Posted on February 10, 2019 The trial in the case of USA v. Donald V. Watkins, Sr. and Donald V. Watkins, Jr. will start on Wednesday, February 13, 2019, at 9 a.m. CST in the eighth floor courtroom of Chief United States District Court Judge Karon O. Bowdre at the Hugo L. Black United States Courthouse, 1729 5th Avenue North, Birmingham, Alabama 35203. Jury selection will commence at 9 a.m. on Wednesday. Opening statements and testimony will begin at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, February 19, 2019. PHOTO: Hugo L. Black United States Courthouse in Birmingham, Alabama.

By Donald V. Watkins ©Copyrighted and Published on February 9, 2019 Embattled Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax no longer enjoys the support and confidence of the Democratic Party of Virginia, which issued a statement today calling for him to resign. The statement was released after a second woman, Meredith Watson, alleged that Fairfax raped her while they were students at Duke University in 2000. I have read the written statements issued by Fairfax’s first accuser, Vanessa Tyson, and Meredith Watson. They are detailed and credible in nature. They warrant a full investigation by an independent law enforcement agency. Sexual assault and rape are crimes. There is no immunity from these crimes based upon the alleged perpetrator’s race, political party affiliation, or socio-economic standing in life. In the face of these serious and credible charges, Justin Fairfax can no longer fulfill the duties and responsibilities of his public office. The Democratic Party of Virginia's call for Fairfax’s resignation came only hours after the Virginia Legislative Caucus and Democrats in both houses of the legislature called for the Fairfax to resign. Democratic state legislator, Patrick Hope, has vowed to begin impeachment proceedings on Monday if Fairfax does not step down immediately. Fairfax, who is one of three top Virginia Democrats embroiled in political scandal, said Friday he would not step down and has demanded an investigation into the claims. "I will clear my good name and I have nothing to hide. I have passed two full field background checks by the FBI and run for office in two highly contested elections with nothing like this being raised before," Fairfax said in a statement. "It is obvious that a vicious and coordinated smear campaign is being orchestrated against me." Fairfax may or may not be right in this regard, but this does not change the fact that he cannot govern in this politically toxic environment. He needs to resign, now. The Virginia Legislative Black Caucus, which stood by the 39-year-old African-American political leader following the Vanessa Tyson accusation, said in a statement late Friday that "it is best for Lt. Governor Fairfax to step down from his position. "While the group said it believes in due process, "we can't see it in the best interest of the Commonwealth of Virginia for (Fairfax) to remain in his role." Vanessa Tyson is a one-time colleague who accused Fairfax of forcing her to perform oral sex in a hotel room during the 2004 Democratic national convention in Boston. Fairfax denied the charge of sexual assault, calling his sexual encounter with Tyson consensual. The Meredith Watson Rape Allegations In a statement Friday, Meredith Watson's lawyer, Nancy Erika Smith, said Justin Fairfax and her Ms. Watson were friends in college, but did not date each other. Watson told her friends at the time that Fairfax raped her and has provided her lawyers with emails and Facebook messages detailing her account of the rape, Smith said. After Fairfax's strong denial of the charges as part of a smear campaign, Watson's attorney issued a second statement pushing back on Fairfax's denial. According to Attorney Smith, Watson told Fairfax she had been previously raped by another man. Later, after Fairfax allegedly raped Watson, they had an interaction at a campus party, Smith said. "She turned and asked: 'Why did you do it?' Mr. Fairfax answered: 'I knew that because of what happened to you last year, you’d be too afraid to say anything.' Mr. Fairfax actually used the prior rape of his 'friend' against her when he chose to rape her in a premeditated way," Smith said in the second statement. Kaneedreck Adams, 40, told The Washington Post that Watson told her at Duke in spring 2000 that Fairfax raped her at a fraternity house. "She said she couldn’t speak, but she was trying to get up and he kept pushing her down," Adams, who reportedly lived across from Watson, told the newspaper. "She said he knew that she didn’t like what was happening, but he kept pushing her down." The Post also reported that Watson emailed Milagros Joye Brown, a college friend, in 2016 as Brown invited former classmates to a fundraiser for Fairfax's lieutenant governor bid. "Molly, Justin raped me in college and I don’t want to hear anything about him. Please, please, please remove me form any future emails about him please," Watson reportedly wrote in the Oct. 26, 2016 email. In light of the graphic sexual assault and rape allegations cited above, Justin Fairfax must resign, immediately. PHOTO: Virginia Lt. Governor Justin Fairfax is under pressure to resign.

By Donald V. Watkins ©Copyrighted and Published on February 6, 2019 This one photograph says it all. Governor Ralph Northam (center), Lt. Governor Justin Fairfax (right), and Attorney General Mark Herring (left) are embroiled in the searing flames of political controversies in Virginia at the same time. All three men are Democrats. Ralph Northam and Mark Herring are caught up in racial controversies. Last week, Northam confessed that he was one of two men in a medical school yearbook photograph. One of the men was colored in blackface and the other one was dressed in full Ku Klux Klan regalia. Northam withdrew his voluntary confession the next day. This week, Herring confessed that he too participated in a demeaning and racially insensitive blackface incident in college. He has apologized and asked for forgiveness. Justin Fairfax is accused of a sexual assault. Today, Vanessa Tyson, the alleged victim in Fairfax's sexual assault case, released a detailed statement about the incident. Her statement must be taken seriously and investigated fully. We cannot grill Judge Brett Kavanaugh over sexual assault allegations in his case and give Justin Fairfax a pass for similar conduct. This is one hot mess. At the end of the day, none of these men may be fit to lead Virginia out of this growing political crisis. PHOTO: Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring (left), Governor Ralph Northam (center), and Lt. Governor Justin Fairfax (right).

By Donald V. Watkins ©Copyrighted and Published on February 2, 2019 Yesterday, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam confessed on video and in a written press statement that he was one of two men depicted in a photograph on his medical school yearbook page. One of the men posed in blackface and the other one dressed in full Ku Klux Klan regalia. The men depicted in the photograph were not portraying characters in a play or movie. These men self-selected a permanent image of how they wanted to be remembered by their peers in medical school and by the larger world. Understandably, Ralph Northam would not say whether he was the man in blackface or the one in KKK regalia. Both images in the photograph are equally racist and inexcusable for a 25-year-old medical student. During his confession in the court of public opinion, Northam apologized for posing in this racially offensive photograph. It is noteworthy that Northam’s confession was not the result of coercion or police brutality. It was freely and voluntarily given when Northam had a guilty conscience. Widespread calls for Northam’s resignation quickly followed Friday’s public confession of inappropriate behavior. If Northam resigns, Lt. Governor Justin Fairfax, who is African-American, will succeed him as governor. This afternoon, Ralph Northam withdrew his public confession. He is now denying that he is one of the two men in the racist 1984 photograph. He has offered no credible explanation for making his confession on Friday and withdrawing this confession on Saturday. It appears that racism has invaded Northam’s confession and contrition process. The 1984 incident was bad enough on a stand-alone basis. Northam’s public confession on Friday was a noble step towards redemption. Obviously, someone intervened after Northam's confession on Friday and convinced the governor that his resignation would elevate Fairfax to the governorship and give Fairfax a potential 7-year reign as Virginia’s chief executive officer. Northam bought into the course of action to deny Fairfax the opportunity to finish his term in office as governor. To justify blocking Fairfax’s ascension to the governorship, Northam had to (a) withdraw his Friday confession, (b) lie today about his 1984 actions and (c) disclaim his presence in the racist yearbook photograph. This course of action constitutes the birth of a cover-up, which is worse than posing in the photograph. Posing in the photograph was a dumb error in judgment. Lying is a deliberate intentional act of deception. We now know that Ralph Shearer Northam was a racist in 1984; he is a racist today; and he will lie with impunity to further his tainted political career. What is more, his pathetic political and racial drama is unfolding as America celebrates Black History Month in February. PHOTO: Virginia Governor Ralph Shearer Northam, a politician tainted by a racist past and entangled in a deceptive cover-up.

By Donald V. Watkins ©Copyrighted and Published on February 2, 2019 We all make dumb mistakes in life. Most of these mistakes do not have life-altering consequences. Some do. In 1984, Ralph Shearer Northam made an error in judgment with life-altering consequences when he posed for a photograph on his medical school yearbook page that showed two white men: one in blackface and one dressed in full Ku Klux Klan regalia. Yesterday, Northam acknowledged that he is one of these two men. The men depicted in the photograph were not portraying characters in a play or movie. These men self-selected a permanent image of how they wanted to be remembered by their peers in medical school and by the larger world. Understandably, Ralph Northam will not say whether he is the man in blackface or the one in KKK regalia. Both images in the photograph are equally racist and inexcusable for a 25-year-old medical student. As such, Northam is in a lose-lose situation. Today, Northam is the Democratic governor of Virginia. He assumed office on January 13, 2018. Northam has apologized for posing in this racially offensive photograph. However, his apology is not enough in this circumstance. This is a classic example of where a grown man made an error in judgment with life-altering consequences. As a result, Northam has lost all of his moral authority to lead Virginia in 2019. He has also lost the respect of people of interracial goodwill who are sick and tired of this kind of conscious ignorance and reckless disregard for the feelings of an entire race of fellow Americans. Ralph Northam must resign, effective immediately. Northam’s past conduct has exposed his true inner self and has condemned his future. He must take full responsibility for his actions as a grown man. Ralph Shearer Northam has been outed for who he is -- a publicly announced, proud, and self-proclaimed racist. His self-portrait in 1984 speaks louder than any words of comfort he can utter to us today. On a personal note, I have a "zero tolerance" policy on racism. I do not give out "look the other way" passes based upon the political affiliation of the racist. I do not make a distinction between racism practiced by whites against blacks and racism practiced by blacks against whites. All forms of racism against human beings are equally bad and will not be tolerated by me. PHOTO: Virginia Governor Ralph Northam's racist 1984 medical school yearbook photograph.

By Donald V. Watkins ©Copyrighted and Published on January 26, 2019 Yesterday, the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute (BCRI) announced that it has re-invited controversial activist Angela Davis and again named her the recipient of the BCRI’s 2018 Reverend Fred L. Shuttlesworth Human Rights Award -- its highest award. BCRI announced the award earlier this month and rescinded it after complaints were raised among some of the organization's Jewish supporters. On January 14, 2018, the BCRI Board of Directors issued a public apology for its missteps in conferring, then rescinding, its nomination of Dr. Angela Y. Davis for the award. Dr. Davis has been personally invited to reaccept the award. She has not responded to BCRI’s re-invitation. The United Negro College Fund Disinvited Me To Dothan Mayor Mike Schmitz’s Fundraising Event In 2016, I suffered through a similar degrading experience with the United Negro College Fund (UNCF). The incident happened after Mike Schmitz, the two-term mayor of Dothan, Alabama at the time, invited me to be the featured speaker for the inaugural UNCF Dothan-Wiregrass Mayor’s Luncheon he was hosting on December 9, 2016. More than 100 business, civic, community and education leaders from across the Dothan-Wiregrass Area in Alabama were expected to attend the Mayor's Luncheon. The purpose of this event was to raise scholarship funds for area students and operational support to UNCF-member institutions. Like Emory Folmar in Montgomery, and Richard Arrington, Jr., Bernard Kincaid, Larry Langford and William Bell in Birmingham, and Andrew Hayden in Uniontown, Mayor Schmitz sought my advice on a wide range of municipal government issues. As a result of these consultations, Mike Schmitz and I became supporters of each other and close friends. On September 1, 2016, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a bogus lawsuit accusing me of “securities fraud” in connection with the sale of economic participations in my waste-to-energy business to a few friends of mine. The SEC issued a national press release announcing its lawsuit. Of course, the allegations were not true. Mr. Schmitz, who is white, stood by my side and supported me in the face of the SEC’s frivolous lawsuit. His invitation to speak at the UNCF Dothan-Wiregrass Mayor’s Luncheon occurred after the lawsuit was announced. Using his status as a highly successful businessman and popular mayor, Mike Schmitz secured early sponsorships for the Mayor’s Luncheon from MidSouth Bank, Alfred Saliba Construction, BBVA Compass, Eagle Eye Outfitters, Farley Nuclear Plant, and Wells Fargo Bank. I had secured funding pledges totally $100,000 from business partners, which I planned to announce at the event. After I was disinvited, I released my business partners from their pledges. Acting on instructions from the UNCF’s Atlanta Regional Office, Cherie Wilson, the Alabama Chapter coordinator for this UNCF event, called me a couple of weeks prior to the Mayor's Luncheon, without Mr. Schmitz’s knowledge, and disinvited me as the featured speaker. I was surprised by the call and reported it to Mayor Schmitz. He was angry that I had been disinvited and reaffirmed his support for me, even if he had to cancel the event. I gracefully bowed out of the speaking engagement to avoid any controversy for Mr. Schmitz. Dr. Brian Johnson, president of Tuskegee University, delivered the keynote address in my place. Ironically, one of the landmark cases I handled during my legal career involved the desegregation of Alabama’s 32 four-year public colleges and universities. This 25-year-long case resulted in the award of new court-ordered doctoral and expanded undergraduate academic programs for Alabama State University and Alabama A&M University. Additionally, these universities received nearly $600 million in new funding (above and beyond the regular state appropriations) as a result of this litigation. While neither public university is a member of the UNCF, its member institutions in Alabama (i.e., Miles College, Oakwood University, Tuskegee University, Stillman College and Talladega College) benefitted, indirectly, from my work through joint academic programs and shared grant funding with Alabama State and Alabama A&M. On the basis of false allegations in a politically-motivated SEC lawsuit, the UNCF disregarded all of the tangible economic and academic benefits bestowed upon Alabama’s largest two historically black public universities and promptly disinvited me as a featured speaker at the UNCF Dothan-Wiregrass Mayor’s Luncheon. Even though the UNCF turned its back on me, Mayor Mike Schmitz never did. On October 10, 2018, the SEC voluntarily dropped all of its bogus securities fraud claims relating to the sale of economic participations in my waste-to-energy business. These allegations never had merit and were brought for the sole purpose of smearing my name. My relationship with Mike Schmitz is rock solid. I admire and respect him because he is a true friend, visionary, and great leader. Above all, he is a good and decent man, inside and out. My relationship with the United Negro College Fund is over. There is nothing the UNCF can say or do to revive it. I will never raise another dime for the UNCF. There is no excuse for the organization's behavior in this matter. The lesson here is simple: “A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out.” – Walter Winchell PHOTO: Former Dothan, Alabama mayor Mike Schmitz. He is a true friend and great leader. PHOTO: The UNCF Dothan-Wiregrass Mayor's Luncheon, December 9, 2016.

By Donald V. Watkins ©Copyrighted and Published on January 16, 2019 On July 20, 2018, a Balch & Bingham attorney and the Drummond Company Vice President of Government Affairs were found guilty in Birmingham, Alabama federal court on all charges involving the bribery of Alabama State Representative Oliver Robinson following a four-week trial. Balch partner Joel Gilbert and Drummond VP David Roberson were convicted on all six criminal charges (i.e., conspiracy, bribery, three counts of honest services wire fraud, and money laundering). The two defendants were accused of bribing former state Rep. Oliver Robinson to oppose the Environmental Protection Agency's expansion of a Superfund site, and also to oppose prioritizing the site's expensive cleanup. Robinson pled guilty to several related charges and was sentenced on September 27, 2018 to 33 months in prison, followed by a supervised release period of three years. On October 23, 2018, Joel Gilbert was sentenced to five years in federal prison, followed by a supervised release period of two years. David Roberson was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison, followed by one year of supervised release. Each defendant was ordered to pay a $25,000 fine and ordered to complete 100 hours per year of community service while on supervised release. Among the reporters who covered this high-profile trial for AL.com was Kyle Whitmire. He wrote over a dozen opinion columns and tweeter threads on the lead up to the trial, the trial itself, and the sentencing of these defendants. Whitmire’s Undisclosed Conflict of Interest While covering the trial for AL.com, Whitmire made this July 2, 2018 public plea on his Facebook page: “Time for a little crowd sourcing. Here are two court exhibits: Billing documents from Balch & Bingham showing work done during its fight against the EPA in north Birmingham. Everybody take a look and shout out anything conspicuous you see.” Michael Hansen, the executive director of G.A.S.P., shared Whitmire’s Facebook plea later that day. “Got a little time to help Kyle out by scanning these documents (exhibits from the bribery trial!) for things that stand out and raise a red flag? It’s wild how often Gasp is mentioned.” G.A.S.P. -- the Greater Birmingham Alliance to Stop Pollution -- was formed in 2009 (under the name “Alabama First”) as an advocacy group for promoting clean air policies and environmental protection initiatives in and around Birmingham. As a result of the guilty verdicts in the Gilbert and Roberson cases, Gasp Executive Director Michael Hansen issued the following statement on July 23, 2018: “This was a great outcome for the people of north Birmingham and all of Alabama. It is rare that corruption is rooted out, and it’s even more rare that those who do the corrupting are held accountable. We could not be more proud that our years of dogged legal and advocacy work led to the exposure of corruption. While we are thrilled that justice was upheld for the people of north Birmingham, we are cognizant of the fact that this is not the end, but rather a beginning. We are calling all of our friends and neighbors to join us in committing to the fight for environmental justice for every Alabamian. Now is the time to become a member of Gasp and to join with us as we reaffirm our commitment to the people of Collegeville, Harriman Park, North Birmingham, Fairmont, Tarrant, Inglenook, and all of the city’s 99 neighborhoods.” Exactly one week after Joel Gilbert and David Roberson were sentenced, Kyle Whitmire aided G.A.S.P.’s membership drive by appearing in an October 30, 2018 promotional posting on the group’s Facebook page for the documentary “Toxic City: Birmingham’s Dirty Secret.” The Whitmire-G.A.S.P. promotional appearance occurred while the criminal case was still very active on the trial court's docket. In fact, on August 20, 2018, the two defendants asked the trial judge to either acquit them or give them a new trial. Whitmire was G.A.S.P.’s sympathizer/advocate all along, but he never disclosed this important fact to the public while he was covering the trial. Instead, Whitmire pretended to be a "disinterested party" who was simply performing objective reporting on the trial for AL.com. Without explanation, the Whitmire-G.A.S.P. post was quickly deleted. Although Whitmire had been inadvertently exposed as an "interested party," this deletion action came too late. I located the post and preserved it as evidence of Whitmire's undisclosed conflict of interest. The deleted Whitmire-G.A.S.P. post is depicted in the screenshot accompanying this article. The Birmingham News' History of Undisclosed Conflicts of Interest In a January 3, 2019 article titled “The Birmingham News’ 16 Million Undisclosed Conflict of Interest,” I outed The Birmingham News on its undisclosed conflict of interest relating to me. The article disclosed a June 11, 2004 Alabama Supreme Court case that affirmed a $16 million award of compensatory and punitive damages against The Birmingham News for serial acts of fraud the newspaper committed against six of its former distributors. Privately, The Birmingham News blamed me for this devastating Supreme Court loss because I, acting in my capacity as an arbitrator, authored the 49-page arbitration ruling that was upheld by the Supreme Court (with only a $4 million downward adjustment from the original $20 million award due to the Court’s removal of one element of damages). After losing in the Supreme Court, the News paid off the court judgment won by the plaintiffs. There was no insurance coverage available to pay a judgment for fraud. The Birmingham News never published an article about its fraudulent conduct or the payment of the $16 million court judgment in this case. Instead, the News publicly and maliciously started attacking me and my character every chance it got. The Birmingham News' character assassination elevated to the point where editorial columnist John Archibald and Reckon Managing Editor John Hammontree wrote and published a fabricated racist quotation (i.e., my job during Birmingham Mayor Richard Arrington’s term in office was to “kick white people’s ass”) that was attributed to me in articles they wrote on November 29, 2018 and December 31, 2018, respectively. Of course, I never made this racist statement, on or off the record. After I made a formal demand for a retraction of this racist statement, AL.com issued a so-called “retraction” in a manner that was designed to perpetuate the intended effects of the false racist message that was embedded in the two articles. If there was any doubt that AL.com intended to falsely portray me as a racist, this doubt was removed by the way the media organization buried the "retraction" to make sure it was not seen by its "click-bait" readers. AL.com, which operates The Birmingham News, The Huntsville Times, and Mobile Free Press, is the state’s largest self-described "media organization." In reality, AL.com is nothing more than a closet advocate for special interest groups, a smear-sheet aimed at targeted opponents, a rag-sheet for sports junkies, a master of dirty secrets, and a social media platform for “click-bait” readers who love throwing anonymous spitballs and wallowing in negative racial stereotypes. This was The Birmingham News' role in the infamous COINTELPRO program -- it is a master of dirty tricks. The News serves no other useful purpose. This is the only role it knows -- smearing other people's character on demand. PHOTO: Screenshot of AL.com columnist/reporter Kyle Whitmire promoting a G.A.S.P. event during the pendency of a criminal trial he covered that involved environmental adversaries of G.A.S.P. This post was quickly deleted by G.A.S.P, but not before glaring Whitmire's conflict of interest had been revealed.

By Donald V. Watkins ©Copyrighted and Published on January 17, 2019 On January 6, 2019, Dr. Frank Franklin emailed John Hammontree, the Managing Producer of Reckon at the Alabama Media Group, because recent published editorial columns written by John Archibald raised serious concerns that Franklin, Joseph Cole, and Georgia Smith Slade wanted to share with Al.com readers. Dr. Franklin submitted an op-ed article they wrote for publication titled, “Prejudicial reporting by Pulitzer Prize winning John Archibald.” Dr. Frank Franklin, MD MPH PhD, is a retired pediatrician and Professor Emeritus of Public Health at The University of Alabama at Birmingham. He is an active researcher in community health and strong advocate for health equity throughout the Birmingham metro area. Ms. Slade is a retired Birmingham-area educator and Mr. Cole is a longtime Gadsden civic leader and community organizer. All of them are highly respected members of their respective professions and communities. John Hammontree is Now Tainted On January 11, 2019, John Hammontree emailed Dr. Franklin to say, “We’ll plan to publish this [op-ed] next week.” Dr. Franklin and his co-authors were pleased with this response. Between this date and January 16, 2019, AL.com reversed course and circled the wagon around John Archibald, its highly-touted Pulitzer Prize winning columnist. On January 16, 2019, Hammontree sent Dr. Franklin an email informing him that AL.com had decided to renege on its commit to publish the op-ed article. The email stated: “As I mentioned when we spoke on the phone on Monday, I needed to speak with our VP, Kelly Scott, who is copied here ….. After additional review, we are declining to run this column because the issue you write about was resolved with our apology. But, if there is another angle that you’d like to take, we would evaluate that submission for publication.” As the public knows, no “apology” was issued regarding the false racist statement John Archibald fabricated and attributed to me in his November 29, 2018 editorial column. Furthermore, Hammontree, himself, repeated Archibald’s false racist statement in a news article he published on December 31, 2018. Hammontree was referring to this statement, which was buried at the bottom of the Opinion section in The Birmingham Newson January 13, 2019. The statement was also published as an “update” (not a “retraction”) at the beginning of John Archibald’s original November 29, 2018 online article: “In an opinion column published on Nov. 29, 2018, columnist John Archibald wrote about the upcoming trial of Donald Watkins.  In that piece, Archibald quoted Watkins as saying in 1991 that his job was to 'kick white people’s ass.'  Archibald based the quotation on his memory from interviewing Watkins for a story he wrote in 1991. That quotation was republished in a Dec. 25 Reckon article about 25 people to watch in 2019.  Watkins contacted AL.com after the column and article were published and said he did not make the statement that was attributed to him.  We have reviewed Archibald’s 1991 story and it does not contain this quote from Watkins.   We regret our publication attributing this quotation to Watkins and retract it.” Dr. Franklin promptly emailed this response to Hammontree: “I understand and respect your and Kelly Scott’s view and am happy to update and revise the op-ed. Essentially, the theme of the op-ed would shift from determining the truth of the quotation as you all accepted Archibald’s recollection was faulty and have apologized for that error. With that apology as a given, there are three more serious concerns to discuss in a revised op-ed beyond the issue of a simple error: 1) the prejudicial motivation behind John Archibald’s faulty memory; 2) the impact of John Archibald’s erroneous quotation on the chance of an accused individual receiving a fair trial; and 3) the impact of John Archibald’s race baiting in our community. A conclusion would be that John Archibald violated standards of journalism ethics and deserves censure by AL.COM.  I would appreciate if you would communicate with me and my co-authors (copied on this email) the chances of publication in AL.COM of a revision of the op-ed around the themes above. Below is the op-ed. The highlighted areas would be removed and text developed around the three serious issues cited.” Dr. Franklin’s email and suggested revision to the op-ed article were met with deafening silence from Hammontree and Scott Kelly. The Stench from AL.com’s Lies and Conflicts of Interest is Unbearable The stench from AL.com’s steady stream of lies and undisclosed conflicts of interest is unbearable. If AL.com practices ethics in journalism, it must be doing so in a stealth fashion that is completely undetectable. Several examples of AL.com’s ethical lapses accentuate this point. First, John Hammontree is part of the two-person AL.com management team that made the decision to reject the op-ed article criticizing the fabricated racist statement published by John Archibald and Hammontree in separate articles within a 30-day period. Second, Archibald’s and Hammontree’s fabricated racist statement was attributed to me, one of the three arbitrators who ruled against The Birmingham News in a fraud lawsuit that resulted in the media organization paying $16 million in compensatory and punitive damages to six former distributors (all of whom were white) after the News lost its appeal from the arbitration panel’s ruling in the Alabama Supreme Court.  I wrote the 49-page arbitration opinion that was upheld on appeal by the Supreme Court. The News’ payment of the $16 million arbitration judgment was not covered by insurance because the conduct at issue was fraudulent. Furthermore, theNews never publicly disclosed its conflict of interest with me in subsequently published articles about me. Third, on May 5, 2018, I exposed an AL.com undisclosed conflict of interest involving former reporter Joey Kennedy and his close personal ties to a group of Birmingham, Alabama women who engaged in questionable financial activities during the “rescue” of Cavalier dogs in Wheaton, Missouri in 2014. Kennedy’s powder-puff articles for AL.com glorified these women and their “rescue” work. To the shock of many, Kennedy privately alerted the women that Cavalier lovers outside of Alabama were raising accountability and transparency questions regarding the expenditure of donor money for the Wheaton “rescue” and the placement of the highest-priced “rescued” dogs among the ranks of their close personal friends and themselves. Kennedy made it clear that he was on their side in this dispute. Fourth, on yesterday, I exposed AL.com columnist Kyle Whitmire’s conflict of interest in covering the 2018 trial of Balch & Bingham partner Joel Gilbert and Drummond VP David Roberson, who were convicted on all six criminal charges (i.e., conspiracy, bribery, three counts of honest services wire fraud, and money laundering). While the trial proceedings were in progress, Whitmire served as an undisclosed advocate for Gilbert’s and Roberson’s nemesis -- G.A.S.P. (the Greater Birmingham Alliance to Stop Pollution). G.A.S.P. was formed in 2009 (under the name “Alabama First”) as an advocacy group for promoting clean air policies and environmental protection initiatives in and around Birmingham, including the neighborhood at issue in the Gilbert/Roberson trial. Fifth, in March of 2011, John Archibald published an article criticizing Jefferson County, Alabama’s bankruptcy filing without disclosing his own bankruptcy experience. When Archibald was outed in this faux pas, he immediately blamed his personal bankruptcy filing on his wife. Archibald explained the situation this way: “My wife handled my finances and I trusted her. I don’t want to throw her under the bus… There’s no excuse for it. I’m not trying to duck responsibility. I’m completely responsible for not being attentive enough.” What Archibald omitted in this public confession were these material facts: (a) he had to sign the bankruptcy petition in several places and (b) he had to attend several court-ordered meetings and hearings. If Archibald was not aware of the couple’s bankruptcy petition and did not sign this court document, then his wife may have violated several federal laws by affixing his signature to the sworn petition. Furthermore, if Archibald did not know about his wife's filing of the bankruptcy petition, then who showed up at the court hearings pretending to be him? Sixth, Kyle Whitmire, Archibald’s trusted friend and comrade in AL.com’s proud tradition of journalistic hypocrisy and non-stop parade of conflicts of interest, rushed to Archibald’s defense with this lame attempt at character witnessing: “Readers now have sympathy for John and respect. Because there’s one weapon he’s got that his enemies don’t: Courage.” Seventh, John Archibald did not get fired for lying about his bankruptcy. Instead, Archibald became emboldened enough to fabricate more lies like the November 29, 2018 false racist statement he attributed to me. Archibald’s lying paid off because he won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary. Archibald’s lying has apparently inspired John Hammontree to emulate and practice his ability to fabricate false statements and pass them off as “news.” Fumigation is an Exercise in Futility The prestige of John Archibald’s Pulitzer Prize is not strong enough to fumigate the nauseating stench from AL.com’s steady stream of lies and undisclosed conflicts of interest. In truth, AL.com sold what was left of its journalistic integrity years ago when it switched from a modicum of actual news reporting to purveyors of cheap “click-bait” voyeurism. Today, AL.com is nothing more than a closet advocate for special interest groups and advertisers, a smear-sheet aimed at targeted opponents, a rag-sheet for sports junkies, a den of conflicted “reporters,” and a social media platform for “click-bait” readers who love throwing anonymous spitballs and wallowing in negative racial stereotypes. No amount of fumigation can remediate this foul smell. PHOTO: Dr. Frank Franklin (below) is a retired pediatrician and distinguished Professor Emeritus of Public Health at The University of Alabama at Birmingham. Dr. Franklin, along with Georgia Smith Slade and Joseph Cole, co-authored an op-ed article criticizing John Archibald's fabricated racist statement that was recently attributed to me. AL.com refused to publish their op-ed article. PHOTO: John Hammontree (below), Managing Producer of Reckon at the Alabama Media Group.

By Donald V. Watkins ©Copyrighted and Published on January 9, 2019 On November 29, 2018, John Archibald, a columnist/reporter for the Alabama Media Group, wrote and published an article on AL.com titled, “Donald Watkins charged; this will be one for the ages.” In the article, Archibald wrote, as a quoted statement of fact, that my job as Birmingham Mayor Richard Arrington, Jr.’s special counsel in 1991 was to "kick white people’s ass.” I never made the “kick white people’s ass” comment, on or off the record. Furthermore, Archibald's statement was not fact-checked before it was published. The “kick white people’s ass” comment was repeated and published again as a statement of fact in a December 25, 2018 article written by Reckon Managing Editor John Hammontree titled, “25 people to watch in 2019.” Again, this statement was not fact-checked before it was published. The “kick white people’s ass” statement is false, libelous, and defamatory. It portrays me in a false light to (a) the white and biracial members of my family, (b) my white business partners and associates around the world, and (c) people of interracial goodwill in the United States and abroad who have contributed to my success in life. Instead of Retracting His False Statement, Archibald Explained It Instead of retracting his false statement and apologizing, Archibald attempted to explain this statement in an article he published on December 31, 2018: “I quoted the comment from 28-year-old memory, and that’s not a smart thing to do. I can’t prove he said it any more than he can prove he didn’t. I sure hope he did say it, because I put those words in his mouth and if they’re wrong I did him a profound disservice.” Archibald’s retreat from attributing the “kick white people’s ass” comment to me as a statement of fact, to “I can’t prove [Watkins] said it,” to “I sure hope he did say it,” is damning. His attempt to paint me as a racist who hates white people has collapsed. Yet, Archibald has steadfastly refused to retract his fake quote or publicly apologize to me for publishing it. His AL.com pal and colleague, John Hammontree has made no effort to retract his Christmas Day publication of this false statement. Archibald’s candid admission regarding this fabricated racist comment, which was attributed to me in the two AL.com articles cited above, evidences a reckless disregard for the truth about this libelous statement. Furthermore, AL.com has never publicly disclosed its conflict of interest in writing and publishing articles about me. As detailed in “The Birmingham News’ $16 Million Undisclosed Conflict of Interest," I was an arbitrator who awarded six former Birmingham News distributors (all of whom were white) $20 million in damages on December 30, 2002 because they were the victims of the News’ serial fraudulent conduct against each one of them. The findings of fraudulent conduct and award of damages (which was reduced on appeal to $16 million) were affirmed by the Alabama Supreme Court on June 11, 2004. It was well-known in Birmingham media circles that The Birmingham News, as a media organization, hated me after the company was required to pay the $16 million judgment in this case, which the News never reported in a published news article. Every published article about me after the News paid the $16 million judgment was laced with actual malice. A Demand for Retraction and Apology from AL.com No standard of journalism, Alabama statute, or case law permits the publication of a false statement of fact on the “hope” that it later turns out to be true. Furthermore, the standard of journalism imposed by AL.com in my case is not used by any reputable news organization in America. The standard of journalism used in my case calls into question the legitimacy of John Archibald’s 2018 Pulitzer Prize. If Archibald made up a false quoted comment in my case, did he engage in similar conduct in any of the articles that formed the basis for the award of his Pulitzer Prize? On January 3, 2019, I issued a letter to Tom Bates, President of the Alabama Media Group demanding a retraction of Archibald’s and Hammontree’s false “kick white people’s ass” comment. I also requested that the retraction appear in the same medium of publication and in a prominent position therein. Finally, I demanded a full public apology for John Archibald’s and John Hammontree’s reckless conduct in writing and publishing the libelous “kick white people’s ass” comment. The Alabama Media Group has until January 11, 2019 to comply with my demand for a retraction and apology. Stay tuned. PHOTO: On January 3, 2019, a demand for a retraction and apology was issued to Tom Bates, President of the Alabama Media Group. We are awaiting his response.

By Donald V. Watkins ©Copyrighted and Published on January 6, 2019 John Robert Wooden (October 14, 1910 – June 4, 2010) was the head basketball coach at the University of California, Los Angeles from 1948 to 1975. Wooden won ten NCAA national championships in a 12-year period as head coach at UCLA, including a record seven in a row. No basketball coach, living or dead, has matched this incredible record of success. Nick Saban, 67, is the head football coach at The University of Alabama. He is tied with Paul “Bear” Bryant for most major college football national championships for a coach in the modern era. They each have won six national championships. Saban and Bear Bryant are the only coaches to win an SEC championship at two different schools. They are the "best of the best" in the ranks of NCAA Division 1-A college football. Saban is poised to win an unprecedented seventh national championship when the Crimson Tide defeats Clemson on Monday night in the College Football Playoff national championship game. I am a Crimson Tide football fan. I will become a witness to history on Monday night when Saban claims his seventh national championship. Eddie Gay Robinson, Sr. (February 13, 1919 – April 3, 2007) was the head football coach at Grambling State University. He coached the second most victories in NCAA Division I history and the third most overall. Many college football experts regard Robinson as one of the greatest coaches in history. During a period in college football history when black players were not allowed to play for southern college programs, Robinson built Grambling State into a "small" college football powerhouse. After 56 years of coaching, Robinson retired in 1997 with a record of 408 wins, 165 losses, and 15 ties. Robinson coached every single game from the field and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1997. Coach John Wooden’s infamous “Pyramid of Success” provides the building blocks for the success of these three leaders in college athletics. These principles apply to everyday life, as well. If we apply these principles in our personal lives, all of us can attain greatness. PHOTO: John Wooden's "Pyramid of Success."

By Donald V. Watkins ©Copyrighted and Published on January 1, 2019 Many friends and supporters of John Archibald have asked me to give him one more chance at redemption for writing and publishing the fake racist quotation “kick white people’s ass” which he made up and attributed to me in his November 29, 2018 article. According to Archibald, I made this statement during an interview with co-author Bob Blalock and him for a feature article they published in The Birmingham News on May 12, 1991. For the record, I never made the racist comment and it does not appear anywhere in the published article. Furthermore, this comment is not captured in our tape-recorded interview and it does not appear in the reporters’ notes. Finally, Bob Blalock has not confirmed Archibald account on this racist comment because it did not happen. Unfortunately, John Archibald forfeited his chance at redemption when he established a new gutter-level standard of journalism in his New Year’s Eve article. Here is the new standard, as announced by a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter: “I quoted the comment from 28-year-old memory, and that’s not a smart thing to do. I can’t prove he said it any more than he can prove he didn’t. I sure hope he did say it, because I put those words in his mouth and if they’re wrong I did him a profound disservice.” Archibald readily admits he cannot prove I said “kick white people’s ass." Yet, Archibald published this comment anyway. AL.com’s Reckon managing editor/reporter John Hammontree repeated Archibald’s fake quotation in his December 25, 2018 article. Hammontree never contacted me to ascertain whether I made this racist comment. He simply reported this comment as a true statement made by me. Rather than retracting his racist quotation, Archibald doubled-down and reduced my request for journalist integrity to a “he said/he denied” dispute between a white and black man in an Old South state. Even though his version of this fake quotation is based on a “faulty” memory from more than 28 years ago and is devoid of any corroborating evidence, Archibald refused to retract it. John Hammontree has made no comment about this matter even though he repeated Archibald’s fake racist quotation on Christmas Day and is an accomplice to the public dissemination of this fake quotation. Given The Birmingham News’ documented history of smearing the good names and character of numerous civil rights activists, including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., while serving as a willing participant in J. Edgar Hoover’s infamous COINTEPRO program, I think it is only fair that I afford AL.com an opportunity to retract the fake racist quotation that appeared in the Archibald and Hammontree articles. This retraction should be a straightforward professional acknowledgement that: (a) the racist comment Archibald attributed to me was, in fact, never made, (b) the publication of this fake quotation on November 29, 2018 and, again on Christmas Day, was a journalistic mistake, and (c) AL.com did a “profound disservice “ to me by publishing this fake racist quotation based upon John Archibald’s “faulty” memory from 28 years ago and without corroborating evidence that the comment was actually made. Once AL.com issues this straightforward retraction and a sincere apology to me for the “profound disservice” done in John Archibald’s and John Hammontree’s articles, I will accept the apology and move on without initiating any legal action in this matter. Right now, John Archibald and John Hammontree occupy the same dreadful spot in Alabama history that Victoria Price and Ruby Bates occupied in the Scottsboro Boys case. Archibald and Hammontree falsely accused me of making a racist statement with no corroborating evidence. Price and Bates falsely accused nine innocent black boys of rape with no corroborating evidence. Archibald had a chance to recant his false statement and he refused to do so. Hammontree has remained silent. Ruby Bates recanted her false rape allegation in the Scottsboro Boys case. Like Archibald, Victoria Price did not recant her false allegations. The Scottsboro Boys suffered unimaginable pain and agony for 45-years because of Victoria Price’s false allegations. The Watkins family and I are suffering unimaginable damage to our reputations and documented legacy as “bridge-builders” between blacks and whites in America since 1865 solely because of Archibald’s fake racist quotation. The publication of his racist quotation has also been particularly hurtful to the multiple interracial couples in my immediate family, each of whom I personally and warmly welcomed into our family. It has also been hurtful to my wonderful daughter, who is biracial. This is AL.com’s Scottsboro Boys’ moment. Will the state’s largest media organization choose “truth in journalism” and end the “profound disservice” Archibald and Hammontree have inflicted upon me by promptly retracting Archibald's fake racist quotation and apologizing for its publication, or will AL.com continue to breathe life into the “lie” Archibald fabricated and both men published? PHOTO: Truth in Journalism is the only standard that matters.

By Donald V. Watkins ©Copyrighted and Published on December 30, 2018 As 2018 comes to an end, I have reflected on what made this year special in my life. The answer was relatively simple -- this was the year I learned who my true friends are. As a public figure, I have always had a lot of “sunshine” friends who bask in the warm glow of the privileges and benefits that came with our friendship. After federal prosecutors indicted my son and me on trumped up wire and bank fraud charges in November, my true friends made themselves known to me in a very public way. They embraced and comforted me. My “sunshine” friends fled. True Friends I want to acknowledge and thank Laurie Beth Johnson Kesterson, Cindy Rondini, Frank Franklin, Lisa Swoboda, Georgia Slade, Tanya Butts, Todd Atkinson, Carla Vann Nettles, Liz Moe, Lisa Sharlach, Michael Goddard, Barry Sussman, Sherri Mccrary, Cathy Schadel, David “The Meck” Meckley, Julie Meyer Potter, Sally Henderson, Lorene Von Allman, Cheryl McWhorter, Lisa Choate Falchetti, Marvin Kennedy, Christianna Epps Wheeler, Jack Barber, Annette Knight-Russell, Rex Lane Miller, Gail Rhodes Shelton, Mark Englehart, Kevin Jacobs-Muhammad, Richard Pope, Janet H. Hinton, and a host of other true friends from all walks of life who publicly and proudly defended my name and character in the face of an orchestrated smear campaign by “rogue” federal prosecutors and vindictive federal regulatory agencies. These friends are leaders and bridge-builders in diverse communities across America. They have also taught me a lot about life and the importance of understanding the things that united us. I am a better person because of their presence in my life. They have joined old friends like Buford Crutcher, Doyal Reed, Frederick Burks, Joseph Cole, Lawrence Conaway, Monte Boone (my cousin), Grace Rose (my high school girlfriend), Albert Turner Jr., Wallace Nathan Bailey, Paul Joseph Adams III, Tameka Wren, George Hill, Eric Majors, Gregory D. Jones, Keith Rice, Tammy Knight, John Knight, Jr., John Powe, Charlie Newton, Kenneth Thomas, Milton Davis, and others who have publicly stood with me through the years as we have fought to (a) rid Alabama of public corruption, (b) end spousal abuse, (c) stop preferential treatment for rich special interest groups in the halls of government power, (d) curb the sexual abuse of women and children, (e) promote equal opportunity in the work place for men and women, (f) strive toward equal justice for rich and poor Americans alike, and (g) advance society's respect for man/womankind. Friendships Lost Along the way, I have lost what I thought were close friendships with people I admired, respected and helped in so many ways. These friendships include three high-profile individuals I kept out of prison by working diligently on their criminal cases at great risk of harm to my family and me. In the end, they were not strong enough to handle the pressure others placed on them for being my friend. Another friendship I lost in 2018 is the one I shared with AL.com columnist John Archibald, whom I have known and admired for more than three decades. I watched John file for bankruptcy in 2003 and then lie about it when it was publicly revealed in 2011. Yet, I kept John in my friendship circle. I also watched John take my exclusive series of investigative reports about the secret love affair between Governor Robert Bentley and Rebekah Mason titled “Forbidden Love” and “Executive Betrayal” and win a Pulitzer Prize with this copyrighted material, even though he became aware of this sex scandal when I did and refused to write about it until it was safe to do so six months later. Yet, I forgave John for repackaging my story and taking credit for it on national TV. I finally lost John Archibald as a friend on November 29, 2018 when he made up a fake racist quotation about “kicking white people’s ass” and attributed this quote to me in order to help prosecutors in my criminal case sway whites in the jury pool against me. To this day, Archibald has not admitted fabricating this racist quotation, nor apologized for doing so. Endings Become Beginnings Grace Rose provided this quotation from Brené Brown that best describes my mission as 2018 ends and 2019 begins: “Our job is not to deny the story, but to DEFY the ending -- to rise strong, recognize our story, and rumble with the truth until we get to a place where we think, 'Yes. This is what happened. This is my truth. And I will choose how this story ends.'" I could not agree more. We will not let our adversaries define who we are. They do not care about the truth. They only care about themselves and their narrow-minded, self-serving personal and political agendas. We will use the platform they have given us to define ourselves to a world that is hungry for truth. In the words of Liz Moe, we will “[k]ick ass and take names” in 2019. PHOTO: My friendship motto.