Mike Rogers and Mike Johnson introduce bill to defund Biden Administration’s “Ministry of Truth”
U.S. Reps. Mike Rogers and Mike Johnson have introduced legislation to immediately defund the Biden Administration’s “Ministry of Truth.” The bill follows Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ announcement that DHS will convene a “Disinformation Governance Board.” The bill has 50 cosponsors and would completely bar federal funding for the DHS’ “Disinformation Governance Board,” something Johnson said the Republicans will do if President Joe Biden does not get rid of the board. The board is set to be led by Nina Jankowicz. Republican lawmakers in both chambers have introduced legislation to block the board. According to The Hill, the board was designed to coordinate DHS’s disinformation efforts on topics like migration, natural disasters, and plots by foreign actors while offering oversight to ensure civil liberties and free speech are protected. Republican lawmakers aren’t seeing it that way. “The creation of a Disinformation Governance Board is violation of our First Amendment rights,” Rogers stated. “I’m glad to join my colleagues in introducing a bill to immediately defund Biden’s Orwellian ‘Ministry of Truth’. The government should have no role in policing free speech.” “The Biden Administration’s decision to stand up a ‘Ministry of Truth,’ is dystopian in design, almost certainly unconstitutional, and clearly doomed from the start,” Johnson stated. “The government has no role whatsoever in determining what constitutes truth or acceptable speech. President Biden should dissolve this board immediately and entirely. If he won’t then Republicans will.” Mayorkas defended the creation of the board, stating, “It’s not about speech. It’s about the connectivity to violence.” After announcing her new position, Jankowicz stated on Twitter, “A HUGE focus of our work, and indeed, one of the key reasons the Board was established, is to maintain the Dept’s committment to protecting free speech, privacy, civil rights, & civil liberties.” Here's my official portrait to grab your attention. Now that I've got it: a HUGE focus of our work, and indeed, one of the key reasons the Board was established, is to maintain the Dept's committment to protecting free speech, privacy, civil rights, & civil liberties. 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/C4xiEGfhDt — Nina Jankowicz (@wiczipedia) April 27, 2022
Jim Zeigler releases first TV ad of Secretary of State campaign: “The Watchman”
The first TV ad of the quiet race for Secretary of State has been released by the Jim Zeigler campaign. Titled “The Watchman,” the 30-second spot began running on statewide TV May 3, exactly three weeks till the primary May 24. Here is the text of the Zeigler ad: Why are the Montgomery politicians fighting against Jim Zeigler? Because Zeigler will be Secretary of State for the people, not for the Montgomery politicians. As State Auditor, Zeigler served as your Watchman against waste and corruption. As Secretary of State, Zeigler can serve as your Watchman against voting fraud, drop-in ballot boxes, and ballot harvesting. Zeigler has been endorsed by the ‘MyPillow Guy” Mike Lindell, who heads a national group fighting for election integrity named “Cause for America.” Zeigler is term-limited and cannot run again for State Auditor. Secretary of State is an open seat with incumbent Secretary John Merrill not running for any office this year. “Over the next eight years, the job of Secretary of State will be vital,” Zeigler stated. “The Secretary of State is our top elections administrator. We face national attempts to manipulate honest election procedures. Alabama needs a proven fighter against government overreach to be our fighting Secretary of State.” The four Republican candidates for Secretary of State are Rep. Wes Allen of Troy, businessman Christian Horn of Huntsville, retired Secretary of State staffer Ed Packard of Prattville, and Zeigler.
Steve Flowers: Richard Shelby – Alabama’s greatest U.S. Senator
Our iconic senior United States Senator, Richard Shelby, turns 88 this week. Shelby is in the waning months of his monumental career in the Senate. He will end his tenure at the end of this year after 36 years in the U.S. Senate. Shelby is one of the most influential senators in Washington. His prowess at bringing federal dollars to our state from Washington is unparalleled in the annals of Alabama history. Indeed, Shelby may go down in American history as one of the greatest procurers of federal dollars funded to their state from the U.S. Treasury. He may only be surpassed by the late Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia. There is not a city or county in Alabama that has not benefitted from Senator Shelby’s seniority and power. Every major university has received additional federal dollars for development and new buildings. He has literally transformed the University of Alabama. An entire section of the massive campus has a cadre of buildings, mostly science, technology, and engineering that are or should be named for him because he brought the money from Washington to pay for them. UAB is one of the premier research and medical institutions in America because of Richard Shelby. Huntsville is one of the fastest-growing and most prosperous high technology cities in America due to the influence of one Richard Shelby. The largest FBI facility in America has been moved from Washington D.C. to Huntsville, Alabama under the direction of Senator Shelby. In his last hurrah, Shelby essentially has brought immense federal funding to completely rebuild and deepen Alabama’s port in Mobile. His last years have been spent chairing the United States Senate Appropriations Committee. However, during his illustrious career, he has also been Chairman of the Banking Committee, the Intelligence Committee, and the Rules Committee. There has never been nor will there probably ever be an Alabama U.S. Senator to reach the pinnacle of power of Richard Shelby. It should be noted that Shelby served with distinction and effectiveness in the U.S. House of Representatives for eight years prior to being first elected to the Senate in 1986. In my 2015 book Of Goats and Governors, Six Decades of Colorful Alabama Political Stories, I have a chapter entitled “Alabama’s Three Greatest Senators.” The Chapter includes Lister Hill, John Sparkman, and Richard Shelby. If I were writing that book today, Shelby would be alone as the greatest. Folks, that is saying a lot. Senator Lister Hill and Senator John Sparkman were giants in Washington and tremendous ambassadors for Alabama. Both Sparkman and Hill served for 32 and 30 years, respectively, in the Senate with austere distinction. They served in tandem for more than 20 years and were respected giants on Capitol Hill. Our Hill-Sparkman team was unsurpassed in power and prestige from 1946 to 1970. They were admired not only in Alabama but throughout the nation. Lister Hill was considered one of the greatest U.S. Senators. He was a statesman and the ultimate southern gentleman. He was chairman of the Senate Labor and Public Welfare Committee, as well as a ranking member of the Appropriations Committee. He was known as the father of most of America’s rural hospitals through his authorship and stewardship of the Hill-Burton Act. He also was the father of our crown jewel, UAB Medical Center. John Sparkman was a U.S. Senator from Alabama for 32 years. He like Hill served a decade in the U.S. House of Representatives prior to his Senate career. Sparkman was chairman of the Banking Committee, which also oversaw housing. He was the author of all housing legislation, including creating HUD. Sparkman is also the father of the space and rocket development in Huntsville. In fact, Huntsville would probably be more appropriately named “Sparkmanville”. Senator Sparkman was the Democratic nominee for Vice President in 1952. Shelby has continued Sparkman’s and Hill’s legacy sustaining our crown jewels of Huntsville Space and Rocket Center and the UAB Medical Complex in Birmingham. Senator Shelby has left an indelible mark on our state that will be felt by Alabamians for generations. See you next week. Steve Flowers is Alabama’s leading political columnist. His weekly column appears in over 60 Alabama newspapers. He served 16 years in the state legislature. Steve may be reached at www.steveflowers.us.
John Merrill: Ballot trafficking is illegal in Alabama
In Alabama, it is illegal for any individual to return or mail another individual’s absentee ballot application or their absentee ballot. This practice, known as ballot trafficking or ballot harvesting, is a dangerous practice that often leads to ballot traffickers stealing the votes of well-meaning and unsuspecting voters. Alabama law requires that the chain of custody be maintained for both absentee applications and absentee ballots. If the chain of custody for an absentee application or ballot is broken, then the law has been violated. According to §17-11-4 of the Code of Alabama, “The application may be handed by the applicant to the absentee election manager or forwarded to him or her by United States mail or by commercial carrier, as determined by rule by the Secretary of State.” Under Alabama law, the application must remain in the voter’s custody or with an approved commercial mail carrier during the entire process. Pertaining to absentee ballots, §17-11-9 states that after completing their ballot, voters must “forward it by United States mail to the absentee manager or hand it to him or her in person.” Once again, the absentee ballot must remain in the custody of the voter or an approved commercial mail carrier. Ballot trafficking will not be allowed in our state. It undermines the legitimacy of the elections process, and it leads to many Alabamians having their votes trafficked by paid political operatives. These traffickers are not seeking to make it easier to vote. In fact, they are trying to make it easier to cheat. Ballot trafficking cheats Alabamians out of their opportunity to freely elect their leaders without coercion or manipulation. If you are a witness to ballot trafficking or have been a victim of ballot trafficking, then it is incumbent upon you to report this activity to the Secretary of State’s Elections Division at 334-242-7210 or by visiting stopvoterfraudnow.com. Individuals who are found to be engaged in ballot trafficking will be referred to prosecuting authorities so they can be indicted and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. John Merrill has been the Secretary of State for Alabama since 2015.
‘Still in shock.’ Abortion defenders, foes stunned by leak
The phones inside an Alabama abortion clinic were ringing off the hook: the callers wanted to know if abortion remains legal. And, if so, for how long? A leaked Supreme Court draft opinion was ricocheting around the world. As Dalton Johnson, the clinic’s owner, read it Monday night, he was struck by the bluntness of the language that would end the constitutional right to an abortion, closing clinics in about half of American states, including his. “I’m still in shock,” Johnson said Tuesday as he scrambled to reassure his staff and patients they would continue providing abortions as long as they’re allowed in Alabama. People on both sides of the abortion divide have been expecting the Supreme Court this summer to reverse the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade case that legalized abortion nationwide. But many said the draft opinion was nevertheless stunning, forcing them to reckon with the reality the nation is likely to enter soon. “I can’t stop crying,” said an elated Mississippi state Rep. Becky Currie, who sponsored the 2018 law that is the basis for the Supreme Court case. “I am not quite sure I have the words to express how I feel right now, but God has had his hands on that bill since the beginning.” The leaked draft, published late Monday by Politico, is a 98-page opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which challenged the constitutionality of the Mississippi bill that banned abortion after 15 weeks. If the decision stands as written, it would also overturn Planned Parenthood v. Casey, a 1992 decision that protected abortion services even though it allowed states to add some limitations. “Roe was egregiously wrong from the start,” the draft opinion states. It was signed by Justice Samuel Alito, a member of the court’s 6-3 conservative majority. According to Politico, four other justices — Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett — have agreed with the opinion. The draft opinion was written in February, and the language could change before the court issues its final ruling. As written, it would give states the power to decide the legality of abortion. Roughly half, largely in the South and Midwest, are likely to quickly ban abortion. Abortion clinics in those states opened Tuesday morning, still seeing patients but uncertain about the future. The daily rituals unfolded as they always do: some protesters screamed at people walking inside while other abortion opponents prayed, clinic escorts tried to shield patients and hustle them in the doors. “Please overturn Roe v. Wade,” said Barbara Beavers, who stood outside the clinic in Jackson, Mississippi, on Tuesday, gently trying to persuade people against going inside. “Have mercy on our unborn children. We’re destroying our future, killing our babies.” Inside clinics, the news prompted frantic phone calls, and abortion providers across America rushed to tell their patients that the clinics remained open. “I immediately felt sick to my stomach,” said Tammi Kromenaker, who owns a clinic in Fargo, North Dakota. “And 20 million thoughts started going through my head about what can we do? What does my staff need to hear? What do our patients need to hear?” She posted a notice on their website: “If you have an appointment at Red River Women’s Clinic, your appointment is safe.” In Charleston, West Virginia, Katie Quinonez had barely slept the night before; she was having nightmares about the Supreme Court. She rushed into the clinic Tuesday morning, terrified that her patients would misunderstand the news and think that abortion was immediately outlawed. They posted on social media that abortion remains legal and the clinic is open, but they don’t know for how much longer. She had been bracing for this news. “But there was still this visceral reaction, this very devastating feeling,” Quinonez said. “This is a red alert moment. This is beyond a red alert moment. The building is on fire.” At Johnson’s clinic in Huntsville, women called to ask whether they can still get an abortion. Johnson said his first call of the morning was from a woman who had an abortion scheduled for Friday and wanted to come in Tuesday instead. The staff held a meeting, and Johnson says he asked them to focus on those still coming for abortions who need their help. The opinion was just a draft, he told them, and cautioned that it wasn’t the final decision. Dr. Cheryl Hamlin, an OB-GYN from Boston, travels South about once a month to do abortions at Mississippi’s only abortion clinic. She said a lot of her patients won’t be able to afford the costs of going out of state to have an abortion, including paying for hotels and taking time off work. Meanwhile, states that continue to allow abortions “are going to be overflowing with patients,” she said. Some anti-abortion activists were skeptical that the draft would become reality, fixating instead on the fact that it was leaked the press and whether that implied political posturing. “I’m hopeful,” said Dennis Westover, a 72-year-old retired electrical engineer, a regular protester outside the clinic in Charleston, West Virginia. But he was suspicious that someone leaked it as ammunition in the country’s intractable culture wars. “When our Supreme Court stuff starts to be leaked, it’s egregious,” he said. “One side or the other did it for a political motive to stir up some kind of stink.” In Louisville, Kentucky, protester Angela Minter said she prayed the draft opinion will be the final one. “I’m excited today,” Minter said. “I believe it’s an indication of what’s to come.” Minter thinks that’s God answering her prayers: She’s been coming to the clinic most mornings since 2004. Patients tried to dodge her and the other protesters screaming outside. “Don’t murder your baby,” one man shouted at a young woman. Clinic escorts in orange vests helped her into the building. The Louisville clinic was closed for a week last month after the legislature banned abortion, until a court intervened. But if Roe falls, it will likely be shuttered again. “I
Court won’t pause Donald Trump’s $10K-a-day fine while he appeals
A New York appellate court judge on Tuesday rejected Donald Trump’s bid to halt his $10,000-a-day fine, keeping the former president’s meter running for now as he fights a lower-court decision penalizing him for failing to turn over documents in a state civil investigation. Judge Tanya Kennedy of the appellate division of the state’s trial court denied Trump’s interim application to pause the fine pending his appeal. The court’s full bench will weigh in on Trump’s motion to stay the fine later this month, Kennedy said. Trump’s attorney Alina Habba requested the stay Monday, a week after Manhattan Judge Arthur Engoron fined Trump for failing to comply with a subpoena issued in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ probe of his business dealings. Habba wrote in a court filing that Engoron’s ruling was “unconscionable and indefensible.” The judge found that Trump, who is appealing the ruling, and his lawyers had failed to show they conducted a proper search for subpoenaed records. In asking the appellate court to pause his fine, Trump sought to stop it from accruing while he seeks to overturn Engoron’s ruling — potentially saving him hundreds of thousands of dollars if the appellate court ultimately upholds the contempt finding. Trump is also appealing Engoron’s February 17 ruling requiring him to answer questions under oath. Oral arguments in that appeal are scheduled for May 11. No arguments have been scheduled in Trump’s contempt challenge. In a written statement Tuesday, Trump, a Republican, lashed out at James and the state’s court system. He called the attorney general, who is a Black Democrat, “racist,” said the courts were “biased, unyielding, and totally unfair,” and claimed to have turned over “millions of pages of documents, perhaps more than any person or entity has ever given before.” “This is a continuation of the greatest Witch Hunt in history, and it should not be allowed to continue,” Trump said. “The good news is, I have done nothing wrong!” A message seeking comment was left with Habba. James, a Democrat, asked Engoron to hold Trump in contempt after he failed to produce any documents to satisfy a March 31 deadline to meet the terms of the subpoena. She has said her investigation has found evidence that Trump may have misstated the value of assets like skyscrapers and golf courses on financial statements for over a decade. Habba told Engoron that she met with Trump to ensure he had no records, and there were none to be found. On Friday, she submitted additional documents explaining the document search, including an affidavit in which Trump claimed he has no documents. Engoron criticized the affidavit as lacking in detail. In seeking to halt the fine, Habba said Trump and his representatives had performed a “diligent, thorough and comprehensive search” for everything sought in the subpoena and provided complete and accurate responses to the attorney general. She said the additional submissions last week amounted to “extraordinary efforts to comply.” “Given these circumstances, it is unconscionable and indefensible for Appellant to be held in contempt in any manner, must less at the inordinate expense of $10,000 per day,” she said. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
