In a Wednesday morning speech on the U.S. Senate floor in anticipation of an expected ultimate impeachment acquittal vote later today, Sen. Doug Jones (D-AL) announced that he will &#8220;reluctantly&#8221; vote to convict President Donald Trump on each of the two articles of impeachment adopted by the U.S. House: &#8220;Abuse of power&#8221; and &#8220;<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/hammer-at-the-new-york-post-obstruction-of-congress-is-an-utterly-ridiculous-impeachment-charge">obstruction of Congress</a>.&#8221; Jones has been viewed as one of three possible Democratic senators, along with Sens. Joe Manchin (WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (AZ), who could cross party lines and join the overwhelmingly majority of Republican senators expected to vote to acquit Trump.
&#8220;After many sleepless nights, I have reluctantly concluded that the evidence is sufficient to convict the President for both abuse of power and obstruction of Congress,&#8221; Jones said in a statement, as <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/481610-doug-jones-says-he-will-vote-to-convict-trump">reported</a> by The Hill. &#8220;[A]fter careful consideration of the evidence developed in the hearings, the public disclosures, the legal precedents, and the trial, I believe the president deliberately and unconstitutionally obstructed Congress by refusing to cooperate with the investigation in any way.&#8221;
&#8220;The president’s actions placed his personal interests well above the national interests and threatened the security of the United States, our allies in Europe, and our ally Ukraine,&#8221; Jones added. &#8220;His actions were more than simply inappropriate. They were an abuse of power.&#8221;
Jones&#8217; decision leaves Manchin and Sinema as the remaining Democrats who still might join Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and the majority of his Republican caucus in voting to acquit President Trump of his impeachment charges. Moderate Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski (AK) and Susan Collins (ME) have each announced their intent to vote to acquit the president, which leaves freshman Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) as the only Republican senator still considered to be a possible defector.
Jones shocked the political world in 2017, winning a special election over the deeply polarizing and scandal-plagued Roy Moore to secure a Democratic Senate seat from one of the reddest and <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/247016/conservatives-greatly-outnumber-liberals-states.aspx">most conservative states</a> in the country. Accordingly, Jones, who is on the ballot this November, is widely considered to be the single most politically vulnerable Senate Democrat. As The Hill notes, a &#8220;JMC Analytics and Polling survey released late last year found that 39% of voters in Alabama support impeaching Trump, compared to 54% who oppose it.&#8221;
The Alabama Senate Republican primary is a crowded field, but there is no bigger name than Jeff Sessions — the man who long held this very Senate seat before abdicating it to assume the role of the Trump administration&#8217;s first attorney general. Other candidates include Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-AL), former Auburn University football coach Tommy Tuberville, Moore, and State Sen. <a href="https://www.conservativereview.com/news/levin-endorses-arnold-mooney-alabamas-gop-senate-primary/">Arnold Mooney</a>. Assuming Moore does not prevail, whichever candidate does emerge from the Republican primary will assuredly become an immediate general election favorite over Jones.
&#8220;A new <a href="https://winwithjmc.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Alabama-Senate-Executive-Summary-General-Election-Poll-1.pdf" data-reader-unique-id="17">poll</a> on the 2020 Alabama U.S. Senate race finds an uphill race ahead for incumbent Doug Jones, but also no Republican candidate breaking from the pack,&#8221; local CBS affiliate WHNT News <a href="https://whnt.com/2019/12/23/new-polls-finds-uphill-climb-for-incumbent-u-s-sen-doug-jones-in-re-election-bid/">reported</a> in December. &#8220;The poll found also shows Jones with a solid lead over Republican Roy Moore, 47 to 33 with 20% undecided. &#8230; But in match-ups against the leading GOP contenders, including Sessions, &#8230; Tuberville, and &#8230; Byrne, Jones trails.&#8221;

Sen. Doug Jones

Doug Jones Will ‘Reluctantly’ Vote To Convict Trump Today

2020 Election

Alabama

Donald Trump

Doug Jones

Impeachment

Jeff Sessions

Joe Manchin

Kyrsten Sinema

Roy Moore

U.S. Senate

Failed Republican U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore announced on Thursday that he is running for the same Senate seat in 2020 after accusations of child molestation derailed his campaign in 2017.
Moore&#8217;s last run was so disastrously scandal-plagued that &#8220;Senate Republicans made clear they would rather have a Democrat with them in the Senate than Roy Moore, who was accused by more than half a dozen women of predatory behavior when they were teenagers and he was in his 30s,&#8221; The Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/06/20/roy-moore-might-launch-another-senate-run-theres-nothing-washington-republicans-can-do-about-it/">reported</a>.
&#8220;Why is there such a fear, such an anger, why such a hatred, such an opposition to somebody running?&#8221; Moore asked at his press conference. &#8220;Is it because I believe in God and marriage &#8230; and the right of a baby in the womb to have a life? Are these things embarrassing to you?&#8221;
&#8220;Everyone in Alabama knows that last election in 2017 was fraudulent,&#8221; Moore said &#8212; apparently referencing the reportedly shady disinformation tactics employed by Democrats during the election, and which were previously <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/19/us/alabama-senate-roy-jones-russia.html">reported</a> on by The New York Times.
Republican strategist Chris Barron slammed Moore over his comments, tweeting: &#8220;Stacy Abrams and Roy Moore. Opposite sides of the same brain dead coin.&#8221;
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Stacy Abrams and Roy Moore. Opposite sides of the same brain dead coin. <a href="https://t.co/8Jce1gZyQy">https://t.co/8Jce1gZyQy</a>
&#8212; Chris Barron (@ChrisRBarron) <a href="https://twitter.com/ChrisRBarron/status/1141793496841555968?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 20, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
Moore reportedly said that he was &#8220;not going against President Trump&#8221; by entering the race.
Donald Trump Jr. quickly punched back, tweeting: &#8220;This is pure fake news. I can assure everyone that by running, Roy Moore is going against my father and he&#8217;s doing a disservice to all conservatives across the country in the process.&#8221;
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
This is pure fake news. I can assure everyone that by running, Roy Moore is going against my father and he&#8217;s doing a disservice to all conservatives across the country in the process. <a href="https://t.co/pjfDKfoIO0">https://t.co/pjfDKfoIO0</a>
&#8212; Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) <a href="https://twitter.com/DonaldJTrumpJr/status/1141793386170638337?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 20, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
Sen. Martha McSally (R-AZ) responded to Moore&#8217;s announcement by saying: &#8220;Give me a break. This place has enough creepy old men.&#8221;
Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO) said: &#8220;The people of Alabama are smarter than that.&#8221;
Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) said: &#8220;I would oppose Roy Moore. &#8230; I will not be by myself, I hope. I think Alabama can do better than that.&#8221;
Earlier this year, President Donald Trump warned against Moore entering the race: &#8220;Republicans cannot allow themselves to again lose the Senate seat in the Great State of Alabama. This time it will be for Six Years, not just Two. I have NOTHING against Roy Moore, and unlike many other Republican leaders, wanted him to win. But he didn&#8217;t, and probably won&#8217;t. If Alabama does not elect a Republican to the Senate in 2020, many of the incredible gains that we have made during my Presidency may be lost, including our Pro-Life victories. Roy Moore cannot win, and the consequences will be devastating&#8230;.Judges and Supreme Court Justices!&#8221;
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
&#8230;If Alabama does not elect a Republican to the Senate in 2020, many of the incredible gains that we have made during my Presidency may be lost, including our Pro-Life victories. Roy Moore cannot win, and the consequences will be devastating&#8230;.Judges and Supreme Court Justices!
&#8212; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1133699637678870528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 29, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
This is a breaking news story, refresh the page for updates.

Roy Moore Announces Another Senate Run. Republicans Blast Him.

Republican Party

On Tuesday, Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-AL), who is running for U.S. Senate in 2020, told <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/house/445781-gop-candidate-expects-roy-moore-to-announce-senate-bid-in-june">The Hill</a> he heard from multiple GOP sources that failed Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore &#8212; who lost a special election in 2017 against Democrat Doug Jones amid a series of accusations of inappropriate sexual interactions with young women &#8212; was gearing up to mount another senatorial campaign.
&#8220;What is Bradley so worried about?&#8221; Moore tweeted in response. &#8220;He knows that if I run I will beat Doug Jones.&#8221;
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
He knows that if I run I will beat Doug Jones.
&#8212; Judge Roy Moore (@RealJudgeMoore) <a href="https://twitter.com/RealJudgeMoore/status/1133440070785142784?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 28, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
The report, and Moore&#8217;s taunting response, sparked a series of strong warnings and rebukes from Republicans, including Donald Trump Jr., who <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/47759/roy-moore-flirts-another-senate-run-trump-jr-shuts-ryan-saavedra">tweeted</a>, &#8220;You mean like last time? You&#8217;re literally the only candidate who could lose a GOP seat in pro-Trump, pro-USA ALABAMA. Running for office should never become a business model. If you actually care about #MAGA more than your own ego, it&#8217;s time to ride off into the sunset, Judge.&#8221;
Wednesday morning, Trump Jr.&#8217;s father weighed in with less harsh but equally unequivocal advice for Moore.
&#8220;Republicans cannot allow themselves to again lose the Senate seat in the Great State of Alabama. This time it will be for Six Years, not just Two,&#8221; Trump wrote in a pair of tweets. &#8220;I have NOTHING against Roy Moore, and unlike many other Republican leaders, wanted him to win. But he didn&#8217;t, and probably won&#8217;t&#8230;..&#8221;
Trump then urged Moore to put the conservative agenda, particularly the pro-life cause, ahead of his personal ambitions: &#8220;If Alabama does not elect a Republican to the Senate in 2020, many of the incredible gains that we have made during my Presidency may be lost, including our Pro-Life victories. Roy Moore cannot win, and the consequences will be devastating&#8230;.Judges and Supreme Court Justices!&#8221;
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Republicans cannot allow themselves to again lose the Senate seat in the Great State of Alabama. This time it will be for Six Years, not just Two. I have NOTHING against Roy Moore, and unlike many other Republican leaders, wanted him to win. But he didn&#8217;t, and probably won&#8217;t&#8230;..
&#8212; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1133699631857262593?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 29, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-conversation="none" data-lang="en">
&#8230;If Alabama does not elect a Republican to the Senate in 2020, many of the incredible gains that we have made during my Presidency may be lost, including our Pro-Life victories. Roy Moore cannot win, and the consequences will be devastating&#8230;.Judges and Supreme Court Justices!
&#8212; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1133699637678870528?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 29, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
As <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/47759/roy-moore-flirts-another-senate-run-trump-jr-shuts-ryan-saavedra">The Daily Wire</a> highlighted Tuesday, several Republicans have likewise warned Moore against running again, including Republican strategist Arthur Schwartz. &#8220;They are not having a good afternoon over at @RealJudgeMoore headquarters (someplace at least 300 yards away from any elementary school or shopping mall),&#8221; tweeted Schwartz. Former White House official Cliff Sims also mocked Moore online: &#8220;Narrator: &#8216;&#8230;And thus, in true Trump-era fashion, Roy Moore&#8217;s decades-long career in Alabama politics came to an end&#8212;on Twitter.'&#8221;
But as <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2019/05/28/don-jr-roy-moore-alabama-senate-1346089">Politico</a> noted Tuesday, Moore&#8217;s victorious opponent would be thrilled about the idea of the embattled judge running against him again. When Moore began to stir up speculation that he would run again back in February, Jones replied, &#8220;If he really believes that and if the Republican Party really believes that then they all ought to just step aside, have a press conference with him and let&#8217;s just do it again.&#8221;
In response to Politico&#8217;s report on the backlash over his potential senatorial run, Moore retweeted another taunting post. &#8220;He&#8217;s running and he&#8217;s going to win the primary,&#8221; reads the comment Moore retweeted Tuesday.
Moore also retweeted a response to Donald Trump Jr.&#8217;s rebuke that connects the flood of accusations against him to the &#8220;Russian disinformation campaign&#8221; against Trump: &#8220;If you OVERLOOK the disinformation campaign ran by the #danielJones #democracyintegrityproject group against @RealJudgeMoore , then you must overlook the #russiandisinformation campaign against @realDonaldTrump that resulted in 2 years of #hoax ! Same people? #fusionGPS&#8221;
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
He&#8217;s running and he&#8217;s going to win the primary.
&#8212; Joshua Petre (@PetrePowder) <a href="https://twitter.com/PetrePowder/status/1133546483918053376?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 29, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
If you OVERLOOK the disinformation campaign ran by the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/danielJones?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#danielJones</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/democracyintegrityproject?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#democracyintegrityproject</a> group against <a href="https://twitter.com/RealJudgeMoore?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RealJudgeMoore</a> , then you must overlook the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/russiandisinformation?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#russiandisinformation</a> campaign against <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realDonaldTrump</a> that resulted in 2 years of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/hoax?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#hoax</a> ! Same people? <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/fusionGPS?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#fusionGPS</a>
&#8212; Just the facts please (@tonto07610129) <a href="https://twitter.com/tonto07610129/status/1133548280409931776?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 29, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>

Trump Breaks Silence On Roy Moore’s Potentially ‘Devastating’ Decision

Donald Trump Jr.

Failed Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore was hammered on social media on Tuesday after he continued to ramp up speculation that he is going to run for the U.S. Senate again after his last attempt ended in disaster.
Donald Trump Jr. slammed Moore after Moore said if he runs again that he would beat Sen. Doug Jones (D-AL), tweeting: &#8220;You mean like last time? You&#8217;re literally the only candidate who could lose a GOP seat in pro-Trump, pro-USA ALABAMA. Running for office should never become a business model. If you actually care about #MAGA more than your own ego, it&#8217;s time to ride off into the sunset, Judge.&#8221;
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
You mean like last time? You&#8217;re literally the only candidate who could lose a GOP seat in pro-Trump, pro-USA ALABAMA. Running for office should never become a business model. If you actually care about <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MAGA?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MAGA</a> more than your own ego, it&#8217;s time to ride off into the sunset, Judge. <a href="https://t.co/Twg9isFRkY">https://t.co/Twg9isFRkY</a>
&#8212; Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) <a href="https://twitter.com/DonaldJTrumpJr/status/1133500013869449217?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 28, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
Moore, who lost in a close race to Jones, was plagued throughout the course of his campaign after sexual allegations surfaced against him when he became the nominee for the Republican Party.
&#8220;He has expressed interest in running again next year, and many Republicans expect him to mount another campaign for Senate, a worst-case scenario for the party&#8217;s hopes of winning back the seat,&#8221; Politico <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2019/05/28/don-jr-roy-moore-alabama-senate-1346089">reported</a>. &#8220;Republicans in Washington have vowed to oppose Moore and think the former judge would put the Alabama race in jeopardy again.&#8221;
Multiple Republicans were quick to slam Moore on social media over his comments.
Republican strategist Arthur Schwartz tweeted: &#8220;They are not having a good afternoon over at @RealJudgeMoore headquarters (someplace at least 300 yards away from any elementary school or shopping mall).&#8221;
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
They are not having a good afternoon over at <a href="https://twitter.com/RealJudgeMoore?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@RealJudgeMoore</a> headquarters (someplace at least 300 yards away from any elementary school or shopping mall). <a href="https://t.co/wmRhw3SDv5">https://t.co/wmRhw3SDv5</a>
&#8212; Arthur Schwartz (@ArthurSchwartz) <a href="https://twitter.com/ArthurSchwartz/status/1133503185564426240?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 28, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
Former White House official Cliff Sims tweeted: &#8220;Narrator: &#8216;&#8230;And thus, in true Trump-era fashion, Roy Moore&#8217;s decades-long career in Alabama politics came to an end&#8212;on Twitter.'&#8221;
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Narrator: &#8220;&#8230;And thus, in true Trump-era fashion, Roy Moore&#8217;s decades-long career in Alabama politics came to an end&#8212;on Twitter.&#8221; <a href="https://t.co/Z9b0LaMZOB">https://t.co/Z9b0LaMZOB</a>
&#8212; Cliff Sims (@Cliff_Sims) <a href="https://twitter.com/Cliff_Sims/status/1133502700430200833?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 28, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
Andrew Wagner, Director of Public Affairs for the Minnesota House Republican Caucus, tweeted to Moore: &#8220;You are such a moron.&#8221;
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
You are such a moron. <a href="https://t.co/3isKFC8WfL">https://t.co/3isKFC8WfL</a>
&#8212; Andrew Wagner (@andrewwagner) <a href="https://twitter.com/andrewwagner/status/1133507270736777216?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 28, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
Fox News <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/politics/don-trump-jr-roy-moore-alabama-senate-run">noted</a> that if Moore wins the Republican nomination that it &#8220;could also have national repercussions, allowing Democrats to accuse the GOP of ignoring the #MeToo movement and coddling a man accused of sexual misconduct, allegations he&#8217;s denied.&#8221;

Roy Moore Flirts With Another Senate Run. Trump Jr. Shuts Him Down.

On Saturday, Tommy Tuberville &#8212; who became a national name during his ten-year highly successful run as the head football coach at Auburn University, during which time his team pulled off a perfect season but was famously left out of the BCS National Championship Game &#8212; announced his candidacy for U.S. Senate to represent Alabama in 2020. The seat is currently filled by Democrat Doug Jones, who narrowly edged out scandal-plagued Republican Roy Moore in the 2017 special election to fill the seat vacated by Jeff Sessions after President Trump named him attorney general.
&#8220;After more than a year of listening to Alabama&#8217;s citizens, I have heard your concerns and hopes for a better tomorrow. I am humbled to announce the next step &#8212; I will be a @GOP candidate for US Senate. I invite you to join my team,&#8221; Tuberville announced on Twitter Saturday, notably including the MAGA hashtag at the end of the tweet: &#8220;#TeamTommy #ALSen #MAGA.&#8221;
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
After more than a year of listening to Alabama&#8217;s citizens, I have heard your concerns and hopes for a better tomorrow. I am humbled to announce the next step &#8212; I will be a <a href="https://twitter.com/GOP?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@GOP</a> candidate for US Senate. I invite you to join my team. <a href="https://t.co/jlW8VdXpoq">https://t.co/jlW8VdXpoq</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/TeamTommy?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#TeamTommy</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ALSen?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ALSen</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MAGA?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MAGA</a>
&#8212; Tommy Tuberville (@TTuberville) <a href="https://twitter.com/TTuberville/status/1114594230901575681?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 6, 2019</a></blockquote>
</div>
The tweet links to his campaign site, <a href="https://tommyforsenate.com/">TommyForSenate</a>, which reiterates the announcement and invites supporters to sign up and volunteer. 
After making his head coaching debut at Ole Miss, where he coached for four seasons (1995-98) and went 25-20 (.556), Tuberville was named head coach of Auburn, where he spent nearly half of his 21-year <a href="https://www.sports-reference.com/cfb/coaches/tommy-tuberville-1.html">coaching career</a> and won at the highest percentage of his career. He took over as head coach of Auburn in 1999 and stayed through the 2008 season, during which time he went 85-40 (.680) and led the team to eight straight winning seasons, including one undefeated season in 2004 (undefeated USC and undefeated Oklahama played for the BCS National Championship that year; Auburn ended up ranked 2nd after winning its bowl game). Tuberville went on to be the head coach of Texas Tech for three years (2010-2012) and Cincinnati for four (2013-16). Over the entirety of his head coaching career, he won at a rate of just over 60%, 159-99 (.616).
Should he win the primary, Tuberville&#8217;s Democratic opponent would be incumbent Doug Jones, who only managed to defeat embattled Republican Roy Moore by a margin of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/elections/results/alabama-senate-special-election-roy-moore-doug-jones">1.5%</a> (49.9-48.4) despite Moore&#8217;s disastrous campaign that was characterized by a series of deeply damaging accusations which prompted a massive rift among Republicans. 
While the 2017 contest was a special election that included a divisive Republican candidate, the 2020 presidential election will inevitably draw more voters, which will likely benefit Republicans, as there is strong support among Alabama voters for Trump &#8212; in fact, the state has consistently been among <a href="https://www.al.com/news/2018/06/why_alabama_republicans_are_al.html">the strongest</a> in Trump support in the nation. 
Tuberville will be facing off against Republican Congressman <a href="https://byrne.house.gov/">Bradley Byrne</a>, who announced his candidacy for the seat two months ago. Byrne currently represents Alabama&#8217;s first congressional district.
Byrne, a former Democrat, made clear when he announced in February that he supports President Trump. &#8220;So far, I don&#8217;t know of anything where he and I fundamentally disagree,&#8221; he <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/campaigns/trump-friendly-bradley-byrne-enters-senate-race-in-alabama-doug-jones-is-against-building-the-wall">said</a> of the president, though he did express concern about some of his trade policies. Doug Jones, however, he said, &#8220;is against building the wall.&#8221; Byrne also stressed his pro-life and pro-gun record, contrasting that with Jones. 
Prior to the scandalous special election, Sessions had held the seat for two decades.
H/T <a href="https://hotair.com/archives/2019/04/07/former-auburn-coach-announces-u-s-senate-bid-doug-jones/">Karen Townsend</a>.

Former Auburn Football Coach Announces Senate Run, #MAGA Support

Trump Administration

A liberal billionaire who funded an organization that falsely portrayed Alabama senate candidate Roy Moore as being supported by the Russian government has apologized.
Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn, donated millions to Democrat groups during the last election cycle, but one of those groups, American Engagement Technologies (AET), ran a disinformation campaign that linked Moore to the Kremlin. AET is run by former Obama appointee Mikey Dickerson and received $750,000 from Hoffman.
&#8220;I find the tactics that have been recently reported highly disturbing. For that reason, I am embarrassed by my failure to track AET &#8211; the organization I did support &#8211; more diligently as it made its own decisions to perhaps fund projects that I would reject,&#8221; Hoffman wrote in <a href="https://medium.com/@reidhoffman/truth-and-politics-1a532bc6c2b1">a post on Medium</a>.
&#8220;I want to be unequivocal: there is absolutely no place in our democracy for manipulating facts or using falsehoods to gain political advantage,&#8221; he added.
AET then used Facebook and Twitter to support Democrat Doug Jones and undermine Roy Moore by attempting to persuade conservatives to vote for someone other than the Republican candidate, <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2018/12/26/internet-billionaire-reid-hoffman-apologizes-funding-group-behind-disinformation-alabama-race/?noredirect=on&amp;utm_term=.9ee69d20f15e&amp;wpisrc=al_news__alert-economy--alert-politics--alert-national&amp;wpmk=1">according to The Washington Post</a>. The disinformation campaign was called Project Birmingham. Documents from a Washington, D.C. meeting about electoral tactics were provided to the Post.
&#8220;One Project Birmingham tactic described in the document claimed backers had created false online evidence that a network of Russian automated accounts, called bots, were supporting Moore. In his statement, Hoffman called this report &#8216;the most disturbing aspect&#8217; of the disinformation effort. This and some other key details were first reported in the New York Times,&#8221; the Post reported.
AET, according to Hoffman, provided funding to a firm called New Knowledge, which is run by Jonathon Morgan. Morgan has acknowledged that his firm used disinformation tactics on a small scale in Alabama but has denied any involvement in the larger campaign mentioned by the Post and the Times.
&#8220;I did not participate in any campaign to influence the public,&#8221; Morgan tweeted, according to Fox News. He said the goals of his project did not involve supporting Doug Jones.
Hoffman and Jones both now support <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2018/12/20/sen-jones-calls-probe-into-alleged-disinformation-plot-alabama-senate-race/?utm_term=.4f2a93d52476">an investigation into the tactics</a> used in the Alabama senate race, which Jones won by 22,000 votes.
&#8220;We cannot permit dishonest campaign tactics to go unchecked in our democracy&#8202;&#8212;&#8202;no matter which side they purportedly help,&#8221; Hoffman wrote.
Jones told Fox News in a statement that he was &#8220;outraged&#8221; over the tactics of the Hoffman-funded group.
&#8220;I&#8217;d like to see the Federal Election Commission and the Justice Department look at this to see if there were any laws being violated and, if there were, prosecute those responsible,&#8221; he told the network. &#8220;These authorities need to use this example right now to start setting the course for the future to let people know that this is not acceptable in the United States of America.&#8221;
Hoffman added that he will now implement new policies determining how he and his politics team vet investments and oversee those organizations.
An internal report from the project funded by Hoffman admitted, &#8220;We orchestrated an elaborate &#8216;false flag&#8217; operation that planted the idea that the Moore campaign was amplified on social media by a Russian botnet,&#8221; <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/19/us/alabama-senate-roy-jones-russia.html">according to a copy reviewed by the Times</a>. The report also boasted about &#8220;radicalizing Democrats with a Russian bot scandal&#8221; by using &#8220;many of the tactics now understood to have influenced the 2016 elections.&#8221;

Liberal Donor Apologizes For Funding Group That Falsely Claimed Russians Supported Roy Moore In Alabama Senate Race

Democratic Party

Hoax

Russia

Roy Moore, the former Alabama judge who ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate in 2017, says in new legal filings that TV personality Sacha Baron Cohen duped him before filming a segment for his show, thus voiding a consent agreement Moore had signed.
Moore filed a $95 million defamation suit against Cohen in September. In his Showtime show &#8220;Who Is America?&#8221; Cohen points a device at Moore, claiming it detects sex offenders (during his contentious campaign, several woman made sexual allegations against Moore, including two who said they were sexually assaulted by Moore when they were aged 14 and 16).
In the latest filings, Moore&#8217;s lawyers argue that Moore was &#8220;fraudulently induced&#8221; to appear on the satire show.
&#8220;The first misrepresentation was that Judge Moore was being flown to Washington D.C. to receive an award for his support of Israel, when in actuality it was so that he could be falsely portrayed as a pedophile on national television,&#8221; Moore&#8217;s lawyer Larry Klayman says, according to <a href="https://deadline.com/2018/12/sacha-baron-cohen-roy-moore-lawsuit-claims-fraud-who-is-america-1202519029/">Deadline</a>.
&#8220;The second misrepresentation was that the television segment was being produced by Yerushalayim TV, and not Defendant Cohen, Showtime, and CBS.&#8221;
&#8220;As such, the venue clause in the purported &#8216;Consent Agreement&#8217; that Defendants wish to now enforce is clearly void and unenforceable along with the remainder of the &#8216;Consent Agreement,&#8217;&#8221; noting that Yerushalayim TV is a fake entity (Yerushalayim is Hebrew for Jerusalem). &#8220;Holding otherwise contravenes not only well established contract common law, but also the notions of justice and fundamental fairness.&#8221;
Lawyers for Showtime and Cohen say the consent agreement Moore signed stipulate &#8220;that any legal disputes would be handled in New York,&#8221; The <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/moore-claims-sacha-baron-cohens-yerushalayim-tv-fraud-voids-deal-1168789">Hollywood Reporter</a> writes. &#8220;Moore&#8217;s complaint was filed in the District of Columbia, so Showtime argues for dismissal based on a lack of jurisdiction. And if Showtime wins the argument, it may win the overall case too since the consent agreement obviously entails consent (and waives claims).&#8221;
But Moore legal team says Showtime can&#8217;t enforce the consent agreement.
&#8220;[T]he purported &#8216;Consent Agreement&#8217; was strictly between Judge Moore and Yerushalayim TV,&#8221; they write in the filing. &#8220;There is zero mention of Defendant Cohen, Defendant CBS, or Defendant Showtime in the &#8216;Consent Agreement.&#8217; Yerushalayim Television, LLC is incorporated in the state of Montana [sic]. There is no indication on its Articles of Organization or Annual Report that it is in any way affiliated with any of the Defendants. As such, even if the Consent Agreement were a valid binding agreement &#8212; which it is not, as set forth above &#8212; Defendants clearly have no basis upon which to enforce its terms.&#8221;
Deadline points out that &#8220;Yerushalayim Television, LLC,&#8221; is actually incorporated in Wyoming.
You can read the <a href="https://pmcdeadline2.files.wordpress.com/2018/12/roy-moore-sasha-baron-cohen-who-is-america-suit-dec-12-opp-response-1-wm.pdf">entire filing here</a>.

Roy Moore Claims Sacha Baron Cohen Duped Him Before TV Appearance, Voiding Consent Agreement

Sacha Baron Cohen

Jeff Sessions was forced to resign from his job as Attorney General Wednesday, but although he&#8217;ll be packing up his desk at the Justice Department, he may not be gone from Washington, D.C., for long.
<a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2018/11/07/jeff-sessions-senate-seat-973703">According to a report in Politico</a>, Sessions is considering returning to his home state of Alabama where he may run for the Senate seat he vacated to take a job with the Trump administration.
Sessions left a Senate seat vacant in 2017. It went to a special election, with Democrat Doug Jones facing off against controversial Republican Judge Roy Moore. During the campaign, Moore was accused of having an inappropriate relationship with an underage girl, and the decades-old allegation sealed Moore&#8217;s loss.
Jones is up for re-election (this time to a full term in the Senate) in 2020, when Sessions himself was due to come up for re-election (had he not taken the job in Washington), and Jones is by no means a lock on the seat. In fact, local Republicans, including former Republican Senator Luther Strange (who lost to Moore in the special election primary), seemed giddy about the possibility of Sessions returning to compete for his old position.
&#8220;Jeff Sessions for Senate in 2020!&#8221; Strange tweeted Wednesday.
The problem for Sessions is that, while he&#8217;s a beloved fixture in Alabama, his time as Attorney General has done little to improve how potential 2020 voters see him. In fact, Politico reports his former constituents have &#8220;soured&#8221; somewhat on their former senator, largely because of President Donald Trump&#8217;s &#8220;relentless attacks&#8221; on Sessions&#8217; character.
Since excusing himself from the DOJ&#8217;s Russia probe, Trump has routinely eviscerated Sessions &#8212; who was among Trump&#8217;s first and most ardent supporters as Trump was running for President in 2016 &#8212; over his refusal to intervene in Special Counsel Robert Mueller&#8217;s investigation, allowing Mueller to have all the time and resources he needed to make a thorough inquiry into whether Russian officials effectively colluded with Trump campaign officials to impact the outcome of the 2016 Presidential election.
Trump finally removed Sessions from office Wednesday, taking media attention off the Republicans&#8217; Congressional losses and signaling his own growing impatience with Mueller&#8217;s probe. Democrats <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-46135758">immediately began to claim Trump was seeking an end</a> to the Russia investigation and that Mueller&#8217;s job &#8212; and deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein&#8217;s &#8212; were in Trump&#8217;s crosshairs.
Rosenstein reportedly visited the White House Thursday morning but has not resigned from his position. Robert Mueller signaled to reporters, also Thursday, that the Russia probe wasn&#8217;t in danger. In fact, he and his team, Mueller said, are putting together their final report, which they are expected to deliver to Congress later this month.
Sessions announced his resignation in a letter, clearly prepared in advance of the occasion, just following a contentious White House press conference Wednesday afternoon. He has yet to confirm his future plans, though the White House was clear that Sessions will not serve much longer in the role. A temporary Attorney General was assigned to fill Sessions&#8217; position, and a replacement is expected to be named quickly.

Not Gone For Long! Sessions Is Considering Running For His Old Seat

Democrats and their allies in the media like to paint their side as the party of decency and morality. The Right can see through the charade, but does it actually work for a large segment of the country? Andrew Klavan examined how and why the Left does this on Wednesday&#8217;s episode of &#8220;The Andrew Klavan Show.&#8221;
&#8220;When I talk about the culture I always talk about how conservatives ignore the culture. The culture is not just the movies, it&#8217;s not just talk shows, it&#8217;s the way we live, it&#8217;s the way we behave,&#8221; said Klavan. &#8220;I see these guys going around like, &#8216;you know yeah, the moral world is collapsing, our sexual mores have collapsed, but at least I&#8217;m getting laid!&#8217; Wait a minute, if you want to rebuild the culture, you&#8217;ve got to start with yourself, each of us carries a piece of the culture, so it&#8217;s our job, especially here on &#8216;The Andrew Klavan Show,&#8217; to step back and look at the bigger picture, look at what is being talked about in context so we can make moral choices. Because the Left is basically, and has been for many years, running a morality scam.&#8221;
Klavan compared the media&#8217;s coverage of the scandals of former Alabama GOP senate candidate Roy Moore to that of New Jersey Democrat Sen. Bob Menendez. Both were accused of sexual misconduct and while the Republican earned a mention on Stephen Colbert, the Democrat was ignored. 
Klavan explained, &#8220;So all that posing from not just the news media, not just that, but also from Colbert, also from the entire entertainment media. Oh they were so, so shocked that Roy Moore may have put his hand on the bra of a young girl when he was a younger man legally, they were so, so shocked. With Menendez nothing, crickets. It&#8217;s a scam, it&#8217;s the morality scam, it is all about power.&#8221;
Video and transcript below:
<div class="embed video fluid-video"><iframe loading="lazy" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen frameborder="0" height="409" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/l74_SRzHexE" width="728"></iframe></div>
<blockquote>
The media is trying to cause this fog of crisis, make everybody think that things are going terribly, that something&#8217;s wrong. They want Democrats to show up, they want Democrats to be upset and get the people out of power, because the media are Democrats, and they want to suppress the Republican vote. We have this kind of larger responsibility not to just react. When I talk about the culture I always talk about how conservatives ignore the culture, the culture is not just the movies, it&#8217;s not just talk shows, it&#8217;s the way we live, it&#8217;s the way we behave. I see these guys going around like, &#8220;you know yeah, the moral world is collapsing, our sexual mores have collapsed, but at least I&#8217;m getting laid!&#8221; Wait a minute, if you want to rebuild the culture you&#8217;ve got to start with yourself, each of us carries a piece of the culture, so it&#8217;s our job, especially here on the Andrew Klavan show, to step back and look at the bigger picture, look at what is being talked about in context so we can make moral choices. Because the Left is basically, and has been for many years, running a morality scam. They have been putting on the idea that somehow we are violating the moral code by being conservatives, by pushing for freedom, for pushing for the Constitution, whereas they &#8220;oh my goodness, what moral fellows they are.&#8221;
There&#8217;s a race going on in New Jersey where Bob Menendez is running to keep his Senate seat. Now, I don&#8217;t think there&#8217;s been a Republican Senator in New Jersey, a very blue state, for 50 years. So the Democrats are pouring money into this race, they are pouring money to keep Menendez in his seat, and it&#8217;s a very close race &#8211; he&#8217;s up against Bob Hugin, he&#8217;s a pharmaceutical executive. Remember who Menendez is, right? This is a guy who was investigated, there was substantial corroborated evidence that he was doing favors for his pal, a Florida ophthalmologist Salomon Melgen, and in response this Melgen was taking him on trips to the Dominican Republic, and they were sleeping with underage prostitutes. There was a lot of evidence of this, a lot of corroborated evidence, and he went on trial for corruption &#8211; not just for this but for all kinds of corruption &#8211; and the jury deadlocked and they dropped the case. But the Senate Select Committee on ethics severely admonished him, there is no question that some of this stuff was going on, he&#8217;s obviously just barely escaped being convicted.
Now remember Roy Moore? Menendez is accused, credibly with corroboration, of sleeping with underage prostitutes, right? So let&#8217;s go back to Roy Moore, who was in that special election to become Senator in Alabama, and there were unsupported allegations that forty years before, as a younger man, he had dated very young women, maybe one of them, underage. Remember the age limit then was very low so he was within the law most of the time, and these were uncorroborated. Now I said at the time I don&#8217;t like Roy Moore, I don&#8217;t like him for his politics, I don&#8217;t like him because I think he&#8217;s phony, I have all kinds of reasons for not liking him. I didn&#8217;t know anything about whether these charges were true, but what I said was we cannot lose that vote, we should elect him and then censure him. Remember the absolute wave of moral indignation? Here is just one example of Stephen Colbert doing a whole five-minute routine about this:
Stephen Colbert: &#8220;Now we&#8217;ve learned that in the 80s when he was a local Assistant District Attorney, Moore was banned from an Alabama shopping mall for bothering teenage girls. The only place in the mall the girls were safe was Forever 21, because that is way too old for Roy Moore.&#8221;
So fair enough, that&#8217;s a joke. Here&#8217;s Colbert on Bob Menendez:
Stephen Colbert: &#8220;&#8230;&#8221;
Yeah, suddenly it doesn&#8217;t matter a damn bit. The New Jersey Star Ledger, here&#8217;s their editorial endorsing Bob Menendez: &#8220;choke it down and vote for Menendez. Before he was caught in 2015, Senator Robert Menendez broke Senate rules by routinely accepting expensive gifts, including private jets to luxury resorts abroad, he kept those gifts secret &#8211; breaking another rule &#8211; he then used his office to promote the personal and business interests of the man who paid the bills, all that was the unanimous conclusion of the Senate Ethics Committee, including all the Democrats. It&#8217;s a miracle that Menendez escaped criminal conviction.&#8221; But vote for him! Come on we need the vote, we need the vote.
So all that posing from not just the news media, not just that, but also from Colbert, also from the entire entertainment media, oh they were so, so shocked that Roy Moore may have put his hand on the bra of a young girl when he was a younger man legally, they were so, so shocked. With Menendez nothing, crickets. It&#8217;s a scam, it&#8217;s the morality scam, it is all about power.
</blockquote>
<div>
<div> </div>
<div>
<div><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&amp;q=https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/show/andrew-klavan-show&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1541130058883000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHPkBE3AgBeiazNkpWIccnp58Hudw" href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/show/andrew-klavan-show" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Watch more of The Andrew Klavan Show here</a>.</div>
<div> </div>
<div><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&amp;q=https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-andrew-klavan-show/id1045171376?mt%3D2&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1541130058883000&amp;usg=AFQjCNE5uT65fhwe6mdFHhDhZz9G8Wa3Sg" href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/the-andrew-klavan-show/id1045171376?mt=2" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Listen to more of The Andrew Klavan Show on iTunes here.</a></div>
</div>
</div>

Klavan: The Left Is Running A Morality Scam

Andrew Klavan

Conservatism

New Jersey

Stephen Colbert

Republican Roy Moore remains defiant over the December 12 election results for the Alabama Senate seat vacated by Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Moore has yet to formally concede and has <a href="http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/366650-moore-says-he-took-polygraph-test-after-election-to-confirm-accusations">filed</a> a lawsuit to delay the certification of his opponent, Democrat Doug Jones, who won the election by about 20,000 votes.
In the suit, Moore, whose campaign was derailed by allegations of sexual misconduct, said he took a lie detector test following the election that he says proves his innocence.
&#8220;Also provided in the complaint is an affidavit from Judge Roy Moore stating that he successfully completed a polygraph test confirming the representations of misconduct made against him during the campaign are completely false,&#8221; said Moore&#8217;s campaign in a statement released Wednesday.
During the election for the Senate seat, multiple women came forward to accuse Moore of having inappropriate relations with them when they were teenagers and he was in his 30s. &#8220;One woman says she was 14 years old when Moore touched her sexually. Another accuser said Moore assaulted her when she was 16 years old, pushing her head towards his crotch in a locked car,&#8221; <a href="http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/366650-moore-says-he-took-polygraph-test-after-election-to-confirm-accusations">notes</a> The Hill.
Moore filed the lawsuit hours before Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill is set to certify Jones as the election winner. The suit claims election &#8220;irregularities&#8221; and calls for an investigation into voter fraud. &#8220;In the complaint, Moore&#8217;s attorneys noted the higher than expected turnout in the race, particularly in Jefferson County, and said that Moore&#8217;s numbers were suspiciously low in about 20 Jefferson County precincts,&#8221; reports the Associated Press.
&#8220;The purpose of the complaint is to preserve evidence of potential election fraud and to postpone the certification of Alabama&#8217;s Special Election by Secretary of State John Merrill until a thorough investigation of potential election fraud, that improperly altered the outcome of this election, is conducted,&#8221; reads a statement from the Moore campaign.
Jones&#8217; spokesman Sam Coleman said the suit&#8217;s &#8220;desperate attempt by Roy Moore to subvert the will of the people will not succeed.&#8221;
&#8220;The election is over, it&#8217;s time to move on,&#8221; Coleman told The Hill.
Earlier this month, Merrill confirmed that an investigation into voter fraud was opened after a video went viral of a Jones supporter seemingly bragging about traveling from out of state to vote for the Democrat.

Roy Moore: I Took A Lie Detector Test, I’m Innocent

The wild election for the open U.S. Senate seat in Alabama is not over yet.
Just 14 hours before the official certification of Democrat Doug Jones, Republican opponent Roy Moore filed a lawsuit to halt the process, claiming election &#8220;irregularities&#8221; and asked for an investigation into voter fraud.
Moore, plagued by accusations of sexual misconduct, lost the December 12 election to Jones by some 20,000 votes, though the judge never formally conceded the race.
&#8220;This is not a Republican or Democrat issue as election integrity should matter to everyone,&#8221; reads a statement from Moore, released on Wednesday.
&#8220;In the complaint, Moore&#8217;s attorneys noted the higher than expected turnout in the race, particularly in Jefferson County, and said that Moore&#8217;s numbers were suspiciously low in about 20 Jefferson County precincts,&#8221; <a href="https://apnews.com/7c23d09eb6d4446a95c14e38ddaf2c65">reports</a> The Associated Press.
Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill, a Republican, announced earlier this month that he had opened an investigation into voter fraud after a viral video showed a Jones supporter seemingly bragging about committing voter fraud.
But on Wednesday, Merrill told the AP that he does not foresee the certification of Jones, set for Thursday at 1 p.m., to be delayed.
&#8220;It is not going to delay certification and Doug Jones will be certified (Thursday) at 1 p.m. and he will be sworn in by Vice President Pence on the third of January,&#8221; he said.
Finding no such fraud thus far, Merrill vowed to investigate any accusations of fraud submitted by the judge.
In Alabama, voters must show their ID before casting their ballots.

WHOA: Roy Moore Files Suit To Block Senate Election Result In Alabama

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) buried Stephen Bannon at a press conference on Friday, blaming him for the Republican&#8217;s loss in Alabama&#8217;s special election to fill Jeff Sessions&#8217; Senate seat.
A reporter had asked McConnell if he blamed Bannon for Democrat Doug Jones winning the special election in Alabama, prompting McConnell to throw a punch at the Breitbart executive.
&#8220;Well, let me just say this: The political genius on display throwing away a seat in the reddest state in America is hard to ignore,&#8221; McConnell said.
McConnell, along with the majority of Senate Republicans, endorsed Luther Strange for the Senate seat and had warned that Roy Moore would have a hard time winning.
On September 22, President Donald Trump <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/24620/flashback-trump-predicted-roy-moore-would-lose-michael-j-knowles">predicted</a> that Moore would lose the Senate race as he campaigned for Strange:
<blockquote>
I have to say this, and you understand this and just look at the polls. Luther will definitely win. Roy has a very good chance of not winning in the general election. It&#8217;s all about the general. Don&#8217;t forget, we don&#8217;t stop here. You have an election coming up the day this is over. So this is over on Tuesday. On Wednesday morning, the new race begins. You&#8217;ve got to beat a Democrat. Luther is going to win easily and Roy&#8217;s going to have a hard time winning.
</blockquote>
McConnell said that he and other Republican leaders will be active in GOP primaries in 2018 to prevent a repeat of past elections where poor candidates defeated rivals from the GOP establishment in primaries, only to be crushed in general elections.
&#8220;I and people who are allied with me &#8212; and I believe the White House will be in the same place I am &#8212; want to nominate people who can actually win,&#8221; McConnell said.
WATCH:
<div class="embed video fluid-video">
<blockquote data-lang="en">
&#8220;The political genius on display of throwing away a seat in the reddest state in America is hard to ignore.&#8221; &#8211; Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell when asked about Steve Bannon and losing Alabama seat. <a href="https://t.co/N6Qex5nGqV">pic.twitter.com/N6Qex5nGqV</a>
&#8212; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/944245406711648257?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 22, 2017</a></blockquote>
</div>

Menu