CDLU Finds Luther Strange Fundraising Chair Listed as Director of $360,000 Corrupt Bribery Entity

WASHINGTON, Sept. 20, 2017 -- On the heels of showing how U.S. Senator Luther Strange allegedly gave a “helping-hand” a year ago to a criminal conspiracy that impacted the Civil Rights of Burt Newsome, Consejo de Latinos Unidos (CDLU), a national advocacy group and public charity, today exposed how Mike Thompson, the fundraising chairman of Strange’s U.S. Senate campaign was listed as director of the Alliance for Jobs and the Economy, a tax-exempt entity created in 2015 whose purpose was to funnel $360,000 in bribes to a corrupt politician, former Alabama State Representative Oliver Robinson, according to court filings of the U.S. Department of Justice.

“The allegations of  corruption, self-dealing, and unscrupulous conduct surrounding Luther Strange has been confirmed: his most trusted financial booster was associated with a bribery scandal that is an active and ongoing federal investigation,” said K.B. Forbes, Executive Director of the CDLU.

“Mike Thompson was listed as a director of a corrupt entity that greased the wheels in a disgusting scheme to suppress poor African-Americans in North Birmingham from getting their toxic and contaminated property tested. As Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange opposed this environmental clean-up,” added Forbes.

In recent months, Alabama has been rocked by the Robinson Bribery Scandal, linked to one of Strange’s most ardent financial and political supporters, the embattled law firm Balch & Bingham, now under investigation in two federal probes.

According to U.S. News & World Report, “Federal prosecutors wrote in the charges that the goal [of the Robinson Bribery Scandal] was to protect Drummond Co. and its division ABC Coke ‘from the tremendous potential costs associated with being held responsible for pollution within the affected areas.’ Robinson took a contract with the Birmingham law firm of Balch & Bingham, which represented Drummond. Robinson urged constituents in Birmingham to oppose the Superfund action, claiming it would be bad for the area, and spoke out against the proposed action before the state environmental agency.”

“Robinson's invoices to the law firm would sometimes be paid through a nonprofit called Alliance for Jobs and the Economy that was created by the Drummond employee, prosecutors said. Robinson was paid $360,000.00 under the contract during 2015 and 2016, prosecutors said,” U.S. News & World Report added.

The CDLU, which has been investigating Balch & Bingham since last year in regards to the Newsome Conspiracy Case, inspected corporate documents filed with the State of Delaware by the Alliance for Jobs and the Economy and found Thompson listed as a director of the entity.

Balch & Bingham is currently under scrutiny in two federal probes: the Robinson Bribery Scandal; the other involves questionable subcontracts in Mississippi in relationship to the clean-up of the BP oil spill that happened in 2010.

In recent days, the CDLU showed how Strange gave a helping-hand a year ago in the Newsome Conspiracy Case. Newsome, a small-town attorney in Alabama, was allegedly wrongly targeted, falsely arrested, and defamed by the alleged co-conspirators including Balch & Bingham.

Learn more about the alleged criminal, unethical, and unscrupulous controversies surrounding Balch & Bingham at BanBalch.com.

For the past 16 years, the CDLU has been a leader in defending and assisting the public from abuses by irresponsible businesses and inept government agencies. The investigative reports and efforts of the CDLU have provoked three U.S. congressional probes and numerous state and local investigations. CDLU’s work has been profiled in numerous publications including  People Magazine, The Washington Post, and CBS’ 60 Minutes. The CDLU is a non-partisan, public charity.

CONTACT:    K.B. Forbes 202.320.1212 text or call
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