By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on March 28, 2023 An Editorial Opinion Whenever a federal law enforcement agency fails to ask a single question about officially reported criminal conduct, including financial crimes, and fails to ask for documentation evidencing the reported financial crimes, the case has been “fixed.” Whenever a chief compliance officer at a New York Stock Exchange/Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)-regulated company fails to ask a single question about reported accounting fraud at his/her publicly traded company in the aftermath of HealthSouth, Enron, WorldCom, and Tyco, the case has been “fixed.” Whenever an “independent” law firm hired by the offending New York Stock Exchange/SEC regulated company to conduct the internal investigation referenced in JM, §9-28-900 for a non-prosecution agreement with the Department of Justice (DOJ) fails to ask a single question about reported accounting fraud and fails to request the documentation evidencing such fraud, the case has been “fixed.” Why has no federal regulatory or law enforcement agency under President Joe Biden’s watch expressed an interested in the accounting fraud schemes at the Southern Company? Maybe, it's because Deloitte & Touche signed off on the company’s 10-Qs and 10-Ks and they have full confidence in Deloitte & Touche? Well, Ernst & Young signed off on HealthSouth’s 10-Qs and 10-Ks. Authur Andersen signed off on Enron’s and WorldCom’s 10-Qs and 10-Ks. PricewaterhouseCoopers signed off on Tyco’s 10-Qs and 10-Ks. All of these companies were well-respected accounting firms. Their sign-offs were meaningless and only served to hinder the eventual discovery of the accounting fraud schemes. Has Joe Biden’s DOJ agreed, in principle, to forgive the Southern Company for its long-running, multi-state racketeering enterprise and massive, multi-year accounting fraud schemes in exchange for: (a) the payment of multibillion dollar fines and penalties, (b) the purging of scapegoat executives like former Alabama Power Company CEO Mark Crosswhite and a dozen or so other Southern Company senior management executives, (c) the “retirement” of Tom Fanning, and (d) the customary promise from the Southern Company of good behavior going forward? What role, if any, did Southern Company board member Ernest Moniz play in getting the non-prosecution deal done? Moniz was Secretary of Energy from 2013 to 2017 under the Barack Obama-Joe Biden administration. Biden is very fond of Moniz. He joined the Southern Company board of directors on March 1, 2018. Was the Southern Company’s appointment of Chris Womack as incoming CEO, effective on May 24, 2023, a goodwill offering to the Biden administration’s diversity agenda and a public relations gimmick to fumigate the foul smell of DOJ’s planned non-prosecution deal for the Southern Company? Did Bill Clinton, a Southern Company "special friend" with strong connections to Biden’s DOJ, pull off the ultimate “fix” for the Southern Company, and at what cost to the company's customers? Is the Southern Company really "too big to prosecute"? How much money are the minions in the Southern Company’s sphere of influence obligated to raise for Joe Biden’s re-election campaign in this non-prosecution scenario? In light of these burning questions, did Joe Biden's DOJ "fix" this criminal case for the Southern Company? You decide!

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on March 29, 2023 My favorite book is The Art of War by the ancient Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu (5th century B.C.). Wikipedia describes this book well. I have used the strategies and tactics taught in The Art of War throughout my legal career. The Art of War is composed of 13 chapters. Each one is devoted to a different set of skills or art related to warfare and how it applies to military strategy and tactics. For almost 1,500 years, this book was the lead text in an anthology that was formalized as the Seven Military Classics by Emperor Shenzong of Song in 1080. The Art of War remains the most influential strategy text in East Asian warfare and has influenced both East Asian and Western military theory and thinking and has found a variety of applications in a myriad of competitive non-military endeavors across the modern world including espionage, culture, politics, business, and sports. The book contains a detailed explanation and analysis of the 5th-century B.C. Chinese military, from weapons, environmental conditions, and strategy to rank and discipline. Sun also stressed the importance of intelligence operatives and espionage to the war effort. Considered one of history's finest military tacticians and analysts, his teachings and strategies formed the basis of advanced military training for millennia to come. Favorite Movies I have two favorite movies: The 1968 Clint Eastwood classic, “Hang ‘Em High” and Sylvester Stallone’s 1982 action hit, “Rambo: First Blood.” Hang ‘Em High After a gang of men unsuccessfully tried to lynch him for a cattle-rustling crime he did not commit, Jed Cooper (Clint Eastwood) is saved by marshal Dave Bliss (Ben Johnson) and judge Adam Fenton (Pat Hingle). The lawmen offer Cooper a job as a federal marshal with the caveat that he refrain from using his the power of his new law enforcement position to go after the men who tried to lynch him. But, when Cooper finds that some of the men who attacked him are involved in another set of crimes, he brings them to justice. Rambo: First Blood Vietnam veteran and drifter John J. Rambo (Sylvester Stallone) wanders into a small Washington town in search of an old friend. Rambo is met with intolerance and brutality by the local sheriff, Will Teasle (Brian Dennehy). When Teasle and his deputies restrain and shave Rambo, he flashes back to his time as a prisoner of war and unleashes his fury on the officers. Rambo narrowly escapes the manhunt, but it will take his former commander (Richard Crenna) to save the hunters from the hunted. The takeaways from these two movies have inevitably bled over into my professional life. Combined with The Art of War, these works of art have sharpened my fighting skills, honed my ability to focus on the strategies and tactics for favorable outcomes in various legal battles, and enhanced my ability to defeat a host of mighty forces that hinder equal rights for all, fair play in business, and the fair administration of justice.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on March 30, 2023 An Editorial Opinion Americans of color, women, children, LGBTQIA Americans, and the elderly are losing every legal right they have won in Congress and the courts since 1865. At the same time, our children are being slaughtered in public and private schools across America, with no federal law enforcement solution in sight. Why is U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland afraid to stand up and fight hard for us? Why is he always crying whenever his Department of Justice handlers trot him out for a speech or statement on TV? Merrick Garland is absolutely the wrong person for the Attorney General's job at this critical moment in our nation's history. If we needed a bourbon-drinking, martini-sipping friend to pontificate about esoteric things during "Happy Hour" in Washington, Garland would be our guy. But, here's our real situation: President Joe Biden is old, weak, tired, and senile. What is worse, Merrick Garland is weak, tired, and unfocused. For example, more than two years after Biden assumed office as president, Merrick Garland still employs avowed Trump loyalists and modern-day white supremacists in key DOJ positions in Alabama and other Deep South states. This faux pas is inexcusable. Because Biden is the weakest president since Herbert Hoover, he needs a Pit Bull as his Attorney General. Merrick Garland is NOT that guy. Whenever Garland appears in public, it feels like he is getting ready to bolt from the room for a cocktail party. Donald Trump was right about one thing: The president of the United States is the chief law enforcement official in the federal law enforcement apparatus. The president appoints the Attorney General as a member of the executive branch of government to oversee the day-to-day administration of this apparatus. The Attorney General is a cabinet member just like the 23 other cabinet members who serve at the pleasure of the president. Nothing in the U.S. Constitution places the Attorney General Merrick Garland beyond the supervisory reach of the president. Whoever serves in this Cabinet post is directly answerable to the President. The Attorney General's job in the federal system is to advance and protect the president's public policy initiatives using the federal legal apparatus to achieve this result. This, Merrick Garland is NOT doing. The Attorney General also has a concomitant duty to enforce the labyrinth of more than 8,000 federal civil and criminal laws in a fair and just way. Merrick Garland is failing in this responsibility, as well. Wall Street companies and their CEOs who commit crimes go free, while Main Street criminals get hammered and go to jail. Garland has sanctioned this two-tier system of justice on numerous occasions. President Biden can replace Merrick Garland at-will, and Biden should do so immediately, while he still has lucid moments. Right now, we need a real warrior in the Attorney General's job. Americans of color, women, children, LGBTQIA Americans, and the elderly are catching pure hell. The MAGA crowd is running roughshod over these groups in the "Red" states. Merrick Garland is an Attorney General "in-hiding" while we are being forced back into pre-1865 living conditions. This retrogression isn't working too well for us! Unfortunately, this is the cold, hard, truth.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on March 31, 2023 [Author's Note: This is a three-part special investigative report. It is based on Southern Company documents in the public domain, confidential "insider" sources, and secret company documents. Additionally, an article in the Journal of Forensic and Investigative Accounting (Vol. 15: Issue 1, January-June 2023) by Amanda M. Grossman, Steven D. Grossman, and D. Larry Crumbley describes a multibillion dollar Southern Company fraud scheme that was perpetrated by the utility giant in connection with the construction of and cost overruns associated with its Kemper County, Mississippi "clean coal" power plant. That article is worth reading, as well.] Part 1, What Drove the Southern Company’s Need to "Cook the Books"? For the purposes of illustrating the Southern Company’s massive, multi-year, $27 billion accounting fraud scheme, I have selected the last full year that the company filed 10-Qs (which are quarterly reports) and a 10-K (which is its annual report) with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The Southern Company is a Fortune 500 company that trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol, "SO." The Southern Company’s 10-Q and 10-K filings for 2022 present a consolidated financial statement for the parent company and the following affiliates: Alabama Power Company, Georgia Power Company, Mississippi Power Company, Southern Power Company, and Southern Gas Company. In addition to Southern Services Company, Inc., and Southern Nuclear Power Operating Company, Inc., the Southern Company operates two other non-registrant business units that are ancillary participants in its accounting fraud scheme. These two business units -- Power Secure and Southern Linc -- are implicated in the fraud scheme. (See, 10-K, p. II-15). Southern Company's Form 10-K for 2022 is a Trojan Horse for Accounting Fraud In this series of articles, we will focus on the annual report for 2022, which is called a Form 10-K. Filed on February 15, 2023, this 10-K is a Trojan horse for the Southern Company’s accounting fraud scheme. It should be noted that the Southern Company paid Deloitte & Touche, via its affiliates, at least $17,245,000 in 2022 to audit its financial books and records. (See, K-10, p. III-2). Deloitte & Touche reported no disagreements with the Southern Company regarding accounting and financial disclosures. (See, 10-K, p. II-256). Apparently, Deloitte & Touche was not looking to bite the hand that was feeding it since they actually certified the phony numbers in the 10-K as fair and accurate. Deloitte & Touche had the responsibility for detecting fraud within the 10-K. The existence of accounting fraud is a "material" fact, which must be disclosed. The auditing firm claimed that "the financial statements [in the 10-K] present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of Southern Company as of December 31, 2022 and 2021." See, 10-K, II 72-75. Deloitte & Touche also opined that: "Southern Company maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2022, based on criteria established in Internal Control – Integrated Framework (2013) issued by COSO." “A matter is ‘material’ if there is a substantial likelihood that a reasonable person would consider it important…The omission or misstatement of an item…is material if, in the light of the surrounding circumstances, the magnitude of the item is such that it is probable that the judgment of a reasonable person relying upon the report would have been changed or influenced by the inclusion or correction of the item.” U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Staff Accounting Bulletin No. 99 – Materiality, 17 C.F.R. §211, Sbpt. B (Aug. 12, 1999). Furthermore, the Southern Company set a threshold of $1 million or greater for determining whether its financial exposure or expenditures were "material." Neither Deloitte, nor Southern Company, explained in the 10-K how Deloitte & Touche audited vendor payments in excess of $1 million in cases where the contracts were secret, the deliverables were maintained off-site, the vendor payments were made without invoicing, and the contractual services were continuously renewed or otherwise extended through 2022. Likewise, neither Deloitte, nor the Southern Company, has ever explained or disclaimed the fraud scheme that was detailed in notes made by vendor Joe Perkins below on April 6, 2017. These notes recorded an off-site meeting between a Southern Company senior management executive and a longtime vendor of the company. The fraud discussion captured in these notes has NOT been reported in any 10-Q or 10-K from 2017 going forward. Yet, the Perkins notes point the finger directly at the "bad decisions at SO"and the failure of the board of director's Audit Committee to properly monitor and audit the Southern Company's construction cost overruns for the Kemper and Vogtle projects that eventually totaled more than $27 billion in the aggregate by 2022. According to confidential "insider" sources, these notes were withheld from Deloitte & Touche, even though they were "material" to the 10-Ks for 2017 and each successive year. Additionally, the Southern Company's 10-K for 2022 continues a years-long pattern and practice of intentionally misclassifying millions of dollars in vendor payments to hide money laundering for legally impermissible activities and special clandestine work orders that violate company operational policies, as well as the Code of Ethics cited in the 10-K, at p. III-1. Again, neither the Deloitte & Touche audit, nor the Southern Company's 10-K for 2022, address the nature, scope, or need for these multimillion dollar clandestine expenditures in any section of the 10-K. The Southern Company could have identified and properly classified these expense payments, but the company elected to conceal them from its auditors, shareholders, investors, lenders, and regulators. The shady scope of work performed by the Southern Company's longtime vendor (Joe Perkins d/b/a Matrix, LLC, and Perkins Communications, Inc.) for NextEra Energy (NEE) and Florida Power & Light (FPL) caused these publicly traded companies to issue a joint 8-K on January 25, 2023 that stated: "Allegations of violations of law by FPL or NEE have the potential to result in fines, penalties, or other sanctions or effects, as well as cause reputational damage for FPL and NEE, and could hamper FPL’s and NEE’s effectiveness in interacting with governmental authorities.” The Southern Company never issued a similar 8-K, even though this vendor performed comparable services for the Southern Company and its affiliates. Based upon my review of these 10-Ks and 10-Qs and my personal experience in the HealthSouth accounting fraud case, all of the 10-Qs and 10-Ks filed by the Southern Company in the past 5 years reek of accounting fraud. These SEC filings will need to be amended and restated. The Sarbanes-Oxley Certifications The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 is a law the U.S. Congress passed on July 30 of that year to help protect investors from fraudulent financial reporting by corporations. It requires the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Southern Company, Alabama Power Company, Georgia Power Company, Mississippi Power Company, Southern Power Company, and Southern Gas Company to file a certification with their jointly-filed 10-Qs and 10-Ks that includes the following statements: 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 [CFO] and [CEO] 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): ...... (b) 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. The individuals who signed these certifications on the Southern Company’s 10-K for 2022 are: (a) Thomas A. Fanning (CEO) and Daniel S. Tucker (CFO), for the Southern Company; (b) J. Jeffrey Peoples (CEO) and Philip C. Raymond (CFO), for Alabama Power Company; (c) Christopher C. Womack (CEO) and Aaron P. Abramovitz (CFO), for Georgia Power Company; (d) Anthony L. Wilson (CEO) and Moses H. Feagin (CFO), for Mississippi Power Company; (e) Christopher Cummiskey (CEO) and Gary Kerr (CFO), for Southern Power Company; and (f) Kimberly S. Greene (CEO) and David P. Poroch (CFO), for Southern Gas Company. The fraud embedded in the 10-K for 2022 (and prior years 10-Ks) involved senior management executives like Mark Crosswhite, who had a significant role in the Alabama Power's internal controls over financial reporting. Crosswhite, the former CEO of Alabama Power, "retired" on December 31, 2023. The "Retirement and Consulting Agreement" Southern Company CEO Tom Fanning executed with Mark Crosswhite on December 7, 2022 is reproduced in the 10-K, at Exhibit 10(a)15. The Agreement, which pays Mark Crosswhite $125,000, has no specified duties. Under the Agreement, Crosswhite is supervised and managed by Tom Fanning. It is basically a "keep your mouth shut" agreement. Mark Crosswhite's participation in the accounting fraud scheme is NOT disclosed in any section of the 10-K, even though his "Retirement and Consulting Agreement" is. Despite the Agreement, Crosswhite did NOT sign the 10-K for 2022. His successor-in-office (Jeff Peoples), who assumed office on January 5, 2023, wound up signing the 10-K on February 15th, 2023. Mark Crosswhite is reportedly cooperating with federal investigators who are probing the Southern Company's decades-long crime spree in exchange for full immunity. This appears to be a pro-active defensive move by Crosswhite to protect himself from the Southern Company's efforts to isolate, package, and dump as much of its illegal activity on Alabama Power Company and Crosswhite, while the Southern Company seeks a non-prosecution agreement from the U.S. Department of Justice. During a February 16, 2023 earning call, Southern Company CEO Tom Fanning all but blamed Crosswhite for everything wrong with Alabama Power and the Southern Company. On a side note, Mark Crosswhite was pushed out of his CEO job after we revealed on August 4, 2022 that Joe Perkins spied on Fanning and his then-girlfriend, Kim Tanaka, and Alabama Power paid the bill for this surveillance activity by a private investigator. The "Homewood Notes" also confirmed Perkins' plan to spy on Ms. Tanaka. Shareholders, investors, lenders, state and federal regulators, and the Southern Company's institutional co-owners in the Vogtle Units 3 and 4 construction projects must rely upon the completeness, accuracy, and truthfulness of the matters asserted in the company's 10-K for 2022. Two of the Southern Company's three co-owners of the Vogtle project are in litigation with the company over the staggering cost overruns at Vogtle. Sarbanes-Oxley imposes personal criminal liability on each signatory CEO and Chief Financial Officer if this 10-K contains false, misleading, and inaccurate statements of material facts regarding the Southern Company’s financial condition, which it does. Accounting Fraud Drivers The two main drivers of the Southern Company’s accounting fraud schemes were: (a) the desire to pump up and maintain the company’s stock prices within the range of Wall Street forecasts and expectations, and (b) the need to meet or exceed the expectations of Wall Street analysts for the company’s utilities and power industry sector. The Southern Company’s accounting fraud concealment techniques begin in the Risk Factors section of the 10-K. (See, “Item 1A. Risk Factors,” pages I-15 to I-26.) The company disclaims virtually everything that negatively impacts earnings and profitability. The goal of this disclaimer is to give the Southern Company “wiggling room” to pull off the accounting fraud. The disclosed "Risk Factors" also provide a seemingly innocuous distraction from the detection of the fraud, thereby deterring heightened scrutiny on (a) whether the Southern Company's system of internal controls were adequate to prevent accounting fraud, and (b) whether the reported numbers fairly present the true financial condition of the Southern Company, in all material respects. No disclosure of any false, misleading, or inaccurate “material" fact is made in “Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments.” The signatory CEOs and CFOs simply swore that there were no unresolved issues in this category. (See, 10-K, p. I-26). The drag on the Southern Company has been its growing debt load since 2017, which springs from construction cost overruns of $4 billion or more at its coal gasification facility project in Kemper, Mississippi and $21 billion at its Vogtle Nuclear Plant Units 3 and 4 construction projects in Waynesboro, Georgia. What is more, the Southern Company gave up and demolished its new Kemper facility in 2021, which caused a debt-financed loss of more than $7 billion. This $28 billion in debt associated with the $21 billion cost overruns at Vogtle and the $7 billion loss at Kemper created a “Hole” in the financial records that the Southern Company had to fill, while keeping stock prices high and meeting or exceeding Wall Street expectations. Simply put, this was an impossible task. With construction of Vogtle Units 3 and 4 dragging on for 10 years, there was no legitimate way to turbo charge the Southern Company’s operating revenues enough to plug the “Hole” created by the debt-financed cost overruns at Kemper and Vogtle. Plus, the rapidly growing debt load was sucking the profitability out of the Southern Company's consolidated operations beyond anybody's expectations. As of December 31, 2022, the Southern Company was a $59 billion revenue enterprise that was saddled with $55.2 billion in long-term debt and $7.6 billion in credit lines. Its reported $62.8 billion in debt obligations and credit facilities exceeded its stated revenues of $59 billion by $3.8 billion. What is worse, the Southern Company and its affiliates only had $1.9 billion in "Cash on Hand," as of December 31, 2022. The Southern Company is drowning in debt, and it is leveraged to the hilt. The 10-K for 2022 is dripping with accounting fraud. In light of the company's barely manageable debt load, alone, it is shocking that Deloitte & Touche gave the Southern Company a "clean" audit opinion for 2022. In 2017, the Southern Company's aggregate corporate debt load was only $45 billion. Today, Southern Company shareholders are essentially "bondholders" who receive an annual yield that is slightly higher than long-term Treasuries. They have no real equity in the company's assets, which are basically hocked out to major institutional lenders. The Southern Company has survived as an ongoing enterprise in recent years by robbing Peter (its affiliates) to pay Paul (the Southern Company). CEO Tom Fanning has been stripping cash out of the company's registered and non-registered affiliates at an alarming rate. Upon close examination, Tom Fanning has run the Southern Company into the ground with two white elephant construction projects -- Kemper and Vogtle. The Kemper facility has been demolished and the Vogtle project is tied up in legal challenges regarding the Southern Company's fitness to hold a combined "Owner/Operator" license from the Nuclear Regulatory Agency. Joe Perkins' April 6, 2017 “Homewood Notes” outlined this deteriorating financial situation in dire terms. There was even a thought about filing an anonymous complaint with the Southern Company's board of directors and/or alerting "PSC voices" about the siphoning of money from the affiliates, via Southern Company Services, to "prop up bad decisions at SO." Whatever Deloitte & Touche's auditors were doing with respect to the Southern Company's annual audits from 2017 to 2022, they obviously were NOT in the "Homewood Notes" loop of information. Facing a constant need for investment capital, a growing debt crisis, and nightmarish cost overruns at Vogtle, cooking the financial books and records at the Southern Company became the company's answer to these growing problems. Stay tune for Part 2, Southern Company: Using Smoke and Mirrors to Look Profitable.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on April 2, 2023 Part 2, Southern Company’s Financial Statements Are Built on "Smoke and Mirrors" Bernie Madoff was a New York financier who executed the largest financial fraud crime in history, via a sophisticated Ponzi scheme. Madoff defrauded thousands of investors out of at least $64.8 billion over the course of 17 years. Bernie Madoff was polished and highly respected by the Wall Street crowd. At one time, Madoff was chairman of the NASDAQ stock exchange. On December 10, 2008, Madoff's sons Mark and Andrew told federal authorities that their father had confessed to them that the asset management unit of his wealth management firm was a massive Ponzi scheme. The following day, agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested Madoff and charged him with one count of securities fraud. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had previously conducted multiple investigations into Madoff's business practices, but had not uncovered the massive fraud. In 2000, financial analyst Harry Markopolos filed a “whistleblower” complaint with the SEC that was ignored. It wasn’t until five years later, in 2005, that Markopolos was able to convince the SEC of Madoff’s financial crimes. Madoff’s accounting firm, Friehling & Horowitz, failed to detect the decades-long fraud scheme, and so did Ernst & Young. On March 12, 2009, Bernie Madoff pleaded guilty to 11 federal felonies and admitted to turning his wealth management business into a massive Ponzi scheme. Madoff was sentenced to 150 years in prison and required to forfeit $170 billion. He passed away in prison on April 14, 2021. Madoff’s fraud scheme was successful for so long because he created a front of respectability that attracted investors and he seduced state and federal regulators. It was all smoke and mirrors. A review of the Southern Company’s 10-K for 2022 (and for prior years) suggests that the "dry bones" of Bernie Madoff's fraud scheme have been resurrected in the Southern Company’s cooked financial books and records. Yes, Madoff’s financial fraud has apparently risen from the dead, albeit in a slightly different form at the Southern Company. Reasons Why Public Companies Commit Financial Fraud There are three primary reasons why senior management executives at public companies cook the books. First, in many cases, the compensation of corporate executives is directly tied to the financial performance of the company. As a result, they have a direct incentive to paint a rosy picture of the company's financial condition in order to meet established performance expectations and bolster their personal compensation. Second, it is a relatively easy thing to do. The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), which sets the GAAP standards, provides a significant amount of latitude and interpretation in accounting provisions and methods. For better or worse, these GAAP standards afford a significant amount of flexibility, making it feasible for corporate management to paint a particular picture of the financial condition of the company. Third, it is unlikely that cooking the company's financial books and records will be detected by investors due to the relationship between the independent auditor and the corporate client. In the U.S., the Big Four accounting firms and a host of smaller regional accounting firms dominate the corporate auditing environment. While these entities are touted as independent auditors, the firms have a direct conflict of interest because they are compensated, often quite significantly, by the very companies that they audit. As a result, the auditors may be tempted to bend the accounting rules to portray the financial condition of the company in a manner that will keep the client happy -- and keep its business. Smoke and Mirrors Have Propped Up the Southern Company for a Long Time As noted in Part 1, "How the Southern Company Cooked its Books in a Massive $27 Billion Accounting Fraud Scheme," the two main drivers of the Southern Company’s accounting fraud schemes were: (a) the desire to pump up and maintain the company’s stock prices within the range of Wall Street forecasts and expectations, and (b) the need to meet or exceed the earnings per share expectations of Wall Street analysts for the company’s utilities and power industry sector. Like Bernie Madoff's scheme, the Southern Company engaged in creative accounting a/k/a accounting fraud or "cooking the books" for many years. The company created a financial mirage to prop up its stock prices and pay consistent, regular earnings per share. This mirage was essential to lure new investors (i.e., common and preferred shareholders) and retain existing common stock shareholders. The company needed creative accounting to pull off the fraud scheme because: (a) dividends were consistently and regularly paid from new investments and debt obligations, as opposed to retained earnings, and (b) the company's dividend funding technique is not expected to change until sometime after 2025. Led by CEO Tom Fanning, CFO Daniel S. Tucker, and former General Counsel/Chief Compliance Officer/Chief of Staff to the CEO/Executive Vice President James Y. "Jim" Kerr, II, as well as the CEOs and CFOs of its affiliates, the Southern Company created an attractive financial mirage for 2022. The mirage conned the investing public, Wall Street, the SEC, and Deloitte & Touche into believing that a business enterprise with consolidated revenues of $59 billion in revenues in 2022 that is saddled with $55.2 billion in long-term debt and $7.6 billion in credit lines was profitable enough to pay its 1,090,000,000 shareholders of record a reported earnings per share of $3.28 for 2022 on outstanding common shares held by 99,521 shareholders, when it was not. See, K-10, at pp. II-1 and 7. This kind of Bernie Madoff mirage has been successfully embedded in 10-Qs and 10-Ks filed by the Southern Company, year-after-year since 2017. In truth, the Southern Company, which is a monopolistic business with captive customers, is leveraged to the hilt and broker than the “Ten Commandments.” For this reason, the 10-K for 2022 and accompanying investor documents allocate as much focus on discussing “Potential Future Earnings” as they do in fairly and accurately presenting actual revenues and expenses for 2022. This is another characteristic of a Bernie Madoff-type fraud scheme. Yet, no one on the Southern Company’s board of directors, or at Deloitte & Touche, or at the SEC cared enough about protecting the investing public to take a deep dive into how a publicly traded company that is completely awashed in debt can maintain its high stock price and pay consistent dividends within the range forecasted by Wall Street analysts, absent an accounting fraud scheme. Stock Price Forecast for the Southern Company (NYSE:SO) for 2022 For 2022, thirteen Wall Street analysts offered 12-month price forecasts for the Southern Company that established a median target of $72.00, with a high estimate of $79.00 and a low estimate of $ 57.00. The median estimate represented a +5.28% increase from the 2021 price of $68.39. Not surprisingly, the Southern Company hit the forecasted target with a price per of $71.41 at the end of 2022. See, 10-K, at p. II-54. The reported book value was $27.93 per share, representing an overly inflated market-to-book value ratio of 256%. Cooking the books is a fairly common occurrence for a financially stressed company that must inflate the market value of its stock in order to constantly borrow money to stay afloat. The market capitalization (or "market cap") for the Southern Company at the end of 2022, based upon $71.41 per share and the company's sophisticated accounting fraud scheme, was $76.81 billion. Institutional lenders consider market cap, among other factors evidencing creditworthiness, in determining how much debt to extend to a publicly traded company. Wall Street Analysts Recommendations The current consensus among 17 polled investment analysts was to “Hold” stock in Southern Company, as of December 31, 2022. This rating had held steady since March of 2022, when it was unchanged from a “Hold” rating. Of the analysts polled, 7 had a “Buy” recommendation, none had an “Outperform” rating, 6 had a “Hold” rating, 1 had an “Underperform” rating, and 4 had a “Sell” rating. Earnings Forecast for 2022 The analyst forecast for the 1st Quarter of 2022 earnings per share ranged from $0.87 to $0.95 with a consensus estimate of $0.91. Reported earnings were $0.97 and exceeded analyst expectations by +6.59%. The analyst forecast for the 2nd Quarter of 2022 earnings per share ranged from $0.80 to $0.88 with a consensus estimate of $0.84. Reported earnings were $1.07 and exceeded analyst expectations by +27.38%. The analyst forecast for the 3rd Quarter of 2022 earnings per share ranged from $1.25 to $1.35 with a consensus estimate of $1.33. Reported earnings were $1.31, which was lower than analyst expectations by -1.5%. The analyst forecasts for the 4th Quarter of 2022 earnings per share ranged from $0.23 to $0.26 with a consensus estimate of $0.24. Reported earnings (on February 16, 2023) were $0.26, which exceeded analyst expectations by 8.33%. Did the Southern Company Pitch Truth or Fraud in the 10-K for 2022? Instead of highlighting the truth about the Southern Company’s dire financial condition, the 10-K and February 16, 2023, Fourth Quarter 2022 PowerPoint Presentation focused on creating an illusion of profitability. The company repeatedly highlighted its “[r]egular, predictable and sustainable EPS and dividend growth*,” in the PowerPoint document. Of course, the asterisk leads the investor to this fine print disclaimer: “* Future dividends are subject to approval of the Southern Company Board of Directors and depend on earnings, financial condition and other factors.” Because the Southern Company does NOT generate enough annual operating cash flow to cover its annual operating expenses (absent new investments and heavy borrowing), and because the company will NOT be profitable for years to come, the company also pitched these three additional dividend statements (on the PowerPoints “Value Proposition” page) to unsuspecting shareholders and new investors: (a) For 75 years, the company has paid a dividend equal to or greater than the previous year. This self-serving promotional claim is repeated in the 10-K, at p. II-1; (b) Dividends are supported by premier state-regulated utilities and energy infrastructure under long-term contracts; and (c) The company has had 21 consecutive annual dividend increases since 2002. The 10-K fails to explicitly state that dividends are Not paid from retained earnings or corporate profits, as the company has not been profitable in years. They are financed by debt. What is more, the Southern Company packaged its consolidated financial numbers (like the ones below) in a way that projected a financial picture for 2022 that is rosy enough to support the illusion of profitability. However, the 10-K quickly disclaims that while the “Financial Condition and Results of Operations is a combined presentation" to project this illusion of profitability, the "information contained [in the 10-K] relating to any individual Registrant is filed by such Registrant on its own behalf and each Registrant makes no representation as to information related to the other Registrants.” See, 10-K, at p. II-2. In other words, none of the six companies listed in the 10-K, including the Southern Company, vouches for the integrity of the financial statements of the other companies in this joint SEC filing. This disclaimer speaks volumes. Functionally, this disclaimer obfuscates the Southern Company's well-known and fungible financial practice of robbing Peter (its affiliates) to pay Paul (their parent company). It also attempts to isolate and contain potential criminal liability to the signatory parties in those business units where specific acts of fraud occurred, even though CEO Tom Fanning and General Counsel Jim Kerr micro-managed all of the company's affiliates with an iron fist. An investor must dig real deep into the 10-K to ascertain just how financially strapped the Southern Company was in 2022 and will be for 2023 through 2025. Here is the Southern Company’s "Cover-Your-Ass" (CYA) language in the 10-K on this point: “Operating cash flows only provide a substantial portion of the Registrants' cash needs.….. For the three-year period from 2023 through 2025, projected stock dividends, capital expenditures, and debt maturities are expected to exceed operating cash flows for each of Southern Company, the traditional electric operating companies, and Southern Company Gas. Southern Company plans to finance future cash needs in excess of its operating cash flows through one or more of the following: accessing borrowings from financial institutions, issuing debt and hybrid securities in the capital markets, and/or through its stock plans. Each Subsidiary Registrant plans to finance its future cash needs in excess of its operating cash flows primarily through external securities issuances, borrowings from financial institutions, and equity contributions from Southern Company.” See, 10-K, at p. II-53-54. Essentially, this statement is an adaptation of the CYA language Bernie Madoff used in his investment documents. Is this "fig leaf" CYA statement enough to save the Southern Company's signatory officials from exposure for Sarbanes-Oxley accounting fraud? In my humble opinion, probably not -- unless the criminal case is "fixed." Suppressing "Material" Facts While the fact of the construction costs and amount of cost overruns at the Kemper coal gasification are disclosed in the 10-K, neither the 10-K, nor any related document, disclosed the fact that Tom Fanning, Daniel Tucker, James Kerr, and the Southern Company board of directors actually mismanaged the Kemper project, which is being demolished after the company spent more than $7 billion building it. This internal mismanagement assessment of a $7 billion project is a "material" fact and it was documented in the "Homewood Notes" by reference to "Money going to [Southern Company Services] to prop up bad decisions by SO." Likewise, while the fact of the construction costs and amount of cost overruns at the Vogtle Units 3 and 4 are disclosed in the 10-K, neither the 10-K, nor any related document, disclosed the fact that Tom Fanning, Daniel Tucker, James Kerr, and Southern Company board of directors actually mismanaged the costs associated with the construction of Vogtle project, which has now exceeded the projected construction budget by $21 billion. Again, this internal mismanagement assessment of a $21 billion cost overrun is a “material” fact and it was documented in the "Homewood Notes" by reference to "Money going to [Southern Company Services] to prop up bad decisions by SO." Whether maintained on-site or off-site, the "Homewood Notes" were made by agents of the company and they were germane to the annual audit for each year, from 2017 to 2022. This is particularly true in light of the fact that: (a) the "Homewood Notes" specifically reference the Southern Company's board-level Audit Committee and Committee member Johnny Johns, and (b) criticized the Audit Committee's performance with respect to the Kemper and Vogtle construction projects. The "Homewood Notes" are part of thousands of Southern Company emails and other documents that are highly relevant to an accounting fraud inquiry and associated criminal activities. This reservoir of corporate documents is probative of the Southern Company's intent to defraud. Was the Southern Company's treasure trove of internal documents assessing executive mismanagement in the amount of $27 billion deliberately withheld from Deloitte & Touche during the auditing process for 2022? Apparently so. Deloitte does NOT mention these internal corporate documents anywhere in any 10-K filed between 2017 and 2022. Would the disclosure of a documented internal assessment of $27 billion in executive mismanagement with respect to two major construction projects, together with "insider" criticism of the board's Audit Committee, influence the decisions of end-users of the financial statements? Of course, it would. This is why the company's documented assessment of mismanagement was parked off-site and suppressed indefinitely. Did Southern Company senior management executives in the Atlanta headquarters know that fellow senior management executives and two longtime key vendors (one of whom still works for the company) prepared and maintained a cache of internal documents regarding: (a) Tom Fanning's, Daniel Tucker's, Jim Kerr's, and the board of directors' mismanagement of Kemper and Vogtle projects, (b) strong criticism of the board's Audit Committee and Committee member Johnny Johns, and (c) a plan to alert the "PSC" (Public Service Commission) and two other government officials about the Southern Company's mismanagement of $27 billion in corporate funds, via an anonymous complaint? Yes. Did the Southern Company Live Within Its Financial Means in 2022? Like Bernie Madoff in his day, the Southern Company did not live within its financial means (or cash flows) in 2022. At this moment, senior management executives at the company are looking for new money to plug the "Hole" in their financial fraud scheme. In their own words, these executives say that they must: (a) access their $7.6 billion in credit lines, (b) issue new debt and hybrid securities in the capital markets, and/or (c) increase the Southern Company’s outstanding shares of stock to keep the company afloat during 2023, 2024, and 2025. In addition to these non-cash flow-generating measures for pumping desperately needed cash into the company, the Southern Company has linked its ability to keep the company's head above water to potential future earnings that are mostly derived from bringing Vogtle 3 in-service by May or June 2023 and Vogtle 4 in-service by late 4th Quarter of 2023 to the end of the 1st quarter of 2024. The company's recent secret plan to spinoff Alabama Power to NextEra Energy was shelved after our publication of "Southern Company Reportedly Seeks a Spinoff of Alabama Power." The spinoff was intended to (a) provide the Southern Company with much needed liquidity and (b) afford it an opportunity to off-load a significant portion of the multi-year accounting fraud. Additionally, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued the Southern Company (D/B/A Georgia Power Company and Southern Nuclear Operating Company) a combined “Owner/Operator” license 11 years ago. Yet, Vogtle Units 3 and 4 are NOT in-service today. Furthermore, formal complaints were filed on February 3, 2023 that challenged the Southern Company’s "fitness" to hold this combined license, in light of the company's documented racketeering history. An unfavorable outcome for the Southern Company on this complaint would be devastating to the company and its affiliate, Georgia Power. Like Bernie Madoff, the Southern Company is now resorting to old-fashion "street hustling" for new investors and additional liquidity, via creative debt financing. Simply put, the Southern Company cannot live within its financial means (or operating cash flows) for the next three years, or so. It is within this financially suffocating paradigm that the company touts its earnings per share and dividend payment history, just like Bernie Madoff did. As a matter of policy and practice, SEC-registered public companies do not pay consistent, regular shareholder dividends from borrowed money. Such a practice misleads investors and fosters an illusion that a company in this circumstance is profitable enough to pay dividends from retained earnings. Like Madoff’s Accountants, Deloitte & Touche was so Busy Sucking Down Massive Accounting Fees that it Failed to Detect the Southern Company’s Fraud Scheme. Rather than fulfilling its independent accounting role on behalf of shareholders, potential investors, regulators, lenders, and other stakeholders to look for evidence of accounting fraud in a public company that cannot live within its means, Deloitte & Touche abdicated this proactive role in exchange for $17 million by simply looking the other way. Buying into the Southern Company’s goal to become profitable sometime after 2025, Deloitte & Touche devoted half of its four-page “REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM” to explaining why the auditing firm was comfortable with the cost overruns debacle at Vogtle. See, II-72-75. Lastly, the only discussion of “Credit Risk” in the 10-K centers on the Southern Company’s and affiliates’ exposure for concentrations of credit risk with counterparties to energy-related and interest rate derivative contracts. See, 10-K, at p. II-69. However, there is no discussion in the 10-K about whether the Southern Company and its affiliates will have the capacity to service their debts when due in a scenario where: (a) annual operating revenues continue to fall way short of the amount needed to cover operating expenses and (b) borrowing is impaired due to the detection by third-parties and government regulators of a multi-year accounting fraud scheme. The SEC Has Been Asleep at the Wheel As was the case with Bernie Madoff’s fraud scheme, the SEC has been asleep at the wheel in the Southern Company's accounting fraud case. The Commission has been seduced into complacency and inaction by the Southern Company’s ranking and status in the utilities and power industry and its thin venire of respectability. The SEC has completely ignored General Counsel/Chief Compliance Officer/Chief of Staff/Executive Vice President Jim Kerr's demonstrated insensitivity to the environmental protection needs and life-threatening living situation of the Southern Company's captive black customers in Birmingham, Alabama, as recorded on an audiotape in 2018 and first made public in 2020. Senior management personnel from the SEC’s Atlanta Regional Office have reportedly busied themselves by enjoying the perks that the Southern Company and its affiliates routinely make available to public officials (e.g., tickets to sporting events and concerts in venues around the nation, wining and dining in restaurants and bars, free out of town luxury getaways, and other unreported snuggling with mega-Registrants). It does not appear that the SEC gives the Southern Company’s 10-Qs and 10-Ks more than a cursory glance. If it does, the SEC has ignored the company's accounting fraud for years, just like the Commission did in Bernie Madoff’s case. Stay tuned for Part 3, Why the FBI Must Raid the Executive Offices of the Southern Company! RELATED ARTICLES: Part 1, How the Southern Company Cooked its Books in a Massive $27 Billion Accounting Fraud Scheme Did Biden's DOJ "Fix" Criminal Case for the Southern Company? Will Tom Fanning Exit Southern Company With Mega Cash, Stock Options Based Upon Fraud? We Must Reform the Southern Company David J. Grain: Getting Rich from His Southern Company Platform Jim Kerr, Southern Company's Top Lawyer & Chief of Staff Exposed! Mark Crosswhite Seeks Full Immunity Deal with DOJ Southern Company Fraud Documented Southern Company's Fitness to Own and Operate Georgia Nuclear Power Plant Challenged Criminal RICO Complaint filed Against Alabama Power, Southern Company, Matrix, Perkins

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on April 3, 2023 [Part 3 in a Special Three-Part Series of Investigative Reports] On March 19, 2003, federal agents swooped into HealthSouth Corp.'s Birmingham, Alabama headquarters in connection with an ongoing probe of accounting fraud that was committed by 15 senior management executives over a six-year period. FBI agents served search warrants at HealthSouth’s corporate offices and left with six million pages of financial documents, as well as computer hard drives. The agents also served the company and certain unnamed employees with grand jury subpoenas relating to investigations by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The Corporate Fraud Task Force created by President George W. Bush on July 9, 2002, oversaw the raid, criminal investigation, and subsequent prosecutions against participants in a $2.7 billion accounting fraud scheme at HealthSouth. The Task Force, which was created by Executive Order 13271, was designed to combat corporate fraud and restore investor confidence in the marketplace. Between July 2002 and January 9, 2009, the Task Force obtained 1,300 corporate fraud convictions, including more than 200 chief executive officers and presidents, more than 120 corporate vice presidents, and more than 50 chief financial officers. Accounting Fraud Charges Against HealthSouth Officials Following the FBI raid, HealthSouth announced that it was cooperating with the investigation. HealthSouth sought and received a non-prosecution agreement from the DOJ for itself and its board of directors. Shares of HealthSouth plunged after the investigation became public, and the company was hit with more than two dozen shareholder lawsuits. On November 4, 2003, the DOJ announced the indictment of HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy on 85 felony accounts in connection with the accounting fraud scheme. The indictment alleged that Scrushy directed his senior officers to meet or beat Wall Street predictions by cooking the books. Scrushy denied the charges and maintained his innocence throughout the criminal proceedings. Richard Scrushy was the highest-ranking corporate officer of the 16 former executives at HealthSouth who were charged in the accounting fraud scheme. Fourteen of these executives pled guilty, including all five of the men who served as the company’s chief financial officers, and became cooperating witnesses for the government. In June of 2005, a jury acquitted Richard Scrushy of all criminal charges. Even though Scrushy was acquitted, all five CEOs received light sentences for testifying against Scrushy The Southern Company is Following in the Footsteps of HealthSouth and Bernie Madoff Fast forward to April 3, 2023. As described in Part 1, “How the Southern Company Cooked Its Books in a Massive $27 Billion Accounting Fraud Scheme,” and in Part 2, “The Southern Company Fraud Scheme: Is This the Resurrection of Bernie Madoff?,” a deep-dive into the Southern Company’s 10-K for 2022 shows that the monopolistic utility giant with nine million customers in six states and 99,521 shareholders (as of December 31, 2022) is following in the footsteps of HealthSouth and reviled New York financier/fraudster, Bernie Madoff. For years, the Southern Company, which is cash strapped and destitute, has adopted, adapted, and implemented the worst financial practices and crimes perpetrated by guilty HealthSouth executives and Bernie Madoff. As was the case in HealthSouth, top Southern Company executives “cooked the books” to meet or beat Wall Street expectations. Because of the fraud, the company was able to manipulate and maintain high stock prices for market cap purposes. With an artificially inflated market cap, the Southern Company was able to induce lenders to provide the company with $55.2 billion in long-term debt and $7.6 billion in credit lines. The Southern Company’s consolidated $59 billion in annual cash flows from the sales of electricity, natural gas, and other forms of energy fell way short of covering the company’s operating expenses in 2022. The company faked profitability for years by consistently and regularly paying dividends from borrowed money and capital injections provided by new investors, à la Bernie Madoff style. The Southern Company also withheld more than 2,500 corporate documents that evidences the accounting fraud and other financial crimes from Deloitte & Touche, its outside auditing firm since 2002. The drag on the Southern Company’s deteriorating financial condition comes from (a) $7.5 billion in losses and write-downs associated with its abandoned goal gasification construction project in Kemper, Mississippi, and (b) $21 billion in unexpected cost overruns from Georgia Power’s construction of Units 3 and 4 at the Vogtle Nuclear Power Plant. These write-downs and costs overruns drove Southern Company senior management executives to “cook the books.” The Southern Company attempted to cover its tracks by issuing and certifying phony financial statements, accompanied by rosy investment documents, all in violation of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. The individuals who signed the Sarbanes-Oxley certifications on the Southern Company’s phony 10-K for 2022 are: (a) Thomas A. Fanning (CEO) and Daniel S. Tucker (CFO), for the Southern Company; (b) J. Jeffrey Peoples (CEO) and Philip C. Raymond (CFO), for Alabama Power Company; (c) Christopher C. Womack (CEO) and Aaron P. Abramovitz (CFO), for Georgia Power Company; (d) Anthony L. Wilson (CEO) and Moses H. Feagin (CFO), for Mississippi Power Company; (e) Christopher Cummiskey (CEO) and Gary Kerr (CFO), for Southern Power Company; and (f) Kimberly S. Greene (CEO) and David P. Poroch (CFO), for Southern Gas Company. These individuals share the same criminal exposure as the 15 executives who were criminally charged and pled guilty in the HealthSouth case. Tom Fanning is expected to use the successful Scrushy criminal defense playbook to escape charges and a prosecution. The phony financial reports fooled shareholders, new investors, institution lenders, major private equity firms like Vanguard Group, Inc. and BlackRock, Inc., Deloitte & Touche, the SEC, state and federal regulators, and mainstream media organizations that cover publicly traded companies. The accounting fraud could have been detected by Deloitte & Touche, but this did not happen. Deloitte was paid at least $17 million to opine that the phony K-10 for 2022 presented a fair and accurate picture of the company's financial condition when, in fact, the 10-K was rife with fraud. Joe Biden Did Not Reinstate Bush’s Corporate Fraud Task Force On November 17, 2009, President Barack Obama terminated President Bush’s Corporate Fraud Task Force with Executive Order 13519. President Donald Trump never created one. President Biden does not have one, either. Biden did establish a limited purpose COVID-19 fraud task force with a lackluster track record. The implosion of Theranos, Inc., FTX Trading Ltd., Silicon Valley Bank, and a host of other Wall Street companies since 2018, as well as the unrelenting serial crime spree perpetrated by Wells Fargo Bank since 2009, clearly shows that Obama’s termination of President Bush’s Corporate Fraud Task Force was a bad idea. As a result, corporate fraud crimes by Wall Street publicly traded companies are out of control. Nobody is effectively policing them. When they get caught, these companies simply pay a fine and penalties and resume their crime sprees. Today, corporate reformers and crime fighters fear that Joe Biden is soft on crime, unless it involves a DOJ/FBI raid on Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Largo home or the prosecution of MAGA Republicans who participated in the January 6th Insurrection. Corporate prosecutions under President Joe Biden remain in the abyss after reaching record lows under Trump, according to government data analyzed in a Public Citizen report released on April 25, 2022. The Biden administration has shown no interest in amassing a strong prosecutorial record against Wall Street crooks. What is worst, Attorney General Garland appears to be missing-in-action on all crime-fighting fronts. In the absence of a Corporate Fraud Task Force like the one created by George Bush and considering Joe Biden’s apparent “softness” on white collar crimes committed by Wall Street crooks, Attorney General Garland has opened the door for notorious influence peddlers like former president Bill Clinton (D-Arkansas) to roam the halls of the DOJ in search of top officials who will permit him to assist them in resolving corporate fraud cases without criminal prosecutions of the companies involved or their CEOs. Clinton, who is reportedly working behind the scenes to help Southern Company CEO Tom Fanning secure a non-prosecution agreement for the Southern Company, its affiliates, and himself and Chris Womack, is an expensive influencer. Reportedly, Clinton was paid $5 million, which was laundered through a Washington, D.C. law firm, to escort Fanning, Womack (Fanning’s successor), the Southern Company, and its affiliates to safety so that Fanning can exit the company on May 24, 2023 with a retirement package that is valued up to $100 million. The fate of the other signatory officials on the jointly filed 10-K for 2022 is up in the air. What is worst for these individuals is this simple fact: Financial fraud crimes are excluded from commercial insurance coverage for corporate officers and directors. All of the signatory officials on the 10-K, except for Tom Fanning and Christopher Womack, must fend for themselves in a Sarbanes-Oxley investigation and prosecution, as was the case in HealthSouth. Southern Company Officials are Reportedly Destroying Fraud Documents Our confidential sources at Southern Company headquarters in Atlanta report that executives are discreetly destroying thousands of corporate records at multiple company locations that: (a) were withheld from Deloitte & Touche and (b) are relevant to a forensic audit and subsequent criminal investigation into financial frauds and other crimes at the Southern Company. It is unclear as to who is directing the destruction of this documentary evidence in this case. A federal grand jury needs to be convened to ascertain what is happening at the Southern Company in this regard, and why. Like President Bush’s Corporate Fraud Task Force in the HealthSouth case, the Biden White House must show leadership and instruct Attorney General Garland to: (a) conduct an immediate raid of Southern Company’s and Georgia Power Company's separate headquarters in Atlanta, together with Mississippi Power Company's headquarters in Gulfport, Mississippi, (b) retrieve the relevant financial documents and computer hard drives at all locations, (c) preserve this crucial physical evidence, and (d) serve grand jury subpoenas upon culpable executives at each location, as was done in the HealthSouth accounting fraud case. Time is of the essence, unless the case has already been “fixed.” RELATED ARTICLES IN THIS SERIES OF SPECIAL INVESTIGATIVE REPORTS: Part 1, How the Southern Company Cooked Its Books in a Massive $27 Billion Accounting fraud Scheme Part 2, The Southern Company Fraud Scheme: Is This the Resurrection of Bernie Madoff?

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on April 4, 2023 Many readers have asked for my opinion about the likely outcome of the New York state criminal case against Donald Trump. I currently hold the record in American jurisprudence for winning the most felony counts (85) in a single-defendant case, U.S. v. Richard Scrushy (2003-2005). No white-collar criminal defendant before or since Richard Scrushy has defeated 85 felony charges in an individual case. Donald Trump is facing 34 felony counts of FALSIFYING BUSINESS RECORDS IN THE FIRST DEGREE, in violation of Penal Law §175.10. He has entered a plea of NOT GUILTY. At this juncture, Trump is presumed to be INNOCENT of all 34 felony charges. That being said, Donald Trump will likely lose this criminal case for the following reasons: 1. This is a criminal case that relies heavily on documents to prove. 2. The documents exist to prove the 34 felonies cited in the Indictment. 3. The witnesses required to prove Trump’s intent to violate the law on each count already exist, and they have testified before the grand jury that indicted him. 4. Other documents likely exist to corroborate that Trump intended to falsify the business records listed in the Indictment. 5. Trump, himself, will NOT take the witness stand. 6. Trump is represented by the WRONG kind of criminal lawyers who are executing the WRONG kind of defensive strategy in the WRONG way in a venue where Trump is NOT popular. 7. The prosecution team only needs to win on ONE criminal count, while Trump must win all THIRTY-FOUR counts. 8. If Trump continues to attack Trial Judge Juan Merchan, his wife and daughter, and District Attorney Alvin Bragg and/or members of Bragg's staff in the media, and one of these individuals gets hurt or killed by a Trump “patriot,” Trump's bond will be revoked immediately, and he will be jailed pending his trial. Donald Trump’s New York criminal case is serious business, and should be treated as such. A guilty plea is out of the question. To win on 34 felony charges, Trump's legal team must: (a) exhibit incredible focus and discipline, (b) possess exceptional trial skills in highly complex criminal cases, (c) prepare a very concise, simple, and easy to understand theme of the case for the defense, and (d) perfectly execute about 3,000 discreet and carefully calculated legal moves in a sequential order. None of this exists within Trump’s legal camp today.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on April 5, 2023 An Editorial Opinion After I published an article on April 4, 2023, titled, “Trump Will Likely Lose New York Criminal Case,” I received several private calls from readers aligned with Donald Trump who asked whether his case can be salvaged. The answer is, “Yes,” but not by the legal team that is representing him now. For the record, this article is written and published solely for the purpose of public education. My Professional Background Gives Me Special Insight into Trump’s Criminal Case By way of a professional background, I have been in the “gladiator pit” on complex criminal cases more than any lawyer I know. I am NOT a TV talking-head or a lawyer who has not tried and won big cases. My insight is based upon personal experiences like the ones listed below: 1. I was the lead attorney for the legal team that holds the record in American jurisprudence for winning the most felony counts (85) in a single case (U.S. v. Richard Scrushy). No white-collar criminal defendant before or since Richard Scrushy, who was HealthSouth Corp.'s former CEO, has defeated 85 felony charges in an individual case. 2. I have kept a Chief U.S. District Judge on the federal bench (U.W. Clemon in Birmingham, Alabama) and taken a Chief U.S. District Judge off the bench (Mark E. Fuller in Montgomery, Alabama). 3. I saved Birmingham, Alabama mayor Richard Arrington, Jr. from prosecution by federal law enforcement officials (1988-1992). 4. My exclusive investigative reports forced the resignation of Alabama governor Robert Bentley in 2017. 5. In 1975, I uncovered a police scandal that resulted in the resignations of Montgomery, Alabama’s mayor and police commissioner, the indictment of three police officers, and the firing or resignation of eight others. This scandal was headlined in the April 3, 1977, edition of the Washington Post as "Alabama’s 'Watergate'." 6. On November 26, 1976, I won a full and unconditional pardon from the state of Alabama for Clarence Norris, the last known surviving “Scottsboro Boy." The nine Scottsboro Boys were falsely accused in 1931 of raping two white girls on a train running through Paint Rock, Alabama. All were arrested, tried, convicted of rape, and sentenced to death on multiple occasions. The U.S. Supreme Court saved the Scottsboro Boys on three occasions within hours of their scheduled execution. Clarence Norris’s pardon was based upon a finding of “innocence” of the criminal charge of rape, as proclaimed by the Alabama Pardons and Parole Board. This was the first pardon ever granted by the state of Alabama to a person who was originally sentenced to death and who was later declared innocent of the charges for which he was convicted. 7. I hold the record in American jurisprudence for the longest winning streak of jury trials in complex criminal and civil cases – 155 straight victories. How Trump Can Win His Case Donald Trump is facing 34 felony counts of FALSIFYING BUSINESS RECORDS IN THE FIRST DEGREE, in violation of Penal Law §175.10. He has entered a plea of NOT GUILTY. At this juncture, Trump is presumed to be INNOCENT of all 34 felony charges. From Trump’s standpoint, this is a case where losing is NOT an acceptable option. For all practical purposes, Trump is "down" behind “enemy lines.” The efforts to win Trump's unprecedented criminal case is akin to a rescue mission by a team of Navy Seals that must reach him, retrieve him, and free him. Right now, Donald Trump is represented by the WRONG kind of lawyers who are executing the WRONG kind of defensive strategy in the WRONG way in a venue where Trump is NOT popular. They must be replaced with a specially trained rescue team. Trump must hire a seasoned and skilled field commander who specializes in rescue missions in hostile territory, and he/she must pick his/her own team members. Each member of Trump's legal team must have unique skills and is selected for a special purpose. The prosecution team only needs to win on ONE criminal count, while Trump must win all THIRTY-FOUR counts. It is critically important that the team members know, understand, and perfectly execute its rescue mission. The team must move with a speed that mesmerizes the prosecution team. They also must be able to deplore laser litigation techniques as a routine course of action. It is important to note that the trial judge and prosecution team are both paid by New York State tax dollars. This presents a structural conflict of interest that is present in every criminal case and cannot be avoided. Therefore, the defense team must develop and execute legal strategies that neutralize this conflict of interest long enough to free Trump. Trump’s existing legal team has already blown legal strategies, techniques, and logistical maneuvers that have reduced his chances of winning by 50%. These blunders have the operative effect of increasing the workload of the rescue team and leaving them NO margin for error. Trump’s rescue team must also have incredible focus, exceptional trial skills in complex legal cases, a very concise and readily understandably defensive plan, and perfect execution of about 3,000 discrete legal moves in sequential order. The same commander must devise and flawlessly execute a game plan for preventing Trump’s state court indictment in Georgia and his federal court indictment in Washington. In military jargon, it does no good to rescue Trump in New York ONLY to have him ambushed in Atlanta and Washington. The field commander must engage the prosecutors in Georgia and Washington with fierce pre-indictment fighting, all under the commander's supervision and direction. The legal team in Georgia must skillfully neutralize District Attorney Fani Willis, while the team in Washington must crush Special Counsel Jack Smith. The ability to issue a knockout blow to Jack Smith has been available to Trump’s lawyers since November 25, 2022, but they have NOT used it. The look on Donald Trump’s face at his arraignment tells you he has no confidence in his legal team. I don’t either. What is their win-loss record in the gladiator pit? In answering this question, a guilty plea does not count as a win. Only a knockout counts as a win. I saw this same look on Richard Scrushy’s face before he was rescued in 2005. I saw it on Richard Arrington, Jr.’s face before his rescue in 1992. I saw it on U.W. Clemon’s face before his rescue in 1996. I saw it on Clarence Norris’s face before his rescue in 1976. Whether Donald Trump is rescued depends solely upon him and the defense attorneys he chooses. Remember, losing just one count in Trump's criminal case is NOT an acceptable option.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on April 6, 2023 An Editorial Opinion After I published my article on April 5, 2023, titled, “Can Donald Trump’s Case Be Salvaged? Yes!,” I received a private phone call from a close friend who is aligned with Donald Trump and who asked what “rescue” strategies and playbook would save Trump in his New York criminal case. Because I do not think Trump has the legal talent needed to execute the plays in this playbook, and because I retired from the practice of law in 2019, I am comfortable in publicly sharing my thoughts on what Trump needs to do to free himself. After I publish this Trump article, I will resume my articles on the racketeering enterprise and massive $27 billion accounting fraud at the Southern Company in Atlanta. I believe Joe Biden's Department of Justice is working to “fix” the criminal case for the Southern Company, and I intend to stop or expose this “fix.” Let me be clear on one thing: State and federal criminal justice systems in America are "rigged," and they have been for a very long time. This is NOT a theory, or an intellectual hypothesis, or cognitive hunch. This is a known fact. The "privileged" few have always gotten showered with judicial blessings in these two criminal justice systems, while society's "undesirables" have always gotten screwed. Donald Trump has tumbled from the White House in January of 2021 into the class of "undesirables" in April of 2023. He is now in a fight for his life. Whether Trump is rescued from the dangers inherent in his New York criminal case depends upon his legal team's ability to execute the strategies and plays outlined in this article. Trump Must Assemble the Right Legal Teams Trump’s “rescue” team(s) need to be led by one seasoned central commander, with a proven track record of winning at least 100 or more jury trials in complex criminal cases. This commander must handpick teams of lawyers who must work 24 hours per day and 365 days per week until Trump is rescued and freed. The ultimate goal of Trump's rescue team(s) is to overwhelm and overpower the New York prosecution team with a Navy Seals-type of trial preparation and execution. After all, losing this case is NOT an acceptable option. At a minimum, the legal team(s) should be comprised of the following: 1. Four trial attorneys, two of whom are assigned to handle government witnesses and two of whom are assigned to handle defense witnesses. The two attorneys with the most proven cross-examination skills must handle government witnesses. 2. Three attorneys who must prepare pretrial and in-trial motions and three attorneys who are highly skilled at writing legal briefs. These six attorneys must work in three 8-hour shifts with a team of assigned paralegals. They are responsible for filing substantive motions and legal briefs every day, as well as responding to incoming government motions and briefs. Well-crafted defense motions and legal briefs should rain down on the prosecution team like laser-guided missiles and drones. 3. Three lawyers who focus solely on examining the discovery documents provided by the prosecution team. Every discovery document must be read at least five times by the initial reviewers and three times by the four trial lawyers. The initial reviewers must also find all related documents that place the government’s cherry-picked documents in their proper context. 4. The trial team must include one designated “objector” who is a master of New York Rules of Procedure and one who is a master of New York Rules of Evidence. 5. The defense team must establish a Facebook page that (a) posts the names and photos of all known government witnesses and (b) requests any information about them that tends to undermine their credibility. A team of three private investigators must work in three 8-hour shifts to vet the information provided by the public on each witness. 6. Three different private investigators whose sole focus is to gather profile information on everybody in the courthouse who may have contact with prospective jurors. The prosecution always has friendly sources placed in courthouse jobs that interact with jurors. Included in this category are courthouse security personnel, courtroom bailiffs, vending machine vendors who provide snacks to jurors during long trials, law clerks, court reporters, etc. The defense must formally challenge any potential juror contact by such a person who is known to hold anti-Trump views. 7. The defense must cultivate a network of spies within the D.A.’s office and courthouse. Disgruntled employees are a wonderful source of spies. They are always available, and their information, once properly vetted, is often helpful. 8. The defense must engage one professional media spin doctor, who should NOT be a lawyer on the defense team. I used Charlie Russell from Denver, Colorado during the high-profile, six-month trial of former HealthSouth CEO Richard Scrushy in 2005. Charlie was excellent in this role. Trial Preparation The legal team in New York must spend 14 days of trial preparation for every one day of trial proceedings. The two lawyers who cross-examine witnesses called by the prosecution must develop three separate scenarios for zeroing them out on the witness stand. The scenario that works the best and fastest is the one that must be deployed during the trial. Speed is always the defense attorney's ally. Jurors enjoy seeing government witnesses eviscerated in record time. The legal team must study jury selection procedures and techniques for minimizing the presence of anti-Trump potential jurors in the subpoenaed jury pool. This is important because the jury wheel can be discretely manipulated by court personnel in the Clerk of the Court's office. The legal team must profile each member of the prosecution team and study their past trials to learn their weaknesses, strengths, and trial tendencies. Then, a strategy must be devised to exploit their weaknesses and suppress their strengths. Donald Trump is facing 34 felony counts of FALSIFYING BUSINESS RECORDS IN THE FIRST DEGREE, in violation of Penal Law §175.10. He has entered a plea of NOT GUILTY. The prosecution team only needs to win ONE criminal count, while Trump must win all THIRTY-FOUR counts. It is critically important that each member of the legal team knows, understands, and perfectly executes the rescue mission. The team must move with a measure of speed and degree of precision that mesmerizes the prosecution team. Trump’s existing New York legal team has already blown legal strategies, techniques, and logistical maneuvers that have reduced his chances of winning by 50%. These blunders have the operative effect of increasing the workload of the rescue team and leaving them NO margin for error. Trump’s rescue team members must also have incredible focus, exceptional trial skills in complex legal cases, a very concise and readily understandable theme of the defense, and perfect execution of about 3,000 discrete legal moves in sequential order. The same central commander must devise and flawlessly execute a game plan for preventing Trump’s state court indictment in Georgia and federal court indictment in Washington. In military jargon, it does no good to rescue Trump in New York ONLY to have him ambushed in Atlanta and Washington. We must assume that the prosecution teams in New York, Atlanta, and Washington are collaborating with each other. This would be a form of prosecutorial triangulation. Trump's central commander must engage the prosecutors in Georgia and Washington with fierce pre-indictment fighting, all under his/her direction and supervision. In each venue, the defense should demand an opportunity to present a pre-Indictment memo to prosecutors like the one in U.S. v. Richard Scrushy (2003-2005). The prosecution teams in Atlanta and Washington need to see the legal cards Trump is holding in his hand. This move is intimidating to prosecutors and serves as a deterrent to an Indictment, more often than not. The legal team in Georgia must skillfully neutralize Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, while the team in Washington must crush Special Counsel Jack Smith. Personally, I would work on securing a pardon for Trump from second-term Georgia governor Brian Kemp to pre-empt the criminal case in that state. This is very doable. The ability to issue a knockout blow to Jack Smith and his federal grand jury probe in Washington has been available to Trump’s lawyers since November 25, 2022, but his current legal team has NOT used it. Epilogue In closing, let me say this: Alabama Head Football Coach Nick Saban could give me his playbook on the Monday before the scheduled football game on Saturday. If I do not have the talent on the field to run the plays in Saban's playbook, it will not matter. It's NOT about the X's and O's in the playbook; it's the "Willies" and "Joes" that make the difference between winning and losing the game. With his current lineup, Trump does not have the talent on the field that is needed to run the plays in my playbook. Meanwhile, I am turning my attention back to dismantling the obvious Joe Biden/Merrick Garland-sanctioned corporate corruption at the Southern Company, commencing this weekend. RELATED ARTICLES: Trump Will Likely Lose New York Criminal Case Can Donald Trump's Case Be Salvaged? Yes!

By: Donald V. Watkins April 7, 2023 An Editorial Opinion On December 10, 1990, Birmingham, Alabama Police Chief Arthur Deutcsh, police officers Bob Howell and Mike Lee, and Assistant Jail Administrator Robert Stone were indicted on felony charges of tampering with government records. The charges arose from an unsuccessful effort by one or more of these officers to alter jail records in an unsuccessful attempt to cover up the July 5, 1990, arrest of Erica Arrington, the daughter of then-Birmingham mayor Richard Arrington, Jr. There was extensive publicity surrounding the attempted coverup of Eric Arrington's arrest, and it was overwhelmingly negative. Much of this publicity was sensational and undoubtedly prejudicial in the courts of public opinion and law. The publicity included highly inflammatory pre-Indictment remarks by long-time Jefferson County, Alabama District Attorney David Barber. The Indictments came at a time when Mayor Arrington was running for re-election in October of 1991 for his fourth consecutive term in office. Arrington’s strongest opponent was running largely on the jail records controversy, with David Barber surreptitiously supporting his opponent. Chief Arthur Deutcsh was tried first, and he was convicted on May 24, 1991. (Deutsch's conviction was later reversed on appeal, and he was never retried based upon a judicial determination that he was mentally incompetent to stand trial after a work-related accident). The negative publicity from Chief Deutcsh’s conviction spilled over into the political arena and was hurting Mayor Arrington’s chances for re-election, even though the mayor had no involvement whatsoever in the jail records controversy. Officer Mike Lee's trial was up next. For a host of political reasons, we desperately needed a mistrial or acquittal. This article is about what happened in Mike Lee’s case, and why it is relevant to Donald Trump’s New York state court case of falsifying business records. Officer Howell's trial started on September 9, 1991. His jury deadlocked, and a mistrial was declared on September 13, 1991. (After Mayor Arrington was re-elected in October, Howell was retried and found guilty of a misdemeanor charge of tampering with government records.) Assistant Jail Administrator Robert Stone was tried last, and he was acquitted after the October election. Mike Lee Won His Case by Calling District Attorney David Barber as a Defense Witness Officer Mike Lee was represented by criminal defense attorney H. Lewis Gillis, who served as a member of my Birmingham litigation team (1985 to 1998), as well as the all-star defense team that won former HealthSouth Corp. CEO Richard Scrushy's 85-felony count case in U.S. v. Richard Scrushy. (2003 to 2005). Gillis is also a former Montgomery County assistant district attorney with an impeccable trial record and unparalleled trial skills. Each of the four police officers in the jail records case had a separate lawyer who was paid with city funds, as authorized under state law. Each officer had a separate trial. We assigned Lewis Gillis to represent Officer Mike Lee. Chief Deutsch and the other two defendants selected their own attorneys. Mayor Arrington and I asked Lewis Gillis to secure a mistrial, if possible, as the mayoral election was only two months away from the start of Mike Lee’s trial in August of 1991. After Chief Deutsch's conviction in May of 1991, we thought another conviction was likely and we did not need a second conviction as we approached the October election. The optics from a second conviction would further erode Mayor Arrington's chances for re-election. Under the circumstances, a mistrial would have been a good outcome. On the third day of the trial, Lewis Gillis asked to meet with Mayor Arrington and me to brief us on the progress of the trial. In his briefing, Gillis reminded us that we asked him to secure a mistrial, if possible. Then, Lewis Gillis asked us for permission to WIN officer Mike Lee's case. We were stunned by his request. We asked Gillis whether an acquittal was even possible, given the divisiveness in the community, the non-stop negative media coverage, and the circus-like political atmosphere surrounding Mike Lee's trial. Gillis’ answer was simple and direct. He would call District Attorney Barber as an adverse witness for Mike Lee's defense and fillet him in front of the jurors. He would expose Barber's political motivation for bringing the criminal charges against Lee. With the defense work Gillis had already performed during the prosecution's case, he thought this strategy would sway the jury towards an acquittal. Alabama Rules of Evidence, like New York Rules of Evidence, permitted a defendant to call any witness who had evidence that was material to the defense and relevant to the charges. These Rules of Evidence are still in effect in Alabama and New York. The next day, Gillis called a stunned David Barber to the witness stand as his first defense witness. Gillis filleted Barber in front of the jurors, who were surprised to see the way Gillis firmly handled a member of the prosecution team as an adverse witness. Gillis kept Barber on a short leash and sliced him with razor-sharp leading questions about all his pre- and post-Indictment comments. Barber was nervous, unprepared, and testy during his entire time on the witness stand. Gillis’ examination of Barber was masterful. It turned the tide from a possible mistrial to an outright and stunning victory on all charges. Trump’s Legal Team is Not Ready for Primetime Donald Trump’s legal team has the Fourteenth Amendment’s Due Process Clause and Rule 6.10(4)(b) of the New York Rules of Evidence available to them to compel Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg to take the witness stand in Trump’s defense. Bragg would be called as an adverse witness. He would be treated like any other adverse witness. Once Alvin Bragg takes the witness stand, a highly skilled Trump defense attorney must surgically fillet him, without anesthesia, on all his pre-Indictment comments, campaign remarks, and media statements about Donald Trump, just as Gillis did with David Barber about his pre-Indictment comments regarding the four indicted police officers. It takes "Big Balls" to call and run this kind of play. I have only seen it run once during my entire legal career, and that was when Lewis Gillis ran it in Mike Lee's case. This strategic defense play would catapult this central question to the forefront of Trump's trial: Was Donald Trump indicted because he committed 34 felony crimes, or was he charged for the purpose of satisfying Alvin Bragg’s lust for determining the destiny of America’s 2024 presidential election? For reasons that still fascinate me today, jurors love to see public officials bleed all over themselves on the witness stand, whether they are simply witnesses in the case or criminal defendants. This defensive play would change the entire focus of Trump's trial and put the spotlight on the prosecution like no other trial strategy can do. What is more, this defensive play takes the pressure off Donald Trump to attack Alvin Bragg in the court of public opinion and possibly risk unbearable sanctions by the trial judge for doing so. Trump could sit back and enjoy the show in the "gladiator pit." But first, Donald Trump must get himself a “gladiator” who is trained to fight in cases where losing is NOT an acceptable option. This, Trump has not done. Don’t ever forget, Alvin Bragg’s prosecution team only needs to win ONE criminal count, while Donald Trump must win all THIRTY-FOUR counts. That's the difference between prison or freedom for Trump. RELATED ARTICLES Trump Will Likely Lose New York Criminal Case Can Donald Trump's Case Be Salvaged? Yes! The Only Way Donald Trump Can Win His New York Criminal Case

By: Donald V. Watkins April 7, 2023 BREAKING NEWS --- On April 6, 2023, bogus voter fraud charges against Perry County, Alabama Commission Chairman Albert Turner, Jr., were dismissed by a state court judge. Former Perry County District Attorney Michael Jackson and former Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill sought and obtained an out-the-door Indictment of Turner on voter fraud charges as they were leaving office in early January of 2023. Turner mobilized the effort to defeat Jackson. Merrill left office because he reached the term limits for his statewide office. The faulty Indictment violated multiple provisions of the Alabama Rules of Criminal Procedure and state statutes on grand jury proceedings. The Indictment also lacked an evidentiary foundation. The Indictment was the product of impermissible political "targeting"of a strong, outspoken political adversary. In Alabama, they call this type of Indictment a "drive-by" political shooting. It was a desperate act by two political buffoons to tarnish Turner's name and his family's legacy in the Black Belt region of Alabama and around the nation. Chairman Turner was never arrested, fingerprinted, arraigned, or had a mug shot taken. Additionally, Turner did not appear at the motion hearing held before Perry County Circuit Judge Marvin Wiggins on the Attorney General's request to dismiss the case. . Persecuting Members of the Turner Family is a Favorite Alabama Pastime Turner's parents, who are highly regarded civil rights icons in America, were subjected to the same kind of buffoonery by former U.S. Attorney Jeff Sessions in 1986. They, too, were cleared of bogus voter fraud charges. Like his parents, Albert Turner, Jr., does more in a single day to serve, advance, and protect the constitutional and civil rights and political interests of Perry County residents than Michael Jackson and John Merrill have done in a lifetime. For the record, I have always stood with Albert Turner, Jr., in this matter, without hesitation or reservation. I am a full-fledge member of Team Turner. I never run from a fight and never abandon a friend. Alabama’s Attorney General Conceded that the Charges Against Turner Were Bogus At the hearing on April 6, 2023, the state of Alabama conceded in open court that there was no evidence of voter fraud by Albert Turner, Jr. With this concession, Judge Marvin Wiggins entered an Order dismissing the case. Albert Turner, Jr., issued this statement after the case was dismissed: "Let it be known that no prosecutor should use their office for a political vendetta. My children were upset, and my 86-year-old mother suffered anxiety attacks after hearing that her son would have to face what she, her husband Albert Sr., and Spencer Hogue went through as a defendant in 1986. I don't care if it's me, Donald Watkins, or Donald Trump; a prosecutor should not target individuals because of politics. Michael Jackson and John Merrill will pay for this!" Now that the criminal case is over, Turner will pursue a civil case against Michael Jackson and John Merrill for malicious prosecution and abuse of the legal process. Epilogue I encourage Chairman Albert Turner Jr. to continue waging his unrelenting fight to elevate the quality of life for the residents of Perry County, with all deliberate speed and by using all lawful means at his disposal. We extend our congratulations to Chairman Turner! Never stop fighting for your political constituents!

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on April 8, 2023; Updated at 6:30 P.M. PST to add information on Southern Company board member Donald M. James On February 10, 2012, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) granted a combined license to the Southern Company (D/B/A Georgia Power Company and Southern Nuclear Operating Company) to own and operate Vogtle Nuclear Power Units 3 and 4 in Waynesboro, Georgia. Since then, shoddy engineering, improper construction work, and poor construction management have delayed the project from reaching completion. As such, Units 3 and 4 have not been placed into commercial service. According to the Georgia Public Service Commission, the work was so shoddy it included basic mistakes that required remedial work on simple things. Here are a few examples of the lapses in project construction and management: 1. Approximately 8% of the cabling that had been used in the construction needed to be recut/replaced, resulting in additional delays and costs to the project. Southern Company engineers ignored the age-old adage, “measure twice, cut once.” As a result, approximately 500,000 linear feet of cable – equivalent to about 95 miles – had to be replaced. 2. Bolts that had been originally tightened had not been inspected at the time. So, each of those had to be loosened and then retightened to the specific torque value. 3. In 2022, there were some 26,000 electrical Inspection Records that had not been completed. While the work had been done, the inspection records weren’t complete at the time. The only explanation provided to the PSC for this faux pas was this: “someone didn’t do their job.” The basic engineering and construction mistakes at Vogtle Units 3 and 4 since 2012 have been endless. They have caused the construction project to exceed the original construction budget by a whopping $21 billion dollars. Despite the continued and repeated mismanagement of the Vogtle construction project, Tom Fanning was able to seduce the Southern board of directors into retaining his services as company's CEO. By his own choice, Fanning will be retiring from the company on May 24, 2023. A Board of Bootlickers, Influence Peddlers, and Grifters The board members from the time the NRC license was issued in 2012 to today are mostly Tom Fanning bootlickers, influence peddlers, and grifters. One of the influence peddlers is Kristine L. Svinicki, a former NRC chairwoman who joined the Southern Company board of directors ten months after she left the Commission. Svinicki's story is featured in a February 21, 2023, article titled, “Who is Kristine L. Svinicki, and Why Does She Matter?” Since 2021, Svinicki’s job has been to get Vogtle Units 3 and 4 across the NRC finish line. Another influence peddler is Ernest Moniz, former Secretary of Energy (2013 to 2017) and Southern Company board member since March 1, 2018. Moniz, who is a close friend of President Joe Biden, is featured in a March 28, 2023, article titled, “Did Joe Biden’s DOJ ‘Fix’ Criminal Case for Southern Company?” According to our sources “inside” the Southern Company and Department of Justice (DOJ), Moniz and former president Bill Clinton were successful in getting a non-prosecution agreement for the Southern Company. The company’s racketeering enterprise has been forgiven by the DOJ, for now, and its massive $27 billion accounting fraud is being ignored. In Washington, a well-connected “fixer” can make DOJ criminal problems go away. Just ask Wells Fargo Bank. It has committed 230 major violations of criminal and civil laws since 2000, with no federal indictment of Wells Fargo or its senior management executives. Interestingly, Donald M. James has been a Southern Company board member since 1999. He also served on the board's Audit Committee during the accounting fraud period. James is also a member of Well Fargo board of directors and oversaw its nationwide crime spree from 2002 to 2016. One of the grifters on the Southern Company board of directors is David J. Grain, the designated Lead Independent board member. Grain and his grifting were featured in a March 25, 2023, article titled, “David J. Grain: Getting Rich from His Southern Company Platform.” Despite influence peddling in Washington by Svinicki, Moniz, and Bill Clinton, the Georgia PSC Staff contends that “The repeated materially inaccurate cost estimates are an example of management’s continuous poor judgment…that should be taken into account when the Commission conducts its prudence review.” The Southern Company’s Pattern and Practice of Lying About the Things that Matter Not only has the Southern Company amassed a record of basic engineering and construction mistakes at Vogtle Units 3 and 4, and not only has the company compromised Joe Biden’s weak and incompetent DOJ, but the Southern Company also has a long track record of "cooking" its financial books and records. This criminal conduct is very similar to the accounting fraud used in the HealthSouth Corp. case and the Ponzi scheme operated by Bernie Madoff. The nature and scope of the Southern Company’s fraud scheme is reported in an April 2, 2023, article titled, “The Southern Company Fraud Scheme: Is This the Resurrection of Bernie Madoff?” The two main drivers of the Southern Company’s accounting fraud schemes were: (a) the desire to pump up and maintain the company’s stock prices within the range of Wall Street forecasts and expectations, and (b) the need to meet or exceed the earnings per share expectations of Wall Street analysts for the company’s utilities and power industry sector. Like HealthSouth’s and Bernie Madoff's fraud schemes, the Southern Company has been "cooking" the books for many years. Since 2017, the company has created a financial mirage to prop up its stock prices and pay consistent, regular earnings per share. This mirage was good enough to lure new investors and retain existing common stock shareholders the Vanguard Group, Inc., and BlackRock, Inc. The Southern Company has gotten away with the fraud scheme by paying consistent, regular dividends to shareholders from borrowed money and new investments, as opposed to retained earnings. This made the company look profitable, when it was not. Because of the cost overruns at Vogtle, the company's dividend funding technique is not expected to change until sometime after 2025. The accounting fraud has allowed the Southern Company to “fake it 'til we make it.” In the company’s view, it can “make it” when Vogtle Units 3 and 4 are placed into commercial service. As was the case with HealthSouth and Bernie Madoff, the phony 10-Qs and 10-Ks issued by the Southern Company since 2017 have successfully hoodwinked its shareholders, Wall Street analysts, commercial lenders, and regulatory agencies. There was no need to hoodwink the DOJ. With the right amount of influence peddling and “other valuable considerations” during an upcoming presidential campaign season, the criminal case could be “fixed.” And, it was. The SEC is Asleep at the Wheel Likewise, there is no need for the Southern Company to worry about the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). As was the case with Bernie Madoff’s fraud scheme, the SEC has been asleep at the wheel in the Southern Company's accounting fraud case. Senior management personnel from the SEC’s Atlanta Regional Office have reportedly busied themselves by enjoying the perks that the Southern Company and its affiliates routinely make available to public officials (e.g., tickets to sporting events and concerts in venues around the nation, wining and dining in restaurants and bars, free out of town luxury getaways, and other unreported snuggling with mega-SEC Registrants). It does not appear that the SEC gives the Southern Company’s 10-Qs and 10-Ks more than a cursory glance. If it does, the SEC has ignored the company's massive accounting fraud for years, just like the Commission did in Bernie Madoff’s case. The NRC is the Public’s Last Line of Protection The NRC has never knowingly allowed an ongoing criminal enterprise to own and operate a nuclear power plant in the United States. Unlike the Department of Justice, which initiates or declines the prosecution of important "too big to prosecute" criminals based upon their political and financial connections to the White House, the NRC has a track record of independently protecting the public safety across-the-board, without exception. The partial meltdown of a nuclear reactor at Three Mile Island in 1979 taught the NRC that independence from political influence peddling in Washington is critical to its mission in protecting the public safety. Investigations into the Three Mile Island mishap revealed that the meltdown occurred because of lapses by the owner, operator, and NRC in quality assurance and maintenance, inadequate operator training, lack of communication of important safety information, poor management, and complacency. The NRC vowed that these lapses would never happen again. The NRC issued the Southern Company a combined “Owner/Operator” license for Units 3 and 4 eleven years ago. Now, it appears that the circumstances that caused the meltdown at Three Mile Island are repeating themselves at Vogtle Units 3 and 4. Section 2133(d) of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, prohibits any regulated person or entity that threatens the safety of the public from owning and operating a nuclear power facility in the United States. Section 2133(d) expressly states that “no license may be issued to any person within the United States if, in the opinion of the Commission, the issue of a license to such person would be inimical to the common defense and security or to the health and safety of the public.” By definition, a publicly traded utility company that operates a multi-state racketeering enterprise and implements a massive $27 billion accounting fraud scheme poses a great danger to America’s national security and public safety. On February 3, 2023, formal complaints were filed with Christopher T. Hanson, Chairman of the NRC, by two groups that challenged the Southern Company’s "fitness" to hold this combined license, in light of the company's documented racketeering history. Since then, the Southern Company’s massive $27 billion accounting fraud has come to light. When the licenses were issued for Units 3 and 4 on February 10, 2012, the NRC made this express finding: “The issuance of this license will not be inimical to the common defense and security or to the health and safety of the public.” No doubt that eleven years later, this finding by the NRC is no longer true. The Commission’s staff is presently investigating the Southern Company’s “fitness” to hold the Vogtle license. This investigation demands heightened scrutiny into all aspects of the Southern Company, its operations, and its history of lawlessness. If the NRC determines that the Southern Company’s criminal history and propensity to lie about material matters that impact public safety renders the company no longer “fit” to hold the combined license for Vogtle Units 3 and 4, there are scores of utility companies that are capable and qualified to own and operate Vogtle, including the Tennessee Valley Authority, Constellation Energy Generation Company, Entergy, Duke Energy, Old Dominion Electric Coop, NextEra Energy, and Florida Power & Light. Today, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is the only independent federal government agency with the integrity and ability to (a) reign-in the Southern Company’s lawlessness, and (b) protect the public safety from runaway criminal conduct. The other federal agencies have been hopelessly compromised by influence peddlers and Washington “insiders” in furtherance of a political agenda to get a weak, increasingly senile, unpopular, and inept Joe Biden re-elected as president.