Jim Zeigler: Critics hit Melania Trump for red theme in White House Christmas decor
Is nothing off-limits from the instant attacks by some national commentators? Now, they are doing full-length hit pieces attacking First Lady Melania Trump for her Christmas décor inside the White House. Their complaint? She used a red theme. Horrors, she had red Christmas trees. I watched the video of FLOTUS showing her Christmas interior. It was breathtaking. Stunning. And yes, different. Critics said the red was not appropriate. They said red means something different in Europe. Well, critics, we are the USA and not Europe. RED and green are the colors of Christmas. RED is for the shed blood of Jesus. Green is for His new life in resurrection and the new life anyone can have who accepts Jesus Christ. Rudolph the RED-nose reindeer. Santa wears a RED suit. Christmas lights are RED, green and white. Christmas Poinsettias bloom RED and white. If you charge too much for Christmas, your account goes into the RED. View the video of Mrs. Trump displaying her Christmas decor here. Do you agree with me that her work is appropriate, different and almost stunning? The critics in this case are reminiscent of Ebenezer Scrooge, the cold-hearted miser who despised how others celebrated Christmas. But, unlike Scrooge, the Trump critics are not likely to have a change of heart and become generous and warm-hearted. ••• Jim Zeigler is the State Auditor of Alabama. He was previously an investigative reporter.
Personnel note: Chief Tommie J. Reese Sr. appointed to serve as Law Enforcement Coordinator for AG’s office
City of Demopolis Public Safety Director Chief Tommie Reese Sr. has been appointed to serve as new Law Enforcement Coordinator for the Alabama Attorney General’s Office. Attorney General Steve Marshall made the announcement on Thursday confirming news that first broke Nov. 14 when Reese resigned from his Demopolis post, effective Dec. 26. “I am pleased that Chief Tommie Reese will serve as my new liaison with Alabama’s law enforcement community,” Marshall said. “Chief Reese brings over 30 years of varied law enforcement experience from the State to the local level and is well known and respected by his peers. In particular, he has served the people of Demopolis and Marengo County with distinction and I look forward to his leadership on my team come January.” In his new capacity, Reese will work with law enforcement agencies across the state to develop training programs, to notify officers of changes in criminal law, and to facilitate communication and cooperation between the Attorney General’s Office and law enforcement statewide. “I am truly honored by the opportunity to work with the Alabama Attorney General’s Office under Attorney General Steve Marshall as his Law Enforcement Coordinator,” said Reese. “It is going to be a privilege to continue my professional career by serving the men and women of law enforcement and the citizens of the State of Alabama in this position. I look forward to continuing the good work of those who served before me, while making Alabama an even better place for its citizens.” About Reese A native of Demopolis, Reese began his law enforcement career with the Alabama Department of Public Safety in 1985. He later joined the Demopolis Police Department as a Patrolman. In 1991, he joined the Marengo County Sheriff’s Office as a Deputy Sheriff. In 1994, he was appointed to Chief Deputy where he served until he was appointed Chief of Police for the City of Demopolis in 2009. During his tenure as Chief, he has focused on crime prevention and combining community-police partnerships. He developed The Demopolis Citizens Police Academy (CPA) and The Demopolis Police Youth Leadership Academy (DPYLA) which have strengthened a greater Police-Community effort in resolving crime and community issues. In 2017, Reese was appointed Director of Public Safety expanding his oversight to include both the Demopolis police and fire departments. Reese holds a graduate certificate in Criminal Justice Education from the University of Virginia and is a graduate of the distinguished FBI National Academy Session 210th, Quantico, Virginia. He is further recognized as a Certified Chief of Police by the Alabama Association of Chiefs of Police and as a Certified Law Enforcement Executive by the Alabama Peace Officer’s Standards and Training Commission. He currently serves as the President of the Alabama Peace Officer’s Association and was recently appointed to the Board of Directors for the International Association of Chiefs of Police. He served two terms as the President of the Alabama Association of Chiefs of Police. Reese replaces former AG Law Enforcement Coordinator Chris Carden who retired from State service in September. He will begin work in the Attorney General’s Office in January.
Authorities arrest suspect in Thanksgiving shooting at Hoover mall where police killed man they thought was shooter
The Latest on a Thanksgiving night shooting at a mall in Alabama (all times local): 11:30 p.m. Authorities say they have arrested a suspect in a Thanksgiving night shooting at an Alabama shopping mall where police killed a man they thought was the shooter. The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency says 20-year-old Erron Martez Dequan Brown of Bessemer was charged with attempted murder in the Nov. 22 shooting at the Riverchase Galleria in Hoover. Inspector Frank Lempka with the U.S. Marshals in Atlanta said Brown was arrested Thursday morning at a relative’s home in South Fulton, just outside of Atlanta. Lempka said Brown was taken to the Fulton County jail for an extradition hearing to be sent back to Alabama. Emantic “EJ” Bradford Jr. was killed by an officer responding to the report of a mall shooting. Police said Bradford had a gun, and they initially blamed him for opening fire. They later retracted that allegation. ___ 10 a.m. Leaders of an Alabama city that’s been the target of protests since police shot and killed a black man in a shopping mall are asking the state for permission to release more information about the killing. Hoover city officials made the request during an appearance Thursday. They say they’ll look at releasing information on their own if no response comes by noon Monday. Demonstrators and relatives of Emantic “EJ” Bradford Jr. have pushed authorities to release video and other evidence. Bradford was killed by an officer responding to a report of a mall shooting on Thanksgiving. The state is investigating and so far has refused to release video and other information about the killing. A spokesman for the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment. Republished with permission from the Associated Press.
Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, pleads guilty to lying to Congress
Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump‘s former lawyer, made a surprise appearance before a federal judge in New York on Thursday and pleaded guilty to lying to Congress to cover up that he was negotiating a real estate deal in Moscow on Trump’s behalf during the heat of his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination. Trump called Cohen a “weak person” who is lying to get a lighter sentence. The charge was brought by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating Russian interference in the presidential election, and was the result of his cooperation with that probe. Flanked by his lawyers, Cohen admitted making false statements about the project in 2017 to Senate and House intelligence committees, which at the time were investigating possible connections between the Trump campaign and Russia. His comments made clear that his communications with Trump about the project were much more frequent than he had suggested. Cohen, 52, wearing a blue tie and dark suit, was noticeably relaxed throughout the appearance in a packed Manhattan courtroom, unlike his irritable and emotional demeanor when he entered a guilty plea during the summer. Cohen told the judge he lied about the timing of the negotiations, his communications with people in the company and in Russia about the deal, and other details to be loyal to Trump and consistent with Trump’s “political messaging.” Cohen and prosecutors referred to Trump as “individual one” throughout Thursday’s proceedings and said he lied “to be loyal to Individual One.” Among other lies, Cohen said he told Congress that all discussions about building a Trump Tower in Moscow had ended by January 2016, when they had actually continued until June of that year. He said he also lied about his contacts with Russian officials and lied when he said he never agreed to travel to Russia in connection with the project and never discussed with Trump plans to travel to Moscow to support the project. Prosecutors said in a court document that Cohen had misled Congress to give a false impression that the Moscow project had ended before the Iowa caucus and first Republican presidential primary in 2016. As he left the White House shortly after the court proceeding concluded, Trump called Cohen “a weak person” “Michael Cohen is lying and he’s trying to get a reduced sentence,” Trump said. Nothing said in court, or in associated court filings, addressed whether Trump or his aides had directed Cohen to mislead Congress. The charges were handled by Mueller’s team, not the federal prosecutors in New York who handled Cohen’s previous guilty plea in August to other federal charges involving his taxi businesses, bank fraud and his campaign work for Trump. Cohen is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 12. Cohen declined to comment as he left the courtroom. Cohen’s lawyer, Guy Petrillo, noted that a letter from federal prosecutors showed that Cohen’s cooperation with Mueller will be described to Cohen’s sentencing judge. However, the letter makes clear that Cohen is not receiving the kind of “5K1.1” letter written on behalf of formal government cooperators. Reacting to the plea, House Speaker Paul Ryan said Cohen “should be prosecuted to the extent of the law. That’s why we put people under oath.” Cohen gave a statement to congressional committees last year saying the president’s company pursued a project in Moscow during the Republican primary but that the plan was abandoned “for a variety of business reasons.” Cohen also said he sent an email to the spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin as part of the potential deal. In his statement, he said that he worked on the real estate proposal with Felix Sater, a Russia-born associate who he said claimed to have deep connections in Moscow. The discussions about the potential development began after Trump had declared his candidacy. Cohen had said the talks ended when he determined that the project was not feasible. Cohen had also disclosed that Trump was personally aware of the deal, signing a letter of intent and discussing it with Cohen on two other occasions. Republished with permission from the Associated Press.
In effort to break drug-crime nexus, Kay Ivey awards grant for drug rehabilitation in state prisons
The State of Alabama is continuing to take steps to help inmates at state prisons overcome drug addictions that may have led or contributed to their prison terms. On Wednesday, Gov. Kay Ivey awarded $504,892 in grant funding to the Residential Substance Abuse Treatment (RSAT) program to help break this drug-crime nexus. The program is six-month course that will be conducted at seven prisons —Bullock Correctional Facility; Bibb Correctional Facility; Donaldson Correctional Facility; Easterling Correctional Facility; Staton Correctional Facility; Tutwiler Correctional Facility; Ventress Correctional Facility — with the intention of breaking the link between drug addiction and criminal activity. “We should strive to ensure that once a person is released from prison they will become a productive member of society,” Ivey said. “This program provides inmates the opportunity to escape their drug habit while in prison and create a new slate when they are released.” According to Bob Horton, Public Information Manager at ADOC, “the grant more than doubles the funding that the treatment program has received in previous years, which will enable the ADOC to expand services.” The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs (ADECA) is administering the program from funds made available to the state from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ). The DOJ describes that is goal of the RSAT Program “is to break the cycle of drugs and violence by reducing the demand for, use, and trafficking of illegal drugs. RSAT enhances the capability of states and units of local government to provide residential substance abuse treatment for incarcerated inmates; prepares offenders for their reintegration into the communities from which they came by incorporating reentry planning activities into treatment programs; and assists offenders and their communities through the reentry process through the delivery of community-based treatment and other broad-based aftercare services.” RSAT in Alabama In Alabama, the six-month RSAT Program curriculum is divided into three phases of treatment that are two months each. “In the program’s first phase, inmates who are enrolled take part in full-time treatment activities aimed at dealing with denial of addiction, recognition of drug abuse consequences, understanding of the addiction cycle, and a thorough understanding of the recovery cycle,” Horton explained. “The program’s second phase exposes inmates to recovery issues closely related to substance abuse such as anger management, character defects, criminal thinking, and poor coping skills and habit development. In the third phase, the program focuses on relapse prevention and aftercare planning while working to develop positive life skills.” The ADOC offers aftercare dorms with 768 beds to those who are enrolled in the program to allow a person to spend time practicing and refining their daily addiction recovery. The program will be conducted by counselors who specialize in drug addictions and inmates receive drug screenings while in the program to monitor their success and to measure the program’s effectiveness. “Our main objective is to foster a person’s sobriety and to help them develop a responsible lifestyle once they return back to their community,” said Horton. As of August 2018, 314 prisoners have completed the RSAT program in 2018. Ivey notified Alabama Department of Corrections (ADOC) Commissioner Jeff Dunn the FY2018 grant had been approved.
Nancy Pelosi’s path back to speaker’s gavel is firmly in sight
Nancy Pelosi isn’t speaker of the House just yet, but her path back to the gavel is now firmly in sight. Pelosi was overwhelmingly nominated to become House speaker in an internal Democratic caucus vote Wednesday. The final tally, 203-32, puts her within range of the 218 threshold needed in January to be elected speaker when the new Congress convenes. She’s not quite there. Her actual support is at 200, adjusting for delegates who can’t vote in the full House and one supporter who missed the caucus session. But without a challenger and with several weeks to dole out — or withhold — favors, Pelosi is not too far from returning to the speaker’s office. “Are there dissenters? Yes,” the California Democrat told reporters as the ballots were being counted. “But I expect to have a powerful vote going forward.” Pelosi entered the caucus election in an unusual position — running unopposed for the nomination despite the clamor by some Democrats for new leadership. They worry about their re-elections when Pelosi appears as a punchline at President Donald Trump‘s rallies and in countless Republican-fueled TV ads against them. But Pelosi has been deftly picking off opponents — including nine who announced their support Wednesday as voting was underway — a trend she’ll need to accelerate in the weeks ahead. A deal was reached with the Problem Solvers Caucus, a bipartisan group whose nine Democratic members were withholding their support as they pushed for rules changes to allow a more open legislative process. Another group, led by Rep. Seth Moulton of Massachusetts, Rep. Tim Ryan of Ohio and Rep. Kathleen Rice of New York, left the leader’s office empty-handed. They asked Pelosi to publicly release her plans to transition out of leadership before the end of the next term in 2020. She declined, they said. “There has to be some succession plan,” Rice said. As House Democrats met in private in the Capitol, they faced a simple “yes” or “no” choice on Pelosi for speaker. Those trying to oust Pelosi say they always knew the internal caucus election would fall in her favor. She only needed a simple majority of Democrats, who have a 233-seat majority with several races still undecided, to win the nomination. But in January she’ll need closer to 218 votes, half the full 435-seat House, if all Republicans vote against her, as is likely — though she could win with fewer votes if some lawmakers are absent or vote present. Opponents insist there will be more than enough votes to stop Pelosi at that time. Organizers say only with a floor fight in view will new leaders emerge. They say plenty of Democrats could step up to the job. “The battle is the floor,” said Rep. Linda Sanchez of California, among those who signed a letter calling for new leadership. But the strength of Pelosi’s candidacy was shown in the long line of those nominating her, starting with Rep. Joe Kennedy of Massachusetts, the grandson of Robert F. Kennedy, and no fewer than eight colleagues seconding the choice, including Rep. John Lewis of Georgia, the civil rights leader, and three newly elected lawmakers. Rep. Adam Schiff of California, who is set to chair the Intelligence Committee when Democrats take control next year, choked up with emotion, according an aide in the room granted anonymity to discuss the private meeting. “I ask you to support her for this,” Schiff told his colleagues. “Everything we care about is now at risk. Families desperate to obtain health care for their families. Children desperate to be reunited with their families, auto workers being laid off. The gap between rich and poor exploding. The press characterized as the enemy of the people. The independence of our justice system being undermined.” Pelosi’s ability to stand unopposed Wednesday showed the staying power of her brand of machine politics. She was the first female speaker, from 2007 to 2011, until Republicans took control, and hopes to return to a role few men have reclaimed — most recently, legendary Speaker Sam Rayburn a half-century ago. She lost fewer votes than she did during a leadership challenge two years ago, and fewer than retiring Republican Speaker Paul Ryan faced in his internal caucus election for the job. “The reality is there is no alternative,” said Rep. Brian Higgins, D-N.Y., who had signed on opposing her but reversed course. In fact, Democrats voted to return their entire top leadership team, including Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland in the No. 2 spot as majority leader and Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina in the No. 3 spot as whip. They were running unopposed. Down-ballot was where the House Democrats pushed a new generation of leader to the forefront. They elected Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York as caucus chairman, elevating the charismatic 48-year-old from the Congressional Black Caucus. The No. 4 slot as assistant leader went to Ben Ray Lujan, 46, who helped lead Democrats back to the majority as campaign chairman. Between now and January, those who oppose Pelosi will face internal pressure to reconsider their options. Colleagues will be asking if they really want a stalemate on the House floor as the first act of the new Democratic majority. And Pelosi will work the levers of power by doling out the many committee seat assignments, subcommittee chairmanships and other perks as incentives. “She’s making a lot of headway,” said Rep. Joyce Beatty of Ohio, an ally. “Has she negotiated and given them some of the things that they want? Yes. But she’s only giving things to people who can deliver.” Republished with permission from the Associated Press.
Mike Rogers: The season of giving across East Alabama
Every year during the Christmas season, I like to highlight just a few of the things folks across East Alabama are doing for each other. Below is a small sample of ways our fellow Alabamians have cared for each other over the past year. In Talladega County, The Care House in Sylacauga helps provide food and clothing all year round for any individuals who need it in the area. In Clay County, the Modern Culture Club/Inter-Se Club hosted their annual soup luncheon mid-November to raise money for the local DHR so they could purchase Christmas gifts for local children. This year in Calhoun County, Brad Young with Insurance Planning of Anniston staged his disaster relief vehicle at K.L. Brown Funeral Home in Jacksonville. He provided meals and a place for folks to charge their cell phones after the tornado and storms devastated the area in April. Also in Calhoun County, Piedmont High School students held their annual Seniors Helping Seniors program in March. This program provides services of high school seniors in assisting local senior citizens with errands or chores relating to Spring cleaning. In Randolph County, Handley High School band director Matthew Goodman jogged over 400 miles from Roanoke to New Orleans to raise money. The money raised will help cover the costs so all of his band students would have the opportunity to perform in the 2019 Allstate Sugar Bowl Marching Band Program. In Macon County, the Tri City Church/Macon County Food Bank- will supply food boxes, turkeys, clothing and toys for families in need throughout Macon County. In Cleburne County, the community came together and raised money to help the Willingham family pay for their child’s cancer treatments. In Cherokee County, a program called Jobs for Alabama’s Graduates (JAG) supports at-risk students and helps them graduate from high school. In Smiths Station in Lee County, “Love Touch Assisted Living” Veterans Home served a Thanksgiving meal to local Veterans and will be providing each of them with new gloves, hats and coats for Christmas. It always warms my heart to learn about these acts of kindness. Let’s keep that spirit up throughout the year instead of just during the holidays. ••• Mike Rogers is a member of U.S. Congress representing Alabama’s 3rd Congressional District. Sign-up for his e-Newsletter by visiting www.mikerogers.house.gov. To stay up to date, you can also like him on Facebook at Congressman Mike D. Rogers, follow him on Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram at RepMikeRogersAL, on Tumblr at www.repmikerogersal.tumblr.com.
