Gary Palmer caught in Jeff Sessions, Donald Trump crossfire
Alabama 7th District U.S. Rep. Gary Palmer has been caught in the crossfire between President Donald Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Last week, Trump fired several barbs at Sessions, telling Fox news channel’s “Fox & Friends” that Sessions “took the job and then he said, ‘I’m going to recuse myself.” “[He] never took control of the Justice Department and it’s a sort of an incredible thing,” Trump continued. Sessions then fired back at the president, saying that the Justice department would not be “improperly influenced by political considerations.” Rachael Bade, a Politico reporter and CNN political analyst, appeared on CNN Friday, saying she contacted Palmer to speak with him on the subject. “I called Gary Palmer, who is a Republican from Alabama, close with Sessions, yesterday to get his take on this sort of back and forth,” Bade said according to CNN Transcripts. “At one point Gary Palmer was very adamantly defending and blasting his colleagues who were in any way criticizing Sessions. But Gary Palmer told me he has his own problems with Sessions. And he specifically listed some of those things that the president was tweeting about this morning regarding document production to Congress, Rod Rosenstein perhaps not being the best person to be working in the Justice Department, according to him.” “And he was unhappy with certain things that Sessions was doing,” Bade continued. “So I just — I think it’s really interesting, the conversation is changing. And I don’t think that’s a good sign for Sessions. It’s a matter of time, I think, before he goes.” Palmer responded on Twitter by calling out CNN, and denying that the story was true. “A recent CNN news story mischaracterized my trust in Attorney General Jeff Sessions. He has my full trust and I think he’s done an excellent job in de-politicizing the DOJ. The DOJ has many ongoing investigations and Jeff Sessions will ultimately be judged by their outcomes,” Palmer tweeted. “As it stands, Jeff Sessions is doing his job when the only leaks are coming from those being investigated. While I share the President’s concerns about the Russia investigation and believe it should end, Jeff Sessions is recused from that,” he continued. “On the other hand, I think Rod Rosenstein has not represented the DOJ well, especially regarding Congressional oversight and document production. This is what I told the CNN reporter; CNN reinterpreting my comments for the sake of headlines is the very definition of fake news.” A recent CNN news story mischaracterized my trust in Attorney General Jeff Sessions. He has my full trust and I think he’s done an excellent job in de-politicizing the DOJ. The DOJ has many ongoing investigations and Jeff Sessions will ultimately be judged by their outcomes. — Gary Palmer (@USRepGaryPalmer) August 24, 2018 As it stands, Jeff Sessions is doing his job when the only leaks are coming from those being investigated. While I share the President’s concerns about the Russia investigation and believe it should end, Jeff Sessions is recused from that. — Gary Palmer (@USRepGaryPalmer) August 24, 2018 On the other hand, I think Rod Rosenstein has not represented the DOJ well, especially regarding Congressional oversight and document production. This is what I told the CNN reporter; CNN reinterpreting my comments for the sake of headlines is the very definition of fake news. — Gary Palmer (@USRepGaryPalmer) August 24, 2018
Doug Jones: Hit pause button on Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearings
U.S. Sen. Doug Jones of Alabama on Friday repeated his call to hit the “pause button” on confirmation hearings for President Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh in order to review his voluminous record. The Alabama Democrat said his chief concern was having time to see the full documents from Kavanaugh’s past work, including his time as President George W. Bush’s staff secretary. The National Archives and Records Administration has estimated that a review of records from his time in the White House won’t be completed until the end of October, but Republicans want to hold hearings in September. “I want to make sure I’ve got all the evidence in before I make a decision,” Jones told reporters Friday after visiting Montgomery’s Booker T. Washington Magnet High School, which was partially destroyed by fire over the weekend. The state’s junior senator said a pause on the confirmation hearings would also give this week’s events “a chance to settle out,” referring to former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen’s plea deal and the conviction of Trump’s former campaign chair. Jones said he has not made up his mind on the Trump nominee, despite pressure building on him from people and groups both opposing and supporting the appointment. During the stop in Montgomery, Jones criticized Trump’s attacks on the Department of Justice and Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Trump has criticized Sessions for recusing himself from the Russia probe. “In all candor, it makes me sick,” Jones, a former U.S. attorney, said when asked by reporters about the attacks on the Department of Justice. Jones, who occupies the Senate seat previously held by Sessions, said he did not agree with Sessions “on a lot of his polices,” but said Sessions did the “correct thing” in stepping aside from the investigation involving Trump. “Jeff Sessions did the absolute correct thing morally, professionally, ethically and legally by recusing himself and we cannot overlook that fact,” Jones said. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Jeff Sessions seems to push back against Donald Trump barb
The Latest on President Donald Trump (all times local): 1:35 p.m. Attorney General Jeff Sessions says his Justice Department won’t be “improperly influenced by political considerations.” His comments — in a statement Thursday — seem to push back against the latest round of criticism by his boss, President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly railed against the department and the FBI. Trump told “Fox & Friends” in an interview that aired earlier Thursday that Sessions “never took control of the Justice Department and it’s a sort of an incredible thing.” The president was angered when Sessions stepped aside from overseeing the federal investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Trump has called the special counsel’s probe a “witch hunt.” Sessions says there’s no other nation with more talented and dedicated law enforcement investigators and prosecutors. Sessions says he’s “proud of the work we have done in successfully advancing the rule of law.” ___ 1:30 p.m. The chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee says his staffers have reached out to Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s former lawyer, about what information he might have — and they’re awaiting a response. GOP Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa says no decision has been made about Cohen appearing before the committee. Cohen pleaded guilty this week in federal court to campaign-finance violations and other charges. He says he and then-candidate Trump arranged the payment of hush money to influence the election. Committee spokesman Taylor Foy says the committee originally scheduled an interview with Cohen in May. But he withdrew, citing criminal proceedings. Cohen’s attorney, Lanny Davis, has indicated he may be willing to testify to Congress. The Senate intelligence committee is also interested in talking to Cohen. ___ 11 a.m. President Donald Trump prizes loyalty, and he says that’s the only reason he made Jeff Sessions attorney general. Session, an Alabama Republican, was the first senator to endorse Trump’s bid for president, and he was rewarded with a spot in Trump’s Cabinet as the nation’s top law enforcement officer. But Trump was angered when Sessions stepped aside from overseeing the federal investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, and the president has taken issue with his own Justice Department. Trump tells “Fox & Friends” that Sessions “took the job and then he said, ‘I’m going to recuse myself.’ I said what kind of a man is this?” Trump says in the interview, “You know, the only reason I gave him the job (was) because I felt loyalty, he was an original supporter.” ___ 10:40 a.m. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer says it’s time for Republicans to stand up to President Donald Trump after his former personal lawyer implicated him in a crime. The Democrat says Republicans have become complicit in bringing down the character of the nation. He says they’ve shirked their duty in exchange for a corporate tax cut and stacking the federal courts. The GOP, he says, is “becoming a co-conspirator in the culture of corruption that surrounds this president.” He called on GOP leaders to pass legislation to protect special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russia’s actions in the 2016 elections, to hold hearings on the power of the president to pardon and pass legislation to bolster election security. Schumer says it is time for Republicans to “speak truth to power.” 7:40 a.m. President Donald Trump says he believes the economy would tank if he were to be impeached. Trump was asked in an interview with “Fox & Friends” if he believes Democrats will launch impeachment proceedings if they win the House this fall, as many suspect. He says, “If I ever got impeached, I think the market would crash. I think everybody would be very poor.” Trump says Americans would see economic “numbers that you wouldn’t believe in reverse.” But Trump is also expressing doubt that that would ever happen. He says, “I don’t know how you can impeach somebody who’s done a great job.” ___ 7 a.m. President Donald Trump is suggesting that it should be illegal for people facing prosecution to cooperate with the government in exchange for a reduced sentence. Trump is reacting to the guilty plea entered by his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, to a range of charges. Trump — in an interview with “Fox & Friends” — is accusing Cohen of implicating him to get a better deal with prosecutors. Trump says Cohen “makes a better deal when he uses me.” Trump claims people who decide to cooperate with the government “make up stories” and “just make up lies” Here’s what the president says: “It’s called flipping and it almost ought to be illegal.” He says “it’s not a fair thing.” ___ 6:50 a.m. President Donald Trump is distancing himself from his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, in the wake of Cohen’s guilty plea to eight charges, including campaign finance violations that Cohen says he carried out in coordination with Trump. Trump — in an interview with “Fox & Friends” — describes Cohen as a “part-time attorney.” And Trump also suggests that Cohen’s legal trouble stemmed from his other businesses, including involvement with the New York City taxi cab industry. Trump claims that Cohen decided to offer “lies” about Trump to reduce Cohen’s own legal exposure. ___ 12:15 a.m. President Donald Trump is digging in to his denials of wrongdoing as his White House struggles to manage the fallout from allegations he orchestrated a campaign cover-up to buy the silence of two women who say they had affairs with him. In pre-dawn tweeting, Trump says “NO COLLUSION – RIGGED WITCH HUNT!” That’s a reference to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. And the president is accusing his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, of “making up stories” in order to get a “great deal” from prosecutors. Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Jeff Sessions: Judges costing taxpayers with immigration rulings
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions told an audience of hundreds of judges and attorneys on Friday that “erroneous rulings” by federal judges have been costly to taxpayers, and he criticized judges who’ve thwarted some of President Donald Trump‘s immigration policies. Sessions, speaking during a judicial conference in Des Moines, also lambasted what he said was an increasing number of federal appeals courts that have issued nationwide injunctions on federal policy. He cited a case involving Chicago, which filed a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s sanctuary cities policy, and decisions by judges that repeatedly halted Trump’s travel ban that targeted mostly Muslim countries. “I got to tell you, it’s not the duty of the courts to manage the executive branch or to pass judgment on every policy the executive branch was elected to carry out,” Sessions told the roughly 700 people attending the Eighth Judicial District Conference. “Judges aren’t sent from Olympus. They’re not always correct,” he added. Trump has also panned judges who’ve blocked his immigration policies, including those who ruled against his administration’s effort to end the Deferred Action for Child Arrivals program, or DACA. The program, enacted during President Barack Obama‘s administration, has authorized around 700,000 people brought to the U.S. illegally as children to obtain work permits and driver’s licenses. A federal judge halted a deportation process earlier this month and threatened to hold Sessions in contempt if the mother and daughter weren’t returned to the U.S. During his Friday speech, Sessions was complimentary of Trump’s choices for federal judges — but he didn’t address criticisms levied against him by Trump this week. Trump has openly criticized Sessions for recusing himself from special counsel Robert Mueller‘s investigation into Russian involvement in the 2016 campaign. This week, Trump tweeted “if we had a real Attorney General” the investigation would never have been started. U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch — appointed to the nation’s highest court by Trump last year — also addressed the conference, which was open to those in the legal profession from seven Midwest states. He discussed among other things the importance of the rule of law and separation of powers. “I think that the right to have an independent judge tell you what the law is, no matter who you are, is one of the great liberties and genius of the constitutional design,” Gorsuch said. “It’s something that’s very real today for the immigrant, the criminal defendant, the unpopular, the minority.” Guy Cook, a trial lawyer from Des Moines, said he thought Sessions was engaging and covered a wide range of topics. But he said he found it remarkable that the attorney general chose a conference of federal judges and lawyers to make remarks critical of federal judge rulings challenging the Trump administration. “He did seem to go out of his way to emphasize the three equal branches of government, and from that made the argument that the judicial branch should not overstep its bounds,” he said. Outside the convention center hosting the event, about 100 people staged a “No Hate In Our State” protest targeting Sessions for his hardline positions on immigration, including support of the Trump administration’s separation of children from their parents at the U.S.-Mexico border. Community organizer Matthew Covington said Sessions has not been kind to any marginalized group and has actively undermined voting rights. “We’re just a variety of groups and individuals who agree that his message of hate shouldn’t be allowed in this state,” Covington said. Republished with permission from the Associated Press.
Five things you need to know about Tom Parker
Now that the runoff elections are over, voters are turning their attention to the November General Election only 90 days away. Associate Justice Tom Parker beat out former chief justice Lyn Stuart in the June 5 primary election with almost 52 percent of the vote. Now he moves to the General Election, facing Democratic nominee Judge Bob Vance. With that in mind, here are the five things you need to know about Tom Parker: 1. He attended some of most prestigious schools in the country, and traveled to Brazil to study. Parker attended Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, and received his J.D. from Vanderbilt University school of law in Tennessee. According to his campaign bio, he was also a Rotary International Fellowship recipient and attended the University of Sao Paulo School of Law, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, where he was the first foreign student in Brazil’s most prestigious law school. 2. He’s held numerous positions in different courts across the state Parker has most recently served as Alabama’s Associate Justice, a position he’s held since 2004; but has also held numerous positions across the state including: Deputy Administrative Director of Courts, General Counsel for the Alabama court system, Director of the Alabama Judicial College, and Legal Adviser to the Chief Justice under Roy Moore. 3. He founded the Alabama Family Alliance, now the Alabama Policy Institute The Alabama Family Alliance, now the Alabama Policy Institute, was founded by Parker in 1989; he also served as the think tanks first Executive Director. “The Alabama Policy Institute is an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit research and educational organization dedicated to strengthening free enterprise, defending limited government, and championing strong families,” API’s mission statement reads. 4. He served as an Assistant Attorney General under Jeff Sessions and Bill Pryor. According to his bio on the Alabama Judicial System’s website, Parker served as an assistant Attorney General under both Jeff Sessions and Bill Pryor. “As an Assistant Attorney General, he handled death penalty cases, criminal appeals, and constitutional litigation,” the bio reads. “He has extensive experience in writing appellate briefs and with oral arguments before the Supreme Court and the Court of Criminal Appeals.” 5. He is a longtime friend and ally of former Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore Parker served under Moore as a Legal Adviser, and has been described by some as “Moore- light.” “He hasn’t been directly involved in Parker’s campaign. But neither has Parker sought to put any distance between him and Moore,” the Associated Press reported. “Parker contends Moore was wrongfully suspended in 2016, after an ethics panel ruled he was urging probate judges to defy the Supreme Court’s legalization of same-sex marriage. He says Moore was treated unfairly because of his Ten Commandments fight.”
Bob Vance holds major financial lead over opponent Tom Parker
According to monthly campaign finance reports filed with the Secretary of State’s office this week, Alabama Chief Justice Democratic candidate Judge Bob Vance is holding a major financial lead over his Republican opponent Associate Justice Tom Parker. Parker beat out former chief justice Lyn Stuart in the June 5 primary election with almost 52 percent of the vote. Vance had no primary opponent. According to the campaign filings, Parker ended the month of July with $13,753 in his account, while Vance ended the month with $239,200. Over the course of the month Parker raised just $2030, to Vance’s $93,080. “I think what’s pleased me most is that our numbers come from a large number of individual contributors,” Vance told AL.com. “I think we’re over 1,600 different contributors now. And the overwhelming majority of that is individual contributions. So that’s very heartening to me and it shows we’re getting a lot of support in the campaign.” Parker claimed he was not worried about the difference in funds; “I have had a continual experience of being able to use my money conservatively in my campaigns to win against candidates who have out raised me or outspent me multiple times over,” Parker told AL.com. But according to the Associated Press, the race has undertones of a rematch. Parker, a longtime ally of former Chief Justice Roy Moore – and Vance; who’s strong showing against Moore in the 2012 race for chief justice helped inspire U.S. Sen. Doug Jones last year in his defeat of Moore for the seat vacated by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. If elected, Vance would become the only Democrat on the Alabama Supreme Court. Read the full campaign finance reports below: Tom Parker Monthly Campaign Filings – July Bob Vance Monthly Campaign Filings – July
Donald Trump calls on Jeff Sessions to end Robert Mueller’s Russia probe
President Donald Trump called Wednesday for Attorney General Jeff Sessions to put an end to special counsel Robert Mueller‘s Russia probe, a day after Trump’s former campaign chairman went on trial. Taking to Twitter to complain about the ongoing Russia investigation, Trump said Sessions “should stop this Rigged Witch Hunt right now, before it continues to stain our country any further.” The relationship between Sessions and the president has been strained for more than a year, since the attorney general recused himself from investigations relating to the 2016 election because of Sessions’ role on the Trump campaign. Mueller’s team is accountable to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. Tuesday marked the first day of Paul Manafort‘s trial on charges of tax evasion and bank fraud brought by Mueller’s team, charges that stemmed from Manafort’s consulting work for Ukraine, for which he allegedly received millions he did not report to the U.S. government. Seeking to distance himself from his ex-campaign chairman, Trump said, “He worked for me for a very short time.” But Manafort’s involvement in the Trump campaign spanned six months, and he led efforts to secure the GOP nomination for Trump in 2016. Trump said the charges against Manafort “have nothing to do with Collusion.” Potential coordination between Russian government agents and the Trump campaign is still a matter of investigation by Mueller’s team, which is also investigating potential obstruction of justice by the president. Trump called claims of collusion “a Hoax.” Republished with permission from the Associated Press.
Jeff Sessions creates national religious freedom task force
U.S. Attorney General, and former Alabama U.S. Senator, Jeff Sessions announced the creation of a religious liberty task force within the U.S. Department of Justice on Monday, citing a “dangerous movement” to erode religious freedom in America. “A dangerous movement, undetected by many, is now challenging and eroding our great tradition of religious freedom. There can be no doubt. This is no little matter. It must be confronted and defeated,”Sessions told attendees of the Department of Justice’s Religious Liberty Summit. “This election, and much that has flowed from it, gives us a rare opportunity to arrest these trends. Such a reversal will not just be done with electoral victories, but by intellectual victories.” “Freedom of religion has been a core American principle from the very beginning of our country – indeed, it is our ‘first freedom.’” Sessions continued. “President Trump promised that he would make preserving and protecting our religious liberty the first priority of his administration. The Department of Justice is committed to assisting with that effort.” The task force will implement “religious liberty guidance” by ensuring all elements of the justice department are holding to the same religious freedom standards in individual cases, policies, regulations and in the operations of the department. Sessions said he will be joined by acting Associate Attorney General Jesse Panuccio and Assistant Attorney General Beth Williams, as co-chairs of the task force. In October, Sessions issued two memoranda within the DOJ; the Religious Liberty Memorandum and the Implementation Memorandum both aimed at protecting and implementing religious freedom practices within the department. The new task force will aid the DOJ’s efforts to implement the memoranda. “As the people in this room know, you have to practice what you preach,” Sessions continued in his speech on Monday. “We are also going to remain in contact with religious groups across America to ensure that their rights are being protected. We have been holding listening sessions and we will continue to host them in the coming weeks.”
Tom Parker, longtime Roy Moore ally seeks Alabama chief justice job
Alabama’s Roy Moore fell short in his quest to become a U.S. senator, but voters this November could install one of his longtime allies as the state’s chief justice. Associate Justice Tom Parker says in a campaign ad that he won’t “sit back while liberals destroy our law and liberty.” Like Moore, he sees Alabama’s courts as a key battleground for overturning U.S. Supreme Court decisions that legalized abortion and same-sex marriage. “President Trump is just one conservative appointment away from giving us a conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court and they are going to need cases that they can use to reverse some of those horrible decisions of the liberal majority from the past that have no constitutional foundation whatsoever,” Parker told The Associated Press in an interview. Parker’s rallying cries to social conservatives propelled his primary win over a rival he dismissed as too “moderate:” Chief Justice Lyn Stuart, a better-funded incumbent who had taken over chief justice duties after Moore was suspended from the bench for a second time. Now he faces Bob Vance, a county circuit judge who would become the only Democrat on the Alabama Supreme Court. The race has undertones of a rematch. It was Vance’s strong showing against Moore in the 2012 race for chief justice — he lost by just 62,000 votes with support from moderate Republicans — that helped inspire U.S. Sen. Doug Jones last year in his defeat of Moore for the seat vacated by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. After years of upheaval — no chief justice has completed the six-year term since 2001 — both Parker and Vance emphasize the need to address systemic funding and staffing shortages. Parker says he would draw on his lobbying experience to secure funding. Vance said judges are “grappling every day” with defendants plagued by addiction and mental health issues. Vance, 57, a graduate of Princeton University and the University of Virginia law school, has been elected three times since his appointment in Jefferson County in 2002. He says Moore was a “divisive” justice, and he fears more of the same if Parker takes charge. “The chief justice really should stand there for everyone, because the courts should be there for everyone,” Vance told the AP. Vance says personal ideologies have no place in the judiciary. He cites his father — federal appellate Judge Robert Smith Vance Sr., who was assassinated with a mail bomb in 1989 — who said his religious opposition to the death penalty couldn’t influence his legal decisions. “He emphasized to me that if you do your job as a judge, and do it well, you’ve got to put aside your personal beliefs sometimes and just stick with what the law tells you to do,” Vance said. Parker, 66, graduated from Dartmouth College and Vanderbilt University law school, then worked as an assistant attorney general and director of a conservative think tank tied to James Dobson’s Focus on the Family. Moore hired him as deputy administrative director of courts, and he served as Moore’s spokesman during fights over a Ten Commandments monument Moore erected in the state Supreme Court building. Those court fights ended in 2003 with Moore’s first ouster from the bench. Parker was elected as justice the next year, and Moore was re-elected chief justice in 2012. Bill Stewart, a political scientist and long-time observer of state politics, said Parker could be viewed as “Moore- light.” He hasn’t been directly involved in Parker’s campaign. But neither has Parker sought to put any distance between him and Moore. Parker contends Moore was wrongfully suspended in 2016, after an ethics panel ruled he was urging probate judges to defy the Supreme Court’s legalization of same-sex marriage. He says Moore was treated unfairly because of his Ten Commandments fight. Moore remains embroiled in defamation lawsuits over the allegations of sexual misconduct with teens decades ago that doomed his Senate race. In 2014, they were the lone voices against a 7-2 ruling denying a “birther conspiracy” effort that had sought to keep President Barack Obama’s name off Alabama’s 2012 ballot. Parker wrote that the state had “received notice sufficient to raise a duty to investigate” Obama’s qualifications. Parker says now that he wasn’t commenting on the “truth” of the accusation. But Parker is not just Moore’s judicial acolyte. He has now been on the state Supreme Court twice as long as his former boss. And while Moore was twice ousted for violating judicial ethics, Parker cites his defeat of an ethics complaint as a victory for free speech. The Southern Poverty Law Center had complained about comments Parker made on a Christian radio show criticizing the U.S. Supreme Court’s gay marriage ruling. The same group had criticized him a decade earlier for posing with rebel battle flags alongside white extremists at the funeral of a Confederate widow; Parker said at the time that he had only just met the men, and that the criticism from a group like the SPLC showed he “must be doing the right things.” The complaint about his radio comments was dismissed, but Parker kept fighting until the Judicial Inquiry Commission agreed not to enforce the rule against off-the-bench comments unless they impact the fairness of impending proceedings. A Parker campaign ad says he’s “unafraid to stand up to bullies like the SPLC in defense of our Judeo-Christian heritage.” He told the AP that the victory allows judges to speak their minds and voters to learn the positions of “the judicial candidates that they are voting on.” Republished with the permission of the Associated Press.
Jeff Sessions defends deputy after impeachment move
U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions is defending his top deputy after a handful of Congressional Republicans moved to impeach him. Sessions said Thursday he has the “highest confidence” in Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and described him as “highly capable.” A group of 11 House conservatives on Wednesday introduced articles of impeachment against Rosenstein, who oversees special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation because Sessions has recused himself. Sessions suggested lawmakers should instead focus on reforming the nation’s immigration system. He also expressed regret for having laughed at a “Lock Her Up” chant and repeated the words during a speech Tuesday at a high school leadership summit. Sessions was in Boston Thursday to announce more than 20 arrests in a federal operation meant to crack down on identity theft and federal benefits fraud. Republished with permission from the Associated Press.
Five things you need to know about Joseph Siegelman
Now that the runoff elections are over, voters are turning their attention to the November General Election only 106 days away. Democratic Attorney General candidate Joseph Siegelman beat his primary opponent Chris Christie in the June primary elections while Incumbent Attorney General and Republican candidate Steve Marshall was thrown into a runoff race. Marshall won his runoff election against Troy King last week with just over 62 percent of the vote; now Marshall will face Siegelman in the November General Election. The attorney general is responsible for representing the state in criminal and civil matters, and the office often is a stepping-stone to other positions. Just ask former Alabama attorney general and U.S. Senator, now-U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions. With that in mind, here are the five things you need to know about Joseph Siegelman: 1. He’s the the son of former Gov. Don Siegelman. Siegelman’s father, former Gov. Don Siegelman was a dominating figure in state politics for years, but his career came to a close with a conviction on federal bribery charges. In 2016, Siegelman had filed a lawsuit seeking Department of Justice documents about his father’s prosecution. Ultimately nothing came of it and Don Siegelman was released in 2017, which was a year to the day that Joseph announced his candidacy, from a federal prison in Louisiana where he was serving a six-year sentence for bribery and obstruction of justice. 2. He received some big endorsements during the primary. Siegelman has been endorsed by the New South Alliance and equal pay activist Lilly Ledbetter. 3. He would be a very young AG. If elected, Siegelman, 29, would only be 30 when he assumes office — a stark contrast to his Republican opponent, Steve Marshall who’s career has spanned over 30 years. 4. He’s the managing partner and with The Cochran Firm. Siegelman is the managing partner in The Cochran Firm – Birmingham office. There, his practice focuses primarily in the areas of personal injury, products liability, medical malpractice and mass tort litigation. He is a member of the Alabama State Bar Association and the Birmingham Bar Association and is admitted to practice in all Alabama State and Federal courts. 5. Roll Tide Roll. Siegelman obtained his undergraduate degree from the University of Alabama while completing part of his coursework at the London School of Economics and Political Science in London, England. He received a Bachelor of Science in Commerce and Business Administration, graduating summa cum laude from the University of Alabama’s Honors College and Business Honors Program. He also received his Juris Doctor from the University of Alabama School of Law. In law school, he twice represented the University of Alabama as an advocate on its National Trial Team and was awarded the George Peach Taylor Award for his outstanding trial advocacy.
Border measures part of President Donald Trump’s bigger immigration crackdown
The separation of families at the U.S.-Mexico border caught the attention of the world and prompted mass outrage, but it only tells a small part of the story surrounding President Donald Trump‘s administration’s immigration policy. In reality, the government is working to harden the system on multiple fronts to curb immigration, carving a path around various court rulings to do so. The administration is seeking to lock up families indefinitely, expand detention space and tighten asylum rules and apply more scrutiny to green card applications. Many of the initiatives received little attention during the chaos over separated families, but they show how determined President Donald Trump is to stop immigrants from coming — both legally and illegally — even in cases where the administration has been stymied by the courts. Other administrations may have faced similar problems with illegal immigration and tried similar solutions, but all have been unable to stem the flow of migrants streaming through southern border. No other president, however, has campaigned so vociferously on the topic. “The United States will not be a migrant camp and it will not be a refugee holding facility,” President Donald Trump declared days before putting an end to the separation of parents from their children. “Not on my watch.” This week’s headlines were dominated by stories of reunions of immigrant parents and their young children that the Trump administration had to carry out under a court order. The White House said it “worked tirelessly” to complete the reunifications and make sure the children were put back into safe homes. In the same week, however, the administration made other moves to clamp down on immigrant families, asylum seekers and those seeking green cards. The administration’s attempts to deter Central American families and children from making the trip north are designed to send the message to immigrants — and Trump’s supporters in an election year — that reaching the United States is going to get harder, and so will getting papers to stay in the country legally. “All of these things, I think, are part of a bigger ultimate aim, which is to significantly reduce immigration of all kinds to the United States over the longer term, and in the process, the real desire is to change the character of the country,” said Doris Meissner, a former commissioner of the Immigration and Naturalization Service in the Clinton administration. Before departing the White House this week for his European trip, Trump offered his own solution for the government missing a court-mandated deadline to reunite some families: “Don’t come to our country illegally.” In Europe, the president hasn’t shied away from offering his views on the flow of immigration across the pond. Trump pressed ahead with his complaints that European immigration policies are changing the “fabric of Europe” and destroying European culture. He reiterated a position he articulated in a British tabloid where he said: “I think allowing millions and millions of people to come into Europe is very, very sad.” The Trump administration announced plans in April to prosecute illegal border crossers with the crime of improper entry, and in doing so, jailed some parents caught on the border and placed their children in government custody. The U.S. government was sued and the public was outraged, prompting Trump to halt the separations. The chaos over the separations has put the administration in the difficult position of having to release families with ankle-monitoring bracelets into the public — a practice Trump has decried — while at the same time attempting a series of legal maneuvers to argue for tougher enforcement capabilities. That’s because two court cases in California restrict what the government can do in carrying out hardline immigration policies. One requires the government to release immigrant children generally after 20 days in detention. The other has banned the separation of families and placed the government under tight deadlines to reunite parents and children. In an attempt to comply with both rulings, the White House wants to present families with a choice: Stay together in detention or release the child to a government program for immigrant youth for potential placement with a relative while the parent remains locked up. It’s unclear whether the administration has enough detention beds to do so, but it’s looking. Homeland Security has formally requested 12,000 beds for family detention, with 2,000 beds to be made available immediately at U.S. military bases. The Defense Department has said it also received a request to house up to 20,000 unaccompanied immigrant children. Officials are also seeking to send immigrants back to their countries sooner and make it harder for them to seek asylum in a backlogged courts system where it can take years to get a ruling. Trump officials say too many people are claiming they are persecuted when they are not, adding that only 20 percent of asylum claims are granted. Asylum officers tasked with screening immigrants stopped at the border were told this week to heed a recent opinion by Attorney General Jeff Sessions that gang and domestic violence should not generally be a reason for asylum — reasons cited by many immigrants fleeing bloodshed in Central America. The result: fewer immigrants will pass these initial screenings that enable them to seek asylum before an immigration judge, said Megan Brewer, an immigration attorney in Los Angeles and former asylum officer. “If they don’t comply, all their decisions are going to be sent back to them,” she said. “The average officer will go with the path of least resistance.” Immigrants in the country legally also face new hurdles under various policies. Since taking office, the administration has ended protected status for hundreds of thousands of people from countries recovering from war and natural disasters, slashed the number of refugees allowed into the United States and said it will seek to strip the U.S. citizenship of those suspected of cheating to get it. And applicants for green cards and other immigration benefits are facing longer waits and more detailed questions. Immigration
