2020 election

Brooks Isn’t Backing Down from Claim that Trump Won the Election

WASHINGTON — Rep. Mo Brooks, R-Huntsville, isn’t giving up on his claim that Donald Trump was elected president last year. “Somewhere in the neighborhood of 900,000 to 1.7 million non-citizens voted in the 2020 presidential election, overwhelmingly for Joe Biden,” Brooks told the Washington Examiner this week. He said former President Trump won "if only lawful votes cast by eligible American citizens were counted." The Examiner noted that Brooks didn’t provide any backing information for his claims, which have been rejected by the departments of Justice and Homeland Security, the FBI and numerous courts and elected officials. Read more.

by Brett Davis

Former Sen. Doug Jones Calls Inauguration a Display of Hope

Former Alabama U.S. Sen. Doug Jones and his wife, Louise, were on hand for today’s inauguration ceremony, and Jones called it “a magnificent display of unity, optimism and, most importantly, hope." Read more.

by Tom Gordon

Alabama Young Voters On Capitol Attacks: ‘We Can’t Unsee Those Images’

WBHM Young voters of both parties look toward the future as a new administration takes over. Read more.

by Janae Pierre, WBHM

Alabama Army National Guard Troops Help Provide Security for Biden Inauguration

Several hundred Alabama Army National Guard troops are helping provide security for President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration on Wednesday, and one of them is a second lieutenant from Oneonta whose parents also had military careers. Lt. John Rogers, 24, a transportation officer with a unit in the Birmingham-based 20th Special Forces Group, headed to Washington by bus on Sunday with some of his fellow Guard soldiers. Following the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol by supporters of outgoing President Donald Trump, tension is running high in D.C. Thousands of soldiers, including Alabama Guard troops from military police units, will be on hand to stop any re-occurrence of last week’s violence, in which five people died. Read more.

by Tom Gordon

Alabama Officials Not That Worried About Protest at State House

UPDATED  — The FBI says that “armed protests” could erupt at state capitols in all 50 states, and some officials are making significant preparations to face a possible onslaught of Trump supporters grieved by the impending Biden inauguration. In Alabama, well, officials seem less worried. “I don’t foresee anybody trying to really storm the Alabama state capitol, and why they would do it, I don’t know,” said Patrick Harris, secretary of the Alabama Senate. “I mean, we’re the home of everybody that’s supporting all these people,” he said, referring to Alabama Rep. Mo Brooks, whose role in stirring up the insurrection remains under scrutiny. “And we voted for Trump, we certified our votes for Trump.” The prevailing idea seems to be that rightwing protestors, neo-Confederates, Proud Boys or others are not expected to kick up trouble in Montgomery over the presidential election. Even a spokesperson for the Southern Poverty Law Center and its Hatewatch unit, which closely monitors the activities of such groups, said, “We don’t have any specific notes to share about Alabama at this time.” At least for Sunday, they appeared to be right. The Montgomery Advertiser reported that there were more police than onlookers at the Capitol building. About two dozen Montgomery police officers and state troopers were on the Capitol grounds Sunday. Several others sat in parked cars at the road barricades, and the police chief paced the block with two officers in an ATV. Read more.

by Nick Patterson

Democrats Gearing Up for Effort to Oust Mo Brooks in 2022

Alabama Democrats are targeting U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks, a five-term GOP incumbent once thought safe in his heavily Republican 5th Congressional District, for defeat in 2022. “I plan to use whatever small influence I have to see that Mo is defeated,’’ said former Alabama Chief Justice Sue Bell Cobb. “We don’t need an ideologue representing Alabama.’' Brooks is at the center of Democratic outrage over fiery comments he made last Wednesday at a rowdy Washington rally of President Donald Trump’s supporters who cheered his false accusations that the November election had been rigged to elect Democrat Joe Biden. Read more.

by John Anderson

Alabamians and Politicians Connect to the Insurrection From Start to Finish

Whether you call it a coup attempt, an insurrection or a protest that went horribly wrong, the Jan. 6 invasion by supporters of President Trump into the U.S. Capitol involved Alabamians in several ways. A Falkville Trump supporter has been arrested on charges involving weapons and Molotov cocktails filled with a homemade napalm-like explosive. An Athens man died of a heart attack outside the Capitol as police were trying to repel the mob. Fingers are pointing at U.S. Rep. Mo Brooks, a Republican from Alabama, because of his speech at a Trump rally before the riot in which he urged the crowd on toward dramatic action. Freshman Sen. Tommy Tuberville’s name has come up in reports about the day as Trump and Rudy Giuliani tried to call Tuberville’s office to urge him to delay action while senators were debating the certification of the electoral college votes. And the state’s attorney general is calling for the investigation of a group he leads after learning it actively promoted attendance at the rally. Read more.

by Nick Patterson

Alabama Man Faces Federal Charges Following Riots at the U.S. Capitol

UPDATED — Lonnie Leroy Coffman, a 70-year-old from Falkville, Alabama, faces federal charges after being arrested this week during riots at the U.S. Capitol. Coffman faces 17 federal charges including five counts of unlawfully carrying multiple pistols, a rifle, and a shotgun; one count of unlawful possession of an ammunition feeding device; five counts of

by Miranda Fulmore, WBHM

One Alabamian Dies During Siege at U.S. Capitol

One person from Alabama is dead after yesterday’s riots at the U.S. Capitol. Read more.

by Miranda Fulmore, WBHM

Jones Not Biden’s Pick for AG, But Don’t Count Him Out of the Administration Just Yet

UPDATED — Former U.S. Sen. Doug Jones had a lot of assets that put him on the short list of candidates for attorney general in the incoming Biden Administration. Read more.

by Tom Gordon