Jeff Sessions and Robert Mueller
Robert Mueller's investigation of the Trump-Russia scandal might be marching down 20th Street in Birmingham, according to a Web site that is playing an increasingly prominent role on stories that involve the intersection of Russia, Alabama, and corruption -- an intersection that seems to be getting pretty crowded.According the banbalch.com, Mueller's interview with Sessions almost certainly involved the softening of sanctions against Black Hall Aerospace, a Huntsville-based defense contractor.that has connections to Russia. The Birmingham firm Balch Bingham, Sessions's No. 2 financial supporter, did the sanctions work, and apparently wanted to keep that under wraps.
Sessions' announcement and rally in support of Trump reportedly was set for Black Hall Aerospace. But the location was changed to Mobile when word got out of banbalch.com's reporting on the Black Hall sanctions. The Balch law firm's Web site then scrubbed all references from its Web site about work it had done on Black Hall's behalf. Banbalch.com made sure the Mueller team knew about Balch Bingham skulduggery related to Black Hall:
As we told Mueller’s team:
“On or about March 2, 2017, after we had exposed them in our public education campaign, Balch scrubbed their website of all references to their successful lobbying in D.C. of changing Russian sanctions for Black Hall Aerospace. The website scrub not only created a cover-up, it magnified to what lengths Balch would go to sugar-coat the past. In addition, their [now former] top lobbyist in Washington changed his resume, removing all references to his success in changing Russian sanctions. What in the world is Balch hiding?”
From a post last week about the latest on the Mueller investigation, and its apparent ties to Alabama:
So did Sessions talk to Mueller about the Russians in his backyard and his cozy relationship with Balch Bingham?
Balch Bingham’s relationship with and lobbying efforts on behalf of Russian-linked, Huntsville-based aerospace company Black Hall Aerospace, Inc. a/k/a AAL USA, Inc. may be under a growing microscope.
In November of 2015, Balch successfully had Russian sanctions changed on behalf of Black Hall. As published, the sanctions “shall not apply to subcontracts at any tier with ROE and any successor, sub-unit, or subsidiary thereof made on behalf of the United States Government for goods, technology, and services for the maintenance, repair, overhaul, or sustainment of Mi-17 helicopters….”
ROE is the state-owned Russian defense conglomerate.
According to our conversation with Thomas M. Countryman, the former U.S. Department of State official who drafted that exemption, the decision to make those changes to Russian sanctions came from either the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, State, or Defense.
How does this point to Jeff Sessions -- and likely make it of interest to Robert Mueller? Banbalch.com explains:
As U.S. Senator, Jeff Sessions was a senior member of the Armed Services Committee and had a close relationship with the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD). Balch was Sessions' #2 lifetime contributor when he was U.S. Senator, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.
Did he or his staff lobby to have Russian sanctions changed directly with DOD after meeting with Balch lobbyists? Did Jeff Sessions or his staff ever meet with Soviet-born immigrant Oleg Sirbu, the owner of Black Hall, or his management team? Did Sessions or his staff open doors at DOD for Black Hall Aerospace or their lobbyists?
Exactly three months and three days after the publication of those changed sanctions, Sessions endorsed President Trump. Originally the backdrop was going to be at Black Hall, but was changed due to crowd size.
How was that original venue chosen? Who made the decision? What favors were they seeking?
As we mentioned before, Balch scrubbed their website of their success in changing the sanctions. Worse, Balch appears to have lied about their relationship with Black Hall Aerospace to Politico.com.
Black Hall Aerospace, Inc. a/k/a AAL USA, Inc. was allegedly once a subsidiary of AAL Group, Ltd. which is certified by Mil Helicopters.
Talk about tangled affairs: Mil Helicopters was merged into Russian Helicopters, which is owned by the Oboronprom holding company, which is a subsidiary of Rostec, the state-owned not-for-profit with numerous holding companies and hundreds of entities under its belt, including ROE.