7. Covington Catholic kids get a White House invite; Their school had to close until further notice
— President Donald Trump already said the kids were treated “very unfairly” and now could meet with the kids at the White House as early as tomorrow. The school was closed Tuesday because law enforcement didn’t think it was safe to open the school.
— The native elder at the center of this made-up controversy has had his version and the media’s version of events, as well as his life story, exposed as a lie.
6. Alabama resident and Yellowhammer News founder Cliff Sims claims President Donald Trump was ready to give NASA a blank check to get to Mars
— The president wants men on Mars and he wanted it done by the end of his first term, telling the acting agency head, “What if we sent NASA’s budget through the roof, but focused entirely on that instead of whatever else you’re doing now. Could it work then?”
— Then acting-NASA administrator Robert Lightfoot Jr. told the president that he did not think it was possible. Sims noted that President Trump was disappointed and told an astronaut he wanted it done “at worst” during his second term.
5. Congressman Mo Brooks (R-Huntsville) didn’t mention the name of a girl killed by an illegal — her mother attacked him for it
— Ellin Jimmerson who lost a daughter to an illegal immigrant during a police chase in Huntsville took to the pages of AL.com to assail the congressman for not mentioning her daughter by name only as “Tad Mattle’s girlfriend.”
— Brooks and any following this story knows of Jimmerson’s activism (she even employed her daughter’s eventual killer) and made the decision to not mention her daughter’s name in deference to the mother’s position.
4. Now the Mueller probe is all about the Russians and the National Rifle Association
— After the story about Trump “suborning perjury” exploded, the media took the weekend and decided the hook of collusion now hangs on the interactions between the NRA, the Trump team and the Russians.
— Those interactions include the Trump administration sanctioning a Russian NRA member, an alleged spy who infiltrated the NRA (making them victims instead of accomplices) and a whopping $2,500 in donation from Russia that came comprised mostly of “routine payments” like membership dues or magazine subscriptions.
3. The State of the Union will apparently go on as scheduled; House #2 breaks with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
—President Donald Trump seems to be prepared to ignore House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s cynical ploy to delay his January 29th State of the Union address until after the government shutdown is over, but Trump is preparing two speeches: one for a formal House delivery and one for delivery outside of Washington.
— There is still talk that President Trump may take the State of the Union on the road to Texas or Arizona, but this seems increasingly unlikely. The president has asked the sergeant-at-arms for a walkthrough in preparation for the event.
2. The case that could determine if Alabama loses a Congressional seat could be heard by the Supreme Court
— The Department of Justice, which lost a previous ruling about adding a citizenship question to the 2020 census, plans to seek a Supreme Court audience and have it done on an expedited basis to decide the issue definitively by the end of June.
— There are multiple cases being brought on this matter from all different perspectives, including a case where Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall and Congressman Mo Brooks are interested parties.
1. Day 33 of the government shutdown brings competing for Senate bills, no real plans and fears that the FBI is being crippled, but one Democrat congressman and one liberal media pundit is saying “give Trump the money“
— Both Democrats and Republicans are bringing long-shot bills to the Senate in attempts to appear like they are doing something on the government shutdown without actually doing anything.
— The latest government in crisis story du jour is about how the FBI can’t function in a government shutdown, with anonymous agents claiming the shutdown is jeopardizing their ability to conduct operations and claim it will bring on “sub-par applicants” in the future.
