7 Things: Inspector general says report vindicates no one, bill will protect first responders, some Democrats uncertain on impeachment and more…

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December 12, 2019

7. Training halted for Saudi Arabians

After the shooting at Naval Air Station Pensacola, the Department of Defense has decided to temporarily stop bringing Saudi Arabian military aviation students into the country for training, which has grounded at least 300 students.
The only training that will continue is classroom work, like English-language classes, but all infantry and other training will stop and about 850 Saudis will be affected. The Department of Defense so far hasn’t announced how long the halt will be.

6. ICE removals up this year

In 2019, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) conducted 267,258 removals, according to their annual report.
Of those who were removed, 91% had criminal convictions or pending criminal charges; the charges were for homicide, kidnapping, sex offenses and assault.

5. President Trump cracking down on anti-Semitism

President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that will invoke Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to fight against anti-Semitic rhetoric. The order will cut federal funding to colleges that don’t do enough to stop anti-Semitism.
Trump said that if colleges “want to accept the tremendous amount of federal funding you get every year, you must reject anti-Semitism.” This comes just after the attack at a Jewish supermarket in Jersey City, New Jersey.

4. There are a lot of places to buy a gun in Alabama

Over the last five years, there has been about a 10% increase in businesses licensed to sell guns and ammunition in Alabama, but in the last five years, Alabama has only seen a 1% population increase.
Compared to the nation, though, there has been an increase of 19.5% in businesses licensed to sell guns and ammunition within the last five years.

3. The slow march towards impeachment continues

The public hearings have taken place without really moving the needle, and now it is time to House Judiciary Committee to vote on the articles of impeachment that will be presented to the full House of Representatives.
The target of the impeachment, President Donald Trump, has called this “impeachment lite,” and with some Democrats who voted for the inquiry getting wobbly, it seems unlikely that the U.S. Senate is in any danger of convicting and removing this president.

2. Legislation to protect first responders will return

State Senator Chris Elliott (R-Daphne) tried earlier this year to pass legislation to add police officers and emergency responders to a protected class, which would make some harmful acts against them hate crimes, and while the legislation never made it to the floor this year, Elliott is going to try again.
Elliott said that the legislation got “bogged down in committee” as a result of some of the amendments holding its passage up, but Elliott wants to take things “one step at a time to address the issue at hand as opposed to try and bog it down with amendments” in 2020.

1. No vindication, many problems remain

Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz has given his testimony during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, declaring that the FBI’s Trump-Russia investigation didn’t “vindicate” anyone, much to the surprise of the media and their Democrats who have been saying the opposite.
Horowitz couldn’t rule out the possibility that the 2016 investigation was launched due to “political bias,” but he did emphasize that his findings didn’t indicate any “political bias or improper motivation.”