BROADCASTS.com

b"Today we share an inexplicable string of bizarre emails sent to Brad over the past week by Alabama's chief election official, Sec. of State John Merrill (R), just days before the state's mid-term primaries next week -- in which he will be on the ballot himself. The story begins late last year, with the contentious and closely-watched December U.S. Senate special election in Alabama between Republican Roy Moore and Democrat Doug Jones.\\xa0 On election night, after the state's computer-tallied results reported a narrow victory for Jones, Merrill inaccurately characterized state law governing recounts \\u2013 and then subsequently blocked journalists and election law experts on Twitter who politely corrected his factually inaccurate statements on Alabama election law and electronic voting system capabilities. Last week, a federal court in New York determined that public officials -- in that case, the President of the United States -- are in violation of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution for blocking perceived "political opponents" on Twitter. Given that federal court ruling, Brad sought comment from Merrill as to whether he intended to restore those he'd blocked on social media. The subsequent string of bizarre emails and phone calls from the state's top election official is remarkable, and we share those on today's show, before Alabama voters head to the polls next week. Also today: A new book by a longtime senior adviser to President Obama reveals that he feared sanctions against Russia before the 2016 election might result in retaliatory hacking of computer tabulation systems (despite public assertions by the Administration before and after that election results could not be easily manipulated by foreign attackers), and election officials in a number of states are now reportedly very concerned about hacking -- or the perception that tallies may have been tampered with -- in advance of the crucial 2018 midterm elections (just as Brad has warned for more than a decade).\\xa0 Finally, Desi Doyen has the latest 'Green News Report', as climate change wreaks havoc with a number of deadly storms, and the US insurance industry is not ready for global warming..."