7. Mike Pence will get the vaccine on national television
- Vice President Mike Pence, who leads the White House coronavirus task force, will be joined by second lady Karen Pence and Surgeon General Jerome Adams when he receives the coronavirus vaccine on Friday morning, and he is asking American television networks to carry it.
- The surgeon general is taking the vaccine on television to help in outreach to black Americans who are skeptical of the vaccine. He is one of 0f the highest-ranking African-American officials and will also take part in a town hall later to further spread the message about the vaccine’s safety.
6. Alabama’s COVID-19 cases may have plateaued for now
- While the news regarding the coronavirus is not good, it is getting better. Health care workers have received their first vaccinations, and it appears that new case numbers have dropped a bit while hospitalizations are down as well.
- The numbers are still not great, according to BamaTracker.com. Alabama’s average daily number for the week is down from 2,722 to 2,615 this week, which is still very high. Experts expect that number to rise after the Christmas holiday.
5. Lindsey Graham calls on special counsel to investigate Hunter Biden
- U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is now publicly supporting the idea of creating a special counsel to investigate President-elect Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, and his previous dealings with China and Ukraine. These interactions have come to light a bit more as Hunter is being investigated by the FBI and IRS; the American media is actually looking at these dealings now.
- Graham said he’s “absolutely calling on a special counsel to look at all things Hunter Biden, to see if he presents a conflict with the Biden administration” so Biden’s administration can not scuttle the investigations.
4. Roy Moore case dismissed
- Former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore had brought a lawsuit against Governor Kay Ivey and State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris over the statewide mask mandate, and now that lawsuit has been dismissed by U.S. District Judge W. Keith Watkins.
- Watkins dismissed the case, calling it “shotgun pleading,” which is basically a disorganized case with no clear direction. Watkins also said that they were unable to show how alleged injuries were directly related to Ivey and Harris’ health orders.
3. Coronavirus pandemic stimulus bill deal near
- Members of Congress and the White House are yet again assuring that they are serious about a real deal on providing coronavirus stimulus funding. Congressional leaders and Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary, appear to have an agreement for a $900 billion bill, but we have heard this before.
- Interestingly, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was unable to get legal immunity for businesses into the legislation, something that he had referred to as a “red line.” Alabama legislators are working on a similar bill for the next legislative session.
2. Carl and Moore want voter fraud investigated
- A group consisting of 26 Republican U.S. Representative-elects have signed a letter that requests House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) begin an investigation into voting irregularities and fraud in the 2020 general election. U.S. Rep.-elects Barry Moore (R-Enterprise) and Jerry Carl (R-Mobile) have both signed the letter.
- In the letter, the group mentions “thousands of witnesses have submitted sworn affidavits of reported fraud related to the 2020 presidential election” as a reason for the investigation. Carl and Moore have both said that this investigation should be about ensuring that there’s “faith” and “integrity” in our elections.
1. Shelby is ready to “move on”
- More senators have come forward declaring former Vice President Joe Biden as president-elect, and now U.S. Senator Richard Shelby (R-AL) has made a statement to AL.com in agreement with those senators.
- Shelby, noting that the electors have voted, stated, “While I wish it would have yielded a different outcome, it’s time to move on.” Biden got 306 electoral votes, while President Donald Trump got 232.
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