By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on April 3, 2022 An Editorial Opinion I enjoyed a wonderful career as a lawyer before entering the federal prison system as an inmate on August 28, 2019. I thought my legal career was over when I became an inmate, but soon discovered that this would not be the case. Instead, my "finest hour" as a lawyer began on that paradigm-shifting day. Because none of my free-world clients in criminal cases were convicted of the crimes for which they were charged, I did not have a working knowledge of how rigged the modern-day federal criminal justice system is until two events occurred: (a) President Donald J. Trump declared that the system was "rigged," and (b) I was "railroaded" in my own criminal case. Over the past four decades, federal judges, whom the Founding Fathers thought would be impartial referees who would safeguard individual rights in federal court proceedings, have morphed into teammates for federal prosecutors. Whether they are motivated by fear, or personal ambition for higher judgeships, or political ideology, most federal judges do exactly what they are told to do by federal prosecutors. They willingly give prosecutors breaks in court that they would never give to defense counsel. Of course, the federal judges are paid from the same source that pays federal prosecutors -- the U.S. Treasury. When a criminal defendant has a court-appointed lawyer, all three parties in the criminal proceedings are paid from federal funds. This payment arrangement does not bode well for promoting fairness and justice in federal courtrooms. In many cases, when federal judges are cornered by legal precedents and forced to rule against prosecutors, they often apologize to them for doing so. Frequently, federal judges feel the need to carry the government's case for weak and inept federal prosecutors who could never win their cases on a level playing field. The biggest tragedy I have witnessed in the federal criminal justice system since entering prison is the catastrophic failure of the criminal defense bar to fight for their clients. This is true whether these attorneys are retained or court-appointed. For the most part, criminal defense lawyers only "represent" their clients, which means they sit idlily by their clients during the court proceedings and explain how and why the system is railroading them. Fortunately, I was trained to go to war for my clients with a "take-no-prisoners" attitude. Losing was not an acceptable option. Between the pro-prosecution federal judges, their openly pampered prosecutors, and the growing pool of scared, weak, and ineffective defense lawyers, a criminal defendant often has no realistic chance to experience true justice in the federal criminal system. The system is simply too rigged for a just result to occur. The rare exception to the rigged system occurs when the criminal suspect is a rich and powerful white male, or a Wall Street corporation that is "too big to prosecute." Defendants in this category are "modern-day untouchables." The public witnessed recent examples of this exception when Wells Fargo Bank acknowledged in 2020 that its senior management executives committed two million separate acts of bank fraud between 2012 and 2016 and none of the scores of white bank executives involved in the bank fraud was prosecuted. Instead, Well Fargo was allowed to pay a $4 billion civil fine (which was pocket-change for the Bank) and keep on conducting business as usual. The same prosecutorial forgiveness was exercised when major Wall Street banks caused $13 trillion in lost American wealth during the Great Recession of 2008 and not a single bank CEO or executive officer was prosecuted for any crime associated with the collapse of the entire American economy. Of course, all of the culprits were rich and powerful white men. Helping Deserving Federal Inmates In Johnson v. Avery, 393 U.S. 483, 489 (1969), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that prison officials cannot actively interfere with an inmate assisting others with the preparation of court documents. As such, federal regulations like 28 C.F.R., Section 543.11(f)(1) and Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) Program Statement 1315.07 expressly authorize an inmate to assist another inmate in the same institution with legal research and the preparation of legal documents for the submission to a court or other judicial bodies. However, because an inmate may not conduct a business, he cannot receive any form of compensation for his services. Since entering the federal prison system, I have been able to use my 48 years of specialized legal knowledge, training, and trial experience to free nearly three dozen deserving inmates that the rigged federal criminal justice system has railroaded. Nearly all of these inmates were convicted on non-violent drug-related charges. A few of them were physicians of color who were swept up in federal healthcare fraud investigations in which their white physician colleagues received the benefit of prosecutorial discretion and were not charged. I could have freed more inmates by now, but BOP officials repeatedly place me in the "Hole" whenever they noticed that a lot of inmates in my housing unit were filing the correct legal documents that resulted in their freedom. I have been placed in the "Hole" three times for a total of 12 months, which represents nearly half the time I have spent in prison. On two of these occasions, no charges were lodged against me. On the third occasion a correctional officer at FCI Talladega "planted" a phone charger in my locker at the direction of his superiors in order to frame me. BOP officials used this incident to harshly punish me. Undeterred, I promptly resumed my efforts to help deserving inmates win their freedom each time I was released from the "Hole." All of the inmates I have helped to free were the victims of the rigged federal criminal justice system. They were also the victims of egregious acts of legal malpractice that were committed by their defense counsel. A few of them were totally innocent of the charges for which they were convicted and imprisoned, but nobody in the federal criminal justice system cared about their plight. The court transcripts in these men's cases pretty much read the same: A federal judge was carrying the criminal case for weak and inept federal prosecutors who followed a pre-programmed script in each case. In some of the cases, trial judges closed their eyes to perjured law enforcement testimony that was plainly contradicted by tangible evidence in the case. In these cases, the defense counsel did not perform even the minimal tasks that law students learn in Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure classes. In many of the cases I have reviewed, these defense lawyers, whether retained or appointed, had never won a case in a jury trial. However, they have mastered the art of "surrendering" their clients in a rigged system, without a fight. The Battlefield of Injustice When I am assisting deserving inmates inside the federal prison system, I feel like a medic on a battlefield. There are wounded men all over the place. The line of inmates who are seeking my help is long every day. They are members of every race and culture. The common thread that binds these men together is the way in which they were railroad in federal court by judges who served as fluffers and advocates for prosecutors. I give first priority to inmates who have pressing timelines to get their legal documents filed. My second priority goes to inmates who are actually innocent of the charges for which they have been imprisoned. My third priority goes to the inmates who were the victims of colossal legal malpractice. I do not accept any form of payment or anything of value for helping these men. Each man gets my full and undivided attention and the same level of high-quality professional services. My approach to the fair administration of justice has made me extremely popular within the inmate population in each federal prison facility where I have been housed. The accumulated goodwill from this work is immeasurable and it reaches beyond the confines of a prison environment. Each time one of these men is freed from prison, we celebrate his fresh start in life. When our celebration is over, I return to my work on the next deserving inmate's case. I thank God each day for blessing me with the gift of love for humanity. This gift fuels my fight for the fair administration of justice. I can see and feel the positive impact of my work in real-time. Epilogue The federal prison system is an institution of slavery that is expressly authorized in the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Most federal prosecutors and judges feed this institution of slavery with little regard for the fair administration of justice. Judges who do not impose stiff penalties upon federal prisoners may find themselves subjected to verbal floggings by Republican right-wing zealots in Washington much like the unrelenting flogging that was administered to Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown-Jackson on national TV during her confirmation hearings last month. I have handled and won a lot of landmark cases in my legal career. However, nothing feels better than freeing an innocent man from the iron shackles of prison slavery. This is especially true whenever I free inmates of color who are trapped in a rigged criminal justice system that routinely gives many whites who committed the same offenses a prosecutorial pass solely because they are rich, powerful, and Caucasian, or because they are "too big to prosecute."

By: Donald V. Watkins March 27, 2022 An Editorial Opinion In January of 2022, Alabama Power company publicly confirmed what we have known for decades --Tuscaloosa, Alabama-based political operative Joe Perkins has run the company's "dirty tricks" program on an independent contractor basis for nearly two decades. Perkins and his companies have been paid millions of dollars during this period, without having to submit invoices to Alabama Power. Perkins is known in Alabama for: (a) exploiting the weaknesses of local, state, and federal politicians, (b) facilitating clandestine activities that undermine the integrity of democratic institutions, and (c) capturing and controlling a litany of public officials and government regulators who have abandoned their affirmative duty to advance and protect the public interests. Perkins recorded the fruits of his labor in secret files that he calls "trade secrets." I call them "dirty secrets." On September 19, 2021, I published an article that featured an example of Perkins' secret files. The article disclosed Perkins' handwritten notes on his plan to destroy me after I published an exclusive series of investigative articles on the role Matrix, LLC, played in the 2015 reported rape case of University of Alabama honors student Megan Rondini. Matrix is Perkins' public relations and crisis management firm. Rondini committed suicide after Tuscaloosa County law enforcement officials failed to prosecute the local playboy she designated as the rape suspect in her case. The suspect's family was a wealthy member of the oligarchy that ran Tuscaloosa at the time. Buzzfeed reporter, Katie Baker, in part reported on law enforcement’s failure to prosecute this case which resulted in two Tuscaloosa County law enforcement personnel filing a defamation case against the reporter. An Alabama federal judge threw out the case on March 15, 2022. A Closet Full of "Dirty Secrets" Joe Perkins' clandestine work for Alabama Power has produced a closet full of "dirty secrets" that the company strategically deployed, as needed. Here are a few examples of the "dirty secrets" in this closet: 1. Alabama Power Company learned that disgraced former Alabama governor Robert Bentley, another Tuscaloosa native, was having an illicit love affair with his married senior advisor, Rebekah Caldwell Mason from 2014 to 2017. Alabama Power reportedly facilitated the love affair by making its corporate jets available to transport Mason to her clandestine rendezvous with Bentley at exotic ports of call after Bentley's staff cautioned him about having Mason on the airplane the state made available for the governor's official business. After Bentley's wife learned of the illicit affair, she initially refused to attend her husband's inauguration in January 2015. Alabama Power Company officials, who were complicit in the affair, interceded on the governor's behalf and pleaded with Mrs. Bentley to attend the inauguration for public relations purposes. Mrs. Bentley relented at the last minute and attended her husband's inauguration. The public learned about the Bentley-Mason secret love affair in my 2015 exclusive series of investigative articles titled, "Forbidden Love" and "Executive Betrayal." In April of 2017, Bentley was forced to resign from office because of his "sex-for-power" scandal with Rebekah Mason. Immediately after resigning, Bentley pleaded guilty to violating state ethics laws. 2. After Bentley exited the governor's office, Perkins and his team of political operatives provided Alabama Power Company with the information they needed to capture and control incoming governor Kay Ivey. They learned that Governor Ivey had serious issues with her alcoholic consumption. According to Alabama Power's intelligence gathering reports, Governor Ivey would often start drinking on the job by noon each day. 3. After Dr. Richard Arrington, Jr., left office as the city of Birmingham's first black mayor (1979-1999), Alabama Power launched a orchestrated political program to capture and control the mayor's office out of fear and insecurity about Arrington's successors in office. Alabama Power's large corporate headquarters is located within three blocks from Birmingham's City Hall. From 1999 to the present, Alabama Power has viewed all of Arrington's successors in office as weak, lazy, and unqualified for an executive leadership position. For nearly two decades, one of Joe Perkins' primary jobs was to capture and control the men who succeeded Arrington. Perkins achieved this goal by using a combination of: (a) campaign fundraising activities, (b) arranging for their travel on the company's private jets, (c) lavishing VIP perks at entertainment and sporting events upon them, and (d) stroking of their political egos. 4. Capturing and controlling the state legislators and judges in Alabama is another area where the Perkins/Alabama Power team achieved great success. Alabama Power quickly discovered that the company could silence the voices of the state's entire political leadership with campaign donations, annual contributions from the company's charitable Foundation to pet projects in the black community and passing out trinkets of symbolic power to them. Alabama Power does not view these activities as "lobbying," even though they are the means and manner of controlling the official actions of these public officials. Alabama Power's chokehold on black legislators and the state's lone black Congresswoman is so strong that none of them is permitted to complain about Alabama's 19-judge all-white appellate court system in a state with a 26% black voter registration population in 2022. Sadly, Alabama Power's total philanthropic giving to worthy causes and organizations in the state's black community in past years has been less than the amount the company donates to take care of wildlife and zoo animals. Despite the fact that blacks contribute an estimated 25% of Alabama Power's $6 billion in annual revenues, the amount of contracting dollars the company spends with black-owned business is so abysmal that it does not amount to a blip in the company's annual financial statements. 5. Working with deceased Alabama gambling magnate Milton McGregor, Alabama Power and its strategic business allies demonstrated the company's ability to silence AL.com reporters when they shamed Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter/columnist John Archibald by "outing" the bankruptcy filing he and his wife made in a Birmingham federal court. Archibald never disclosed his shaky personal finances while he was chastising the Jefferson County Commission in his opinion columns for its financial mismanagement. John Archibald was discombobulated by the unexpected public disclosure of his bankrupt personal financial condition. He initially lied about his situation and blamed his wife for filing the bankruptcy petition without consulting with him. After Archibald realized that filing a husband-wife bankruptcy petition under those circumstances would subject his wife to culpability for bankruptcy fraud, Archibald came clean and admitted his human failings. Other Public Utility Companies Found Joe Perkins' "Dirty Tricks" Work Attractive Over the years, Joe Perkins became so good at compromising and neutralizing local, state, and federal public officials, regulatory agencies, grassroots community groups, environmental and social justice organizations, and news reporters in Alabama that his "trade secrets" appealed to the Southern Company (Alabama Power's parent company) and Georgia Power Company. These companies hired Perkins to render clandestine political "dirty tricks" of a similar nature in Georgia. Joe Perkins is a confessed federal lawbreaker who uses the money and resources of these giant utility companies to implement and operate a wide array of clandestine influence peddling schemes. These regulated companies obviously want political operatives like Perkins who will do whatever it takes to protect their business monopolies. In 2020, Jeff Pitts, the CEO of Perkins' public relations firm, Matrix, LLC, left the company. In a September 2021 lawsuit filed against Perkins, Pitts publicly accused Perkins of engaging in extortion, abusing legal processes, and operating an ongoing criminal racketeering enterprise. Pitts worked with Perkins for nearly 20 years. Perkins is presently waging an all-out litigation war to destroy Pitts and his professional reputation. Today, law enforcement agencies in Florida and two of the state's major newspapers are investigating Matrix's business activities in the state. Perkins is desperately trying to distance himself from these investigations. Controlling Federal Law Enforcement Activities in Alabama Alabama Power Company and Joe Perkins have been extremely effective in controlling federal law enforcement investigations in Alabama. Working with Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Alabama), they effectively decide who will serve as the three U.S. Attorneys in Alabama. Alabama Power and Perkins have influenced law enforcement investigations and prosecutions of some of their political adversaries. They have also benefitted from a very liberal application of prosecutorial discretion in their favor by state and federal prosecutors in matters involving highly questionable business conduct. Alabama Power first learned how to manipulate the federal law enforcement apparatus in the 1970s and 80s when the company battled former Alabama governor George C. Wallace after Wallace blocked a series of excessive rate increases on the company's customers. In 1972, Alabama Power lobbied President Richard Nixon to jail Wallace because of the former governor's pro-customer activism. Nixon came close to ordering Wallace's prosecution in order to solidify Alabama Power's financial support during his 1972 re-election campaign. Nixon changed his mind about the criminal prosecution after Wallace announced that he was running for president that year as a Democrat. In 1980, Alabama Power learned from the "Coal Fraud Trial" in federal court in Birmingham, Alabama that federal RICO criminal cases against one of its corporate executives could be "fixed" if the company and its tight network of corporate partners in Alabama controlled the Chief U.S. District Court Judge in the trial venue. Alabama Power's grip on federal judges in Alabama is detailed in two recent articles: "Joe Perkins: The Political Reincarnation of Alabama Power's Walter F. Johnsey," published on December 30, 2021, and "Judge Frank H. McFadden: The Case of Douglas L. Pope," published on January 16, 2022. In recent years, Alabama Power showcased its control over state and federal prosecutors in Alabama. For example, in 2015, Alabama Power contributed $30,000 to the sham non-profit entity that was established to fund bribery payments to former state Rep. Oliver Robinson in exchange for his efforts to block the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from designating the 35th Avenue neighborhood in North Birmingham as a Super-Fund clean-up site. Even though Alabama Power provided money for the bribery scheme, no company executive was indicted or prosecuted in connection with the bribery scheme. An executive with the Drummond Company, which supplies coal for Alabama Power's "dirty" power plants, and a lawyer with the Balch Bingham law firm, which represents Alabama Power, were subsequently charged, tried, and convicted of bribery in the case, along with Oliver Robinson. Epilogue Alabama Power, the Southern Company, and Georgia Power have substantially benefitted from Joe Perkins' clandestine political activities. This work has enriched Perkins. These activities are sweeping in scope and shocking in nature. They speak volumes about Perkins' sway over politicians, government officials, regulatory agencies, law enforcement officials, and state and federal judges in Alabama and Georgia. The public deserves to know how these public utility companies used ratepayers' money to finance a breathtaking range of "dirty tricks." Hopefully, the bright lights from my investigative reporting will disinfectant the dark and seedy world of Perkins' and Alabama Power's clandestine political activities.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on February 27, 2022 Independent voters, here is our political situation in 2022. The Republican Party has morphed into the political guardian of the richest one percent of Americans. They represent the political interests of corporations and manufacturers that pollute our lungs, pollute the air, land and water we need and pollute the food we eat. They are funded by the bankers on Wall Street who steal us blind, who buy super yachts and private jets with the money they make, while laughing all the way to the proverbial banks as the anointed one-tenth of the one percenters. Most of what the “one percenters” do is legal because they pay off lawmakers with campaign contributions to make it legal. Some of their activities are clearly illegal, but no state or federal law enforcement agency will prosecute them because they have money, jobs, lawyers, lobbyists, and politicians in their pockets. Just ask Wells Fargo Bank how it got away with 2 million confessed acts of bank fraud without being prosecuted. The Democratic Party is the perennial “tax and spend” political party. Spending tax dollars is the Party’s answer to every problem. Two generations ago, Democratic president Lyndon B. Johnson ushered the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968 through a politically divided Congress and signed them into law. Since then, Democrats have been able to corral and control voters of color by giving “feel good” speeches while delivering nothing of substance beyond government patronage jobs and VIP trinkets at Party conventions. Both Parties have their core block of voters and traditional political platforms that often neglect the political interests of Independent voters. Independent Voters Need a Voice and Political Agenda in Washington Independent voters have no clear voice or clearly articulated political agenda in Washington. We need to change this political paradigm. Going into the 2024 presidential election cycle, we need to advance the political agenda suggested below: 1. We seek financial and economic security for working Americans. The bell rings on Wall Street at the end of every trading day, with new reports on how well the “one percenters” did that day. We seek a daily report from the White House on how well Main Street does each day. Until we become a daily priority at the White House, working-class Americans will continue to be treated as second-class citizens. 2. American-based international conglomerates must pay their fair share of taxes. Additionally, corporations that imported American jobs overseas should not get new tax breaks until they bring those jobs back to America. 3. We seek a drastic reduction in corporate welfare for oil, gas, electric, coal, agribusiness, and tobacco companies. Corporate welfare comes in the form of tax credits and direct subsidies 4. We seek a federal Balanced Budget Act. The federal government must learn to live within its means like most American families do. Right now, America is living well above its financial means as a government. 5. We must have tough but fair policing in our communities. While the responsibility for public safety is largely a local government function, we need a new federal law that defines and bans abusive police practices, nationwide. 6. We seek a strong Department of Homeland Security and Department of defense. We should carry a “big Stick” and use it to defend our foreign allies, without hesitation or reservation. Right now, we are not respected by Russia, China, Iran, North Korea, and other rogue nations. These “school-yard bullies” are having a field day tormenting our allies, particularly after the Taliban ran America out of Afghanistan in disgrace. 7. We want American manufacturing restarted. Our federal government can lead the way by purchasing American-made goods and services for government agencies and institutions. We can minimize supply-chain issues by manufacturing our essential products at home like we did in the 19th and 20th centuries. 8. We must eliminate monarchy status for federal judges. Lifetime appointments to the federal bench was a great idea when the U.S. Constitution was ratified 250 years ago, but this judicial status has outlived its usefulness. Today, most federal judges are lazy partisan hacks who decide cases based upon their political ideology and not principals of law Speaking Out for Independent Voters I have been speaking out for Independent voters since 2001. I have never taken campaign money from my political candidate or political action committee. I have written and published news for Independent voters since 2001. I have raised and contributed over $1 million to Republican, Democratic, and Independent candidates for local, state, and federal elections. Presently, I am a political prisoner who was railroaded in the most famous COINTELPRO venue in America – Birmingham, Alabama. Racist Federal prosecutors in Birmingham railroaded me two years after career federal prosecutors in New Jersey reviewed the same allegations of wrongdoing and proffered evidence and concluded I had not violated any federal laws. Imprisonment has not stopped my political activism or publication of news of interest to Independent voters. I am combining my experience as an elected official (from 1979-1983) with my political organizing and fundraising skills. My news site, www.donaldwatkins.com, is aligning itself with a California-based Super-PAC ( in formation) for Independent voters. The campaign funds raised for the Super-PAC will be earmarked for the 2024 presidential election. Epilogue As Independent voters, our political agenda is clear. Our issues are focused on economic security and a strong defense, at home and abroad. We share a commonality of interest across cultural, geographic, and racial lines. We can be politically powerful, if we choose to be. Today, Republicans and Democrats are engaged in an ugly, divisive, and harmful political civil war. They are harming our democracy. We must save it. Join me in making our first step in 2024 toward saving American democracy.

By: Donald V. Watkins March 20, 2022 On Easter Sunday, Christians around the world will celebrate the crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension to Heaven of the most influential man who ever lived -- Jesus Christ. Approximately two thousand and twenty years ago, Jesus was arrested by Jewish Temple guards; he was beaten without provocation; he was accused of being a "criminal because he interrupted the flow of funds from the Temple to Rome when he flipped over the money changers' tables in the Temple; he had a preliminary hearing before Annas (a former Jewish high priest); he later appeared before the Jewish Sanhedrin in a trial presided over by Caiaphas where Jesus was accused of trying to destroy the Temple and rebuilding it again in three days; and he was tried again by Pontius Pilate after Jesus acknowledged to Pilate that he was King of the Jews and that His Kingdom was in Heaven. Pilate ruled Judea during this period of the Roman occupation. It was Pontius Pilate who eventually sentenced Jesus to an excruciating scourging and death by crucifixion. Today, 2.2 billion people around the world identify themselves as Christians. They are united in the belief of one God, the Bible as a holy text, and the use of prayer in worship. They constitute 31% of the world's organized religions. Whether they label themselves as Protestant, Catholic, or Orthodox, these Christians attempt to follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. They believe that Jesus is deity in the human form because Jesus was the Son of God. I am a follower of Jesus Christ. My understanding of Jesus came from my beloved parents, Dr. Levi Watkins, Sr., and Mrs. Lillian Bernice Varnado Watkins, and from my early childhood pastor, Sunday School teacher, and Baptist Training Union instructor at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama -- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. These influencers didn't just talk the Christian talk; they also walked the Christian walk. In other words, they practiced what they preached and they led by example. They were my role models in Christianity and in life. My mother's father, Rev. Willie Varnado, was a nationally-known Baptist preacher and a civil rights leader in black America during the 1940s, 50s, and 60s. All that my parents and Dr. King did not instill in my siblings and me as children regarding Jesus was instilled by Rev. Varnado. The lasting lesson I learned from these true Christians was this: Always stand up for the "least of these" in society, even if you have to stand up for them alone. When you stand up for the "least of these," you will often be ridiculed and persecuted by those who strive to maintain the historical socio-economic status quo in America. These persecutors are as plentiful today as they were during Jesus' time. True Christians Have Always Been Persecuted In his famous April 16, 1963 "letter from a Birmingham Jail," Dr. King addressed his fellow white clergy who were critical of his non-violent civil rights movement in Birmingham, Alabama and who chastised King as an "outsider" who was fomenting racial conflict between white and black citizens in the city. At the time, state and local law enforcement officials branded Dr. King as a "criminal." The FBI considered him to be a "thug" and a "filthy, abnormal beast." FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover (1924-1972) detested Dr. King so much that he authorized a covert campaign that was specifically designed to pressure King into committing suicide. Dr. King, who spent far more time in jails and prison cells in the South than me, acknowledged that his critics were "men of genuine goodwill" and that their "criticisms [were] sincerely set forth." Dr. King reminded his fellow clergy that "[w]e are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly." Dr. King ended his Letter from the Birmingham Jail with these prophetic words: "In deep disappointment I have wept over the laxity of the church .... There was a time when the church was very powerful -- in the time when early Christians rejoiced at being deemed worthy to suffer for what they believe. In those days, the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society. Dr. King constantly sought to adjust the temperature on life's thermostat so that the sweltering heat of racial oppression in America would not suffocate the life out of the "least of these." Dr. King was persecuted from the moment he led the 1950s' civil rights movement in Montgomery until his death. On April 4, 1968, Dr. King was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee while leading a campaign to help the city's sanitation workers secure a livable wage and fair employment conditions. He was 38-years old. When Dr. King died, 75% of white Americans disliked him. Today, he is a celebrated national hero. My father, who was president of Alabama State University from 1962 to 1981, caught pure hell from Alabama state officials for his long and tireless efforts to desegregate Alabama's 32 public four-year colleges and universities. He was met with massive resistance and extreme hatred every step of the way. The litigation my dad initiated in 1981 to desegregate these colleges and universities took 25 years to achieve its goals. Father died before this landmark litigation came to a highly successful end. Some federal courts in Alabama have ruled that the state has engaged in an unrelenting historical agenda, spanning from the late 1880s to the present, to keep its black citizens economically, socially, and politically downtrodden, from cradle to grave. Many state officials take personal and political pride in placing their feet on the necks of Alabama's black citizens. Since 1973, I have waged an unrelenting and aggressive fight against all forms of this historical agenda. This fight has made me very controversial in many areas of Alabama's white community. It finally landed me in a federal prison in 2019 on criminal charges trumped up by a modern-day, Birmingham-based COINTELPRO federal prosecutor named Lloyd Peeples. Even from prison, I am engaging in an all-out battle to desegregate Alabama's all-white, 19-judge appellate court system in a state that has a 26% black population in 2022. This court system is one of the last bastions of apartheid in Alabama. There are black state court judges in Alabama, but they are holding what the state calls "inferior" judgeships. No lawyers group, media organization, or public official (black or white) in Alabama has joined me in this fight out of fear that they will be persecuted in Alabama if they do. Their loud silence is deafening. The Disciples Paid a Heavy Price for Preaching Jesus' Message After Jesus' horrific crucifixion, his disciples went into the world and fearlessly preached his message of Christianity. These men paid a tremendous price for their faith in Christ. James was beheaded by Herod Agrippa in A.D. 44. Peter was crucified by Roman who nailed him to the cross upside down between A.D. 64-67. Andrew was bound to an X-shaped cross when he was crucified in Patras, a Roman-controlled region of Greece. Thomas was speared to death near Madras in India. Bartholomew was flayed (skinned alive) and then beheaded in India. Simon was sawed in half for his preaching in Persia. Philip was martyred by having hooks run through his ankles and being hung upside down in the Greco-Roman city of Hierapolis. Matthew, the former tax collector, was murdered in Ethiopia. Judas Iscariot throw his thirty pieces of silver into the Temple and hung himself from a tree after he betrayed Jesus. Epilogue Much of what passes for Christianity today is shallow, superficial, and purely ceremonial in nature. In many cases, Jesus' ministry has been co-opted by personality-based ministries and converted into money hustling operations where the presence of the "least of these" is tolerated but not truly welcomed. Jesus mostly traveled Judea on foot wearing dusty sandals on his dirty feet. He was homeless. He had no permanent church home. He preached on mountainsides and on river banks. He paraded through the streets of Judean cities and towns without a permit. He turned water into wine without a license to do so. He healed the sick and afflicted without a medical license. He walked on water without the permission of local government officials. He fed the hungry without a restaurant license. His followers were the outcast members of Jewish society; he call them "least of these, my brethren." Unlike today's preachers, Jesus was Divine royalty. However, Jesus did not wear fine clothes and indulge himself in the finer things in life. Likewise, he did not kowtow to the upper echelons of Jewish society and Roman rulers. Mary Magdalene, the woman whom Jesus loved, married, and fathered children with, was portrayed by church leaders as a lowly "prostitute." What is more, Jesus' mother and brothers questioned whether Jesus was mildly insane. Rich men who were interested in Jesus' message of faith were not interested enough to give up their wealth to follow Jesus' teachings. Matthew 19:16-28. To them, the accumulation of material things was more important than entering the Kingdom of Heaven. The same view is held today among most of the world's rich people. Only one man has ever had 2.2 billion people following his teachings. His name is Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on March 18, 2022 An Editorial Opinion The Russian-Ukraine war has shown the world just how weak and timid Joe Biden is as president of the United States. In the struggle between freedom and tyranny, Biden has failed to lead America and the rest of the free world in stopping tyranny. Last August, Biden humiliated America on the world stage with his hasty and ill-fated withdrawal of American armed forces from Afghanistan that left hundreds of Americans stranded behind enemy lines. During the last 15 months, Russian President Vladimir Putin has done everything to Biden short of spitting in his face. Yet, Biden will not fight Putin, or anybody else who threatens America's national interests. The world watches all day, every day as Russian soldiers slaughter thousands of Ukrainians in their country. Biden has not shown a ounce of courage since this war started, even though the United States pledged in 1994 to defend Ukraine from foreign invaders in exchange for Ukraine giving up its arsenal of nuclear weapons, which the Ukraine did. Biden's cowardice is enabling Vladimir Putin's war crimes and has emboldened America's enemies to join the fray. For example, Syria is sending fighters to help Russian soldiers in Ukraine. North Korea is ramping up its long-range missile tests to distract us in the Far East. Iran has begun firing missiles into Iraq that are landing dangerously close to the new American embassy in northern Iraq. China is threatening Taiwan with military force. The Taliban, having defeated America, is now governing Afghanistan with impunity. It seems that word is quickly spreading in the international community that Biden is a coward who will not fight to defend democracy at home or around the world. Cowardice Has Never Been an Effective Style of Leadership It is obvious to anyone with walking-around sense that Joe Biden is overwhelmed by the real threat that Russian and Chinese military aggression poses to the existing world order. These two super-powers fully realize that Biden is too scared to be an effective and respected Commander-in-Chief for the United States or a leading member of NATO. Russia and China view Biden as a coward. Today, every bad actor on the world stage is kicking America's ass because Biden lacks the backbone to defend America and her national interests. They are firing bullets, hurling artery shells, launching missiles, and invading the airspace over democratic nations while Biden merely imposes ineffective economic sanctions that cryptocurrencies can easily circumvent. Innocent men, women, and children are dying every day in Ukraine because of Biden's cowardice. I now understand why Barack Obama selected Joe Biden as his vice president. Obama needed a white running mate who was so weak and timid that he would never pose a threat to Obama's soft leadership style. Obama found this weakness in a neutered Joe Biden. Ukraine could defeat Russian forces in Ukraine if America and its NATO allies imposed and enforced a no-fly zone over the skies of Ukraine. Biden will not do it because he is afraid of what Putin might do in response to this defensive action. In reality, Biden's weakness is Putin's best ally. Vice President Kamala Harris did not help the situation when she traveled to Poland to assure America's allies and the world that we are committed to defending their sovereignty. It is clear that Harris was unprepared for this trip, as she gave answers to press questions that made absolutely no sense. Harris has failed at every major task that Biden has assigned. She has not solved our migrant crisis at the southern border. She could not round up the votes for the two voting rights bills that died in the U.S. Senate in January. Harris is clueless about technological innovations for electric vehicles and advancing the commercialization of these vehicles over the next 50 years. At the end of the day, Kamala Harris is little more than a glorified cheerleader for Joe Biden, who appears to be lost in the fog of war and his own senility. Losing Prestige Around the World Under Joe Biden, America is losing its power, influence, and prestige around the world at a pace that would qualify as an Olympic sprinting event. At the rate Biden is going, the barbarians will be at the gates to our homeland before his term in office is over. As for me, I have zero confidence in Joe Biden's leadership. As far as I am concerned, Biden is a lost cause. If there is a weaker man in America, I have not found him. Biden was duly elected as president in 2020, but he is lost in the job. Democrats need to draft a fresh new face as their presidential nominee in 2024, and it cannot be Kamala Harris. Democrats don't need a rerun of Hillary and Bill Clinton, either. I still cannot believe that America's choice for president in 2020 was between a narcistic megalomaniac named Donald J. Trump, or a frail, senile has-been named Joe Biden. Both of these men were trolling around on the bottom of the political barrel in 2020. We certainly don't need a repeat in 2024 of an election between these two losers. God help the United States! We need a president with the backbone to do what it takes to preserve our nation's place as the leader of the free world. Joe Biden is not that president!

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on March 13, 2022 On March 7, 2022, the general counsel for the Alabama Department of Revenue conceded that I did not owe the state of Alabama $2,004,219 in income tax assessments that were levied against me by the Department on November 15, 2021. This concession was made in a formal pleading filed by the Department in my appeal to the Alabama Tax Tribunal. The Department's concession effectively ends a state tax audit that began on March 16, 2019 and covered tax years 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013. In August of 2019, a state revenue examiner based in the Department's Shelby County office mailed me a notice of the tax audit, which I received after I reported to the Federal Prison Camp in Talladega to serve a 60-month sentence on federal wire, mail, and bank fraud charges that were trumped up by Birmingham federal prosecutors. My efforts to postpone the tax audit were ignored. In late December of 2020, the examiner mailed me a preliminary draft of the Preliminary Tax Assessments totaling $2,004,219. The mailing was sent to the Holdover Unit at the U.S. Penitentiary in Atlanta, as opposed to my permanent home address on file with the Department of Revenue. The Preliminary Assessments erroneously claimed that I received $13.4 million in income between 2007 and 2013 that was not reported on my state tax returns. Included in this amount was $3,150,000 in non-taxable loan proceeds. The tax bill also sought $515,000 in "fraud" penalties that were assessed against an employee in the University of Alabama (at Birmingham) Hospital Food and Nutrition Services Department. I am not that employee. The Department claimed that the $2,004,219 represented the state taxes, accrued interest, and penalties due on this $13.4 million in so-called unreported "income". The Department stated that the audit was based upon unspecified "news articles" and documents from my February-March 2019 federal criminal trial. I disputed the Preliminary Assessments and objected to the tax audit because it fell outside the applicable statute of limitations for conducting such audits. I also pointed out that every dollar of income my businesses and I earned during the audit period was reported on the appropriate state and federal tax returns of the entities that received the income. My objections were ignored. On July 13, 2021, the Department sent me a new set of Preliminary Assessments for the same tax years and the same $2,004,219 in taxes allegedly owed. The new Assessments contained the same fatally flawed tax explanations and analyses that were contained in the December 2020 Assessments. On July 28, 2021, I formally objected to the new Preliminary Assessments and, once again, asserted various affirmative defenses to them. One of my defenses invoked the application of statute of limitations for auditing my taxes for years 2007 to 2013. Simply put, the statute of limitations had expired for (a) conducting the audit and (b) asserting a claim that I owed $2,004,219 in new taxes. In September of 2021, the Department demanded that I submit all tax records that supported my objections by late October. I retained four million pages of supporting tax documentation, all of which is archived and stored in a secure off-site location in Birmingham, Alabama. The act of retrieving, reviewing, organizing, and submitting the supporting tax records to the Department was physically impossible because of my imprisonment in Texas, and I informed the Department of this fact. The Department also wanted me to attend a conference with tax examiners in October. Again, this request was impossible to accommodate. On November 8, 2021, the Department made the Preliminary Assessments final, without adjustments. They cited my failure to provide supporting documentation and failure to attend the conference as the reasons for finalizing the Assessment, without adjustments. I timely appealed the $2,004,219 in Final Assessments to the Alabama Tax Tribunal. On March 7, 2022, the general counsel for the Alabama Department of Revenue notified the Alabama Tax Tribunal that the tax audit fell outside the applicable statute of limitations. As such, the $2,004,219 in Final Tax Assessments were deemed to be null and void. This concession effectively ended a three-year state tax audit that never should have occurred. Prior Tax Audits Ended in Watkins' Favor The favorable outcome in the Alabama Tax Tribunal represents the third time I prevailed in tax audits during the eight-year government-sponsored Blitzkrieg campaign against me. In 2014, the city of Birmingham filed a lawsuit against me claiming that my businesses owed the city $146,000 in business license fees and occupational taxes over a multi-year period. The unexpected lawsuit was filed while I was actively participating in the city's established administrative process to contest and resolve such tax disputes. I disputed the amount of fees and taxes sought by the city. Later on, an audit conducted by city auditors of my business records for the multi-year period in question showed that I owed the city only $11,769, which is the same amount I offered to pay in the city's administrative dispute resolution process. This $11,769 was based on the amount of revenue that my businesses generated inside the city limits of Birmingham during the audit period. The revenues that were generated outside of the city limits of Birmingham during the audit period were subject to taxation by other jurisdictions. The Commerce Clause of the United States Constitution prohibited the city from taxing me on revenues derived from business transactions that were conducted outside of Birmingham. After the city's audit was completed, I paid the original $11,769 that I offered to pay during the pre-lawsuit administrative dispute resolution process. With this payment, the city dropped its claims for the balance of the $146,000 sought in its lawsuit. Shortly after the city's audit was concluded, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) commenced a separate, but more limited, multi-year tax audit of my federal taxes. After receiving and reviewing copies of the relevant business records, the IRS ended its audit with no additional taxes imposed upon me for the years in question. Epilogue The business transactions that served as the basis for the Alabama Department of Revenue's tax audit and the wire and mail fraud charges lodged against me by Birmingham federal prosecutors were first reviewed in 2015 and 2016 by highly qualified federal prosecutors in New Jersey on an objective and unbiased basis. The New Jersey prosecutors, who specialized in major financial crimes, determined that my business conduct and transactions complied with all federal laws at all times. The Department's tax audit was an ill-fated part of the Blitzkrieg campaign that was launched against me by local federal law enforcement officials and Atlanta-based regulatory agencies. The lead federal prosecutor in my local criminal case was Lloyd Peeples, a failed pizza restaurant operator who benefitted from white male privilege in 2017 when he landed a job as the First Assistant United States Attorney in Birmingham despite his documented history of hostility to African-Americans and women. The Blitzkrieg campaign was designed to break me emotionally, psychologically, financially, and businesswise. The Department's participation in this modern-day lynching failed. However, the Department's general counsel deserves a lot of credit for doing the right thing in this case. He saved the state of Alabama tens of thousands of dollars in litigation costs and upheld Alabama's Taxpayer Bill of Rights in my case. Meanwhile, I feel like a lot like Jed Cooper, the fictional character/innocent man who survived a lynching in Clint Eastwood's 1968 classic Western film, "Hang 'Em High." Like Jed Cooper, I am determined to use all lawful means at my disposal to bring to justice all of the public officials who organized my lynching and led the lynch mob in my case. All articles are shared on Facebook and Twitter. If you loved this article, please click on these links to follow Donald Watkins: https://www.facebook.com/donald.v.watkins https://twitter.com/donaldvwatkins

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on March 10, 2022 An Editorial Opinion I am an American businessman who enjoyed the privilege of working in over 40 of the 208 countries that are recognized by the United Nations. My business partnerships spanned five continents. I never entered a new international business market without studying the CIA’s Factbook “Country Profile” on the host country and without checking in with the U.S. Embassy’s Economic Development officer for the country in which I was working. I am very familiar with Ukraine, which is Europe’s second largest country with a population of 40 million people. My company’s business relationships were with influential entrepreneurs in Kiev. These relationships were cultivated through outreach activities by one of my senior management executives who attended the Hult International School of Business (London) for her Executive MBA degree. My network of international business alliance partners in the global alternative energy industry exposed me to geopolitical considerations that I never had to focus on before I entered the stream of international commerce in 2007. I never realized the full importance of America’s status as the global “Leader of the Free World” until this event occurred. Democracy Versus Authoritarian Rule America, even with all its faults, is the most successful experiment with democracy that the world has ever known. In our democracy, ordinary citizens elect our political leaders at regular election cycles. Throughout our history as a democracy, our fights in the political arena centered on questions about whether freed black slaves, women, Native-Americans, and other citizens should have the right to vote. Until Donald J. Trump and his January 6, 2021 “patriots” violent attempt to overturn the certified election results of Trump’s 2020 re-election defeat, America always enjoyed the peaceful transfer of power after a presidential election. America has also enjoyed free and fair elections for those who were eligible to vote. Again, our fight has always been about who is eligible to vote. Our democracy is envied throughout the world. Nations around the globe have replicated it, to the extent that they could. This is why America is the Number One destination for the world’s traveling public. The alternative to our democracy is authoritarian rule where a dictator and a chosen oligarchy run the nation, to the detriment of the country’s general population. The most powerful authoritarian governments are Russia and China. Both nations are run by ruthless dictators. Like our democracy, these authoritarian governments attract other countries that are run by dictators. Today, Russia and China are inspiring a run on nations that are abandoning democratic rule in favor of dictatorial tyrants who run roughshod over human rights. America is the only superpower that can curb this trend. Will America Stop the “Schoolyard Bullies”? Russia and China are “schoolyard” bullies. Russia is bullying Ukraine by invading the country with its military and declaring large portions of Ukraine as independent states that are aligned with Russia. Eventually, Russia will take over all of Ukraine and install a puppet government that is loyal to Russia. Russia’s military aggression was met with U.S.-led economic sanctions which are inconvenient but not crippling. They did not deter the Russian invasion. China has shown Russia how to capture and conquer sovereign nations. Hong Kong was a thriving democracy just a few years ago. Now, it is under the firm authoritarian grip of China. China has also signaled that Taiwan, a U.S. ally, is its next conquest. Again, the U.S. has waved the threat of economic sanctions, which have proven to be ineffective against Russia, Iran, China, North Korea, and a host of other “schoolyard” bullies and rogue nations. Are We Losing the Battle for a Free World? Whenever Russian and Chinese military aggression against small and fragile democracies goes unchecked, America loses ground in the battle for the free world. Nothing good comes from an expansion of authoritarian governments around the world. The more they spring up, the more our democracy in America is threatened. To them, we are the enemy. What is most troubling about the spread of authoritarian regimes is the glaring lack of will or backbone by recent American presidents to use America’s military might to defend its allies from Russian and Chinese military aggression. Barack Obama refused to fight in Syria after he drew a red line, which he dared Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to cross. Assad crossed it anyway, without suffering adverse consequences from Obama. Donald Trump was quickly disarmed and dismissed by Vladimir Putin after the Russian President stroked Trump’s enormous ego. Once Trump was effectively neutralized, Putin could do as he wished in Europe and America. Joe Biden’s Afghan debacle let the world know that Biden would not fight any foreign power for any reason. As such, Putin has dismissed Biden as a relic of crumbling American democracy. He does not respect Biden because he knows Biden is not a fighter. Sooner or later, America will have to stop the “schoolyard” bullies. Their goal is world domination and their leaders have lifetime presidencies to achieve it. We desperately need a succession of American presidents with the courage to defend democracy at home and abroad. We never want to be anything less than the “Leader of the Free World.”

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on March 3, 2022 Editorial Opinion In late January, Tuscaloosa, Alabama-based "dirty tricks" political operative and confessed federal lawbreaker Joe Perkins made a desperate attempt to silence my media voice. Following my December 26, 2021 publication of an article titled "Alabama Power Co. Paid $2.5 Million to Joe Perkins, 'Without Invoicing'," and my January 18, 2022 publication of an article titled "Joe Perkins-Alabama Power Company Contracts Raise Red Flags," Perkins' Birmingham-based attorney contacted the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) and falsely claimed that my exclusive publication of his two secret contracts with Alabama Power Company somehow violated the law. Despite language in the Perkins-Alabama Power contracts that is designed to cloak them in secrecy, they are public records maintained by a publicly-traded company. Various federal laws mandate that these contracts are available for inspection and review by members of the public. Following BOP protocol, prison officials at FCI LaTuna removed me from the general inmate population in the "out-custody" prison camp and placed me in the prison's maximum security Special Housing Unit (SHU). Inmates refer to the SHU as the "Hole." I was placed on administrative detention status as I entered the SHU on January 20, 2022, pending the outcome of an internal investigation by LaTuna's Special Investigations Services (SIS). The SHU is the worst experience for any inmate non-violent first-time offender in the federal prison system, especially for one who is actually innocent of the criminal charges against him/her. LaTuna's SIS investigation lasted five weeks. It was handled in a very professional manner and was concluded with no disciplinary charges being filed against me. Throughout my incarceration in the SHU, I was treated with the utmost respect by staff members and inmates alike. On Friday, February 25, 2022, I was released from the SHU and returned to the prison camp. I received a warm and generous reception from my fellow inmates upon my return. If there is a model federal prison in the BOP system, it is certainly located at FCI LaTuna. From top to bottom, this institution commands my respect. Inmates Are Authorized and Encouraged to Write "Manuscripts" While in Federal Prisons When Joe Perkins filed his malicious complaint against me with LaTuna officials, he apparently did not know that BOP regulations authorize and encourage me to write articles on subjects of my choosing. I may publish these articles under my own byline without staff approval. Since entering the BOP system on August 28, 2019, I have strictly adhered to the regulations in this regard. Whenever I had questions about the regulations, I asked for clarification in writing. My online media platforms have served as a convenient conduit for distributing my news articles and editorials on a continuous basis since 2013. Many of my articles have received critical acclaim by journalist and academic researchers in the United States and abroad. My readership is worldwide. To date, I have written and published over 700 copyrighted articles. All Efforts Aimed at Shutting Down My Online Media Platforms Have Been Unsuccessful. During the past nine years, a long line of Alabama-based public officials and special interest groups have tried to silence my media voice. This group includes former Chief U.S. District Judge Mark E. Fuller (Montgomery), former Alabama governor Robert Bentley, Alabama Power Company, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, new-wave COINTELPRO operatives in the U.S. Attorney's Office in Birmingham, U.S. Senator Richard Shelby, a couple of sitting federal judges in Alabama, several highly compromised representatives of Alabama's mainstream news media, Joe Perkins and his minions, and some other would-be "influencers." None of these individuals and groups has succeeded in silencing my voice or suppressing the truth regarding the matters reported in my exclusive investigative articles on public corruption and the return of white supremacy in Alabama's governmental institutions. My track record of forcing the resignations of high-level crooked public officials in Alabama since 1974 is second to none. Additionally, as you read this article today, the 19-judge/justices Alabama appellate court system is all-white in a state that has a 26% black voting age population. This court system has been all-white since January of 2001. Unbelievably, I am the only media voice in Alabama that is openly challenging the racial apartheid on Alabama's appellate courts. I am currently litigating this sensitive racial issue in the Alabama Supreme Court in a case where Joe Perkins is defending the status quo with respect to the state's appellate court system. Perkins' Former CEO Warned the Public About Perkins' Abuse of the Legal Process, Extortion, and RICO Activities I discovered Joe Perkins' personal animosity towards me in handwritten notes he made in October 2017. I published Perkins' notes on September 19, 2021 in an article titled, "Joe Perkins' Handwritten 'Dirty Tricks' Notes Exposed." These notes speak for themselves. Under any objective analysis, Perkins' handwritten notes reveal a vicious man who will do any and everything to destroy his perceived enemies. Jeff Pitts, Perkins' former CEO at Matrix, LLC until last year, told a Florida court in September of 2021 that Perkins is an extortionist who engages in an ongoing pattern of racketeering and who maliciously abuses the legal process. Pitts has worked with Perkins for 20 years and knows all of his dirty secrets. Despite Perkins' checkered past, Alabama Power Company has publicly acknowledged that Perkins has provided secret services to the company for many years. He is Alabama Power's proverbial "Pitbull." It is unknown whether Alabama Power can cut ties with Perkins without this "Pitbull" turning against the company. Based upon what I know at this juncture and what I will be reporting in a series of exclusive investigative articles in the coming weeks, I do not think Alabama Power can afford to sever its working relationship with Joe Perkins without exposing the Southern Company, Georgia Power, and itself to serious legal and regulatory jeopardy. These public utility companies have paid millions of dollars to Perkins and his companies for many years. In return for this money, Perkins was able to silence state and federal regulators, muzzle public officials, compromise the leadership ranks of various civil rights and educational groups, weaken the effectiveness of various environmental rights organizations, and neuter news reporters, all for the benefit for these air polluting giants. In the process, these companies have gouged ratepayers in an obscene way, over and over again. Perkins' most recent effort to silence me failed, miserably. Fortunately for me, the BOP officials at FCI LaTuna were not in Perkins' back pocket. Their professionalism enabled them to see through Perkins' malicious effort to manipulate and abuse the BOP's disciplinary process for his personal benefit. Epilogue It remains to be seen how long Senator Richard Shelby and his cronies in Alabama can keep federal law enforcement officials in the state from investigating Perkins' nefarious financial activities and clandestine political operations on behalf of Alabama Power. Right now, it appears that Joe Perkins is a desperate man. History shows us that Joe Perkins will confess to breaking federal laws when his back is up against a wall. He make such a confession in 1992 to the Federal Election Commission after federal law enforcement authorities discovered that Perkins orchestrated a scheme to funnel illegal campaign contributions to the 1985 Congressional campaign of his close friend and convicted felon, Roy Johnson. Perkins escaped a criminal prosecution only because the statute of limitations had run out on his illegal campaign financing scheme. Alabama Power, the Southern Company, and Georgia Power Company apparently find Joe Perkins' background as a confessed federal lawbreaker very attractive. For several months, I have followed the flow of Alabama Power's money into and out of Joe Perkins' companies. The public will be stunned to find out who really benefitted from this money, and why. Stay tuned! All articles are shared on Facebook and Twitter. If you loved this article, please click on these links to follow Donald Watkins: https://www.facebook.com/donald.v.watkins https://twitter.com/donaldvwatkins

By Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on February 11, 2022 The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) confirmed to me what I suspected all along – Alabama Power Company’s acknowledged political “dirty tricks” operative, Joe Perkins, was responsible for getting FCI LaTuna prison officials to jail me in the prison’s maximum security Special Housing Unit (SHU). The SHU is a jail within the prison. Having failed in his efforts to get me to remove two of his many vendor contracts with Alabama Power Company from this website, Joe Perkins had his lawyer contact the BOP about the published contacts. Perkins reported that the contracts were “stolen.” In fact, various federal statutes and Code of Federal Regulation provisions governing regulated public utilities make the contracts in question publicly available records. Furthermore, Alabama Power has publicly acknowledged and affirmed its vendor relationship with Perkins, a confessed federal lawbreaker. Alabama Power, together with its parent company (the Southern Company) and its sister company (Georgia Power Company), have paid Perkins tens of millions of dollars, without invoicing. Now, Perkins has dragged the BOP into the middle of a private party dispute between himself and www.donaldwatkins.com, a free online news service for Independent voters. This action is an abuse of the legal process. BOP Program Statement 5350.27 and various federal court cases authorize me to write and publish articles of my choosing without staff approval. I regularly exercise this right. Alabama Power Has a History of Trying to Jail Its Opponents It is unclear at this time whether Alabama Power Company authorized Perkins to manipulate BOP officials into detaining me within their SHU for activity that is authorized by Program Statement 5350.27. What is clear is the fact that Alabama Power has lobbied in the past for jailing of consumer advocates who threaten their monopoly in Alabama. In 1972, Alabama Power lobbied President Richard Nixon to jail Gov. George Wallace on bogus corruption charges because Wallace was blocking the company’s rate increases. This effort was ultimately unsuccessful. This latest move by Joe Perkins is designed to terrorize those of us who question his power and influence in Alabama. Perkins’ job is to capture and control all public officials, regulators, and social justice groups who might threaten Alabama Power’s chokehold on Alabama’s political scene. No one is allowed to scrutinize or question the Number One polluter in Alabama and Number One greenhouse gas emitter in America without paying a steep price. “Follow the Money” Despite my detention in the SHU, I am continuing my work on articles that track Alabama Power’s money into Joe Perkins, and from Perkins to the intended beneficiary. I am making great progress in this regard. In Alabama, the emerging trend seems to be this: Those who benefit from Alabama Power Company’s money, resources and VIP perks are protected from law enforcement scrutiny, while those who seek to expose “dark money” transactions, “capture and control” political activity, and illegal campaign activities are threatened or jailed. Only in Alabama can a confessed federal lawbreaker like Joe Perkins showcase his “hunting buddy” relationship with senior U.S. Senator Richard Shelby (R-Alabama) and Chief U.S. District Judge Scott Coogler (N.D. Alabama). The truth is coming out about where Alabama Power’s money ended up. I have the information. Politically speaking, I am now holding President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice responsible for getting to the bottom of Alabama Power’s relationship with Perkins. Either Biden controls the Department of Justice, or Perkins controls it. We shall see who has more power – Biden or Perkins. Epilogue Former FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover (1924-1972) controlled politicians because he kept secret files on them that held their innermost “dirty” secrets. For nearly two decades, Joe Perkins has accumulated “dirty” secrets on and/or done favors for Alabama politicians and government regulators (state and federal). Perkins is the keeper of the darkest secrets about today’s politicians in Alabama, Georgia and Florida. Perkins knows who the alcoholics are; who the mistresses are; who has paid for medical procedures for their mistresses; who has enjoyed the private jet rides that were not reported; who busted AL.com columnist John Archibald on his personal bankruptcy several years ago; who the drug addicts are; whose mistresses and lovers have been placed on consulting contracts with Alabama Power’s networking partners; who provided private jet transportation for Gov. Robert Bentley’s secret love affair with Rebekah Mason; which state and federal prosecutors are compromised, and why; and many more “dirty secrets”. All secrets have a shelf-life. The disinfectant of public scrutiny is coming soon. Transparency and accountability in government are my goals. Truth is the final destination.

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on February 9, 2022 On January 20, 2022, prison officials at the La Tuna Federal Prison Camp requested that I report to the lobby of the “Low” security Prison, which adjoins the Camp. I reported, as requested. Once I arrived at the prison, I was immediately taken to the “Hole,” a small cell with metal bunk beds and a toilet. The one window is covered so that sunlight cannot come into the cell. I have been locked in this cell 24 hours per day, seven days per week since January 20th. It is a maximum-security prison within the prison. On my first day in the “Hole,” which is officially called the “Special Housing Unit,” I was given a copy of my “Administrative Detention Order,” which was signed by a SHU lieutenant. The Order stated that it was the “Correctional Supervisor’s decision based on all the circumstances that [my] continued presence in the general population poses a serious threat to life, property, self, staff, other inmates, or to the security or orderly running of the institution.” I learned a week later that my detention has nothing to do with my conduct at the LaTuna Federal Prison Camp. In fact, I was being processed for a release to home confinement when all of this happened. I have the lowest custody classification points of any inmate at the Camp. My scores for recidivism and violence are among the lowest in the Federal Bureau of Prison’s (BOP) entire inmate population. Yet, they say I am a danger to other inmates and staff. The entire episode is out of character for the senior management officials at LaTuna. I knew immediately that something was wrong. Not All “Political Prisoners” are Treated the Same All signs point to the fact that my detention was ordered by BOP officials in Washington. It’s political and retaliatory in nature. My first detention in the “Hole” occurred at FCI Talladega from April 27-30, 2020. It occurred after I signed a home confinement agreement with BOP officials to release me on April 30. No charges were ever pressed against me in connection with this detention. On May 12, 2020, officer Russell Overton planted a cellphone charger in my locker during a security search of my dorm. In January 2020, I warned the Office of Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Justice that this event would occur if Talladega prison officials ever learned that I filed a “whistleblower” complaint that alleged drug and contraband trafficking by employees in the Warden’s and Special Investigations’ offices. When Talladega officials learned of my January 2020 “whistleblower” complaint, they used every BOP rule and regulation available to keep me in the “Hole” at their “Medium” security prison from May 12 to November 23, 2020. It was at Talladega that I learned by true status within the BOP – I am a “POW”. This is the description of me that was given by the SIS lieutenant to the SHU intake officer on April 27, 2020. The Talladega experience was used by BOP officials as a pretext for denying me the home confinement that was afforded to white prisoners like Michael Cohen, who was Donald Trump’s former lawyer, and Paul Manafort, who was Trump’s former campaign manager. My Detention Does Not Pass the Smell Test Within days after my detention at LaTuna, I submitted a written “COP-OUT” request for a detention order that has the “supervisor 24-hour review of placement,” as evidenced by his/her signature and printed name. Prison officials did not respond. I also asked for a copy of the “three-day review” of the detention that is required by BOP Program Statement 5270.11, Subsection 7. Again, there was no response. I also invoked my right to attend the mandatory “seven-day review” of my detention, which is afforded to me in Program Statement 5270.11. Again, there was no response. The reason why LaTuna officials have not responded to my written requests is simple – this entire ordeal is being orchestrated out of BOP headquarters in Washington. This is outgoing BOP Director Michael Carvajal’s parting shot at me for the articles I have published about his demonstrated incompetence and the public corruption that has allowed China, India, and dozens of foreign manufacturers to flood the 122 BOP institutions with low-quality, high price goods and products for inmates and staff. The BOP is single-handedly destroying American manufacturing so that one distributor – the Bob Barker Company – can maintain its monopoly on selling products to the BOP. This company is a major funder of Republican presidential and Congressional candidates. The Pathway Forward The “Hole” is a relic of slavery. The 13th Amendment authorizes slavery as a punishment for a crime. I am legally and technically a “slave.” America is the only country in the Western Hemisphere that authorizes slavery in its constitution. Slaveholders have never treated slaves with respect. The BOP is no exception. Because this is my third time in the “Hole,” I know how to survive this mistreatment. I have small projects to accomplish each day. I also have plenty of people in my life who show me love on a daily basis. I never lose hope that tomorrow will be a better day. Meanwhile, I am continuing to build a nationwide base of new Independent voters for the 2024 presidential election. Based upon my four decades of activism in the political arena I firmly believe I will reach my goal of registering, educating, and turning out two million new Independent voters of interracial goodwill in six swing states in time for the 2024 presidential election. Prison slavery will not end in America until Independent voters make it a priority issue in the presidential election. By 2024, we will have an organized block of new voters, a nationwide voter news network that is free of candidate “spin”, and a close political alliance with a well-funded Super-PAC controlled by Independent voters. Over the years, I have raised and donated $1 million to Democratic, Republican, and Independent candidates for political office. I have never accepted money or anything else of value from any political candidate. Our Independent voter’s group will be multiracial and “unbought” and “unbossed”. We will not have to seek audiences with presidential candidates. They will seek audiences with us. We will have the block of organized Independent votes and money to make sure our voices are heard in the White House. Epilogue My cell in the “Hole” is the same size as the one that held Nelson Mandela for 18 of his 27 years in prison. Mandela, who was a lawyer, represented himself during his trial. The apartheid system in South Africa labeled Mandela as a “criminal.” The world now knows Mandela as South Africa’s beloved first black president. My cell is smaller than the one that housed Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Birmingham, Alabama. The apartheid system in Birmingham viewed Dr. King as a “criminal,” too. King spent more time in jail cells than I have. Today, Dr. King is the only non-U.S. President with a memorial and statue on the National Mall in Washington. Dr. King is also the only former convicted “criminal” with a national holiday named after him. Imprisonment by a rigged system and corrupt law enforcement officials is the price some of us have to pay to move this nation forward. In the end, we shall overcome all of the obstacles to achieving the democracy that Independent voters of interracial goodwill so desperately seek. We will have our chance to impact society in a favorable way in 2024. I cannot vote, but two million new Independent voters can vote for me. When this day comes, American politics will never be the same

By: Donald V. Watkins Copyrighted and Published on December 26, 2021 Alabama Power Company (APC) is the Number One polluter in Alabama and has the dubious distinction of running a plant in Jefferson County that is the largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the nation. The company's coal-fired power plants release toxins that poison the air Alabamians breathe, the ground their children play on, and the water residents drink. APC operates an electrical power monopoly that brings in about $6 billion a year in annual revenues from commercial and retail customers in Alabama. APC is the only public utility in America with a 5% minimum annual return on shareholders' equity that is guaranteed by Alabama taxpayers. Joseph W. Perkins, Jr., is a confessed lawbreaker. He has also been a political operative for APC for many years. We published Perkins' Federal Election Commission (FEC) investigative file, including his March 30, 1992 confession to breaking federal election laws, in a November 7, 2021 article titled, "Joe Perkins Confessed to Breaking Federal Election Laws." Perkins escaped criminal prosecution because the statute of limitations expired before the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) could complete its work in his case. The DOJ referred Perkins' case to the FEC, which secured his confession and assessed a $5,000 civil fine against him. Despite Perkins' shady past, APC has made Perkins its perennial contracting partner. We have obtained copies of two recent APC contracts with Perkins. [Click here to read contracts APC Agreement No. 3-18-00552 and No. 3-18-00487]. The agreements cover an 18-month period from January 1, 2018 to July 31, 2019. Perkins pocketed $2,568,000 from these agreements. In an unusual and highly suspect departure from standard billing procedures for public companies, Joe Perkins was relieved of the obligation to submit itemized monthly invoices for his payments. APC's $2.5 million flowed to Perkins automatically. Perkins' "Scope of Professional Services" under the agreements was likely intentionally vague and ambiguous. The agreements required Perkins to establish and maintain direct contact with federal elected officials, which is the political zone Perkins pledged to avoid in a "Conciliation Agreement" he executed after he confessed to making $8,000 in illegal campaign contributions to the 1986 Congressional campaign of close friend and ex-felon Roy Johnson. The APC agreements also authorized Perkins to cultivate and maintain direct relationships with state and local elected and appointed officials, federal and state regulatory bodies, news reporters, grassroots community organizations and their leaders, the Alabama Education Association (AEA) and other educational associations, trade unions, civil rights groups, Black Belt officials, environmental justice groups, aspiring politicians, and any other individual or entity that might pose a threat to APC's business monopoly and growing political influence. Perkins designated two of his many companies as the contracting partners with APC: (a) Perkins Communications, LLC, which was founded on January 2, 1997, and (b) Matrix, LLC, which was founded on October 27, 1999. Perkins did not include Perkins & Associates, Inc. (P&A), in the mix. P&A was the company Perkins used for his illegal campaign financing scheme. To avoid sanctions on P&A, Perkins told the FEC that P&A was financially destitute and inactive due to the multi-year DOJ and FEC investigations into his illegal conduct. APC Agreement No. 3-18-00552 APC Agreement No. 3-18-00552 authorized Perkins to provide "ongoing direct relations with groups that may have impact on Company policy and well-being." These groups include: (a) the AEA, (b) the Alabama AFL-CIO, (c) the Atlanta-based National Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), (d) various education groups and associations, (e) media outlets, (f) Black Belt officials, and (g) any other organizations or entities that might threaten or adversely impact APC's: (i) monopoly as a provider of electrical power, (ii) cozy relationship with federal, state, and local environmental protection agencies, (iii) control over news reporters in Alabama who cover environmental and regulatory matters, and (iv) decades-long chokehold on the governor's office, state legislature, Public Service Commission (PSC), state and federal courts in Alabama, the Alabama attorney general's office, Alabama's three U.S. Attorneys, and mayors of the state's major municipalities. The APC agreement is essentially a "capture and control" contract. Joe Perkins is authorized to "capture" the support of public officials, including U.S. Senators, Congressional House members, state legislators, PSC members, governors, big city mayors, and state and federal judges, as well as the leaders of the targeted educational, civil rights, environmental, and grassroots community organizations. APC and Perkins "control" the captured politicians and groups by: (a) raising campaign contributions for powerful elected officials and aspiring politicians, (b) directing charitable contributions from APC's Foundation (APF) to the pet projects of influential public officials and leaders of educational institutions, political groups, civil rights organizations, and grassroots organizations, and (c) arranging jobs or consulting contracts for the wives, mistresses, paramours, romantic partners, and/or family members of public officials, judges, media representatives, and/or community leaders with APC's network of vendors and strategic business alliance partners. Agreement No. 3-18-00552 paid Perkins $124,000 per month, "without invoicing." The agreement ran from August 1, 2018 to July 31, 2019. APC Agreement No. 3-18-00487 APC executed Agreement No. 3-18-00487 with Perkins, doing business under the tradename "Matrix, LLC." Under the "Scope of Professional Services," Matrix is required to: (a) [d]evelop strategies to allow Company to communicate with state grassroots groups more efficiently and effectively," (b) "[p]rovide support in strategy development for the confluence of environmental legislative initiatives at the federal and state levels and certain ones at the state and local levels," (c) "[m]aintain relationships with those who influence state environmental policy ....," (d) monitor "Environmental Justice organizations," both existing and newly formed, and (e) work on water policy in the state of Alabama with "such agencies as the Alabama Department of Water Resources, Alabama Water Resources, and/or other government agency," among other things. Agreement No. 3-18-00487 paid Joe Perkins $90,000 per month. "without invoicing." The agreement ran from January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2018. The Payment "Without Invoicing" Clause is Unusual and Highly Suspect APC's payment of $2.5 million to Perkins, "without invoicing," is unusual and highly suspect. However, this arrangement would afford APC senior management executives "plausible deniability" for any action by Perkins that may run afoul of the law. Should APC executives be forced to testify in a deposition, or a grand jury proceeding, or a trial about Perkins' political activities, they can claim a lack of knowledge about the specifics of his work, or assert that Perkins acted outside the authorized scope of his work. As such, the "no invoicing" clause is a prophylactic measure that is designed to protect APC executives in the event Perkins is caught breaking the law, again. The intentionally vague and ambiguous "Scope of Professional Services" contractual language is equally unusual and suspect. This language provides Perkins great latitude to engage in a host of nefarious and clandestine activities that have the purpose and/or effect of: (a) avoiding or minimizing federal and state regulatory scrutiny, (b) enhancing APC's political support at the federal, state, and local levels of government, and (c) silencing APC's few vocal critics. Both parties agreed Perkins would not lobby public officials. Lobbying would subject Perkins to background investigations by the regulatory agencies. In light of Perkins' FEC confession and Conciliation Agreement, this would be problematic for APC. APC Has Been "Buying" or "Renting" Politicians for Decades George Wallace, Alabama's most famous governor, never trusted APC. Starting in his second term, Wallace fought every rate increase APC tried to ramp down the throats of its customers during his term in office. To neutralize Wallace's pro-consumer activism, APC made a concerted effort to get President Richard Nixon to charge him with federal crimes of bid rigging, soliciting and receiving illegal campaign contributions, and accepting kickbacks. APC's efforts to silence Wallace by imprisoning him failed. After Wallace left office in 1987, APC went on an unrelenting campaign to "buy" or "rent" every politician of any influence at the federal, state, and local government level whose public office had the potential to impact any aspect of the company's operations. APC unleashed an army of lobbyists to "wine and dine" greedy, self-centered, state legislators and members of Congress, whom APC viewed as "political whores." APC also seized control of the three-member PSC, the Alabama legislature, Alabama's state and federal judicial systems, the state's Congressional delegation, Alabama's top state and federal prosecutors in Alabama, and the governor's office. APC's Foundation silenced traditional civil rights groups by awarding token amounts of its $9.5 million in annual giving to recipients like the Congressional Black Caucus ($10,000), Dr. Martin Luther King's SCLC ($50,000), the Martin Luther King Center in Atlanta ($10,000), the NAACP ($1,000), the National Council of Negro Women ($100), the National Voting Rights Museum and Institute in Selma ($5,000), the United Negro College Fund ($10,000), the Selma and Black Belt Region Abuse Sanctuary for victims of domestic abuse ($300), Alabama State University ($50,000), Alabama A&M University ($25,000), Tuskegee University ($25,000), Spellman College in Atlanta ($5,000), and the Miles College Booster Club ($2,500). APF's 2017 donations to these groups pale in comparison to the amounts APF awarded to Auburn University ($2,475,324, with a future commitment for $2,000,000), the University of Alabama at Birmingham ($500,000), and various animal welfare and wildlife organizations ($522,775). APC hired investigative reporters away from their media outlets. APC was able to neutralize struggling daily newspapers like The Birmingham News, The Montgomery Advertiser, The Huntsville Times, and Mobile Press Register by using a combination of advertising dollars, financial contributions from the APC's Foundation, event sponsorships, and consulting fees for seminar participants affiliated with these entities. The Foundation also funded the purchase of Alabama's oldest black-owned newspaper in 2016 by a non-profit entity headed by one of APC's black executives. After the purchase, this newspaper -- The Birmingham Times -- abandoned its traditional role of reporting hard-hitting news on social justice issues and began anesthetizing Alabama's black community with a steady stream of "Happy News" on non-controversial topics. Epilogue Joe Perkins is the hunting buddy of powerful U.S. Senator Richard Shelby and Scott Coogler, the Chief U.S. District Court Judge for the Northern District of Alabama. Shelby, who entered Congress in 1987 with a modest network that was derived from his annual salary as a city prosecutor and U.S. magistrate, will leave Capitol Hill at the end of 2023 as one of the richest men in Senate. Scott Coogler owes his lifetime job as a federal judge to Shelby. It is unclear why Alabama's senior Senator and a chief federal judge would be hunting buddies with Perkins, a confessed federal lawbreaker. Perkins is presently defending Alabama's all-white, 19-judge, appellate court system in the Alabama Supreme Court case of Donald V. Watkins, et al. v. Matrix, LLC, and Joseph W. Perkins, Jr., Case No. 1200892. No social justice group that received money from APF has joined in the legal battle to dismantle this modern-day form of judicial apartheid in a state that is 26% black. Perkins' work with APC was designed to make the company untouchable. However, recent events threaten to implode APC's cozy relationship with Perkins. These events include: (a) a September 2, 2021 lawsuit filed by former Matrix CEO Jeff Pitts against Perkins alleging that Perkins engaged in extortion and racketeering activities; (b) state and federal law enforcement investigations in Florida that focus on Matrix's clandestine work for Florida Power & Light; and (c) in-depth investigative reporting by the Orlando Sentinel and Florida Times-Union into Matrix's political activities in Florida. The influence-peddling schemes Perkins conceived, deployed, and micro-managed for APC may be his undoing in Florida. All articles are shared on Facebook and Twitter. If you would like to follow Donald Watkins, please click on these links and hit the follow button: https://www.facebook.com/donald.v.watkins https://twitter.com/donaldvwatkins

By: Donald V. Watkins January 18, 2022 On December 26, 2021, donaldwatkins.com published two contracts executed between Joe Perkins/Matrix and Alabama Power Company ("APC"): (a) Agreement No. 3-18-00552, which paid Joe Perkins $124,000 per month, "without invoicing," and (b) Agreement No. 3-18-00487, which paid Perkins' Matrix, LLC ("Matrix"), $90,000 per month, "without invoicing." [Click here to read Agreement Nos. 3-18-00552 and 3-18-00487]. In total, $2.5 million in APC ratepayer money was paid to Perkins and Matrix between January 1, 2018 and July 31, 2019. On January 12, 2022, Birmingham, Alabama attorney Cason M. Kirby contacted donaldwatkins.com on behalf of his client, Joe Perkins, and demanded that these two APC Agreements be removed from my online news website. Mr. Kirby claimed: (a) the APC Agreements were "stolen," (b) Agreement No. 3-18-00552 contained Perkins' Social Security number, and (c) the APC Agreements contained Joe Perkins' "trade secrets." For the reasons discussed in this article, Mr. Kirby's demand was rejected. Perkins' efforts to remove the APC Agreements from public view forced me to take a closer look at them. When I revisited the Agreements, they raised new red flags. Agreement No. 3-18-00552 Revisited Agreement No. 3-18-00552, which is dated August 1, 2018, purports to be a contract between APC and Perkins Communications, LLC. According to records on file with the Alabama Secretary of State's office, Perkins Communications is an Alabama limited liability company that was formed on January 2, 1997 by Joseph W. Perkins, Jr., and Amy Todd Perkins (his wife). Rather than using the corporate tax ID number for Perkins Communications in order to receive $124,000 per month from APC, Joe Perkins used what his attorney has confirmed is Perkins' Social Security number to access APC's money. Joe Perkins, as an individual, and Perkins Communications, LLC, are two separate legal entities for federal income tax reporting purposes. APC contracted with Perkins Communications, LLC, in Agreement No. 3-18-00552, not Joe Perkins, in his individual capacity. Yet, it appears that APC paid $1,488,000 ($124,000 per month for 12 months) to Joe Perkins "without invoicing," even though Perkins Communications is the legal entity specified in the first paragraph of Agreement No. 3-18-00552. APC Wanted Its Business Relationship with Perkins Concealed from Public Disclosure To conceal its business relationship with a known federal lawbreaker from ratepayers, government regulators, media organizations, and the general public, APC seems to have inserted this "stealth" activation clause into Agreement No. 3-18-00552: "Consultant agrees to treat this Agreement, the existence of this Agreement, the business relationship established hereunder, and the Services performed pursuant to this Agreement as Protected Information. Consultant will not issue or make a public statement concerning the work hereunder or the existence of this Agreement without Company's prior consent, except to the extent required by law." The same "stealth" language also appears in APC's Agreement No. 3-18-00487 with Matrix. Until the publication of my December 26, 2021 article, the public did not know that APC paid a confessed federal lawbreaker $2.5 million between January 1, 2018 and July 31, 2019 to perform secret, politically sensitive, and highly suspect public relations work on its behalf. Because APC is a regulated public utility, various federal statutes and provisions of the Code of Federal Regulations impose an affirmative duty upon the Company to disclose the names and contracts of its vendors to federal regulators and members of the public. Additional disclosure requirements apply to APC because the company engaged in interstate commerce each time it used Alabama ratepayer dollars to pay for the billions of dollars in cost-overruns that have plagued the Southern Company's construction of a troubled nuclear power plant in Mississippi. Ironically, the Mississippi nuclear power plant was never intended to provide electrical power to APC's Alabama customers. Yet, APC's money was conscripted by the Southern Company for the Mississippi nuclear plant without disclosure to APC ratepayers. Perkins Says the APC Contracts Define His "Trade Secrets" In "Alabama Power Co. Paid $2.5 Million to Joe Perkins, 'Without Invoicing'," I described the nature and scope of Perkins' clandestine work for APC. In essence, Perkins was tasked with controlling and/or silencing: (a) the Alabama Education Association, (b) the Alabama AFL-CIO, (c) the Atlanta-based National Southern Christian Leadership Conference ("SCLC"), (d) various education groups and associations, (e) media outlets in Alabama, (f) Black Belt officials, and (g) any other organization or entity that might threaten or adversely impact Alabama Power's: (i) monopoly as an electric utility in Alabama, (ii) cozy relationship with federal, state, and local environmental protection agencies, (iii) control of news reporters in Alabama who cover environmental and regulatory matters, and (iv) decades-long chokehold on the governor's office, state legislature, Public Service Commission, state and federal courts, the Alabama Attorney General's Office, Alabama's three U.S. Attorneys, and mayors of the state's major cities. Perkins claims the APC contracts define his "trade secrets." Law enforcement agencies in Florida, along with the Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Department of Commerce, and Federal Election Commission in Washington, may have a different view of Perkins' scope of work, particularly in light of a lawsuit filed in Florida on September 2, 2021 by Matrix's former CEO that claims Perkins engaged in a pattern and practice of "racketeering activity." Whether Perkins' work for APC is characterized as "trade secrets" or "racketeering activity," there is no dispute that it has benefited APC. By leveraging donations from APC's charitable Foundation in 2017 (along with Foundation donations in prior and subsequent years), Perkins has been able to: (a) silence the Congressional Black Caucus on environmental justice issues with a $10,000 APC Foundation donation, (b) quiet the voice of Dr. Martin Luther King's SCLC on environmental justice issues for a $50,000 donation, (c) neuter the Martin Luther King Center with a $10,000 donation, (d) silence the NAACP with a $1,000 donation, (e) quiet the National Council of Negro Women with $100, (f) muzzle the National Voting Rights Museum and Institute in Selma, Alabama with a $5,000 donation, and (g) silence the United Negro College Fund with a $10,000 donation. My December 26th article details how Perkins was able to silence the voices of other community-based organizations and environmental justice groups, as well as Alabama-based new media outlets with his "trade secrets." One of the best examples of APC's and Perkins' ability to silence the voices of public officials occurred in 2019 and involved Birmingham, Alabama mayor Randall Woodfin. In 2017, Woodfin was the recipient of $300,000 in campaign contributions that were raised by APC and Perkins. In 2019, Woodfin secretly agreed to a plan by Sherman industries to relocate its toxic air-pollution-spewing concrete batch plant from a downtown site located a couple of blocks from APC's headquarters to a thriving middle-class black neighborhood in Birmingham called Five Points West. Sherman Industries is a subsidiary of Lehigh Hanson, its U.S. parent company. The HeidelbergCement Group in Germany is LeHigh Hanson's parent company. The HeidelbergCement Company openly collaborated with Adolf Hitler during World War II and assisted Hitler in committing genocide against six million Black Germans, German and Polish Jews, German Gypsies, and Gay Germans during the Holocaust. Despite this shameful corporate history, Woodfin was not allowed to stand up and join the aggressive fight waged by the brave residents of Five Points West who tried to prevent Sherman Industries from relocating to their neighborhood. It was exclusive news reporting by donaldwatkins.com on HeidelbergCement Company's role in the Holocaust that shamed Sherman Industries into abandoning its plant relocation to the Five Points West neighborhood. The Southern Company Knew About the Perkins-APC Agreements Both of Joe Perkins' secret APC Agreements were signed by Zeke W. Smith, whose email address is: ZWsmith@southernco.com. Mr. Smith's email address removes any doubt about whether the Southern Company knew that APC was in a clandestine business relationship with a known federal lawbreaker. Alabama Law Enforcement Officials Will Probably Avoid Investigating the Perkins-APC Relationship Regardless of how many red flags are raised by Joe Perkins' clandestine business relationship with APC, federal law enforcement officials in Alabama will probably avoid investigating the APC-Perkins business relationship for several reasons. First, Joe Perkins is the hunting buddy of senior U.S. Senator Richard Shelby and Chief U.S. District Court Judge Scott Coogler (Birmingham). After 35 years in Senate, Shelby effectively controls all of the federal judges and U.S. Attorneys in Alabama who were sponsored by Shelby for presidential appointments to these positions during his term in the Senate. Second, Shelby and Perkins have a chokehold on the political voice and vote of Alabama's lone Democratic member of Congress, Terri Sewell. Both men raised substantial sums of money for Sewell's re-election campaigns. Perkins also uses APC money to fund Sewell's grassroots operatives and community support organizations. Shelby and Perkins have silenced Terri Sewell's voice on all matters of significant interest to the white oligarchy that runs Alabama. For example, Sewell, who is a lawyer, is not allowed to complain to President Joe Biden's Department of Justice about Alabama's all-white, 19-judge, appellate court system in a state that is 26% black. Sewell's black political constituents must go without candidates of their choice serving on the state's appellate court bench while she is gagged on this issue. Third, the last federal law enforcement team that tried to prosecute an APC executive officer (Walter F. Johnsey) on federal racketeering and fraud charges got railroaded in a Birmingham federal court by Chief U.S. District Court Judge Frank H. McFadden during the 1980 "Coal Fraud Trial." From that day forward, federal law enforcement officials in Alabama have known that APC and those who act in concert with the company are modern-day "untouchables." Epilogue In recent years, Joe Perkins has tried to replicate his successful "trade secrets" in Florida. Today, these "trade secrets" are the subject of news media investigations by the Orlando Sentinel and Florida Times-Union, as well as Florida-based law enforcement officials. Meanwhile, donaldwatkins.com is committed to continuing its news investigation into the unholy alliance between APC and Joe Perkins. We are following APC's money into Perkins and his businesses to see where this money went from there. This is painstaking investigative work because APC did not require Perkins to submit invoices for the $2.5 million he received between January 1, 2018 and July 31, 2019. Despite the built-in roadblocks to transparency, donaldwatkins.com is making substantial progress with its investigation. The public will be stunned to see where some of APC's ratepayer money finally ended up. Stay tuned! All articles are shared on Facebook and Twitter. If you would like to follow Donald Watkins, please click on these links and hit the follow button: https://www.facebook.com/donald.v.watkins https://twitter.com/donaldvwatkins