University of Alabama student takes center stage in Georgia lawsuit and rally
C.J. Pearson began his career in politics at an early age after being inspired by a mock election in his Georgia elementary school. Since then, he has become a well-known political activist and the president of the Free Thinkers, a group he founded. He’s currently a freshman at the University of Alabama and was recently nominated to serve as an elector for the state of Georgia. On Wednesday, Pearson spoke at a Stop the Steal rally in Alpharetta, Georgia, led by Sidney Powell. While Powell has helped Donald Trump’s attorney Rudy Giuliani, she doesn’t work directly for Trump. According to Fox News, Powell has made several unsubstantiated claims that the presidential election was fraudulent and that Dominion’s voting machines were to blame. At a press conference Wednesday, Powell and fellow pro-Trump attorney Lin Wood told the crowd to not vote in the upcoming U.S. senate runoff on Jan. 5 in Georgia until the state changes its procedures and ends the use of Dominion voting machines. “I would encourage all Georgians to make it known that you will not vote at all until your vote is secure – and I mean that regardless of party,” Powell said. “We can’t live in a republic, a free republic, unless we know our votes are legal and secure. So we must have voter ID, and we probably must go back to paper ballots that are signed and have your thumbprint on them. We certainly should be able to find a system that can count them, even if it has to be done by hand.” Pearson tweeted a video of the rally and stated, “We are no longer the party of John McCain. We are no longer the party of Mitt Romney. We are no longer a party of cowards. We are the party of @RealDonaldTrump.” https:// We are no longer the party of John McCain. We are no longer the party of Mitt Romney. We are no longer a party of cowards. We are the party of @realDonaldTrump. pic.twitter.com/tqx6aiNgfd — CJ Pearson (@thecjpearson) December 2, 2020 Trump’s legal team, headed by Giuliani, has made several unsuccessful court challenges in several states, arguing voter fraud. Attorney General William Barr stated that the Justice Department hasn’t found widespread voter fraud that would change the outcome of the election. Pearson is named as a plaintiff in Pearson v. Kemp, a lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. The lawsuit alleges voting irregularities in the presidential election. Governor Brian Kemp is named as one of the defendants. Pearson isn’t without controversy. In 2015, when he was just 13 years old, he gained notoriety for criticizing then-President Barack Obama in a highly viewed youtube video. After that, he accused Obama of blocking him on his official presidential Twitter account. Obama hadn’t blocked him, and a backlash ensued. Benji Backer, a young political activist who left the public spotlight, commented on the controversy, “I tried to give CJ advice,” Backer wrote. “And I know he’s going to lash out at me now. But we used to work together. I told him he had promise but that he had to keep it in perspective, truth [sic] and stay humble. Stardom can ruin those things and it did for him. CJ & I (when I was still in politics) were going to work on some things. But he didn’t like advice and he wanted ‘his brand’ to grow instead. People, including myself, tried to help CJ. I really thought he could do great things. But he wasn’t willing to listen. Most of all, CJ lied to me. Numerous times. And many people I know and love. That’s when I knew there was a problem.”
Pushed to rush, FDA head says feds will get vaccine ‘right’
The head of the agency responsible for authorizing COVID-19 vaccines said Tuesday that it would take the time needed to “get this right,” despite increasing pressure from President Donald Trump to speed up the process. “No one at FDA is sitting on his or her hands. Everyone is working really hard to look at these applications and get this done,” Stephen Hahn, the head of the Food and Drug Administration, told ABC in an interview on Instagram Live. “But we absolutely have to do this the right way.” Hahn’s comments came not long after he was summoned to the White House by Trump’s chief of staff Mark Meadows as the agency weighs whether to allow emergency use of the first vaccines that could begin the long road to defeating the coronavirus in the U.S. Trump has been livid with the FDA for not moving faster to approve the shots, blaming the fact that a vaccine was not available ahead of the Nov. 3 election in part for his loss. He also has leveled unfounded claims that drug companies deliberately delayed vaccine development to hinder his reelection chances, though there is no evidence to suggest that took place. As he has refused to accept his loss, Trump also has told close confidants that he believes the vaccine is still being slow-walked in a bid to undermine his efforts to challenge the results. If the vaccine were shipped out sooner, he has argued, it would rally public opinion to his side. Hahn emerged from the White House meeting with his job intact, but it was a sign of the pressure he is under that the FDA offered guidance that “Dr. Hahn remains FDA Commissioner.” Hahn said the FDA will thoroughly review each vaccine before making it available to the public. “We will make sure that our scientists take the time they need to make an appropriate decision,” Hahn said in a statement provided by the FDA. “It is our job to get this right and make the correct decision regarding vaccine safety and efficacy.” An FDA spokesman said the agency must review thousands of pages of technical information provided by vaccine developers to ensure the shots were studied and manufactured properly. As for the meeting, Hahn told ABC that it was held “to provide a briefing around the issues we’re discussing here and that’s what occurred.” The FDA has been weighing whether to authorize two experimental vaccines that have been raced through development. Pfizer and Moderna are seeking “emergency use” that would allow people in high-risk groups to get vaccinated while final-stage testing continues. But the meeting risked exacerbating concerns that many Americans already harbor about the potential impact of political pressure on vaccine development. Public health officials, including Hahn, have been trying to provide reassurance for months that the approval process has been free from influence. Meanwhile, a separate scientific panel was tackling the pressing question of who should first receive vaccinations when they become available in limited supply. The White House did not respond to requests for comment about the meeting with Hahn and his future at the agency. But many aides to the president recognize that it would look especially bad for Trump to lose Hahn on the cusp of vaccine authorization. The president has been fuming about the pace of the vaccine approval process since he lost his reelection bid and believes that, had Pfizer and Moderna released data showing their vaccines were effective before Election Day, he would have won the race. He has also complained repeatedly about not getting the credit he believes he deserves for the vaccines’ development and has urged reporters not to give President-elect Joe Biden credit for what has happened on Trump’s watch. In the first months of his tenure, former FDA staffers and outside experts criticized Hahn, a scientific researcher and former hospital executive, for decisions that many viewed as bowing to the White House and failing to protect the agency’s science-based decision-making process. But more recently, Hahn has resisted White House pressure, including for hasty vaccine approval. In October, Hahn published strict FDA safety guidelines that effectively closed the door on Trump’s goal of delivering a vaccine by Election Day. And he has repeatedly testified to Congress that “science, not politics,” would determine when a vaccine was made available. Despite Trump’s claims, the FDA has little control over when companies decide to seek government authorization for their vaccines. Each of the leading vaccine manufacturers is conducting large-scale studies of thousands of people to test their shots for safety and effectiveness. Only an outside panel of independent experts can peek at the study data and determine when enough has accumulated to warrant FDA submission. Pfizer submitted its vaccine application on Nov. 20th and rival Moderna did the same on Monday. The FDA has scheduled public meetings for Dec. 10 and Dec. 17 to review each vaccine and is expected to make decisions on whether to grant their use before the end of the year. While Trump’s anger with the FDA has been percolating for months, it escalated after the election, according to White House aides and a Republican close to the White House who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations. Trump has told friends that he believes Hahn slowed down or undersold the benefits of other therapeutics — despite evidence to the contrary — and has “never been on the team.” And Trump has claimed both privately and publicly that drug companies are punishing him for his efforts to lower prescription drug prices, and has made unsupported allegations that they have formed an informal Deep State-like cabal with the FDA and the media to hurt him. Meanwhile, the administration has invited leading vaccine manufacturers, distributors, and others to a “vaccine summit” next week. Not all invited companies have committed to attending for fear of being perceived as overtly political or being subjected to Trump’s attacks. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Finance director: Alabama to use nearly all of virus relief
Alabama will spend nearly all of its $1.8 billion in federal coronavirus relief funds after a flurry of last-minute grants and reimbursements before the end-of-year deadline, the state finance director said Wednesday. State records show that about $818 million of the state’s $1.8 million allocation is so far unspent ahead of a Dec. 30 deadline to use the money or send it back to Washington. Finance Director Kelly Butler told reporters the state is working through a backlog of reimbursement requests from local governments that should take the remaining relief dollars down to $10 million by the Dec. 30 deadline. “I’m highly confident that we will get substantially all the money spent by the deadline,” Butler said. He gave no indications that the federal government might extend the deadline — instead, they are putting the “pedal to the metal” to get the money out the door by Dec. 30. The largest allocations by the state have included $300 million to shore up the state’s unemployment trust fund after unemployment claims skyrocketed during the pandemic, as well as a $200 million grant program to support small businesses, nonprofits, and faith-based organizations in Alabama that have been impacted by COVID-19. Butler said in mid-December the finance department will do a final tally of what is remaining and seek reallocation if needed to different areas. More than 80 organizations, including advocacy groups for low-income families and people with disabilities, sent Republican Gov. Kay Ivey a letter in November expressing concern that the relief money would go unused when the state faces so many needs. The groups noted Alabama was one of the poorest states in the country, with 800,000 residents living in poverty “before this pandemic devastated the economy.” Butler said the department had received thousands of suggestions for the money, “all of which have a lot of merit.” But he said there were strict guidelines from the U.S. Treasury Department on how the money can be used. “There is a perception out there that this money can solve everybody’s problem and can be used for anything that people want it to be used for. And the reality is the Treasury guidance, particularly the audit guidance, does not allow us to do everything everybody wants us to do.” Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Alabama sets daily case record; 1 of 3 in ICU have COVID-19
Alabama on Wednesday hit a new high for the number of coronavirus cases reported in a single day and the number of patients hospitalized with the disease, health officials said as hospitals brace for an additional wave of cases in the weeks following Thanksgiving gatherings. Dr. Scott Harris, Alabama’s state health officer, said excluding backlogged cases, the state reported more than 3,000 additional virus cases Wednesday, a new daily record. The state also reported having 1,801 patients hospitalized with COVID-19, the highest number since the pandemic began. “There is simply a great deal of community transmission occurring right now in most parts of Alabama. Now, more than ever, we hope that Alabamians can avoid large gatherings, wear masks in public and try to maintain a 6-foot distance from other households whenever possible,” Harris said. One in three patients in intensive care units in the state have COVID-19, said Dr. Don Williamson, the former state health officer who now heads the Alabama Hospital Association. Only 10% of the state’s 1,634 intensive care beds were available Monday, Williamson said. He said there are 1,471 ICU beds in use, and 486 of those are filled with COVID-19 patients. The number of COVID-19 patients is nearly 200 higher than the previous mid-summer peak. “We are reaching a saturation point with COVID that is probably going to get a lot worse,” Williamson said. He said 249 COVID-19 patients are on ventilators across the state, the highest number since the pandemic began. He said the impact of Thanksgiving gatherings on hospitalizations will be seen in the coming weeks. Williamson said staffing is the biggest concern among hospitals. The state health department has reported more than 256,000 confirmed and probable virus cases and at least 3,711 confirmed and probable virus deaths in Alabama. While the virus causes only mild or moderate symptoms in most people, it can be deadly for the elderly and people with other, serious health problems. A statewide order requiring face masks in public expires Dec. 11, but Republican Gov. Kay Ivey could extend the mandate for additional weeks as she has done in the past. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
