CDLU Says Sessions' Key Donor, Balch & Bingham, Deleted Web Content To Hide Russian Sanctions Activity

BIRMINGHAM, Ala., March 6, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Balch & Bingham, U.S. Attorney Jeff Sessions' number two donor as U.S. Senator, was accused of hiding their successful effort to change Russian sanctions last year by deleting their website content, according to the Consejo de Latinos Unidos (CDLU), a consumer advocacy group and public charity.

"Was Sessions or his staff involved with these changes to Russian sanctions? On February 15th, we called on Jeff Sessions to recuse himself from the investigations of the Trump Administration regarding Russia in part because Balch & Bingham's top Washington, D.C. lobbyist said on his profile that he worked to 'change specific provisions to sanctions imposed by the U.S. Government against certain Russian companies.' Under fire, Balch has since deleted that content and replaced it with new blasé language," said K.B. Forbes, Executive Director of the CDLU. The before and after screenshots can be seen here.

The CDLU has been investigating Balch & Bingham since last year for allegedly being involved in a case against a small-town lawyer in Alabama named Burt Newsome, who appears to have been wrongly targeted, arrested, and defamed.

"We knew Sessions was shrouded in a kosovorotka, but now Balch appears to be playing a balalaika," Forbes quipped.

According to opensecrets.org, Balch donated over $140,000 to Sessions while he was a U.S. Senator.  In early February, the CDLU dispatched a letter to Kellyanne Conway asking The White House "to ban Balch & Bingham…from soliciting the Administration immediately," and adding, "Our advocacy group has been investigating serious allegations since last year and Balch appears to be trampling the rights of others in the name of the firm's domination."

Since 2001, CDLU's work has been profiled by People Magazine, The Washington Post, and CBS' 60 Minutes.

SOURCE Consejo de Latinos Unidos

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