House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) issued subpoenas to the Department of Justice and 10 former high-profile government officials.

It is time to get the “Epstein Files” and information about this to the public. Let the chips fall where they may.

But couldn’t these same people be brought in to discuss the Trump-Russia hoax?

Dale Jackson is a thought leader for Yellowhammer News and hosts a talk show from 5-9 a.m. weekdays on WVNN.

7. Comedian Michael Rapaport claims his comedy show was canceled in Birmingham due to threats over his public support for Israel.

6. Anti-Israel activist Mahmoud Khalil claimed the Oct. 7 terror attack by Hamas was a desperate attempt to make Gaza’s plight heard globally, defending the terrorists, justifying terrorism, and showing why the Trump organization wanted him out of the country.

5. Alabama landed at No. 8 in the 2025 preseason college football coaches poll, with Texas taking the top spot. Other SEC teams throughout the top 25 are Georgia at 4, LSU at 9, South Carolina at 13, Ole Miss at 15, Florida at 16, Tennessee at 18, and Texas A&M at 21.

4. Governor-elect Coach U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn) criticized Texas Democrats for fleeing the state to avoid a redistricting vote, calling them “cowards.” The issue of congressional redistricting remains in the news as illegal immigrants in the census reveal that there are millions of illegals in California and Texas, and hundreds of thousands in Florida, New Jersey, Illinois, New York, North Carolina, Georgia, Washington, and Arizona.

3. U.S. Transportation Secretary/interim NASA Director Sean Duffy announced wild plans to deploy a nuclear reactor on the moon as part of its strategy to win the “second space race” against international competitors.

2. Former Attorney General and U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Mobile) was subpoenaed by a U.S. House committee investigating the Jeffrey Epstein case, along with President Bill Clinton and many others, as the case continues crawling toward further explanation as federal inmate Ghislaine Maxwell is now opposing transcript unsealing.

1. U.S. Rep. Shomari Figures (D-Montgomery) criticized Democrats and Republicans for failing to secure the border, while Trump called undocumented immigrants “very special people” and opened the door for illegals to do farm work.

Listen here:

Dale Jackson is a thought leader for Yellowhammer News and hosts a talk show from 5-9 a.m. weekdays on WVNN.

The Business Council of Alabama (BCA) and its political arm, ProgressPAC, made an endorsement in what is shaping up to be the most competitive statewide race of the 2026 cycle.

On Monday, BCA announced its endorsement of former Alabama Supreme Court Justice Jay Mitchell in his campaign for Attorney General of Alabama.

According to BCA, “the endorsement comes after a thorough review of the candidates in the race, which includes two impressive public servants: Katherine Robertson and Pamela Casey.”

RELATED: Jay Mitchell, Katherine Robertson report neck-and-neck $1.2 million campaign totals in race for Alabama Attorney General

“Jay Mitchell has consistently demonstrated a deep understanding of the rule of law. He has been a proven ally of Alabama’s job creators and a committed defender of the free enterprise system,” Helena Duncan, President and CEO of BCA said.

“We’ve worked closely with Jay over the years, previously endorsing him in his two campaigns for the Alabama Supreme Court, and are confident in his ability to lead as our next Attorney General.”

“All three candidates bring remarkable talent, conservative credentials, and strong records of service to the table,” said Gary Smith, chairman of ProgressPAC.

“Our decision to endorse Jay Mitchell is grounded in our longstanding relationship with him and our belief that his judicial temperament, legal expertise, and leadership style make him uniquely qualified to take on this critical role at a critical time.”

BCA highlighted Mitchell’s time in private practice at Maynard Nexsen prior to being elected to the bench in 2018, “representing Alabama companies of all sizes, giving him firsthand insight into the legal and regulatory challenges business owners face,” and support his commitment “to uphold the Constitution, protect Alabamians’ rights, and be a partner to law enforcement and the business community in strengthening the state’s legal and economic environment.”

RELATED: Jay Mitchell, former Alabama Supreme Court Justice, announces run for Attorney General – ‘Honest. Tough. Principled.’

Alabama’s business community has long taken an active interest in attorney general and judicial races as the front lines of maintaining a pro-business legal climate. BCA has historically backed candidates who support tort reform, strong property rights and a predictable legal environment to sustain economic growth.

According to BCA, Mitchell’s judicial record reflects that philosophy. During his time on the Alabama Supreme Court, he joined opinions limiting civil liability in areas such as punitive damages, product liability and class actions.

RELATED: Justices Mitchell, Cook and Sellers stand with business in record-setting verdict

Katherine Robertson, first-time political candidate who brings to bear experience from the U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions, and most recently as chief council to Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall, is another contender for AG. Robertson recently announced her campaign in Birmingham alongside Marshall, who is also campaigning for U.S. Senate in 2026.

7. Britt discusses virtual parenting on Fox News as the youngest U.S. senator 

• ALabama’s junior U.S. Sen. Katie Britt (R-Montgomery) continues to be a focus of the national media, this week she was a focus of “Fox News Sunday. Britt, host Shannon Bream acknowledged, will be asked more about parenting than her colleagues will because she has young children.
• Britt agreed, “One of the things we’ve committed to is Facetiming, we actually had dinner via Facetime this week” but pointed out other parents miss their kids as well as they serve in the military or work 12-hour shifts.

6. State Rep. Cole believes giving people their money back is good

• Last week, Gov. Kay Ivey supported tax rebates for taxpayers and said it should be substantial, “I don’t want to just give them a token amount.”
• State Rep. David Cole (R-Madison) is the latest lawmaker to  agree, “Anytime you can give the taxpayer money back, that’s a great positive victory,” and he notes it is good policy too, “I think giving people back their money is key and it’s a good government policy.”

5. Biden and McCarthy to meet on debt ceiling

• After saying he would not negotiate with Republicans, notorious liar President Joe Biden will meet with Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) this week.
• Make no mistake, this is a negotiation. McCarthy said he is ready to talk about a “reasonable and responsible way that we can lift the debt ceiling.”

4. Mo Brooks responds to Trump attack on DeSantis for “disloyalty”

• 2024 is on and former President Donald Trump continues to slam Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as disloyal for potentially running against him, as well as bizarrely dinging him for his COVID-19 response. Trump says he is disloyal because, “I got him elected.”
• Trump’s loyalty is not his strong suit, Alabamians such as former Attorney General Jeff Sessions and former U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Huntsville) are good examples of that. Brooks responded to this “disloyalty” angle on Twitter, “The pot calls the kettle black. Someone disloyal to everyone else, including even his wives, is not owed any loyalty by anyone else.”

3. Controversial author out at Hoover schools

• The racial focus of educators across the country has ripple effects everywhere, including Alabama. In Hoover, author Derrick Barnes has been disinvited over controversial ideas and he is not too happy about it.
• Barnes’ books,  “Crown,” “I Am Every Good Thing,” and “King of Kindergarten” predominantly feature black children and themes. Superintendent Dee Fowler says a parent objected to his social media history, but no one explains what those are. Some stories cite Critical Race theory fears, but this seems to be lacking, as well, but his Twitter account has been deleted and he has been promoted with the 1619 Project.

2. Real school choice gaining ground in Alabama and elsewhere

• Iowa is the latest state to beat Alabama to real school choice options in United States. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds supported the bill which gives parents real power – every family with a K-12 student would receive about $7,600 from the state, or the total amount of taxpayer money the state spends on each student.
• Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth continues to push for more real “school choice” in Alabama ahead of the next legislative session. Last week, he tweeted, “You look at Florida, over 700 charter schools, over 600 magnet schools, thousands of students have gotten out of historically failing schools going to private schools — those kids have a choice now. Their parents have a choice in where they go. We’ve got to do the same in Alabama.”

1. Fallout out of 5 black cops killing a black man

• Five black police officers killed a black man and were fired from their jobs and charged with murder. Instead of applauding justice being done, the usual suspects in the United States have decided that this is just white supremacy run amock.
• After hyping up the release of a video, then watching as the promised riots did not occur (except in a few places), the media ramped up its attack on policing with some lawmakers again calling for the abolishment of policing and the creation of civilian traffic enforcement.

Count U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn) as an avid supporter of former President Donald Trump’s 2024 bid for the White House.

In recent public comments, Alabama’s junior senator reiterated his support for Trump, saying he was “100%” behind his candidacy. He once again doubled down on his admiration of the 45th president while speaking with reporters Thursday.

“I’ve always supported President Trump and I’ll continue to support his agenda, because, you know, it worked for all of us,” said Tuberville. “It worked for the American people. Inflation, we were energy independent, crime was down, more people had jobs. As I’ve said over the past few days, I support President Trump and his bid to become the next president in 2024.”

In the midst of a heated GOP primary runoff election in March 2020, Tuberville’s candidacy was bolstered after he received Trump’s endorsement over former Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

“There’s a lot of time until the next election. There’ll be a lot of my friends in the Senate that will run,” he said. “There will be some other people across the country. And they all know they have to deliver for the American people … But we’ve got to deliver for the American people right now. Republicans are focused on pushing back against this radical Biden agenda that has created such a mess for this country.”

He’s the leader America needs in 2024. That’s why I’m proud to endorse Donald J. Trump for President of the United States! pic.twitter.com/9EkSgIF680

— Tommy Tuberville (@TTuberville) November 18, 2022

Calling the populist Trump “an outsider,” Tuberville, a newcomer to politics himself, described the former president’s accomplishments as “amazing.”

“When the time comes, I’ll do everything I can for the Republican nominee, whoever it is,” he said. “But I’m focused on what we can do right now for the people of Alabama and this country. But I’m excited President Trump is running. He’s an outsider, he understands the scheme, he understands the system, and he’s very outspoken — sometimes too much.

“But I think what he did for us in such a short period of time was amazing. As we go through this process, right now, I’m totally on his side.”

Dylan Smith is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @DylanSmithAL

7. Sessions still arguing to end our immigration chaos

• Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions may not be leading the DOJ or in the U.S. Senate, but that doesn’t keep him from describing the issues at the border more accurately than most who are pretending they are handling the root causes of the matter.
• During a recent interview with the Center for Immigration Studies’ “Parsing Immigration Policy” podcast, Sessions said, “It’s difficult to overstate how tough it was for the Trump administration to make the progress. Lawsuits were filed, of course. As attorney general, we dealt with them and defended the president’s actions.” He also noted how bad the Biden administration has failed the people, “We began to win cases and change policies. The success was real and numbers fell. And it was thrown away by this administration. What they did exceeds anything imaginable to me.”

6. Demand for racism continues to outpace the supply 

• There was a threat to kill people at a fair in Opelika, Ala., posted on Facebook that read, “we’re coming to [the] Opelika Alabama fair to kill every NEGRO that we lay eye contact on so be prepared. WHITE POWER.” Unsurprisingly, the poster was not a Klansman from Alabama ready to start a race war, it was a false threat meant to inflame racial tensions that did not exist.
• A Black man, Pharrell Smith, 18, of Lafayette, La., has been arrested for posting the message along with some white supremacist imagery and will be charged with making a terroristic threat once he is released from custody in Louisiana.

5. Walker tries the OJ Simpson “If I did it” defense

• There is no question that Republican U.S. Senate candidate in Georgia Herschel Walker could have handled the abortion he almost certainly paid for years ago better. Yesterday, Walker decided to tell a friendly interviewer, “Had that happened, I would have said it, because it’s nothing to be ashamed of there. You know, people have done that, but I know nothing about it. And if I knew about it, I would be honest and talk about it.”
• Do voters care? Probably not and that drives the media crazy. USA Today‘s Rex Hupke sums up their anger at Republicans, for not turning on Walker, “Like the many Republicans who’ve rushed in to stick up for Walker in the wake of the abortion news, I don’t care if the former football star is an ancient, trans-dimensional, shape-shifting entity of pure evil that takes the form of a clown named Pennywise and terrorizes a small town in Maine. I want control of the Senate, and I’m sure Walker regrets any past desire to feed on humans.”

4. I mean, they got Al Capone for tax evasion, too

• Hunter Biden, the no-good son of a president, may be seeing justice for some of his actions, after all. Biden has been in legal limbo for years even though there has been plenty of evidence of obvious illegality on his part, and the part of his family, including President Joe Biden. Now the FBI might come knocking as if he was a pro-life protestor and needed to be taken down.
• For months, FBI agents believe there was sufficient evidence to charge him with gun crimes and tax crimes. Because these two angles are inconvenient to the media and their Democrats, expect a lot of coverage to be given to the fact that the decision-maker here was “appointed by Donald Trump.”

3. Mo Brooks is swinging on his way out the door 

• As U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Huntsville) is preparing to leave public office, he is continuing to say the same things he has been saying for decades. Brooks said, “the economy is tied to this horrendous national debt that the United States Congress and the White House keeps racking up, and ultimately it can result in the demise of a nation that took over two centuries to build.”
• Brooks isn’t blaming everyone for this. He cites Barry Moore (R-Enterprise) and Gary Palmer (R-Hoover) as some who also care about the debt. But he specifically called out U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Tuscaloosa) saying, “I would challenge anybody to come up with another name who’s been more responsible for this out-of-control spending than our own United States senator from Alabama Richard Shelby.”

2. State Rep. Chris England wants murderers to get paroled

• Alabama Democrats will take the national Democrats’ toxic “Defund the Police” rhetoric and raise the temperature by suggesting maybe we should let some career criminals, murderers, rapists and monsters out of jail.
• After a fruitless prison strike in Alabama prisons, State Rep. Chris England (D-Tuscaloosa) says none of their demands were unreasonable, including inmates’ demand to end life without parole – which is reserved for murderers and criminals with multiple offenses. He chose the word “unreasonable” because Gov. Kay Ivey referred to them that way.

1. Whoever is controlling Biden got him to pardon people for pot possession

• There is no question that the desire, some would argue self-defeating desire, to normalize recreational drug use is popular. So, it shouldn’t be a surprise that an unpopular president leading an unpopular political party would try to jump on the bandwagon. Amusingly, President Joe Biden’s past support for more penalties for drug users is well known but this is a new Joe Biden.
• Biden has pardoned all prior federal offenses of simple marijuana possession, in what promises to be a “first step” towards more lax enforcement and more recreational drug use. Moving marijuana away from heroin and LSD is seen as “progress” but will those drugs follow? Is this good for society? Will the surgeon general support making smoking marijuana legal while demanding we not vape?

Former U.S. Attorney General and Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Mobile), four years removed from public service, continues to sound the alarm over crime and illegal immigration.

Throughout his two decades in the upper chamber of Congress, Sessions staked his claim as a border security hawk and an anti-illegal immigration hardliner. As attorney general during the Trump administration, Sessions used his office as a means to defend the president’s border security policies.

Sessions, now a mere governmental observer, routinely opines on what he views as significant issues facing the United States.

In a recent interview with the Center for Immigration Studies’ “Parsing Immigration Policy” podcast, Sessions gave his analysis of the Biden administration’s handling of the border crisis.

The Trump administration’s successful border security strategy, according to Sessions, has been squandered by the Biden White House.

“It’s difficult to overstate how tough it was for the Trump administration to make the progress. Lawsuits were filed, of course. As attorney general, we dealt with them and defended the president’s actions,” Sessions told host Mark Krikorian. “We began to win cases and change policies. The success was real and numbers fell.

“And it was thrown away by this administration. What they did exceeds anything imaginable to me.”

The number of migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border stands at nearly 8,000 per day, according to data obtained by NBC News. The recent spike in illegal border entries, Sessions said, can be attributed to the Biden administration’s reversal of Trump-era border policies.

“The numbers now are worse than they were when President Trump first took over. They were bad then, and it was a crisis then,” he said. “They threw away the ‘Remain in Mexico’ policy, they reversed some of the opinions I issued as attorney general that were rational, legal and proper. They just reversed them. Anything they can do to stop day one the wall construction … It’s just one of the amazing, irresponsible, anti-law things I’ve ever seen in my life in Washington.”

Sessions, who formerly served as a U.S. attorney and Alabama’s chief law enforcement officer, asserted that the national crime spike was due in part to illegal immigration.

“I’m telling you, what they’ve done on crime was predictable and was a disaster. And the president should be standing firm against it,” he said. “Last year, the FBI statistics recorded the highest increase in crime in 60 years … Part of that’s driven by criminals coming in from abroad illegally. We’ve joked in Alabama about going to Texas. When you got in trouble with the law in Alabama, the local sheriff would say, ‘You could go to Texas and we won’t put you in jail.’

“You know, in poor countries they don’t keep people in jail 30, 40 years. So they’re glad to get rid of them. So, if you’re a child molester and the sheriff and police chief in Honduras know you, what are you going to do? You’ve got a cousin in Los Angeles. You just go across the border. So, I think we’re picking up a larger number of criminals than we used to in the immigration system.”

Sessions warned that the Biden administration’s lax border policies could serve to incentivize foreign nationals from across the globe, rather than just Latin America, to enter the nation illegally.

“I have a sense that the whole world is just learning that it’s not just Mexicans in Central America that can come illegally,” he said. “They can come illegally, too. And so we may be facing a flow from the Middle East and the Libyas and places like that that we’ve never seen before as they learn how to do it.”

Dylan Smith is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @DylanSmithAL

7. Preschool vaccine and mask mandate have been blocked by judge

• For those involved in the Head Start program for preschoolers, masks and the coronavirus vaccine will no longer be required for students and teachers after U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty ruled in favor of a Louisiana lawsuit against the mandate.

• Attorney General Steve Marshall had joined the lawsuit, as well as several other states. Marshall has said the decision “guarantees that Alabama’s Head Start teachers, staff, volunteers and students remain free to make their own choices over COVID vaccination and free from requirements to force masks on toddlers.”

6. Air Force Academy says stop saying ‘mom’ and ‘dad,’ y’all

• At the Air Force Academy in Colorado, new Diversity and Inclusion training has suggested that people use more “inclusive language” when speaking to others and went so far as to suggest that “you guys” shouldn’t be used, and instead terms like “folks,” “y’all,” “squaddies,” and “team” be used instead since they are not gender specific.

• The training also states that “mom” and “dad” shouldn’t be used, since “Some families are headed by single parents, grandparents, foster parents, two moms, two dads, etc.,” and advised against language like “boyfriend or girlfriend” as well.

5. Fauci now admits he hurt kids by pushing for school closures

• As he plans to retire from his position as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci has started admitting where there were mistakes made in the coronavirus pandemic response.

• Fauci noted that there should’ve been a better effort to commercially produce tests faster, and “We didn’t know masks worked outside of the hospital setting. There was supposedly a shortage of good masks for the people who were taking care of individuals.” On the topic of people wearing masks and getting vaccinated, Fauci also said, “If the country doesn’t want to get vaccinated, the country doesn’t want to wear a mask in an indoor setting, there’s not much the president can do about that.”

4. Triple murderer gets stay because of “time constraints”

• Citing an inability to access the vein of workplace murderer Alan Eugene Miller it was determined the state could not carry out the execution before his death warrant expired. Miller’s attempts to delay his execution continue to be met with positive results.

• The excuse of time restraints came after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled at 9PM that the execution could go on as scheduled but the state was unable to carry out the execution in 3 hours. Speaking of time, his murders were carried out in 1999 and he has never claimed he did not carry them out but the triple murder lives another day as the state says they will reschedule his execution soon.

3. GOP will roll out their “Commitment to America” today

• With primaries over and a midterm general election looming, Republicans in Washington will release what they hope is an agenda that will unify their party and lead to voters casting their votes for their candidates in the fall.

• House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) calls the package the “Commitment to America” and includes, “an economy that’s strong,” “a nation that’s safe,” “a future that’s built on freedom” and “a government that’s accountable.”

2. Sessions says Trump’s border policies don’t really exist anymore

• On the same day U.S. House Democrats voted to allow illegal citizens to vote, former U.S. Attorney General and U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions discussed the issues seen at the southern border and how President Joe Biden has drastically changed immigration policy since taking office. Sessions said that had former President Donald Trump been re-elected, we’d “basically have a lawful system of immigration in America … it was thrown away, deliberately, systematically, almost immediately by Joe Biden when he changed the policies.”

• Sessions believes the reason why the immigration issue has gotten as bad as it has is “Because the whole world is beginning to understand that if you come across the Mexican border, you’re in! and so why wouldn’t we expect even more to come? We’ve got to serve that message. We’ve got to put it in a circumstance where people know they’re not likely to be successful and those numbers will drop.”

1. Federal government will protect doctors who perform illegal abortions in Alabama

• The Veterans Administration has announced it would permit abortions to take place at VA facilities, even in states where it has been made illegal. And, now, the Department of Justice has said it will give legal defense to doctors who illegally perform abortions. Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall made it clear he will enforce Alabama’s anti-abortion law, no matter where the abortions occur.

• The DOJ’s Office of Legal Counsel has stated, “States may not impose criminal or civil liability on VA employees — including doctors, nurses, and administrative staff — who facilitate abortions or related services in a manner authorized by federal law, including VA’s rule. The Supremacy Clause bars state officials from penalizing VA employees for performing their federal functions, whether through criminal prosecution, license revocation proceedings, or civil litigation.”

According to the U.S. Border Patrol, there are nearly four times as many migrant encounters at the southern border under President Joe Biden than under former President Donald Trump.

The average number of crossings under the current president reached totals of roughly 189,000 per month, compared to an average of just under 51,000 during Trump’s time in office.

Thursday on WVNN’s “The Yaffee Program,” former U.S. Attorney Jeff Sessions said Biden’s policies are directly responsible for the current crisis at the border.

“I just think that President Trump had made real progress,” Sessions said, “and was on the pathway, if he’d been re-elected, to basically have a lawful system of immigration in America. One that serves the people’s interest. And it was thrown away, deliberately, systematically, almost immediately by Joe Biden when he changed the policies. It’s a tragedy to how much effort went into that.”

The former U.S. senator said voters need to send a message to Biden by voting against Democrats in the midterm elections.

“People don’t know how hard it was,” he said, “how frustrating it was, to gradually over time progress was being made, significant progress, it could of continued, and it was all wiped away. It’s just an absolute tragedy, and people responsible for it need to be voted out of office. The only thing they fear, the only thing they respect, is being voted out of power, and we need to send some of them packing.”

Sessions believes that Trump’s remain-in-Mexico policy was vital to securing the border under his presidency, and can’t understand why Biden would want to end the policy.

“The remain-in-Mexico policy was really a monumental achievement,” he said, “and Mexico agreed. He also had agreements with Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala. They didn’t want all their people leaving their countries. Whole towns were diluted of people in these countries … Biden administration ended remain in Mexico, which was the single greatest achievement of the Trump administration on immigration, and was the greatest failure of the Biden administration.”

Sessions said he’s not surprised at the number of people trying to enter illegally because the current policies act as an incentive to migrants wanting to come to America.

“We are now going to hit over 2 million arrested this year,” he said. “It is the largest numbers ever. Why? Because the whole world is beginning to understand that if you come across the Mexican border, you’re in! And so why wouldn’t we expect even more to come? We’ve got to reserve that message. We’ve got to put it in a circumstance where people know they’re not likely to be successful and those numbers will drop.”

Yaffee is a contributing writer to Yellowhammer News and hosts “The Yaffee Program” weekdays 9-11 a.m. on WVNN. You can follow him on Twitter @Yaffee

7. Britt slams Biden as weak on issues concerning China as Pelosi heads to Asia 

• As U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is set to visit Taiwan, a trip China has said should be called off, U.S. Senate Republican nominee Katie Britt slammed President Joe Biden for the “weakness” he continues to show toward the Asian superpower.

• Britt said, “We have got to have leaders that understand that you deter war through strength, and once again we are seeing Joe Biden show total weakness…Our adversaries across the world are watching us. The fact that he wouldn’t stand with Speaker Pelosi and stand and be bullied by the Chinese Communist Party is a disgrace. It’s despicable and unacceptable.”

6. Sessions disagreed with Trump’s criminal justice reform, allegedly

• In a new book, former White House adviser Jared Kushner will detail some of his interactions with former Attorney General Jeff Sessions. According to Kushner, Sessions strongly opposed criminal justice reform.

• In a portion of the book, Kushner wrote, “Sessions turned to me and in his southern drawl declared, ‘Jared, it’s very simple. If the boy does the crime, you’ve got to lock him up.’ That’s just where he was.” Kushner also alleged that Sessions attempted to put “poison pills” in the legislation that would create more opposition. Kushner wrote, “I realized that he would try to subvert us at every single turn, making a nearly impossible task even harder.”

5. Closed primaries are probably headed for Alabama

• The Alabama Legislature is expected to consider closing Alabama’s primaries and requiring voters to register under a preferred political party. 

• During a recent appearance on Alabama Public Television’s “Capitol Journal,” State Senator Chris Elliott (R-Daphne) advised, “I think what you’ve seen in a number of races this year…you saw probably the best-documented case of organized Democrats voting against a Republican incumbent for the purpose of swaying the outcome of the primary.” He later added, “[W] e’ve got to look at whether or not that type of action – that clear involvement of the other party’s activists playing and affecting the outcome of a party function – is something we’re going to continue to allow.”

4. Al-Qaeda leader killed over the weekend

• It’s been reported that al-Qaeda leader Ayman Al Zawahiri was killed by the United States over the weekend. President Joe Biden confirmed the report during a national address on Monday night.

• A senior administration official reported, “[T]he United States conducted a counterterrorism operation against a significant al Qaeda target in Afghanistan. The operation was successful and there were no civilian casualties.”

3. Mexicans have had enough of Americans invading their country — seriously

• In a very strange turnabout, some of the native Mexican population appears to be getting rather testy with an influx of Americans making the country their work-from-home hotspot. The Americans seem to be drawn to the country because of the cheaper cost of living and are using their employer’s flexibility to make a go of it in places like Mexico City.

• The number of Americans heading south, mostly from California, is running into local opposition in the form of fliers that read, “New to the city? Working remotely? You’re a f—ing plague and the locals f—ing hate you. Leave.” Hilariously, there are even Mexicans upset that the English language is being spoken more than Spanish is.

2. Tuberville: Government shouldn’t be involved in marriage

• U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-Auburn) recently stated that he’s not interested in outlawing same-sex marriage in the country, but he’s argued the Respect for Marriage Act is a distraction. It still isn’t clear how Tuberville will vote on the bill that would repeal a currently blocked bill banning gay marriage.

• Tuberville said that same-sex marriage legislation was “not the federal government’s job,” adding, “We’ve got so many problems that we’re spending time on this now when there was no problem to begin with. Don’t go to a problem when you don’t have one, and the Democrats are just trying to create one to make the Republicans look bad right before the election. And they’re not going to win this battle.”

1. Biden’s approval is lower than any recent presidents

• As President Joe Biden continues to test positive for COVID-19, data from a Gallup poll reveals Biden now has the lowest approval rating of any modern president in their sixth quarter at only 38%. When Biden’s presidential term started, he held an approval rating of 57%.

• In June of 2022, Biden’s approval rating was at 41%, showing a three-point decline in only a month. According to the poll, 45% of people strongly disapprove of Biden’s job performance, and 13% of people strongly approve. Another poll shows former President Donald Trump beating both Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris in head-to-head matchups.

7. Bill Cosby could be going on tour

• Since Bill Cosby was released from prison, he’s now allegedly been in talks to start a comedy tour. Andrew Wyatt, Cosby’s spokesperson, has said that Cosby “is just excited the way the world is welcoming him back.”
• When Cosby was released from prison, he continued his narrative that he is innocent. Wyatt has also insisted, “[C]omedy club owners have called. People want to see him.”

6. Steve Clouse running for speaker, Poole withdraws (more…)

Sunday, to commemorate America’s independence and founding, the First Baptist Church of Huntsville featured a discussion between church senior pastor Travis Collins and former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Sessions explained the challenges the country faced as there had been a move to demonize America’s founding within the culture.

In his remarks, he highlighted the importance of now allowing the effort to succeed and reminded parishioners the standard the modern left set for the country’s founders was unreasonable.

(more…)

Former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions will be the keynote speaker at Southern Preparatory Academy’s first-ever Board of Trustees Scholarship Banquet.

Southern Prep was known for years as Lyman Ward Military Academy before rebranding in 2019. A boarding school, it bills itself as “Alabama’s premier military academy for boys” and takes young men in grades 6-12.

The banquet at which Sessions will speak is designed to raise money for scholarships to the school, where enrollees are referred to as “cadets.”

“These scholarships can make all the difference in a cadet’s life. They enable promising cadets to pursue a quality education and experience opportunities that otherwise would not have been available,” said Southern Prep in a release.
(more…)

U.S. Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL) has announced that he is not going to run for re-election. This signals the conclusion of a long and productive career as Alabama’s most influential advocate in Washington, D.C. It also opens the door to what could be a pretty crowded primary to replace him.

Will former U.S. Senator Jeff Sessions launch another campaign? Unlikely.

Will former U.S. Representative Bradley Byrne (R-Mobile) take another shot at a Senate seat? I don’t see it.

Will Shelby’s former chief of staff and current Business Council of Alabama CEO Katie Boyd Britt attempt to follow in her old boss’ footsteps as a master appropriator? There are lots of rumblings about her aspirations and backers.

While these players may or may not be chomping at the bit to get in this race in 2022, one guy probably will be in for sure. (more…)

7. Years of questioning election results may be having an impact

• The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research has released polling data that shows only 16% of Americans believe democracy is working well, while 38% say it’s working somewhat well. 
• Although, 45% of Americans say democracy isn’t working in the country. This comes after major disputes over the most recent national election results and now with former President Donald Trump facing a second impeachment trial. 

6. Paying the college players

• A bill by State Representative Kirk Hatcher (D-Montgomery) would allow all college athletes in the state to profit off the use of their name, image and likeness. 
• Hatcher pointed out how these athletes already “help generate millions of dollars for athletic programs.” This would also allow athletes to hire representation, but schools wouldn’t be able to pay students outside of currently allowed stipends and scholarships.  

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While it was not a total surprise, Monday’s announcement from Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Tuscaloosa) that he would not seek a seventh term in 2022 did send shockwaves through the political universe — not just in Alabama but around the country.

Shelby served four terms in the U.S. House of Representatives and nearly six terms in the U.S. Senate over four decades on Capitol Hill.

For 20 of those years, he served alongside Jeff Sessions, who was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1996 but left in 2016 to serve as the Trump administration’s attorney general. In a statement given to Yellowhammer News, Sessions called the announcement a “significant moment in Alabama history.”

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There has been a tangible uptick in enthusiasm for President Donald Trump in recent days that has seemingly gone unmatched by his opponent, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden, which has some comparing the phenomenon to the scenario that played out for Trump in the closing stages of the 2016 campaign against Hillary Clinton.

Trump won the 2016 election by a 304-227 margin in the Electoral College to become president, and with him in those closing stages was then-Sen. Jeff Sessions, who would go on to become Trump’s Attorney General.

In an interview with FM Talk 106.5’s “The Jeff Poor Show,” Sessions said this campaign felt a lot like the 2016 campaign and added that Biden lacked in enthusiasm more than Hillary Clinton had in 2016.

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Radio talk show host Dale Jackson and Alabama Democratic Executive Committee member Lisa Handback take you through Alabama’s biggest political stories, including:

— Why is 2020’s presidential election replaying some of the key moments from 2016 and will President Donald Trump benefit from it?

— Has Big Tech finally gone too far by censoring and stopping the spread of the latest series of bombshells about former Vice President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter?

— Did anybody expect to see an endorsement from former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions for Republican U.S. Senate nominee Tommy Tuberville? (more…)

7. Saban is still doing well

• University of Alabama head football coach Nick Saban will be “evaluated daily” and will continue to self-isolate as he has tested positive for the coronavirus; currently, he’s coaching virtually.
• Saban is still asymptomatic, and the team is currently preparing to play the Georgia Bulldogs on Saturday.

6. Social media protecting Biden proves allegations are false? (more…)

Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions joined his former Republican primary opponent former Auburn football coach Tommy Tuberville on the campaign trail in recent days, and the pair released a video Thursday where Sessions urged voters to reject incumbent Senator Doug Jones (D-AL).

According to the Tuberville campaign, Sessions joined the former coach at meetings with leaders of Huntsville’s defense and technology sectors, “participated in an event sponsored by the Republican Women of Huntsville, and headlined multiple campaign fundraising events.”

“Tommy, I support you 100%,” Sessions begins the video.
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U.S. Senator Doug Jones (D-AL) believes that former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions and President Donald J. Trump do not actually support Christian values.

Jones in a Facebook livestream on Wednesday morning was asked by The Montgomery Advertiser to respond to a report released the day prior by The New York Times.

The report, which did not utilize any direct sourcing, outlined that Sessions and his administration at the Department of Justice had decreed that immigration law should be uniformly enforced, whether or not undocumented aliens had children or not. The report asserts that Sessions was acting at Trump’s direction, implementing a “zero tolerance” policy on immigration violations. It also claims that Sessions and other administration officials believed that separating parents from their children would deter future illegal immigration.

“I think it was horrible,” Jones reacted on Wednesday. (more…)

“Hey, I wonder what disgraced convicted felon and embarrassed former Governor Robert Bentley thinks about Amy Coney Barrett’s Supreme Court nomination?”

This, of course, is a question no one has asked — or will ask.

However, Bentley apparently felt like answering it anyway. (more…)

On Friday’s episode of Alabama Public Television’s “Capitol Journal,” incumbent U.S. Sen. Doug Jones (D-Mountain Brook) dismissed polling that showed him down 17 points to his GOP challenger Tommy Tuberville in November’s U.S. Senate election.

Jones questioned the poll’s methodology during an interview with APTV’s Don Dailey, saying they were not a “good barometer.”

He also argued former Auburn head football coach Tommy Tuberville, his Republic opponent, had not been tested. He mentioned that Jeff Sessions, Tuberville’s Republican opponent in the GOP primary runoff, did not “hardly touch” him on particular issues.

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While the results of Tuesday’s U.S. Senate Republican primary runoff may not have been a surprise, the margin of victory could have been.

Former Auburn head football coach Tommy Tuberville defeated former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions by 20 points and took wins in 64 of 67 counties from the candidate who had previously served as Alabama’s U.S. Senator for two decades.

U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-Fairhope), who had been a candidate in the GOP primary stage of the race, said he was not surprised by the outcome. During an interview with Huntsville radio WVNN’s “The Jeff Poor Show,” Byrne argued polling had not been in Sessions’ favor and that he anticipated the outcome.

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