By: Donald V. Watkins March 14, 2023 Today, BanBalch.com broke an exclusive and explosive article about the meltdown at Alabama Power Company and its parent, the Southern Company over their racketeering and accounting fraud conduct. Former Alabama Power Company CEO Mark Crosswhite was ousted on November 21, 2022, effective on December 31, 2022. He is now cooperating with federal investigators who are probing the Southern Company's decades-long crime spree in exchange for full immunity. Here are the highlights of the BanBalch.com blockbuster article: 1. Shortly after the Atlanta law firm of King & Spalding was hired last year to probe the spying on and surveillance of Southern Company Chairman and CEO Tom Fanning and his then-girlfriend in 2017, Crosswhite had a heated exchange at a high-level meeting with Joe Perkins, the founder of Matrix, LLC and a longtime “dirty tricks” operative on the Alabama political scene. 2. Crosswhite demanded that Perkins come clean and tell King & Spalding the truth about the Fanning surveillance and other alleged criminal acts last fall. 3. Crosswhite was done with Perkins and Matrix. But Perkins, who has “dirt and an embarrassing dossier on every member of the executive team,” barked at Crosswhite, telling him to “pack your bags!” 4. Perkins appears to have orchestrated Crosswhite’s ouster and preserved his million-dollar consulting contracts by aligning closely with Jeff Peoples, and spearheading a campaign of support for Peoples by heavy-hitters from the Alabama political and business community, before Peoples was announced as Crosswhite’s stopgap replacement. 5. Those heavy-hitters reportedly contacted Tom Fanning and Southern Company board members and called upon them to appoint Jeff Peoples as CEO of Alabama Power. 6. Jeff Peoples is a loyal stooge for Joe Perkins. 7. Before his appointment, Jeff Peoples reportedly approved supplemental work orders for Perkins that allegedly covered up nefarious misconduct including the targeting of Burt Newsome and his family. Peoples had served as Executive Vice President of Customer and Employee Services at Alabama Power prior to becoming CEO. 8. Perkins, who has recently been strutting around Alabama Power’s headquarters like he owns it, appears to feel he is “untouchable and the shadow president of Alabama Power.” 10. Last fall, Jim Kerr, the Chief Compliance Officer and General Counsel at Southern Company, together with the King & Spalding investigative team, recommended that Crosswhite immediately cancel both contracts with Perkins and his affiliated entities worth over $2.5 million a year. Perkins, whose bruised ego appears to generate out-of-control behavior, is reportedly trying to retaliate against Kerr, who was promoted to Chairman and CEO of Southern Company Gas to take effect the end of this month. 11. Crosswhite is cooperating with federal investigators, outlining all the immoral, unsavory, and criminal acts associated with Perkins and his entities in return for a full immunity deal. 12. Recent documents leaked to media appear to show that Perkins is a habitual and prolific liar, especially his denial that he was not involved with the surveillance of Fanning. 13. Crosswhite could testify about Perkins direct involvement in the surveillance operation. He may also testify to the head-on car accident that nearly killed Burt Newsome. Newsome infuriated Alabama Power when he took on the rebirth of the North Birmingham Bribery Scandal case and ex-Drummond executive David Roberson’s $75 million civil lawsuit against Balch & Bingham and Drummond Company. 14. In addition to Crosswhite’s cooperation, Alabama Power insiders believe Jeff Peoples’ history of creating a hostile work environment for African-Americans and women, his alleged inappropriate relationships with Southern Company employees, and his alleged misappropriated expenditures on party pads, will soon begin leaking out with documented evidence. More Media Bombshells are Coming Reportedly, Alabama Power CEO Jeff Peoples had a propensity to spend up to $30,000 per month of the company’s money on party pads and black prostitutes at a time when this utility company was raising rates on its customers. These expenditures were reportedly funneled through one of Perkins’ black subcontractors. None of this corporate misconduct was disclosed in the company's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The corruption flourished at Alabama Power, in part, because the Alabama Media Group accepted money from an Alabama Power-funded media entity to turn its head and look the other way. The Alabama Media Group owns the Huntsville Times, the Birmingham News, and Mobile Press Register. This is the organization that employs investigative journalist/Pulitzer Prize winner John Archibald and columnist Kyle Whitmire. Archibald was compromised in 2011, when his personal bankruptcy was surreptitiously outed by Matrix/Perkins, thereby undermining Archibald’s credibility to criticize the Jefferson County Commission’s bankruptcy filing that year. In 2017, Matrix leaked Whitmire’s role as a modern-day COINTELPRO reporter for the Birmingham U.S. Attorney’s office to diminish his effectiveness as a reporter/columist. Matrix/Perkins controlled the U.S. Attorney’s office in Birmingham, via its relationship with former U.S. Senator Richard Shelby. In 2017, the once-powerful Senator got Jay Town appointed as U.S. Attorney and Lloyd Peeples hired as Town’s First Assistant. Peeples, who is compromised by Matrix, remains embedded in the U.S. Attorney’s office as the "burrrowed-in"head of the office's Criminal Division. Finally, Joe Perkins reportedly has a truckload of “dirt” on Jeff Peoples, Tom Fanning, Chris Womack, and other Southern Company CEOs. This is why the Southern Company cannot terminate Perkins’ $2.5 million in contracts, where he receives payments without invoicing. At the end of the day, Joe Perkins is the "de facto" CEO of the Southern Company, not Tom Fanning or Chris Womack.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on March 15, 2023 BREAKING NEWS--- Steve Flowers has been a paid political hustler in Alabama for decades. He is also a former state legislator and longtime Joe Perkins crony. Flowers' personal and political baggage is heavy, nasty, and smelly. With mounting negative media headlines about Joe Perkins and the hot legal mess he has created for the Southern Company, Alabama Power Company, Florida Power & Light, NextEra Energy, and other public utility companies that are/were his clients, Perkins has unleashed Steve Flowers to attack me on his website. Matrix/Perkins prepared the "attack article" for Flowers to post on his own website and distribute to friendly media organizations that receive laundered payments from the Southern Company and/or its affiliates. Sources inside Matrix's dwindling sphere of influence leaked a draft of Flowers' article to us, along with its background and intended purpose. Steve Flowers is also a sycophant of former U.S. Senate Richard Shelby (R-Alabama). In fact, Flowers is the person who inadvertently outed Perkins’ “hunting buddy” relationship with Shelby and Scott Coogler, who is Chief U.S. District Court Judge for the Northern District of Alabama. My published articles on Richard Shelby have been hard hitting, truthful, and unflattering. Shelby and former president Bill Clinton are the only career government officials I know who went to Washington with a meager net worth, but left public office as multi-millionaires. How did this happen? Neither man will say. Claiming that lawsuits will not deter me from spreading “lies” about Perkins and his nefarious “dirty tricks” operations on behalf of public utility companies, Steve Flowers has advocated that I be jailed for my news reporting. Flowers' call for my imprisonment comes straight out of Russian President Vladimir Putin's playbook for handling political and media dissidents. Here is Internet blogger Steve Flowers’ exact quote: “Freedom of speech is one of the hallmarks of America’s creed. But that freedom in the hands of a proven liar and brazen, arrogant, non-repentant federal prisoner is not what our forefathers envisioned when they enshrined the First Amendment. This Blogger [Watkins] is a threat to society and deserves further jail time.” Flowers' characterization of me as a "threat to society" is one I have heard many times during my entire 48 years as a civil rights lawyer in Alabama. I have been threatened with death or serious bodily injury on numerous occasions for because of my civil rights work. In 1994, I was asked to leave the city of Birmingham by old guard business leaders because I was upsetting their good relationship with blacks in the city. In 1983, my voluntary departure from the Montgomery city council was characterized by the city's Republican mayor as "one of the greatest blessings since the Yankee troops went home in 1870.” Steve Flowers Does Not Dispute Any Material Facts in My Published Articles Steve Flowers does not dispute any of the following material facts, documents, or events cited in my published articles: 1. The Federal Election Commission maintains a public file that contains a written confession by Joe Perkins to breaking federal election laws. 2. In 2017, Joe Perkins prepared written notes in which he outlined his plan to destroy me, including his use of the federal criminal justice process in Alabama to do so. 3. On April 6, 2017, Joe Perkins prepared handwritten notes that outlined and annotated the accounting fraud scheme at the Southern Company. 4. A March 17-18, 2015 email chain between Alabama Power Company’s general counsel and Balch & Bingham attorneys set in motion a scheme to bribe former state Rep. Oliver Robinson with $360,000. 5. Perkins employs felons to work on his contracts with the Southern Company and its affiliates. Felons also work as subcontractors for Joe Perkins in his "dirty tricks"operations. 6. Former Alabama Power Company CEO Mark Crosswhite is cooperating with federal investigators and is seeking full immunity to spill the beans on Perkins, Matrix, and other co-conspirators. All Prior Efforts to Silence My Media Voice Have Failed Steve Flowers’ article appears to be a desperate attempt by Joe Perkins and the Southern Company to derail news media and law enforcement investigations that have engulfed the Southern Company and its affiliates. These investigations have also threatened to send Perkins and a host of top Southern Company executives to prison. Flowers' article is the latest attempt by "rich and powerful" oligarchs in Alabama to silence my media voice. Interestingly, Joe Perkins forgot to inform Flowers that my son and I are declared "crime victims" who filed a formal racketeering complaint on January 27, 2023, with the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice against Perkins, Matrix and others who acted in concert with them to commit racketeering and antitrust crimes. It is a felony offense to threaten known crime victims who have reported racketeering crimes to federal law enforcement authorities. This is not the first time that the "Good Ol' Boys" network in Alabama has attempted to jail me on phony charges. These attempts actually started in 1975 when I exposed a massive police coverup of the fatal shooting of an innocent, unarmed black man (Bernard Whitehurst) in the back. The Washington Post called this coverup, “Alabama’s Watergate.” In 2018, my son and I were framed by modern-day COINTELPRO federal prosecutors in Birmingham, Alabama on trumped up fraud charges arising from a handful of financial transactions with my business partners. These prosecutors used Perkins' handwritten notes as a playbook to railroad us. The transactions in question had been previously reviewed by unbiased federal prosecutors in the New Jersey U.S. Attorney's Office two years earlier and were found to be compliant with all federal laws. Efforts by Perkins and other Alabama power-players to imprison me on any trumped up charges continued through 2022. Flowers has brought these efforts forward into 2023. My personal background and work towards progressive government in Alabama are posted in the “Biography” section on my website. I proudly declare my innocence and list my “political prisoner” status (2019 to 2022) on my website, Facebook page, and LinkedIn page. Flowers said this declaration makes me a "non-repentant federal prisoner." Steve Flowers and his kind in Alabama are accustomed to "breaking" black men/women under their sphere of control. Obviously, this "breaking" did NOT occur in my case. Epilogue On March 7, 2023, Joe Perkins posted this cryptic message on his Facebook page. While Joe Perkins pontificates on whether death is a "great beginning" or "a (sic) ending," let me say this clearly and loudly: My manhood is NOT "for sale," and neither is my news media voice.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on March 16, 2023 An Editorial Opinion Steve Flowers, a/k/a Jackson Stephen Flowers, was arrested on April 10, 2007, in Okaloosa County, Florida for “Domestic Violence Battery” and “Criminal Mischief.” On June 21, 2007, Flowers entered into a deferred prosecution agreement which required him to (a) participate in a court-approved domestic violence counseling program and (b) make a payment to a rape crisis trust fund. Flowers was also required to pay a domestic violence surcharge. After Steve Flowers made the required court payments and completed the terms of his deferred prosecution agreement, state prosecutors dismissed his domestic violence case. Flowers' court docket sheet may be viewed here. Former Chief U.S. District Court Judge Mark E. Fuller (Montgomery, Alabama) used this same judicial approach to resolve a domestic violence charge against him after he viciously beat his second wife in a downtown Atlanta hotel room on August 11, 2014. Like Steve Flowers, Mark Fuller was a Joe Perkins friend and fellow domestic violence arrestee. Fuller resigned his federal judgeship after Congress threatened to impeach him. On May 15, 2022, Joe Perkins, himself, was accused by his daughter, Taylor Lea Perkins, of committing incest against her from the age of 3 or 4 to 12 or 13. Perkins has NOT denied his now-adult daughter’s rape and incest allegations. Perkins is also a confessed federal lawbreaker. His confession can be viewed here. In 2021, Jeff Pitts, Perkins' former CEO at Matrix, LLC, accused him in court pleadings of extortion, racketeering, and abuse of the legal process. Under pressure from the Southern Company, Perkins quickly settled the case after Pitts filed subpoenas in court for a host of incriminating business documents in Perkins' possession. Earlier this week, Perkins was back in the news when media groups in Alabama reported that one of his subcontractors procured and maintained a supply of black prostitutes to service new Alabama Power Company CEO Jeff Peoples, at a cost to the company of up to $30,000 per month. On June 9, 2022, Joe Perkins was accused by his daughter of arranging hotel room abortions. Again, Perkins has NOT denied his daughter's claim. Amid the growing media scandal and law enforcement investigations that have engulfed Joe Perkins, Matrix, Alabama Power, Georgia Power, Mississippi Power, the Southern Company, and his other corporate clients, Perkins has chosen to attack me. His orchestrated attacks on me have only brought further attention to the lawlessness within the Southern Company's empire of energy producing businesses. Perkins has transmogrified from the Southern Company's hired "crisis manager" to the epicenter of the company's shocking meltdown and growing law enforcement crisis. In the process, Perkins has started posting cryptic comments on his Facebook page like, "Dying is so overrated. It is a great beginning, not a (sic) ending." Flowers Leads the Perkins Smear Campaign Steven Flowers is a washed-up former Alabama state legislator who left public office in 1998. He is also a part-time Internet blogger and a rehabilitated domestic violence perpetrator. Most importantly, Flowers is a close friend of Joe Perkins -- whenever he gets paid to place Perkins/Matrix-written articles on his blog. Flowers was tapped earlier this week to lead the Southern Company’s smear campaign against me. Flowers’ last high-profile media appearance occurred in 2016 and centered on his use of at least $40,000 in campaign funds for “personal expenses.” Flowers' use of leftover campaign funds is ongoing. [Click here to see Flowers' expenditures from a 1998 campaign fund that he has converted to his personal use over the last 25 years]. Once again, Flowers managed to escape a criminal prosecution for his deeds. Flowers’ attack article on me was placed in the Alabama Political Reporter and circulated as a news release. According to National Public Radio (NPR), Joe Perkins pays the Alabama Political Reporter (APR) $8,000 per month to run attack articles on his enemies. The NPR article explains how the "dirty tricks" business arrangement works between Joe Perkins and APR's Editor-in-Chief, Bill Britt. For the record, APR has refused to run my rebuttal article, even though I made a formal request on March 15, 2023 for them to do so. At this point, Steve Flowers, APR, and Bill Britt may be material witnesses in the federal probe of Perkins, Matrix, Alabama Power, and the Southern Company. For years, Joe Perkins has managed to commandeer much of Alabama’s weak, financially strapped, and compromised press apparatus to distribute his “hit” pieces under the guise of mainstream journalism. This goal is typically accomplished by funneling desperately needed Alabama Power Company cash to the state's starving news media outlets. Unfortunately for Joe Perkins, neither Steve Flowers, nor APR, nor Perkins’ other paid media cronies are in a position to dispute the authenticity of handwritten documents Perkins made that document the massive accounting fraud scheme and racketeering enterprise that operated at Alabama Power, the Southern Company, and its affiliates for more than a decade. Perkins' handwritten notes speak for themselves. Perkins' notes, together with much more damning evidence of wrongdoing, will soon be on their way to federal prosecutors in Washington and the Southern Company's two largest institutional investors -- The Vanguard Group, Inc., and BlackRock, Inc. Who's Going to Jail? Steve Flowers said I should be jailed for writing and publishing my articles about Joe Perkins, Richard Shelby, Matrix, the Alabama Supreme Court, Birmingham federal prosecutors, Alabama Power Company, and the Southern Company. Flowers labeled me as "brazen," "arrogant,""non-repentant,"and a "threat to society." These are the same words and phases Flowers' Old South ancestors used to describe runaway black slaves, as well as those who could not be broken. Flowers also lamented that the nation's forefathers never envisioned someone like me having First Amendment rights. This statement is true. When America was founded, blacks in this country, whether enslaved or freed, had no rights that white men were bound to respect. See, Dred Scott v. Sanford (1857). In 2022, the all-white Alabama Supreme Court (in a state with a 26% black population) embraced Flowers' slavery-era view in Joe Perkins' defamation case against me. Remember, this is the same state supreme court that upheld a $500,000 defamation judgment against Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and four fellow civil rights activists in 1963 in the landmark case of New York Times v. Sullivan. Even though Steve Flowers chose to attack my son in his syndicated article, I am taking the high road and leaving the arrest record of Flowers' adult child out of my article. Finally, it appears that Joe Perkins and his circle of friends at Alabama Power and the Southern Company are the ones who should be worried about going to jail. As I understand it, former Alabama Power CEO Mark Crosswhite is prepared to sing to federal law enforcement agents like an opera star.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on March 19, 2023 An Editorial Opinion I do not like men who rape and molest their young daughters. If I believe a man has sexually abused his child, I will move heaven and earth to make sure that man will never be able to hurt another child. I realize that state and federal law enforcement officials in Alabama will not properly investigate, charge, and/or prosecute any high-powered, politically-connected, and well-financed child molester. I have seen this failure of justice occur too many times during my 49-year professional career. For the most part, law enforcement officials in Alabama generally find a convenient reason to look the other way while conducting business as usual. In the zone of child abuse, incest, and rape, I have a "zero" tolerance level, no matter who the culprit may be. A Cry for Help On May 2, 2022, I received a cry for help from Taylor Lea Perkins, who is the 39-year-old daughter of perennial Alabama "dirty tricks" operator Joe Perkins: "I need your help !!!!. My dad is coming after me with everything he has to stop me from telling what I know about him." Ms. Perkins provided me with her cell phone number. My news team at www.donaldwatkins.com made contact with Ms. Taylor Lea Perkins that same night. What she had to say about Joe Perkins shocked us. According to Ms. Perkins, Joe Perkins sexually abused her as a child. The abuse allegedly involved repeated acts of sexual intimacy, rape, and incest and occurred for many years. On May 15, 2022, I extended a public invitation to Joe Perkins to respond to his daughter's incest and rape allegations. I offered to publish his full response on all of my news media platforms. To date, Joe Perkins has NOT denied his daughter's incest and rape claims. Instead, Joe Perkins commissioned Internet blogger and "washed-up" political puppet Steve Flowers to write a March 15, 2023 drive-by "hit" piece on me that was widely distributed in second tier Alabama media circles by another shady Perkins crony, Bill Britt. Steve Flowers, a/k/a Jackson Stephen Flowers, was arrested on April 10, 2007, in Okaloosa County, Florida for “Domestic Violence Battery” and “Criminal Mischief.” On June 21, 2007, Flowers entered into a deferred prosecution agreement which required him to (a) participate in a court-approved domestic violence counseling program and (b) make a payment to a rape crisis trust fund. Flowers was also required to pay a domestic violence surcharge. After completing the program, criminal charges were dropped against Flowers. Bill Britt is the Editor-in-Chief of the Alabama Political Reporter (APR). On December 19, 2022, National Public Radio "outed" the secret business arrangement between APR and Perkins, in which Joe Perkins pays APR $8,000 per month to trash Perkins' designated enemies on news media feeds. Bill Britt has a dark past, as well. Joe Perkins, who owns a public relations firm called Matrix, LLC, is a longtime political operative for Alabama Power Company, Georgia Power Company, the Southern Company, Auburn University, the Alabama Education Association, Congresswoman Terri Sewell (D-Birmingham), Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin, U.S. Senator Katie Britt (R-Alabama), former U.S. Senator Richard Shelby (R-Alabama), Chief U.S. District Court Judge Scott Coogler (Northern District of Alabama), and a host of other business and political power-players in Alabama. His main clients today are the Southern Company and Alabama Power. Perkins considers himself a "fixer" for the Southern Company and Alabama Power. His speciality is character assassination in the Internet age. On May 15, 2022, we published Taylor Lea Perkins' allegations of rape and incest for the first time. Since then, the Southern Company and Alabama Power have continued to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Joe Perkins, even in the face of his daughter's allegations and other evidence widespread wrongdoing in multiple states. According to a confidential news sources, the Southern Company and Alabama Power are afraid that Joe Perkins will disclose their dirty secrets if they terminate his multimillion dollar contracts. Their fears in this regard are well-founded. Perkins documented these dirty secrets in handwritten notes. Taylor Lea Perkins Says She Experienced Years of Childhood Sexual Abuse by Her Father According to Ms. Taylor Lea Perkins, she was born at DCH Regional Hospital in Tuscaloosa, Alabama on December 12, 1982. Joe Perkins and his wife Debra raised Taylor in the Northport/Tuscaloosa area. From the age of 3 or 4 to 12 or 13, Joe Perkins repeatedly molested, sexually abused, and raped his daughter, claims Ms. Perkins. "When I was real little, it started in the shower when I showered with him. Then it happened during the night. He would put his hand over my mouth and nose to keep me from screaming," wrote Ms. Perkins. Describing the first of her repressed memories of incest, Ms. Perkins said: "I was in the shower with him. He made me give him oral [sex] and after he finished, he praised me ... Then immediately [he] picked me up and turned my face towards the shower head and proceeded to waterboard me and say no one will believe you." When we asked how many times did Joe Perkins have sex with her, Ms. Perkins said, "I don't know ... lots and I haven't remembered anal yet." When we asked whether she ever became pregnant and had an abortion, Ms Perkins answered, "To my knowledge, I never became pregnant." The Present-Day Effect of Taylor Perkins' Alleged Childhood Rape/Incest Taylor Perkins described her daily life this way: "I literally have no money and no community here. This is the way [Joe Perkins] intended it. Everyone I befriend, in time, something changes and I can tell he has gotten to them in some way. He has been trying to have me declared insane my whole life. He either wants me to kill myself or do something to get [me] committed or jailed ... Or something that leads to my death." Ms. Perkins also describes the physical, emotional, and psychological toll that this alleged rape/incest experience has had on her life: "I've been married and divorced four times and have no kids. I have never had a normal relationship with a man. It made me equate sex with love and feeling loved. The environment at my mother's was bad too. Extreme neglect in every way except physical. All of my physical needs were met. I sought a lot of 'love' externally through sex. I completely deny my needs, so that the very person I depend on for survival (parents => intimate partner) won't abandon me. I don't have a healthy love of self because it was never mirrored back to me, so I try to find it in men .... Just like my dad .... Probably subconsciously to prove to myself that I AM LOVABLE and finally prove my dad wrong. I have done a ton of work on me, but I was missing this final piece.... You wouldn't believe how tiring it is to live at this level of survival .... I'm so exhausted all the time." When we asked who else has tried to help her deal with this sensitive subject, Ms. Perkins said: "Just a few people since remembering [the repressed incidents of incest and rape]. I haven't been able to seek any help yet. I've just been doing the work myself. I've stopped letting the memories come, and it's been hard, but I'm too scared to let them come alone. I also read you shouldn't do too much trauma work when you aren't in a stable environment (I'm not currently) because there is a risk of retraumatization." My Prior Experience Helping Child Rape/Incest Victims Suggests that Taylor Lea Perkins is Telling the Truth Taylor Lea Perkins is the fourth alleged victim of childhood rape and incest that I have helped during my legal career. The first three victims were the three young daughters of a powerful Montgomery police lieutenant in the 1980s. Their father raped all three of them when they turned 13. Like Taylor Perkins, these young girls coped with their rape and incest for many years believing that it was a form of fatherly love. As they got older, they knew that it was wrong and unlawful. Eventually, the girls reported the rape and incest to then-Montgomery district attorney Jimmy Evans, who was a staunch advocate for child victims of rape and incest. Evans indicted, tried, and convicted this powerful child molester. All of the signs that these three molested girls exhibited as they grew older are now exhibited by Taylor Lea Perkins. These signs include: (a) the repressed memories of the incest that eventually come back to haunt them at a conscious level, (b) the perpetual fear of retribution from their powerful father, (c) their well-founded sense that other family members will not believe them if they report this incest, and (d) their loss of self-esteem after being raped by their father. There are no adequate words to describe a father who steals his young daughter's happiness and joy by raping her. What is particularly troublesome about Taylor Lea Perkins' case is the fact that Tuscaloosa County law enforcement officials have a well-known reputation for failing to protect the rights of abused women and children rape victims. The 2015 rape case involving 19-year-old University of Alabama honors student Megan Rondini showed the world that Tuscaloosa County Sheriff's deputies and local prosecutors would not properly investigate and prosecute a powerful local white man for raping an innocent college student. Instead, these law enforcement officials formed a protective shield around the designated rape suspect. When this occurred, Megan Rondini committed suicide. In 2022, Jeff Pitts, Matrix's former CEO, filed an Answer in a lawsuit Joe Perkins initiated against him in Jefferson County, Alabama Circuit Court in which Pitts made this stunning admission: "Defendant Pitts was compelled to resign [his job as CEO of Matrix] because of Perkins' inappropriate and unethical business practices, including, but not limited to, initiating and directing the creation of an explicit video used in an attempt to intimidate the family of Megan Rondini, a rape victim who had committed suicide, to settle a civil claim [filed by her estate]....". Again, I do not know any state or federal law enforcement official in Alabama that I would trust to properly and thoroughly investigate Taylor Perkins' allegations of childhood incest and rape by her father. Perkins' connections inside these law enforcement circles run deep. Additionally, Perkins has an endless ability to tap into the Southern Company's massive bank account, without invoicing, for any purpose he so desires. The Southern Company knowingly finances and backstops Perkins' clandestine "dirty tricks" operations against all designated enemies and adversaries, with little or no oversight. The U.S. Attorney's Office in Birmingham is no place to turn for help in Ms. Perkins' case because its "Criminal Chief" is Lloyd Peeples. Mr. Peeples expressed his hostile views toward women when he served as an editor of his university newspaper. Additionally, when Peeples headed the office's day-to-day operations as the First Assistant United States Attorney from 2017 to 2020, the office had an abysmal record for stopping child sex trafficking in Alabama. What is worse, the U.S. Attorney's office in Birmingham is effectively controlled by Alabama Power Company, which has demonstrated its longstanding ability to "fix" federal criminal cases involving the company's senior management executives. The public witnessed this occurrence happen twice -- once in 1980 with the "Coal Fraud Trial" involving executives from Alabama Power and the Drummond Company, and again in 2018 with the "North Birmingham Bribery Trial" involving former state Rep. Oliver Robinson and two other defendants. In the North Birmingham Bribery case, then-U.S. Attorney Jay Town had drinks with then-Alabama Power CEO Mark Crosswhite to celebrate Town's decision to keep Alabama Power's name out of the trial even though the company contributed $30,000 of the $360,000 used to bribe Robinson. Epilogue Because of my prior experience with incest victims, I took Taylor Lea Perkins' allegations of incest and rape very seriously. I heard Ms. Perkins' cry for help and I am committed to helping her get justice in the criminal court system. If her father is exposed as a crook and is subsequently charged and tried for other criminal offenses he may have committed with the Southern Company, Alabama Power, and/or Mark Crosswhite, so be it. I believe that criminal justice is a critical component for helping Taylor Lea Perkins: (a) survive her ordeal, (b) achieve a full recovery as an alleged victim of incest and rape, and (c) enjoy a happy life that is free of shame, pain, blame, and loneliness. No amount of bullying, threats, or character assassination by Joe Perkins, Steve Flowers, Bill Britt, APR, Alabama Power Company, the Southern Company and those persons and entities working in concert with them will cause me to stand down in the pursuit of justice for Ms. Perkins. If her allegations of rape and incest are true, which I believe they are, then Taylor Lea Perkins has survived one of the most horrific ordeals that a father can inflict upon his young daughter. In closing, I have a long and documented track record of standing up for women and children from all walks of life who have been battered and/or sexually abused by family members, friends, husbands, and others. I have NEVER backed down in the face of threats from bullies, wife-beaters, corporate giants, character assassins, rapists, child molesters, their law enforcement allies, or their media-friendly enablers, no matter who they were.

EXCLUSIVE BREAKING NEWS --- By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on March 20, 2023 Today, the Southern Company held the first of two days of meetings with its officers, companywide. Senior management executives attended the meeting from Alabama Power Company, Georgia Power Company, and Mississippi Power. The meeting started at noon (on March 20, 2023) at the Georgia Tech Conference Center and will continue until noon tomorrow (March 21, 2023). Immediately after Jeff Peoples was appointed CEO of Alabama Power Company on January 5, 2023, he held internal meetings with Alabama Power executives and employees where he promised them that “what ya’ll are going to get from me is sunshine and transparency.” Listen to Jeff Peoples' promise in his own voice: Alabama Power Company employees are very uncomfortable with Jeff Peoples, but they are meeting his leadership demands. After all, Peoples is their new CEO. However, top Alabama Power employees have been documenting Peoples’ demands to cover themselves in the event things at the company blowup because they know that Jeff Peoples funded all the Joe Perkins/Matrix "dirty tricks" projects, with absolutely no accountability. Perkins’ Southern Company-related work assignments are the subject of multiple media and law enforcement investigations in multiple states. Perkins handwritten notes have also implicated Southern Company in a massive $27 billion, multi-year accounting fraud scheme. Sunshine and Transparency? Here are the “sunshine and transparency” questions many Southern Company executives want answered at Tuesday’s meeting, along with some pertinent background facts for raising these questions: 1. How much total money has Southern Company, acting by and through Alabama Power, Georgia Power, and Mississippi Power, paid Joe Perkins/Matrix to have street hustlers like Steve Flowers (Troy, Alabama) and Bill Britt (Montgomery, Alabama) attack an African-American critic and corporate ethics advocate like me? It is an established fact that Southern Company and its affiliates have paid millions of dollars to Joe Perkins for decades, via multiple “no invoicing” contracts, to: (a) execute drive-by character assassinations of critics, and (b) corrupt local, state, and federal public officials. Based upon Southern Company financial records, board minutes, and certain regulatory agency records I have reviewed to-date, not one dime of this Perkins/Matrix money was disclosed to Southern Company board members or state and federal utility regulators, as required by law. 2. Did Joe Perkins/Matrix used portions of his/its Southern Company contract dollars to hire private investigators to: (a) spy on Southern Company executives and others, (b) pay fake news sites like Alabama Political Report and Yellowhammer News to publish Matrix-generated propaganda pieces that masquerade as “news,” and (c) run smear campaigns against Public Service Commissioners in Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi? 3. What other smear campaigns and "dirty tricks" operations did Joe Perkins and his affiliated companies perform using Southern Company shareholder and ratepayer money? Where are the publicly available files of Perkins' contract deliverables? Did auditors Deloitte & Touche have access to the Perkins off-site files of contract deliverables? 4. Has Southern Company’s board of directors conducted a forensic audit of the funds paid to Joe Perkins, his affiliated companies, and his subcontractors? If so, what did this audit find? If not, why not? What has Southern Company disclosed to major institutional investors like the Vanguard Group, Inc. and BlackRock, Inc. about Joe Perkins’ scope of work for the company and its affiliates? 5. How much is Southern Company paying Perkins now, and for what services (other than attacking me)? For the sake of Southern Company's loyal executives and employees, its investors, and customers, please answer these questions at Tuesday morning's meeting. A great company will come apart at the seams if top Southern Company executives do not deliver Tuesday on Peoples' promise of "sunshine and transparency." Please come clean with your executives tomorrow! They don't need another Kum Ba Yah session like they experienced on Monday.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on March 21, 2023 An Editorial Opinion Many of my readers think the core problems at the Southern Company emanated from the rampant misconduct of past and present Alabama Power Company executives. While their unlawful conduct was captivating, sometimes titillating, and often despicable, it pales in comparison to the unreported “insider” transactions and massive, multi-year, accounting fraud schemes the Southern Company has perpetrated for the past decade. My upcoming articles will shine a spotlight on unreported “insider” deals by Southern Company board members and senior management executive officers. They will also breakdown the fundamental elements of the company's massive accounting fraud schemes. I am nearly done reviewing the Southern Company’s regulatory filings, financial statements, library of board minutes, and sea of other relevant corporate documents. My job now is to write my upcoming news articles in a way that every reader can easily understand the "insider" transactions in question and digest the financial reports that Southern Company submitted to: (a) state and federal regulators, (b) Wall Street lenders and investors, and (c) the U.S. Department of Energy. My experience with the 2003-2005 HealthSouth $2.7 billion accounting fraud scandal was an invaluable one. It trained me on how to detect and analyze sophisticated corporate accounting fraud schemes -- the ones that evade detection by auditors like Deloitte & Touche. The Southern Company’s accounting fraud schemes encompass at least $27 billion in fraud over a ten-year period. In my humble opinion, the company's financial books and records have been cooked, and they are “well done.” Board members apparently didn’t notice the cooked books because they were too busy corralling “insider” deals for themselves. The Southern Company is dripping with conflicts of interest at the board level and "insider" deals within the ranks of top management. They might as well use the Southern Company's Code of Ethics as window dressing. It apparently serves no other purpose. This is one hot mess! Now that the Alabama Power Company "appetizers" have been served, the Southern Company's main "entrees" will be coming your way soon. Stay Tuned!

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on March 22, 2013 On March 5, 2023, we reported that the Southern Company might be in the midst of an M&A transaction to (a) cleanse its financial books and records of the existing accounting fraud and (b) pump up the company's stock prices as CEO Tom Fanning departs the company, which is expected on May 24, 2023. The company's February 15, 2023, 10-K filing discloses the possibility of merger and acquisition (M&A) transactions in vague terms in several sections of the financial report. These sections were included as "fig-leaf" provisions to provide cover for an M&A transaction, should one occur. We have received reports from multiple sources that a M&A transaction is in process. Reportedly, the Southern Company is spinning off Alabama Power Company to Florida-based NextEra Energy for an undisclosed amount. We have not been able to independently confirm the identity of the purchaser. NextEra is the largest electric utility holding company in the U.S. by market capitalization. NextEra is also the parent company of Florida Power & Light and Gulf Power Company. Southern Company's stock price was $67.13 per share, as of March 21, 2023. NextEra's was $75.36 per share. Who is Jim Kerr, and What Did He Know? The Southern Company's General Counsel is James Y. (Jim) Kerr, II. He is scheduled to become the CEO and President of Southern Gas Company, effective on March 31st. Mr. Kerr has reportedly worked closely with Tom Fanning for several months to shepherd this M&A transaction to a successful closing. Jim Kerr currently serves as executive vice president, chief legal officer, and chief compliance officer for Southern Company -- a position he has held since 2014. Mr. Kerr's job is to make sure that the Southern Company maintains full compliance with all federal, state, and local laws and industry regulations. As general counsel and chief compliance officer, Mr. Kerr also reviews Southern Company regulatory filings like the Form 10-K for 2022 that was filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on February 15, 2023. In this regard, Jim Kerr would have reviewed the Sarbanes-Oxley "Certification of Chief Executive Officer" signed by Jeff Peoples for Alabama Power. [See, Exhibit 31(b)1 of the hyperlinked Form 10-K]. Peoples' Sarbanes-Oxley certification attests to the accuracy, completeness, and truthfulness of Alabama Power's financial condition for 2022, and it was based upon Jeff Peoples' knowledge as CEO. Mark Crosswhite worked as Alabama Power's CEO for 11 months of 2022. Crosswhite actually held the title of CEO through December 31, 2022. Jeff Peoples did not assume the CEO position until January 5, 2023. Yet, Mr. Kerr accepted a Sarbanes-Oxley certification from Jeff Peoples that contained the following material statements and representations knowing that they would be relied upon by shareholders, investors, and Wall Street lenders: I have reviewed this annual report on Form 10-K of Alabama Power Company; Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by this report; Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in this report, fairly present in all material respects the financial condition, results of operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this report; The registrant's other certifying officer [the Chief Financial Officer] and I are responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e)) and internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f)) for the registrant and have: Designed such disclosure controls and procedures, or caused such disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to ensure that material information relating to the registrant, including its consolidated subsidiaries, is made known to us by others within those entities, particularly during the period in which this report is being prepared; Designed such internal control over financial reporting, or caused such internal control over financial reporting to be designed under our supervision, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles; Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's disclosure controls and procedures and presented in this report our conclusions about the effectiveness of the disclosure controls and procedures, as of the end of the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant's internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the registrant's most recent fiscal quarter (the registrant’s fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an annual report) that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting; and The registrant's other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the registrant's auditors [Deloitte & Touche] and the audit committee of the registrant's board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions): All significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in the design or operation of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably likely to adversely affect the registrant’s ability to record, process, summarize and report financial information; and Any fraud, whether or not material, that involves management or other employees who have a significant role in the registrant’s internal control over financial reporting. Date: February 15, 2023 /s/J. Jeffrey Peoples J. Jeffrey Peoples Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer It would have been literally impossible for Jeff Peoples, who only became CEO on January 5, 2023, to perform the Sarbanes-Oxley-related CEO duties and responsibilities for 2022 that are described in his certification. Prior to becoming CEO, Peoples was executive vice president of Customer and Employee Services at Alabama Power, where he oversaw customer services, marketing and economic development strategy and operations. In addition, he was responsible for Alabama Power’s labor relations, human resources, safety, wellness, health and disability management functions. The matters entailed in Peoples' certification are not mere ministerial functions. They are substantive matters that attest to the financial integrity of the numbers in the 10-K. The level of knowledge required for a Sarbanes-Oxley certification is typically derived from a host of meetings between the signatory CEO and the company's operating officers, controllers, and accounting managers, as well as the head of internal audit over the course of the year in question. This function cannot be adequately performed by a newly installed CEO on an after-the-fact basis or be delegated to someone else to affirm. After all, the certification imposes personal criminal liability on the signatory CEO and Chief Financial Officer. If the financial numbers in the 10-Ks and 10-Qs are wrong, a publicly traded company can collapse overnight like Silicon Valley Bank did earlier this month or the way HealthSouth did in 2003. Jim Kerr knew, or reasonably should have known, that Jeff Peoples' Sarbanes-Oxley certification for the Southern Company's second largest revenue affiliate -- Alabama Power Company -- is false and misleading. Unfortunately, for Southern Company shareholders, investors, and bankers, Peoples' Sarbanes-Oxley certification is only one readily understandable example of accounting fraud in just one Southern Company affiliate for just one of four regulatory filings required for 2022. In these economically challenging times, this example would be considered "low hanging fruit" for a competent federal prosecutor. The jointly-filed 10-Ks and 10-Qs for the prior years are also rife with a plethora of accounting fraud schemes and techniques. Based upon my review of the Southern Company's 10-Ks and 10-Qs and my personal experience in the HealthSouth case, they all need to be amended and restated. Spinning Off Accounting Fraud and Racketeering Liabilities The Southern Company's reported spinoff of Alabama Power is a technique for exporting liabilities arising from an accounting fraud scheme and other unlawful acts from a host company to third-party business entity. This technique comes straight out of the HealthSouth $2.7 billion accounting fraud handbook. As you can see from Jeff Peoples' false Sarbanes-Oxley certifications, Jim Kerr’s role as general counsel and chief compliance officer was central to either detecting accounting fraud, or enabling it. Did Jim Kerr fail Jeff Peoples and the Southern Company in this critical role? Apparently, he did. Like the general counsel in the HealthSouth case, Mr. Kerr’s involvement in the transactions that facilitated, enabled, and/or fueled the Southern Company’s massive, long-running, multi-affiliate accounting fraud schemes deserves heightened scrutiny by board members, utility regulators, and U.S. Department of Justice officials. Despite his role as the company's chief compliance officer, neither Mr. Kerr, nor anyone working under his direction and supervision, has ever contacted us to request any information that we may voluntarily share with the company regarding the accounting fraud schemes at the Southern Company. Even after we published the handwritten notes made by Southern Company contractor Joe Perkins during an April 6, 2017 off-site meeting that outlined the broad areas of the accounting fraud, we never heard from Mr. Kerr. As we reported on March 5, 2023, the accounting fraud schemes arose from the $25 billion in cost overruns at the Southern Company’s Kemper, Mississippi and Vogtle power plants. The aggregate amount of the fraud over the last decade appears to be at least $27 billion. Even though the Southern Company is seeking a non-prosecution agreement from the U.S. Department of Justice, no attorney from the King & Spalding law firm that is handling this DOJ matter for the company has reached out to us for the pertinent information in our possession that may help them document the nature and scope of the accounting fraud. Of particular concern in this matter is whether Mr. Kerr knew, or reasonably should have known, the Southern Company’s true reason for pursuing the Alabama Power spinoff transaction, and whether Kerr gaslighted board members when discussing the purpose of this transaction with them? Exporting Accounting Fraud If consummated, the spinoff of Alabama Power would allow the Southern Company to bundle most of its known racketeering problems with some of its accounting fraud baggage and pawn these liabilities off on the purchaser. The Southern Company will leave it to purchaser to clean-up the ranks of senior management executives at Alabama Power and terminate the contracts of shady vendors like Matrix, LLC, and its owner, Joe Perkins. It is unknown at this time whether a business valuation firm has performed a “fairness opinion” for the purchaser on Alabama Power’s revenue potential, assets, and liabilities and has become aware of the accounting fraud embedded within the Southern Company’s consolidated 10-Q and 10-K regulatory filings. Despite its legendary lawlessness, growing legal problems, and mounting financial liabilities, Alabama Power remains one of the Southern Company’s most profitable affiliates. In 2022, Alabama Power grossed more than $7.8 billion in operating revenues. Only Georgia Power, with nearly $11.6 billion in operating revenues in 2022, was a more profitable affiliate. What is more, Alabama Power is the only utility company in America where taxpayers guarantee the company’s shareholders a minimum return on their equity. Despite a 21% increase in operating revenues for 2022 (over its revenues for 2021), Alabama Power still gauged its customers with crippling rate increases in 2022. To date, this spinoff transaction has NOT closed, and the Southern Company has NOT secured a non-prosecution agreement from the Department of Justice.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on March 23, 2023 An Editorial Opinion After “Southern Company Reportedly Seeks Spinoff of Alabama Power Company” was published yesterday, I was flooded with feedback from interested parties, including company "insiders." As I demonstrated in “Sunshine and Transparency: Southern Company Regrouping in Atlanta Today, Tomorrow," Southern Company executives do not trust each other. They are documenting and tape recording their conversations with each other, and for good reason. Calming Fears with False Assurances Yesterday, Southern Company executives went into overdrive to assure anxious Alabama Power Company executives and employees that the company had no plans to sell Alabama Power to NextEra Energy, or any other purchaser. This assurance was intended to calm their fears -- for a while. This is the same false assurance that Southern Company executives gave to Gulf Power Company executives and employees to calm their fears after word leaked out in 2018 that the Southern Company was selling Gulf Power Company to NextEra Energy. NextEra's acquisition Gulf Power transaction was completed in January 2019, and a lot of Gulf Power managers and employees got screwed after the deal was consummated. Alabama Power executives and employees do not have to rely on me to learn the truth about the Southern Company's spinoff plans. They can read about the company’s plans for asset acquisitions and disposals for themselves in the Southern Company’s February 15, 2023, K-10 filing. On page I-23 of the document, the Southern Company specifically warns Alabama Power employees and other stakeholders that: “Southern Company and its subsidiaries have made significant acquisitions, dispositions, and investments in the past and may continue to do so. Such actions cannot be assured to be completed or beneficial to Southern Company or its subsidiaries. Southern Company and its subsidiaries continually seek opportunities to create value through various transactions, including acquisitions or sales of assets.” Personally, I do not trust the integrity of the Southern Company’s words, regulatory filings, or actions. I saw this rodeo upclose at HealthSouth from 2003 to 2005. James Kerr is the “DeFacto” Chief Executive Officer of the Southern Company Yesterday, I introduced my readers to James Y. (Jim) Kerr. Mr. Kerr is the general counsel and chief compliance officer of the Southern Company. He also serves as chief of staff for CEO Tom Fanning. Beginning on March 31st, Jim Kerr will become the CEO and President of Southern Company Gas. Kerr orchestrated the sale of Gulf Power in 2018-19. He is an M&A guy. Kerr will say whatever he needs to say to company executives and employees in order to get a deal done. Jim Kerr’s official titles at the Southern Company are superfluous. In reality, Kerr is running the Southern Company. He is making all of the major decisions for the company. At this juncture, Tom Fanning is focused on getting his retirement package secured and making sure nothing blows up in his face before he exits the company. Fanning is tired, spent, and ready to get on with his life. As Fanning exits the Southern Company on May 24, 2023, and his designated successor, Chris Womack, awaits his turn as CEO, Jim Kerr has moved to consolidate his relationship with the company’s board of directors. Those close to the situation in Atlanta have described how Jim Kerr used his legal skills, aggressive personality, assertiveness, arrogance, and subconscious “white superiority complex” to seize control of the major operations of the Southern company and its affiliates. He often uses “organized chaos,” much of which he created, as an opportunity to cement his grip on power within the company. Very few Southern Company executives like or trust Jim Kerr, according to our sources. Many of them know, suspect, or believe that Jim Kerr shares responsibility with Fanning for the Southern Company’s widespread racketeering and massive accounting fraud problems. Gaslighting Board Members According to our sources, Jim Kerr has lulled Southern Company board members into a false sense of complacency and security by gaslighting them into believing that he has their backs, and that he can make the company’s regulatory and law enforcement problems go away. He portrays himself as a "fixer" of all corporate problems. Jim Kerr is the reason why "dirty tricks" operative Joe Perkins and his company, Matrix, LLC, still work for the Southern Company. Kerr is the reason why Perkins gets paid millions of dollars each year, without invoicing. He is the reason why Matrix's "dirty tricks"records are maintained off-site, hidden away from auditors and compliance officials. Kerr is the reason why ex-felon Kimberly G. Hines was able to serve as Matrix's CFO while the company performed its work assignments for the Southern Company and its affiliates. Kerr's gaslighting has aided him in crowning himself as the “de facto” CEO of the Southern Company. Reportedly, Jim Kerr advised board member and former Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Kristine Svinicki that her multiple conflicts of interest on the board really didn't matter. Kerr reportedly assured Ms. Svinicki that he has the political juice in Washington to handle this issue. According to my sources, Jim Kerr also believes that the Atlanta-based law firm of King & Spalding, working together with a properly incentivized Bill Clinton, can get Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Polite (who heads the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division) to let the Southern Company off the hook for its long-running, multi-state, racketeering enterprise and accounting fraud schemes. After all, the Southern Company is "too politically connected to prosecute." Furthermore, Kerr has convinced board members that: (a) the Southern Company’s problems with the Department of Justice and the negative media publicity surrounding these problems stem from infighting between Joe Perkins/Matrix and former Matrix president Jeff Pitts, (b) these problems are isolated to Alabama Power Company, (c) he (Kerr) “fixed” the Perkins/Pitts infighting problem before Matrix's "dirty tricks"information spilled into the public domain and tainted certain board members, and (d) the negative publicity engulfing the Southern Company will fade away with the passage of time. We are also told that Jim Kerr has zero respect for Southern Company board members. Kerr believes that he is much more intelligent than they are, and that he is better equipped to make major decisions for the board. He views board members as pampered "flunkies." Board members do what they are told to do after they have been "wined and dined," according to Kerr. Where Do We Go from Here? Going forward, my articles will focus on Southern Company board members. They have abdicated their duty to set and enforce operational policies that: (a) eradicate criminal activity, (b) promote “sunshine and transparency,” and (c) give life to the empty words and phrases in the Southern Company’s Code of Ethics. When Southern Company employees feel compelled to send their company-related questions to me to publish in a news article, there is a complete breakdown in trust in the company’s workforce. Now we see why. No major Wall Street company can survive in an ecosystem that is devoid of trust. It’s time to shine the spotlight on the Southern Company’s board members. Their apparent dereliction of duty, as a group, has allowed Jim Kerr to reign supreme at the Southern Company, without adequate supervision and oversight. In the process, Kerr has allowed the company to hurt too many innocent people.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on March 24, 2023 James Y. (Jim) Kerr serves as the Southern Company’s general counsel, chief compliance officer, and chief of staff to CEO Tom Fanning. Kerr also functions as the company’s “de facto” CEO. Documents and audiotapes made available to us have exposed Jim Kerr's true colors. This is a man who smiles in the faces of black company executives, employees, and board members, while defiantly refusing to acknowledge and condemn environmental racism when concrete examples of such racism are brought to his direct attention. Jim Kerr is dripping with a dangerous form of racism, albeit polite in form and sophisticated in delivery. He is embedded in a Wall Street utility company that serves a heavily black customer base. In the ordinary course of business, the Southern Company takes money every month from millions of black customers and uses this money to maintain and fortify the very apparatuses that keep blacks downtrodden and trapped in poor, polluted neighborhoods. In this article, you will hear Jim Kerr’s insensitivity to the environmental racism suffered by a group of North Birmingham black residents who are also Southern Company customers. Listen to the tone of his voice and his spoken words. The Audiotape An audiotape we have obtained captures a 2018 phone call between Jim Kerr and Kevin B. Forbes (referred to as "K.B." on the audio recording), who serves as the chief executive officer of CDLU. During the call, Forbes discussed several topics with Kerr, including racketeering activity, criminal conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and the environmental racism involved in the infamous North Birmingham Bribery Case. This article focuses on the environmental racism discussed during the call. Future articles will focus on the nature and scope of Kerr's knowledge of the Southern Company's criminal racketeering enterprise, accounting fraud, and obstruction of justice. The backdrop for the environmental racism discussion begins with the North Birmingham Bribery Investigation in 2016. In this bribery case, the Southern Company knowingly allowed Alabama Power Company, one of its most profitable affiliates, and Balch & Bingham, its longtime law firm, to establish a phony non-profit entity to raise $360,000 that was later laundered through another entity and used to bribe former state Rep. Oliver Robinson. Email chains show that Southern Company was in the loop on the bribery scheme from the beginning. Robinson took the bribery money in a quid pro quo arrangement in which he agreed to oppose community and regulatory efforts to designate heavily polluted black neighborhoods in North Birmingham as EPA Superfund sites. Designation as a Superfund site would have forced the industrial polluters to clean-up the neighborhoods at their expense. The environmental justice portion of the Forbes-Kerr recorded conversation begins, as follows: Kevin Forbes characterized the toxic pollution in North Birmingham and related Oliver Robinson bribery scheme as an example of modern-day environmental racism. Kerr bluntly dismissed this characterization, “I don’t accept your proposition or your hypothesis.” Forbes responded, “Should [Balch & Bingham] have the right to suppress African-Americans? You think that’s okay? I’m asking you point-blank, do you think it’s okay? Do you find it morally repugnant or not, Jim? Come on take a stand!” [Audio Clip: Jim Kerr summarily dismissed what he called the “proposition” or “hypothesis” that the North Birmingham Bribery Scheme, which was organized and funded by Alabama Power and other Southern Company allies to suppress the environmental protection rights of blacks, was racist.] Jim Kerr did not react with any degree of passion until Kevin Forbes brought up an analogy of Southern Company’s refusal to hold Balch & Bingham accountable would be like refusing to hold Woolworth accountable when they “wanted to keep Blacks out of the soda fountain.” Kerr called Forbes’ analogy “preposterous.” Forbes rebutted Kerr, saying, that it was accurate because the bribery scheme “discriminated against poor African-Americans in North Birmingham CERCLA.” Again, Kerr refused to acknowledge or accept that the North Birmingham scheme discriminated against poor blacks, by declaring, “I have no evidence that that is the case that any entity involving my organization or any entity based on the information that I’ve been given that that is the case. Your analogy is unfounded.” [Audio Clip: Jim Kerr, again, refused to accept the fact that the suppression of environmental rights for the residents of North Birmingham, which is 92.5% Black, constituted discrimination.] Forbes then confronted Kerr with the fact that Jeffrey H. Wood, a lobbyist for Balch & Bingham, was lobbying on Capitol Hill in 2016 about the North Birmingham EPA matter at the same time as the bribery scheme in North Birmingham against the EPA was happening. Oliver Robinson and two other co-defendants (i.e., a Balch & Bingham partner and a Drummond Company executive) were sentenced to federal prison in the bribery and money laundering scheme. Jeffrey Wood, however, was not lobbying on behalf of Drummond. He was lobbying for Alabama Power, whose top three executives at the time (i.e., CEO, General Counsel, and VP of Government Affairs) were all former Balch & Bingham partners. All three executives eventually reported to Jim Kerr in his role as Southern Company general counsel, chief compliance officer, and chief of staff for Tom Fanning. At first, Jim Kerr said he wasn’t sure what Forbes was asking, but after Forbes repeated the question with certain reminders, Kerr took 5 seconds to respond with this canned legal answer: “It’s, um… I told you that I looked into the information provided me. We reviewed the information and I have no concerns about anything inappropriate.” [Audio Clip: Jim Kerr's 5-seconds gap before he replies with a canned answer.] Today, we know from a flood of Southern Company internal emails and other documents made available to us that Jim Kerr lied to Kevin Forbes when he claimed that the neither the Southern Company, nor any entity affiliated with it, participated in the North Birmingham Bribery Scheme. Based upon the emails and other documents, the bribery scheme appears to have been a Southern Company operation, from concept to execution and from top to bottom. This bribery case was "fixed" to avoid any mention of Southern Company or Alabama Power during the trial. U.S. Attorney Jay Town shut down the criminal investigation before it could touch the true ringleaders in the bribery scheme. Jay Town and then-Alabama Power CEO Mark Crosswhite celebrated Town's "fix" of the bribery case by chugging down drinks at a secluded Birmingham lounge. What is worse, a racially insensitive, obviously untruthful, and very compromised Jim Kerr is presently overseeing the Southern Company's internal investigation by the law firm of King & Spalding into the company's criminal racketeering enterprise, accounting fraud scheme, and obstruction of justice. This is a major conflict of interest for Kerr. He, too, is implicated in all aspects of this legal mess. At this juncture, Jim Kerr needs his own lawyer. The King & Spalding investigation is part of the Southern Company's request for a non-prosecution agreement, which Jim Kerr thinks Bill Clinton can deliver for the company and its affiliates via his political hookups in Washington. The entire Kevin Forbes-Jim Kerr audio recording is available for your listening pleasure by clicking the link below: https://youtu.be/wjWDDwH8Y5E The audio recording is a damning piece of evidence against the Southern Company. It also supports the criminal RICO complaints filed with the Department of Justice in January and March of 2023 against the Southern Company, Alabama Power, and those entities and persons who acted in concert with them. Jim Kerr's Refusal to Acknowledge or Condemn Environmental Racism Against Blacks Shows Us Who He Really Is Here is the documented history of racism and discrimination against blacks that Jim Kerr refused to acknowledge or condemn: In May of 1933, Birmingham, Alabama City Engineer A.J. Hawkins released a city map that ranked its neighborhoods and communities as follows: 1. Best 2. Still Desirable 3. Definitely Declining 4. Hazardous 5. Negro Concentration 6. Commercial and Industrial 7. Undeveloped Black neighborhoods were deemed less desirable than those areas that were contaminated with hazardous waste. All-white city, county, and state public officials ran the state of Alabama in 1933. Jim Crow laws and customs were rigidly enforced. Black Birmingham residents could do very little to improve the quality of their neighborhoods. The delivery of basic city services to “Negro Concentration” neighborhoods was pretty much an afterthought. Yet, this did not stop these black residents from trying to improve their communities and plight in life. By the 1960s, blacks in Birmingham decided that they were willing to face fire hoses, police dogs, church bombings, home bombings, and death in order to end the sweltering heat of Jim Crow oppression. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., wrote about the suffocating conditions of racial segregation in his infamous 1963 “Letter from a Birmingham Jail." Birmingham played a pivotal role in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968. The Voting Rights Act made it possible for blacks in the South to register to vote and elect candidates of their choice to public office. Over time, the Voting Rights Act changed the color, face, and responsiveness of state and local governments throughout Alabama and across the South. In 1979, Birmingham elected Dr. Richard Arrington, Jr. as its first black mayor. With his election, the civil rights movement that began in the streets had been ushered into City Hall. City government became inclusive, responsive, and progressive in all facets of municipal services, and in all neighborhoods. By 2018, environmental justice had moved to the forefront of the national civil rights agenda. Black residents in North Birmingham wanted the industrial polluters who poisoned the air, ground, and water in their community to clean it up. By then, these polluters were in an unholy alliance with the Southern Company, Alabama Power, and seven other networking partners. Jim Kerr knew, or should have known, all of this shameful history. Yet, he chose to summarily dismiss it. To Kerr, the pain, suffering, and plight of North Birmingham's black residents, who are also Southern Company customers, simply did not matter. What is more, Jim Kerr, who is the chief lawyer for the Southern Company and all of its affiliates, knew, or should have known, that a federal court in Dillard v. Crenshaw, 640 F. Supp. 1347, 1357 (M.D. Ala. 1986), found, as a judicial fact, that Alabama "had an unrelenting historical agenda, spanning from the late 1800s to the 1980s, to keep its black citizens economically, socially, and politically downtrodden, from the cradle to the grave." This judicial finding had been cited and adopted by dozens of courts by the time of the Forbes/Kerr recorded conversation. The Jim Kerr Effect In light of the established historical record of environmental racism in Alabama and across America, Jim Kerr represents the most dangerous form of white racism – a highly-educated person with an Old South, dismissive attitude toward racism who characterizes the black experience with racism as a "hypothesis" and who willfully disregards the environmental protection rights, pain, and suffering of poor blacks whose housing options are limited by pervasive discrimination and unchecked bank redlining practices. Since 2014, Jim Kerr has been peddling this brand of racism throughout the Southern Company and its affiliates. Because of his positions within the company, Kerr’s brand of racism can spread like wildfire throughout the Southern Company ecosystem, and beyond. Jim Kerr's words and deeds have caused irreparable harm to the Southern Company's brand and good name. The Southern Company saga just gets worse from here. Stay tuned! Much more mind-blowing Southern Company news is coming your way. The company's board members are up next.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on March 25, 2023 David J. Grain serves as the Lead Independent Director at the Southern Company, a New York Stock Exchange/Fortune 500 company. He is also the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Grain Management, LLC, a private equity and telecommunications infrastructure firm. In January 2019, Grain parlayed his Southern Company relationship to secure a seat on the board of New Fortress Energy, a NASDAQ company specializing in the production of liquefied natural gas. Grain’s relationship with New Fortress Energy will be the subject of an upcoming article. Grain has used his Southern Company directorship, New Fortress Energy board seat, and political relationship with the Democratic Party to grow Grain Management’s assets under management from $359 million in 2012, when he joined the Southern Company's board of directors, to $8 billion today. After Grain became Lead Independent Director on May 26, 2021, his firm’s assets under management grew by $2.9 billion. Along the way, Grain pocketed $365,000 in Southern Company director fees in 2021, courtesy of the Southern Company’s financially strapped electricity and natural gas customers. As discussed below, had David Grain fully and faithfully discharged his fiduciary responsibilities as a Southern Company director, particularly as Lead Independent Director, the company’s long-running, multi-state, racketeering enterprise and massive accounting fraud schemes would have been detected and reported in time to preserve and protect shareholder value, as well as the integrity of the company’s business operations. Had David Grain done his job, the Southern Company's general counsel, chief compliance officer, chief of staff, and in-house bigot, James Y. "Jim" Kerr, would have been fired following his phone call with CDLU Chief Executive Officer Kevin B. Forbes in 2018. Had David Grain done his job, former Nuclear Regulatory Commission chairwoman Kristine L. Svinicki would NOT have been appointed to the Southern Company's board of directors on October 18, 2021, and she would NOT have contaminated the board’s governance with her glaring conflicts of interest. Now, Ms. Svinicki may be in personal legal jeopardy based upon legal advice from Jim Kerr on conflicts of interest. Instead, Grain was apparently too busy enriching himself from his Southern Company directorship platform. As a result, the work environment within the corporation's Atlanta headquarters has become so toxic, executives need to don a hazmat suit before entering the building. What Does Grain Management Do, and How Does the Firm Do It? Grain Management invests in global broadband technology and other telecommunications assets. The company targets the acquisition of hard assets (e.g., Federal Communications Commission licenses, fiber networks, wireless spectrum licenses, and cell towers) and companies with inflation-protected revenue streams and sustainable cash flows that are uncorrelated to market cycles in secondary markets. Grain’s investment portfolio is linked here. The capital for Grain Management’s acquisitions comes from venture capital firms. It is channeled into nine investment funds that are used to acquire and build Grain Management’s portfolio of broadband and telecommunications assets. Grain Management’s business model is simple, but distasteful and possibly illegal. White-owned venture capital firms use a black-owned private equity firm as a “front” to compete for and acquire FCC licenses and other telecommunications assets as a “small business” and/or “minority-owned business.” The federal government provides bidding credits, or discounts, which are applied to the gross bid amount based upon his firm’s status as a "small business" and/or "minority-owned business." This business arrangement looks, smells, and feels like "fleecing" in the digital era. Grain Played the Race Card in Washington’s Quid Pro Quo Political Environment In 2014, Grain Management played the race card when it requested an FCC rule waiver that would allow the company to bid as a “small business” for an upcoming AWS-3 spectrum license auction even though the company’s lease arrangements with AT&T and Verizon caused Grain Management to exceed the lid on the small business program’s income requirements. The waiver request would allow Grain Management to bid in the auction using valuable bidding credits that were reserved for small, minority, and disadvantaged businesses. Prior to making the waiver request, David Grain made a $12,000 campaign contribution to Barack Obama’s presidential re-election campaign and a $8,400 donation to Congressman James "Jim" Clyburn (D-S.C.) in January of 2012. Clyburn was Democratic Majority Whip from 2007 to 2011 and later served as Nancy Pelosi's Majority Whip from 2019 to 2023. On July 21, 2014, the FCC voted 3-2 to grant the requested waiver after concluding that it was in the public’s interest to do so. The waiver request was supported by the Minority Media & Telecommunications Council, Rev. Jesse Jackson, and other Democratic power players in Washington, all of whom received generous donations from David Grain, Grain Management, and/or networking companies aligned with them. Congressional Republicans smelled a quid pro quo “rat” in connection with this FCC waiver and tried to investigate how and why it was granted. At the time, nothing came of this effort. Based upon newly discovered evidence arising from the Southern Company's racketeering activity and accounting fraud schemes, Grain Management's 2014 FCC waiver, as well as the firm’s 2021 successful FCC license bid award discussed below, may arouse the interest of the House Judiciary Committee, chaired by Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio). Between 2014 and 2021, David Grain continued to “juice” the political system with big contributions to powerful Democrats. In 2016, Grain contributed $95,000 to the Democratic National Committee. In 2017, Grain contributed $13,100 to Sen. Mark Warner’s (D-Virginia) campaign and $7,700 to Congresswoman Yvette Diane Clark (D-New York). In 2018, David Grain contributed $32,000 to Democrats for Opportunity, $12,000 to the Forward Together PAC, $12,150 to Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Florida), who lost his re-election bid, and $26,401 to Bennie Thompson (D-Mississippi, who chaired the January 6th Committee). During this seven-year period, Grain made a single $500 contribution to the Republican Party of Florida. Grain’s political contributions, Democratic Party connections, and Southern Company directorship paid off big-time when Joe Biden took office. On February 24, 2021, exactly one month and three days after Joe Biden was sworn-in as president, Grain Management was awarded a C-band license for $1.3 billion at the conclusion of FCC Auction 107. Together with bidding credits for a minority-owned “small business,” Grain Management’s bid represented 1.6% of the $81.1billion in net license prices. Grain Management was the most surprising top five winner at the auction. Federal Tax Dollars Fund Digital Infrastructure Since 2009, the federal government has poured more than $150 billion into digital infrastructure. Passed in 2021, the Infrastructure Investment Bill and American Jobs Act, alone, dedicates $65 billion for broadband funding. Venture capitalists are NOT long-term partners. They are financial “vultures,” who typically own nearly 100% of the assets parked inside a private equity firm like Grain Management. They put up the money needed to acquire digital assets developed with federal tax dollars and private investments, use Grain's minority status to win bids for FCC licenses, and flip these assets for gigantic profits as soon as they can. On September 3, 2019, for example, Grain Management completed the sale of its nationwide portfolio of wireless communications assets to American Tower. Through this transaction, American Tower acquired approximately 400 cell towers and other related property interests from Grain. During the rollout and ramp up of Grain Management since 2007, the company has received management fees from the $8 billion under management and bonuses from the sale of assets in the portfolio. These fees and bonuses enable Grain Management to acquire and maintain office locations, professional staffing, and vendor support services. Today, Grain Management has offices in Washington, New York, Sarasota, Florida, and London. Grain Leverages His Status as a Southern Company Director to Grow Grain Management’s Business Relationships Grain was on the Southern Company governance scene during the entire time when the company was engaged in a multi-state racketeering enterprise and massive, multi-year accounting fraud schemes. As Lead Independent Director, a position Grain assumed on May 26, 2021, he is tasked with the following key authorities and responsibilities: Working with CEO and Chairman Tom Fanning to set the agenda for Board meetings Approving information sent to the Board Meeting regularly with Chairman Fanning Serving as the primary contact Director for stockholders and other interested parties Communicating any sensitive issues to the Directors Overseeing the independent Directors’ performance evaluation of the Chairman Fanning, in conjunction with the chair of the Compensation and Management Succession Committee David Grain’s professional background, leadership position on the Southern Company's board of directors, and assigned areas of responsibility since 2021 placed him in a position to know about AND stop the racketeering, criminal conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and accounting fraud under investigation by news media organizations and federal law enforcement authorities. Grain failed to act because he was too busy getting rich with his own deals, all while using his Southern Company position to cloak himself with the credentialing necessary for a black entrepreneur to be taken seriously in the world of FCC auctions and Wall Street transactions. Postscript It is unknown at this time whether David Grain is a cooperating witness with federal law enforcement officials. However, it is known that the Southern Company is seeking a non-prosecution agreement from the U.S. Department of Justice for itself and its affiliates.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on March 26, 2023 An Editorial Opinion In recent weeks, I have received many inquiries from concerned parties affiliated with the Southern Company, Alabama Power Company, Georgia Power Company, and Mississippi Power Company who want to fully understand why these utility companies have been the focus of my investigative articles this month. This is a fair question. I find that the best person to speak for me is me. I do not use messengers or surrogates as spokespersons. When I speak, I do so in my own voice and in articles published under my own name. I am undressing the Southern Company and its affiliates publicly for the following reasons: 1. Based upon my experience as an attorney in representing national corporations and in shifting through the rubble of the HealthSouth implosion from 2003 to 2005, I firmly believe that the top executives at the Southern Company are big-time crooks. They ran an ongoing multi-state racketeering enterprise and massive accounting fraud scheme for over a decade. 2. Based upon his own words and deeds, I believe James Y. “Jim” Kerr, II, is a polished, callous, dangerous, and unreformed bigot. Even though Kerr’s titles at the Southern Company are executive vice president, general counsel, chief compliance officer, and chief of staff to CEO Tom Fanning, he really serves as the “de facto” CEO of the company. What is more, Jim Kerr did not give a damn about whether the Southern Company suppressed the environmental justice rights of its black customers, or not. He is a modern-day version of Eugene “Bull” Connor who happens to be nesting at the Southern Company. 3. David J. Grain, the top black on the Southern Company board of directors, and other blacks in senior management positions have been reduced to mannequins who serve a window-dressing function. They wield no real power within the company. None of them can fire Jim Kerr or tell him what to do. In fact, Kerr really bosses all of them. Kerr has as much respect for these black executives as he had for the black residents of North Birmingham whom he condemned to a long slow death from the toxic pollutants that poisoned the air, ground, and water in their neighborhoods. 4. No state or federal public official will stand up to the Southern Company and demand that the company stop mistreating its nine million captive customers who must buy electric power from its monopolistic affiliate companies. The public officials and law enforcement agencies that could protect the public from the racketeering activity and accounting fraud schemes practiced by the Southern Company simply turn their heads and look the other way. Additionally, the Southern Company, acting by and through its agents on the ground, absolutely corrupted one current and two former federal law enforcement officials in Birmingham, Alabama. Meanwhile, the Southern Company continues to rape and pillage its nine million customers, at-will, each and every month on their electric bills. 5. My personal value system will not allow me to stand idly by and watch the Southern Company engage in unpoliced lawlessness. I have withstood the company’s coordinated efforts to: (a) railroad my son and me in a rigged federal criminal justice system, (b) imprison us, (c) attempt to kill me at two federal prisons, and (d) trash my son’s and my name in the white-owned media using paid media hustlers and “dirty tricks” operatives. None of these efforts has succeeded. The Southern Company underestimated our strength, resolve, and resources to (a) correct a plain injustice in our individual case, and (b) promote the fair administration of justice for all nine million of its customers. 6. My son and I are victims of the Southern Company’s criminal racketeering enterprise. We have a formal RICO complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice. The Southern Company is aware of our RICO complaint, as CEO Tom Fanning was served with a courtesy copy of the complaint on January 27, 2023. In response to our RICO complaint, the Southern Company paid political hustler Steve Flowers to write a drive-by character assassination article and Bill Britt’s Alabama Political Reporter to distribute the Flowers article on the Internet. This response constituted a sanctioned act of retaliation against a known witness in a federal criminal RICO case and a violation of federal felony statutes prohibiting obstruction of justice and witness tampering. Please notice that the Southern Company has not disputed a single fact that I have published in my recent articles about the company. The company cannot do so because my facts are based upon Southern Company corporate documents, handwritten notes made by its co-conspirators, and recorded conversations between top executives. Just so you know, Southern Company executives and employees are flooding me with source documents and inside information for my articles. The Company’s strategy is to ride out this storm. Top executives think that laundered campaign contributions to powerful Democrats in Washington, accompanied by influence peddling from former Democrat presidents, can buy the Southern Company’s way out of a criminal prosecution in one of the biggest racketeering and accounting fraud cases in corporate history. I personally know how weak, impotent, and inept Joe Biden’s Department of Justice is when it comes to taking on Wall Street crooks. As such, my goals are to: (a) dismantle the cancer of corruption that is destroying the Southern Company and (b) reform what used to be a great company by using the power of online media to restore integrity, respect for humanity, care for its customers, and social responsibility to its corporate mission. I am confident that my strategy and goals will prevail. They always do.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on March 27, 2023 This week, I will begin publishing my exclusive series of articles on how the Southern Company hoodwinked its external auditor (Deloitte & Touche), its regulators (the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and state Public Service Commissions), its two largest shareholders (the Vanguard Group, Inc, BlackRock, Inc.), its banks and other lenders (including the U.S. Department of Energy), and other stakeholders with cooked financial books and records that concealed up to $27 billion in accounting fraud over a ten-year period, all while pretending to meet the earnings expectations of unsuspecting Wall Street analysts. It was a masterful accounting fraud scheme. In fact, it was much better than the one used in the $2.7 billion HealthSouth accounting fraud case. Along the way, CEO Tom Fanning was rewarded handsomely with a multimillion-dollar annual salary, fantastic bonuses, and valuable stock options. Fanning has made over $100 million in total compensation that was based upon cooked Southern Company financial books and records. Apparently, nobody cared. Those entities and persons who should have detected the accounting fraud at the Southern Company and its affiliates were too busy hanging out in the skyboxes at sporting events and concerts, or getting "wasted" at PGA events like the Masters, or experiencing the thrill of big-game hunting and fishing trips, or enjoying corporate jet rides to exotics ports of call, or smiling while their wives, mistresses, and children spent the money loaded onto the gift cards they received, in violation of the company's Code of Ethics. The Southern Company was able to anesthetize the guardians of the public interest using unreported gifts and a waterfall of opulence as tranquilizers. It worked, very well. In the process, Tom Fanning and his loyal crew got rich – super rich. Meanwhile, the customers of Alabama Power Company, Georgia Power Company, and Mississippi Power Company got raped and pillaged each month. Again, nobody cared. A lot of good and decent employees who served as chief executive officers and chief financial officers of Southern Company and its affiliates signed their names to 10-Qs and 10-Ks trusting that the parent company’s financial books were "clean," as required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. They were NOT. Sarbanes-Oxley is the federal criminal statute that burned the corporate executives at HealthSouth, Enron, WorldCom, and Tyco who willingly or unwillingly cooked their companies' financial books and records. Today, the Southern Company's Sarbanes-Oxley signatory officers are at-risk of going to jail. Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, and Kamala Harris will NOT be able to “fix” this problem for the company in Washington. This is NOT a problem that can be solved with political "juice." This is a financial crimes problem. Mr. Fanning almost made it to the exit door with his bags of cash and ill-gotten wealth. Right now, nobody is blocking this exit door but me. Mr. Fanning can leave the headquarters building in Atlanta, but the cash and ill-gotten gains from the accounting fraud scheme must stay in the Southern Company. Whenever they wake up, I think federal law enforcement agencies in Atlanta and Washington should clawback all of the bonuses that were awarded to corporate executives of the Southern Company based upon the accounting fraud scheme. So that you know, I have been exposing wrongdoing throughout my entire 50-year career. This is the worst racketeering enterprise and accounting fraud scheme I have seen in my career. The rollout of my exclusive accounting fraud articles will commence this week.