The Alabama Political Reporter (APR) released a story this morning saying State Rep. John Rogers (D-Birmingham) told federal investigators “executives from Drummond Coal” approached him with what he deemed to be a bribe, and that Luther Strange (then the Alabama Attorney General) was present at the time.
The article says Rogers told investigators he was offered the alleged bribe to work against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regarding a Birmingham Superfund site. However, Representative Rogers would not corroborate this account. The APR attributes the claims to an unnamed source, not to Rogers himself. The APR did quote Rogers as saying that he didn’t want to discuss the matter “yet, because it’s too volatile.”
Around 5:30 pm, TV reporter Alan Collins with Fox6 Tweeted, “John Rogers says Strange was not present when bribe offered to him to oppose Superfund designation.” Two minutes later, Collins Tweeted again, “BREAKING GOP Candidate Randy Brinson said Rogers told him Strange was present at failed bribe; Rogers says ‘no Strange’.”
Earlier this afternoon, Senator Strange’s spokesperson also denied his presence at the alleged meeting, stating:
The allegations in Josh Moon’s article are simply not true and smack of the same fake news that President Trump and Jeff Sessions are dealing with. As shown by the recent Veritas videos exposing CNN, too many in the media are unaccountable and have dropped all pretense of having standards, abusing and using the First Amendment as a cover for lying about their political enemies and boosting their ratings.
The APR article says according to its unnamed source, “Rogers said he was offered control of a ‘super PAC or non-profit’ into which Drummond Coal and other entities would contribute money in exchange for Rogers speaking out against the 35th Avenue superfund site and working to keep the EPA from assigning the area to the National Priority List.”
At issue were several neighborhoods in North Birmingham where the EPA found high levels of arsenic, lead, and other harmful containments. The U.S. Attorney’s report said the EPA notified ABC Coke (owned by Drummond) and four other companies that they may have contributed to the contamination and that they may have to pay for the cleanup.
As we reported last Friday, Rep. Oliver Robinson (also a Democrat from Birmingham) entered a plea agreement in which he admitted to seven counts of conspiracy, bribery, wire fraud, and tax evasion. In short, he plead guilty to taking $360,000 in bribes from Drummond with the involvement of Balch & Bingham law firm in exchange for telling residents in the area that if they cooperated with the EPA their property values would decline. For his crimes, Robinson must pay restitution, must never seek elected office, and will most likely do prison time, even with the plea bargain.
Today’s APR article essentially claims Drummond approached Rogers first, that Rogers said no, that they tried one more House member (a female) who also declined, so they eventually landed on Robinson.
Maintaining his innocence with respect to the alleged bribe, the APR artilce quotes Rogers as saying, “I didn’t take money from anyone, and I told them that…I don’t do that. I don’t need their money. I got my own. And at the end of the day, all you got is your name. My name is good.”
In response to being named for their alleged involvement in the Oliver Robinson bribes, Balch & Bingham released a statement that read, “Honesty and integrity are core values at Balch & Bingham, and they will guide us as we evaluate these allegations…We are cooperating fully with the authorities, and are deeply committed to upholding the ethical standards of our profession and our firm.”
The APR article also speculates about Strange’s motives in his well-documented opposition to the EPA (see letter below) saying, “It’s unclear how significant Strange’s role was during the meeting with Rogers, but his intentions afterwards are clear.” The article goes on to say Strange “was the only candidate in that time frame – Oct. 2014 – Feb. 2015 – to receive more than a $5,000 donation from Drummond” and that he “received more than $75,000 from Drummond in a two-year span.”
In response, Strange’s spokesperson said, “As Alabama’s Attorney General, Senator Strange led the national fight against the over-reaching Obama EPA in order to protect jobs in Alabama and across the country.”
2015.01.20 AG Comment (1) by Yellowhammer News on Scribd
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