7. Julian Castro and his twin brother guarantee Warren at least two votes
- After ending his own 2020 Democratic presidential campaign, former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro has endorsed U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).
- Castro and Warren have a campaign rally planned for Tuesday night in Brooklyn, New York. Castro said Warren is the “one candidate I see who’s unafraid to fight like hell to make sure America’s promise will be there for everyone.”
6. Bloomberg just throwing money at his campaign
- Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has only been in the 2020 Democratic presidential race for about six weeks, but he’s now spent $166 million on television ads for his campaign. $36 million worth of those ads aired within the first week of 2020.
- Within the first six weeks of his campaign, Bloomberg has hired 800 staffers, he’s been endorsed by Judge Judy and he’s currently polling around 5.6%.
5. Tua to enter the draft
- Tua Tagovailoa has announced that he will be entering the NFL Draft in April and not returning for another season with the University of Alabama’s football team.
- Tua said that while Alabama is “the greatest school” in the country and it was a difficult decision, it took “lots of prayers, thoughts and guidance” before he made his decision to enter the 2020 draft.
4. Bolton unlikely to testify in impeachment trial
- Former national security adviser to President Donald Trump John Bolton has announced through a written statement that “if the Senate issues a subpoena for my testimony, I am prepared to testify,” but it still seems unlikely that he will be called to do so.
- Previously, Bolton said he would only testify before Congress if he was ordered to by a judge. U.S. Representative Adam Schiff (D-CA) has responded to the news by tweeting, “Bolton is an important witness to misconduct involving Ukraine that he called a ‘drug deal.’ Bolton refused to testify in the House, following Trump’s orders. Now he is willing to come forward. The Senate must allow testimony from him, Mulvaney and others. The coverup must end.”
3. “The Squad” make pretty good targets for Alabama politicians
- In his newest television ad for his 2020 U.S. Senate candidacy, U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-Fairhope) is taking issue with the “Socialist Squad,” U.S. Rep. lhan Omar (D-MN) and former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
- Also taking a shot at Omar is candidate for Congress Jessica Taylor, who said Omar was “un-American,” adding, “For her to say that when we had just taken out one of the worst terrorists … for her to say we should not have done that is just astonishing to me.”
2. Grocery tax could make an exit
- State Senator Clyde Chambliss (R-Prattville) has said that he’s going to push for Alabama to do away with the grocery tax of 4%. Alabama, South Dakota, and Mississippi are the only states that still have a grocery tax.
- Chambliss said that doing away with the tax would especially help “those who are on the lower end of the wage-earners” because groceries and food are a large portion of their spending, but he already sees the biggest issue with removing the tax would be how to pay for removal.
1. GOP moving to dismiss due to Pelosi’s delay
- If House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) doesn’t send articles of impeachment to the Senate for the impeachment trial, Republican senators are already preparing a resolution that would allow them to dismiss the articles of impeachment for lack of prosecution.
- U.S. Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) said on the Senate floor, “In the real world, when a prosecutor brings a case but refuses to try it, the court has the ability and the defendant has the right” to have the “charges dismissed.” Hawley also brought up how Pelosi for so long argued that President Donald Trump “was an urgent threat to democracy.”
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