Almost everyone knows the 1895 children's novel 'Alice in Wonderland' by Lewis Caroll. The story tells of a young girl who falls into a rabbit hole, finding herself in a fantasy world of strange rules and full of so-called anthropomorphic creatures which attribute human traits and emotions to non-human entities.
One is almost reminded of such Alice in Wonderland anthropomorhisms when taking a closer look at the circumstances of the early 2019 appointment of America's highest
juidiciary judiciary William P. Barr to the position of US Attorney General. Some white rabbit may have been talking to William Barr already around November 2018, when Barr's predecessor Jeff Sessions was about to be put on the bench and replaced with Acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker. Then US president Donald Trump was looking for a new Attorney General following his understandable frustrations with Sessions year long stonewalling of ending the ridiculous Russia collusion hoax investigations against Trump. Similar to one of Alice's first encounters in Wonderland - a bottle labelled "Drink Me" - William Barr had probably taken a strong sip when it was clear he was about to be nominated for the position as US Attorney General.
New US Attorney General
William Barr was working at the time of his December 2018 nomination for the post as Attorney General on the board of US energy utility company Dominion Energy Inc., which announced in January 2018 the takeover of South Carolina's energy provider SCE&G & mother company SCANA in a $14 billion deal. The merger announcement states that a total of $1.3 billion in cash would immediately be issued as reimbursements to SCE&G electric customers.
Billion Debt Takeover
As part of the $14 billion deal, Dominion Energy takes over SCANA's $6.7 billion in debt which are attributed to massive corruption surrounding the construction of two nuclear power plants in South Carolina named 'VC Summer Unit 2 & 3'. Construction for two new SCE&G nuclear plants began in 2008 and were initially estimated to cost $10 billion, be operative by 2019. Multiple production and planning issues caused major delays.
Nuclear Bankruptcy
SCE&G construction partner Westinghouse files for bankruptcy in 2017 citing $9 billion in debt which caused majority owner Toshiba to sell it to Toronto, Canada based Brookfields Business Partners in 2018 still for $4.6 billion. In November 2018, SCANA & Dominion reach a $2 billion settlement with customers who had issued lawsuits over highly overpriced electricity bills for the funding of the two nuclear units.
Final Fine
South Carolina's Public Service Commission approves the final $14 billion Dominion takeover of SCE&G & SCANA on December 14, 2018, exactly a week after Barr's official nomination as future US Attorney General. In December 2020, at the end of William Barr's term as Attorney General, the SEC files a final fraud fine over $137,5 million against SCANA & SCE&G, now part of Barr's former employer Dominion Energy.
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Donald Trump favoured outsiders and disruptors for his cabinet positions. He opposed the Washington, DC career politician type, grown and shaped in emotionally correct cultures. Despite having served before as US Attorney General under President
Geroge George W. Bush from 1991 until 1993, William Barr could have been regarded as such an inside outsider at the time in 2018, probably quite similar to newly arrived Alice in Wonderland: William Barr was working at the time of his 2018 nomination for the post as Attorney General
on the board of directors of US energy utility
Unnoticed for many, the company Bill Barr oversaw as a board member was involved in a strange Alice in Wonderland takeover at almost the exact same time when William Barr was about to leave Dominion Energy
company Dominion Energy Inc., home based in Virginia.
According to Dominion Energy's own description, the company is
"one of the largest energy utility companies in the United States, with 16,200 employees and operations in 18 US states. It delivers electricity and natural gas to nearly 5 million homes and businesses, its operations include 25,600 megawatts of electric generating capacity, 66,300 miles of natural gas gathering, transmission, distribution and storage pipelines, 64,200 miles of electric transmission and distribution lines, and one of the nation's largest natural gas storage systems".
Unnoticed for many, the company Bill Barr
supervised oversaw as a board member was involved in a strange Alice in Wonderland takeover at almost the exact same time when William Barr was about to leave Dominion Energy Inc. to jump-heading the US Department of Justice. Quite similar to Alice's second encounter in Wonderland, a cake labelled "Eat Me", Dominion Energy announced early January 2018 that it would take over South Carolina's SCANA Corporation in a whopping $14.6 billion US Dollar deal - $7.9 in Dominion stock plus $6.7 billion SCANA debt. Among the many victorious
deal announcements, a few merger sentences which cause extreme Alice in Wonderland turmoil are in need to be wonderfully highlighted:
The agreement also calls for significant benefits to SCANA's South Carolina Electric & Gas Company subsidiary (SCE&G) electric customers to offset previous and future costs related to the withdrawn V.C. Summer Units 2 and 3 project ... a $1.3 billion cash payment within 90 days upon completion of the merger to all customers (!), worth $1,000 for the average residential electric customer ... a more than $1.7 billion write-off (!) of existing V.C. Summer 2 and 3 capital and regulatory assets, which would never be collected from customers. This allows for the elimination of all related customer costs over 20 years instead of over the previously proposed 50-60 years.
Dominion Energy & SCANA stock
merger press release from January 2018 President Trump was never really known as someone who promoted full-blown Socialists into his Administration, but the rules in Alice in Wonderland must indeed be strange considering a Dominion Energy announced immediate $1.3 billion cash payment to all SCANA electric customers (!) following the acquisition, not the other stock investment way around. Interestingly, a closer look at the two above mentioned suspicious 'V.C. Summer Units 2 and 3 Projects' apparently responsible for the immediate cash reimbursement to all electric customers unveils a quasi second parallel Wonderland. And William Barr must have had deep knowledge of it as a former Dominion Energy board member approving the 2018 SCANA merger.
The VC Summer Units 2 and 3 projects refer to the construction of two nuclear power plants in South Carolina.
It started in March 2008, when SCANA's subsidiary South Carolina Electric & Gas
(SCG&E) (SCE&G) applied at the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a construction and operating license for two 1,100 MW AP1000 pressurised nuclear water reactors as offered by the nuclear division of Westinghouse Electric Company - an early owner of CBS Media Corporation, by the way.
The projected costs for procurement, engineering and construction of the two plants were initially estimated to be roughly $10 billion US Dollars. Eight weeks after
SCG&E's SCE&G's initial construction application in 2008, the company raises in a first wave electricity costs to its 700,000 customers to finance the project. In October 2008,
SCG&E SCE&G is allowed to begin work on site, soon followed by expansion plans which are approved in February 2009. VC Summer Unit 2 is expected to begin operations in 2016, Unit 3 in 2019 according to the plan.
At the end of 2011,
SCG&E SCE&G announced first delays because of production issues and the redesigning of a number of important nuclear modules. The units are now projected to be operative in 2017 and 2018. In October 2014,
SCG&E SCE&G announces a one year delay and an additional $1.2 billion construction costs. One year after, the units' projected start dates are postponed to 2019 and 2020. In February 2016, mother company SCANA commissions a first report which outlines failures of engineering and construction partner Westinghouse and
SCG&E's SCE&G's failed oversight. Despite these findings,
SCG&E SCE&G asks the local government shortly after to issue another electricity rate hike to its customers; which is being granted, along with a total of nine energy rate increases to South Carolina's customers since 2008.
In March 2017, Westinghouse Electric Company suddenly
files for bankruptcy citing $9 billion in losses due to two nuclear construction projects, one of them the VC Summer Units. The Westinghouse bankruptcy sends shockwaves all the way to Japan, where majority owner Toshiba soon finds Toronto, Canada based Brookfield Business Partners as a buyer of their insolvent subsidiary.
Even Alice in Wonderland would have probably been amazed to find out that
Brookfields Business Partners - a company that made its first major acquisition in 2016 in Brazil and which is
alleged to have ties to Saudi crown prince Mohammad Bin Salman - paid Toshiba
still in
April 2018
still the gigantic sum of
$4.6 $4.6 billion for$9 billion debt rich Westinghouse Electric Company. About 6 months after the debt riddled Toshiba-Westinghouse takeover by Brookfields, Washington Post columnist
Jamal Khashoggi is being murdered at the Saudi consulate in
Turkey Turkiye on October 2, 2018.
Right in the middle of these
dominionised SCANA-Westinghouse-Toshiba-Brookfields Dominion-SCANA-Westinghouse-Toshiba-Brookfields Partners takeovers, mother company Brookfields Asset Management from Toronto
signs a 99-year property land lease for financially troubled 660 Fifth Avenue
skyscaper, skyscraper, owned then by Trump's son in law Jared Kushner. Canada's Brookfields Asset Management, which owns an impressive
list of lawsuits and controversies against itself,
In November 2018 SCANA & Dominion reach a $2 billion settlement with customers who had issued lawsuits over highly overpriced electricity bills for the funding of the corrupt nuclear grave
paid $1.3 billion USD in a deal
annnounced announced August 2018 to Kushner's property company.
In November 2018, at the exact same time William Barr must have heard for the first time that he is about to be put on Donald Trump's list of potential new US Attorney Generals, SCANA & Dominion
reach a $2 billion settlement with customers who had issued lawsuits over highly overpriced electricity bills for the funding of the corrupt nuclear grave. On December 7, 2018, Donald
Trump officially nominates William Barr as new US Attorney General. Exactly one week later, South Carolina's Public Service Commission
approves Dominion Energy's $14 billion takeover of electricity provider
SCG&E SCE&G and mother company SCANA on December 14, 2018.
William Barr, who once opposed anti-Vietnam War protests when he was a student at Columbia University, immediately and rightfully terminates the insane
Russia Collusion hoax investigations against Trump after being sworn into office on February 14, 2019. The Catholic Barr, whose
wife attends the same Bible study group as former head of devout Catholic Russia Collusion Special Counsel Robert Mueller's wife, then goes on to
visit visit Catholic headquarter Rome,Italy in October 2019, which later becomes one of the center focus of some
strange US 2020 election irregularities. Attorney General William
Barr announces on December 2, 2020, quote:
William Barr may have also been quite busy during his last weeks in the US Attorney General's Office at Pennsylvania Avenue around Christmas 2020. One day after Barr's election statement from December 2, 2020, a fraud charge by the Securities and Exchange Commission is announced to
be settled with a $137,5 million fine against SCANA and South Carolina Electric & Gas, now part of Barr's formerly supervised company Dominion Energy.
Not long after, William Barr would write his memories, which become 1st ranked on the New York Times book best sellers list shortly after being published in 2022. He rakes in millions and titles the book with:
One Damn Thing After Another.
Quite similar to the last incidents in Wonderland, where Alice is put on trial, held by Wonderland's King and Queen of Hearts. Alice grows back to her original height, she becomes angry with the ridiculous way the trial is being conducted and wipes some threatening cards away. In turn, the King and Queen of Hearts become angry with her. Alice would finally wake up sitting on a bench in real life where her sister brushes away what turns out to be leaves from Alice's face.
Would Alice had ever written her memoires about Wonderland as well ?
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This article was entirely created and written by Martin D., an accredited and independent, investigative journalist from Europe. He holds an MBA from a US University and a Bachelor Degree in Information Systems and had worked early in his career as a consultant in the US and EU. He does not work for, does not consult, does not own shares in or receives funding from any corporation or organisation that would benefit from this article so far.
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