Dem candidate isn’t so ‘soft on crime’

MONTGOMERY, Ala. — The Alabama Democrat disparaged by President Trump as “soft on crime” is a former U.S. attorney who prosecuted church bombers and domestic terrorist Eric Rudolph.

Trump has given Republican Roy Moore a near endorsement in Alabama’s Senate race, saying Moore “totally denies” allegations of sexual misconduct with teens. Trump called Democrat Doug Jones soft on crime, border security and the military.

As a result, a group supporting Moore is fundraising off Trump’s near endorsement.

“We are thankful that his last words before leaving the White House to celebrate Thanksgiving were the strong words of support for Roy Moore,” said the email from the Solution Fund PAC.

Jones was a federal prosecutor for 12 years. He’s best known for leading the prosecution in the early 2000s of two Ku Klux Klansmen who bombed Birmingham’s 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham in 1963, killing four girls.

Jones also coordinated the task force that led to Eric Rudolph’s indictment for the 1998 bombing of a Birmingham abortion clinic that killed an offduty police officer.

After staying silent for more than a week, Trump all but endorsed Moore as he departed Washington on Tuesday, telling reporters, “We don’t need a liberal person in there.”