7. Food stamp recipients will soon be able to order their groceries online
— The U.S. Department of Agriculture is launching a pilot program that will make it possible for food stamp recipients to purchase groceries online from Walmart and Amazon. The program will begin with New York and then expand to Alabama, Iowa, Maryland, Nebraska, New Jersey, Oregon and Washington. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said, “People who receive SNAP benefits should have the opportunity to shop for food the same way more and more Americans shop for food – by ordering and paying for groceries online.”
6. Old guard and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez-wing of the Democratic Party are split on impeachment
— The number two Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives, Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MI) believes the party needs to move on to actually legislating, while the radical wing of the party, led by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), is making noise about moving on impeachment. Speaking to CNN, Hoyer told Dana Bash, “Based on what we have seen to date, going forward on impeachment is not worthwhile at this point.” He added, “Very frankly, there is an election in 18 months and the American people will make a judgment.” But AOC has tweeted that she will be signing on the fellow freshman Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s (D-MI) resolution asking the House Judiciary Committee to look into whether President Trump committed an impeachable offense, so they are seeking a reason. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and other seasoned Democrats don’t seem too sold on the impeachment idea.
5. House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY) to subpoena the full Mueller report
— Jerry Nadler criticized Attorney General Bill Barr for not submitting the full, unredacted Mueller report to Congress from the beginning, and he plans to get the unredacted version of the report no matter what. Nadler said during a press conference, “The attorney general deciding to withhold the full report from Congress is regrettable, but not surprising. Even in its incomplete form, the Mueller report shows disturbing evidence that President Trump obstructed justice.” Nadler has also requested that Robert Mueller testifies before the House Judiciary Committee on his findings.
4. We now know why former Attorney General Jeff Sessions had to recuse himself
— The Mueller report release on Thursday morning showed definitively that Jeff Sessions had to recuse himself because he was personally under investigation by the special counsel’s office. The special counsel’s office investigated Sessions’ interactions with Russian Ambassador Kislyak in April, July and September of 2016 when Sessions was still a U.S. Senator. The special counsel looked into the interactions, and Sessions maintained that they did not relate to Trump and his campaign. The special counsel’s office investigated whether or not Sessions committed perjury or made false statements regarding the interactions. Trump is also quoted in the report as blaming Sessions for not protecting him.
3. Congressman Mo Brooks (R-Huntsville) is not running for U.S. Senate
— After recent polling shows the congressman in second place behind Judge Roy Moore, Brooks announced that, at this moment, he will not be jumping in the race. Brooks told the Decatur Daily, “It would take a seismic event to get me into the race.” This is hardly a “no, never” answer, so there is still a chance he gets in, but Brooks added, “As of today, I am running for reelection to the House of Representatives. And I don’t know of any seismic event that is about to occur that will change my mind.”
2. Alabama’s congressional delegates have responded to the release of the Mueller report
— With the release of the Mueller report, some people immediately became silent, while others were happy to speak out. Representative Mike Rogers (R-Saks) said after the report was released, “It is worth reiterating that during the first two years of President Trump’s time in office, a witch hunt was led by the Mainstream Media and Deep State Democrats…There was no collusion or obstruction.” Representative Mo Brooks (R-Huntsville) released a statement that read, “The perpetrators of this scam and fraud should be prosecuted and convicted to the full extent of the law. Further, they should be sued and forced to repay American taxpayers the tens of millions of tax dollars that were diverted from helping American citizens to investigating a crime that never occurred.” Representative Bradley Byrne (R-Montrose), Representative Gary Palmer (R- Hoover) and Representative Robert Aderholt (R-Haleyville) also released statements of satisfaction with the release of the Mueller report. However, Representative Terri Sewell (D-Selma) remained silent for a while, but then later tweeted, “Even in its incomplete form, the redacted Special Counsel report makes one thing very clear: irrespective of whether President Trump and his campaign’s actions were criminal, they were dishonest, unethical, immoral, and, ultimately, unpatriotic.”
1. No collusion, no obstruction, no indictment
— Two years of investigating and the Mueller report has finally been released. The report showed that there was no collusion, no obstruction of justice, and President Trump will not face charges. During the collusion investigation, Trump allegedly told his White House counsel that Mueller had conflicts of interest and “must be removed.” He told his White House counsel that the acting attorney general needed to be informed. Ultimately, though, Mueller found that Trump’s actions did not reach collusion, but Mueller said, “While this report does not conclude that the President committed a crime, it does not exonerate him.” However, it could easily be argued that if you can’t charge someone with a crime, that within itself exonerates them.
Don’t miss out! Subscribe today to have Alabama’s leading headlines delivered to your inbox.