief of the Criminal Division, and run roughshod over the Department's career RICO prosecutors. They view Mr. Garland and his Criminal Division as "soft" on Wall Street corporate crooks. As such, the Southern Company is quietly seeking a non-prosecution agreement from DOJ officials in Washington. The company believes it will get one by sacrificing a dozen or so senior management executives and promising to stop its racketeering conduct. Likely Adverse Impact of Racketeering Conduct on Shareholder Value My experience in dealing with publicly traded entities like HealthSouth, Wells Fargo Bank (which has a rap sheet longer than former New York Mafia boss John Gotti’s), Southern Company, and Alabama Power Company leads me to believe that the Southern Company’s stock will probably take a dive whenever the company discloses to its shareholders, industry analysts, and members of the public that it is entangled with Matrix and Joe Perkins in a web of media and law enforcement investigations. This is why the Southern Company has not disclosed its racketeering conduct in any of the Form 8-Ks it has issued in 2023, to date. The Southern Company's failure to timely disclose its nightmare of Matrix-related criminal and regulatory investigations is tantamount to investor fraud against its shareholders, who might want to flee the company before their share price tanks. This corporate misconduct is a modern-day version of Enron and Worldcom that is playing out on Joe Biden's and Merrick Garland's watch.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on February 17, 2023 On February 16, 2023, the Southern Company conducted an “earnings call” with seven Wall Street industry analysts. A transcript of the call shows that the Southern Company presented the typical “dog and pony” slide show that reported the company’s finances for 2022 and made financial projections for 2023. Outgoing CEO Tom Fanning painted a positive picture of the company that was nearly devoid of any mention of Alabama Power Company and its recently ousted CEO, Mark Crosswhite. Fanning made no reference to the controversial Alabama-based political consulting firm Matrix, LLC, and its embattled owner, Joe Perkins. Initially, Fanning limited his comments regarding Alabama Power to this promotional comment: “We are proud of the significant role that our subsidiaries play in attracting new businesses to our service territories. And in 2022, Site Selection Magazine named Alabama Power and Georgia Power, Top U.S. utilities for economic development for the fourth consecutive year.” Ms. Angie Storozynski, a New York City-based Managing Director and Senior Equity Research Analyst at Seaport Global Holdings, LLC, for U.S. utilities and power companies, cut through the Southern Company’s “smoke and mirrors” presentation and asked Fanning this point-blank question: “[W]e've had some negative [media] headlines around Alabama Power. There's been a change in CEO. And I'm just basically asking if there's any link in those management changes at that subsidiary and those media headlines?” Fanning provided this vague, misleading, and grossly incomplete answer to Ms. Storozynski’s clear, direct, and material question: “There really wasn't any connection with Mark Crossley (sic), to be honest with you. He had -- I don't know [if] I want to go into all that, but he had some issues he wanted to deal with. It was reasonably clear that he wasn't a contender as a successor here, and I think he decided to retire. That was kind of his choice at the end of the day.” With this vague, misleading, and grossly incomplete answer, Ms. Storozynski moved on to another subject. The Southern Company’s Failure to Timely Disclose its Regulatory and Law Enforcement Issues to Shareholders and Industry Analysts Has Evolved Into a Pattern and Practice of Concealment Conduct. Ms. Storozynski provided Tom Fanning and the Southern Company with an opportunity to come clean with respect to the growing scandal that has plagued the Southern Company, Alabama Power Company, Mark Crosswhite, and Georgia Power in recent months because of their longstanding business relationship with Matrix and Joe Perkins. Instead of coming clean with Ms. Storozynski, Fanning and the other two Southern Company executives on the call -- Scott Gammill, Vice President, Investor Relations & Treasurer, and Dan Tucker, Chief Financial Officer – withheld a full, accurate, and complete answer to Ms. Storozynski's direct question. In lieu of transparency, they stuck with a pre-planned script of concealing the regulatory and law enforcement problems associated with Alabama Power Company, Mark Crosswhite, Matrix, and Joe Perkins. Soon-to-be Southern Company CEO Chris Womack, who is Georgia Power’s present CEO and the Southern Company's new President, was on the conference call. However, Womack’s comments were limited to perfunctory remarks about how excited he was to succeed Fanning as CEO in March. Later in the call, Womack provided a short answer to a question about the fuel load for Vogtle Unit 4. During the earnings call, the Southern Company never mentioned the fact that the company is the subject of several pending racketeering complaints filed with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Criminal Division on January 27, 2023. Likewise, the Southern Company never mentioned that several formal complaints against two of its wholly-owned affiliates were lodged with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on February 3, 2023. The complaints challenge the "fitness" of these affiliates to hold licenses to own and operate the Vogtle Nuclear Power Plant. Even though Tom Fanning and Dan Tucker provided detailed information about the delays in commissioning Vogtle Nuclear Units 3 and 4, they skillfully skirted around any mention of these complaints. During the call, Fanning bragged about the Southern Company’s great relationship with the NRC. According to Fanning, “We've been in constant contact with the NRC ….. I think that we continue to work hand in glove with those guys. You should understand that the working relationship with all of the external parties, whether it's the NRC or whether it's the state commission or DOE, anybody. We all sit in the same meetings. We all see the same stuff. We have and complete transparency and everything we do on that side.” Prior to the February 16th earnings call, the Southern Company issued four Form 8-Ks in 2023. None of these U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings disclosed the regulatory and law enforcement problems arising from the Southern Company’s, Alabama Power's, and Georgia Power's business relationship with Matrix and Perkins. The Southern Company Joins Enron, WorldCom, and HealthSouth in Concealing Material Information from Shareholders and Industry Analysts. Strangely, the Southern Company’s pattern and practice of concealing adverse information of a material nature from its shareholders and Wall Street analysts paves the way for the company to join the ranks of Enron, Worldcom, HealthSouth, and other publicly traded companies that engaged in similar corporate concealment conduct since 2003. Nothing good ever comes out of corporate concealment conduct where there is a duty to timely disclose material events of an adverse nature. Interestingly, on January 25, 2023, NextEra Energy (NEE) and Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) filed a Form 8-K with the SEC announcing that “Allegations of violations of law by FPL or NEE have the potential to result in fines, penalties, or other sanctions or effects, as well as cause reputational damage for FPL and NEE, and could hamper FPL’s and NEE’s effectiveness in interacting with governmental authorities.” The Form 8-K stated that “FPL’s and NEE’s business and reputation could be adversely affected by allegations that FPL or NEE has violated laws, by any investigations or proceedings that arise from such allegations, or by ultimate determinations of legal violations.” FPL and NEE are also engulfed in a growing Matrix/Perkins-related scandal in Florida. The professional services contracts and special work orders that got Matrix/Perkins in hot water in Florida flourished in Alabama and Georgia under secret contracts with the Southern Company, Alabama Power, and Georgia Power and the payment of millions of dollars "without invoicing" for highly questionable clandestine professional services. Ironically, Ms. Storozynski downgraded Seaport Global's assessment of NEE stock from "buy" to "neutral" after growing media scrutiny of the shady FPL/NEE/Matrix business relationship occurred in Florida in late July 2022. What's the Motivation for the Southern Company's Concealment Behavior? Obviously, Tom Fanning and the Southern Company concealed the adverse and material information regarding Alabama Power, Mark Crosswhite, Matrix, and Perkins from Ms. Storozynski because they did not want to experience a downgrade in Seaport Global's assessment of the Southern Company's stock as a result of the dubious and highly suspect clandestine work that Matrix and Joe Perkins have performed for the Southern Company, Alabama Power, and Georgia Power -- for decades. What is more, reliable sources closely connected to the Southern Company say that Tom Fanning and his senior management executives believe that President Joe Biden and U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland are too weak and inept to hold a New York Stock Exchange corporation of the Southern Company’s size and market value accountable for its participation in regulatory violations and criminal conduct of any kind or nature. Fanning and his sycophants reportedly believe the Southern Company falls within the Department of Justice’s unofficial category of Wall Street companies that are “too big to prosecute.” Finally, Southern Company executives find solace in the fact that Attorney General Garland failed to prosecute Wells Fargo Bank or any of its executives last December for ripping off the bank's customers in Wells Fargo's latest nationwide crime spree, even though the Bank’s rap sheet evidences an unrelenting spree of 229 major federal criminal and civil offenses since 2000. From 2000 to 2020, Wells Fargo had paid more than $22 billion in fines and penalties for the privilege to rip off its bank customers without criminal consequences. The bank's December 2022 fine added another $3.7 billion to this $22 billion figure. Eventually, Wells Fargo's bank customers are forced to pony up the billions of dollars the bank uses to pay its fines and penalties. Fanning and his company Southern Company executives just might be right in their collective assessment that Joe Biden and Merrick Garland do not have the backbones needed to enforce criminal laws against big Wall Street corporations.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on February 18, 2023 I had a great time today as a guest on the David "The Meck" Meckley Podcast show. Meckley and I have been close personal friends for two decades. He is a true and loyal friend. “A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out.” – Walter Winchell David is also one of the last seasoned, fiercely independent, and credible journalists left in Alabama. The others, particularly those affiliated with the Alabama Media Group, sold out to Alabama Power Company many years ago. David's audience reaches more than three million people nationwide. David's podcast is audio only. The interview was recorded in two parts. Here they are: THE MECK PODCAST EXCLUSIVE (Part 1): DONALD WATKINS Unplugged on Southern Company, Alabama Power Company, Matrix, LLC, Joe Perkins, and Richard Shelby - Feb. 18, 2023 THE MECK PODCAST EXCLUSIVE (Part 2): DONALD WATKINS Unplugged on His Racketeering Complaint With the DOJ Against Southern Company - Plus How Southern Company Misled a Wall Street Analyst - Feb. 18, 2023. I enjoyed being a guest on David's show. This exclusive interview was raw, candid, and wide open. I hope my listening audience enjoys this interview, as well. For more articles and podcast by David Meckley, go to: TheMeckReport.com, and TheMeck.BlogSpot.com.