1. President Donald Trump’s former personal attorney Michael Cohen released a tape of the president discussing paying off a Playboy playmate
— Cohen’s attorney, former Clinton confidant Lanny Davis, says that the tape is his client hitting the “reset button” and he is preparing to tell the truth.
— Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani argues that the tape says something it clearly doesn’t, but is correct when he says there is not a crime on the tape. The damage is not criminal, but it is another hit to the president’s credibility.
2. Tariff war brings on literal socialism and not all Republicans are happy, but Alabama Congressman Robert Aderholt is
— As the president tweets about tariffs being the “greatest” and then ending all tariffs and winning a trade war, the White House has proposed a $12 billion dollar handout to farmers negatively impacted by tariffs and a trade war.
— Republicans in Congress are using this as an opportunity to highlight the $11 billion dollars in trade losses the tariffs cause and how this “temporary” program will offset it. Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse called tariffs “gold plated crutches” for victims of a “war of choice”.
3. Alabama was noticed for having the best “business climate” in a magazine focusing on site selection for business relocation and has 200,000 e-subscribers
— Alabama’s reputation for being a low-cost, low-tax, low-regulation state continues to attract the attention of business people around the world. “Business Facilities” named Alabama the number one state for overall “business climate” and number four in “economic growth potential”.
— The editor of the magazine wrote, “In Alabama, they’ve nailed the economic development fundamentals: maximizing resources with regional cooperation, a diverse growth strategy and good, old-fashioned relationship building.”
4. Walt Maddox wants to debate the governor but Kay Ivey thinks Maddox is debating himself
— Mayor Maddox continues to pound away on an issue that has absolutely no legs or impact, but he continues upping the stakes with personal attacks on the governor.
— He keeps stumbling as Gov. Kay Ivey asks him simple questions about abortion and his support for Supreme Court nominee Bret Kavanaugh. Instead of answering questions, and calling on her to do the same, he rambles and says, “In the end, the United States Senate is not interested in what the next governor or gubernatorial candidate thinks about the next chief justice [sic.] ”
5. Democrats’ war on ICE is intensifying. Their hatred is far more worse than GOP’s dislike of FBI
— In light of all the bickering over the 2016 election and the FBI’s role in it, Republicans have soured on the organization. Just 49 percent of Republicans view the agency as favorable and that is down from 65 percent before the inauguration.
— While this dislike of the FBI is blamed on Trump’s rhetoric, not much is made of the fact that only 20 percent of Democrats view ICE favorably and that number is plummeting.
6. Pearls clutched as Attorney General Jeff Sessions chuckles at high school students chanting “lock her up“
— Sessions laughed and said “lock her up” and “I heard that a long time over the last campaign.” It was a light-hearted moment and Sessions hasn’t taken any steps to “lock her up,” much to the chagrin of his boss.
— CNN’s Chris Cillizza, feigning all the outrage he can as he fights the battle for media and the Democrats, opines hilariously that it “politicizes” the office. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries says Sessions isn’t fit to serve as attorney general.
7. Roy Moore is suing someone else about something that happened in the U.S. Senate race
— Even though the Alabama electorate rejected Judge Roy Moore in December of 2017, he is not done in the public eye yet. He as a press conference tomorrow where he will announce he is suing someone else for issues surrounding his election loss.
— Moore is already suing five people for defamation, claiming there was an organized conspiracy to keep him from being elected. It is unlikely that he will win any of these cases.
