7. Creepy porn inmate

• Michael Avenatti, who became famous for supporting porn star Stormy Daniels, is now looking at the potential of going to jail for 404 years for ripping her off.
• The federal prosecutors in New York allege that Avenatti stole around $300,000 from Daniels’ book deal and used that money for personal and business expenses. He already faces charges for trying to defraud Nike and not paying his taxes.

6. Alabama Democrats attack the Constitution

• Democrats at the State House decided to take turns at the podium declaring their disdain for free speech, calling their colleagues white supremacists and declaring that unpopular speech should not be free.
• Regardless of this embarrassing and anti-American display, HB 498 passed the House 62-27, and now could be taken up by the Senate. The Senate should take up the bill solely because of the comments of elected officials in the Alabama State House prove it is necessary.

5. The State Board of Education is about to get fired

• The House Education Policy Committee gave a favorable report to the constitutional amendment introduced by Senate President Pro Tem Del Marsh (R-Anniston).
• The amendment would replace the State Board of Education with the Alabama Commission on Elementary and Secondary Education, replace the state superintendent with a secretary of elementary and secondary education and it would mandate that Common Core be replaced.

4. Alabama is still open for business

• Governor Kay Ivey has announced that the largest supplier for the Mazda Toyota Manufacturing USA plant is coming to Limestone County; the plant will bring 650 new jobs.
• While Birmingham’s mayor continues to claim, without evidence, Alabama’s abortion ban is hurting the state, Ivey commented, “Alabama business is on a roll and we don’t plan on stopping anytime soon.”

3. OK, now the lottery is dead

• The lottery bill failed on a procedural vote on Tuesday in the House, where three Democrats voted for the bill. Issues of codifying illegal behavior, education funding and earmarks all played a role, but it is totally dead now.
• At an Alabama House Democrat Caucus press conference, House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels (D-Huntsville) said that the three Democrats who voted “yay” will be prepared to vote “nay” if the bill comes back this session because the Democrats don’t want this lottery bill for Alabama since it doesn’t deliver on their issues including college scholarships.

2. Pelosi caves to her extremist caucus

• On Wednesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) claimed that President Donald Trump may have committed an impeachable offense by ignoring subpoenas from Congress, calling reference to Article 3 of Nixon’s impeachment.
• Pelosi also accused the president and Republicans of not being committed to protecting the Constitution.

1. Trump rages against the impeachment machine

• For now, it appears legislating is all but done as both sides prepare to fight about investigations, investigations into investigations and claims of cover-ups, but it seems unlikely that anything gets accomplished moving forward.
• In a meeting that was to be about infrastructure, Trump demanded that Democrats put an end to their “phony investigations.” Only after that will he negotiate with them on issues and when they said “no,” he took to a podium in the Rose Garden and declared, “I want to do infrastructure. I want to do it more than you want to do it … but you know what, you can’t do it under these circumstances. So get these phony investigations over with.”