Sen. Tommy Tuberville targets press amid gubernatorial campaign

June 6, 2026 | Senator from Alabama threatens suit against local weekly over coverage

June 6, 2026 | Senator from Alabama threatens suit against local weekly over coverage

A personal attorney for U.S. Sen. Tommy Tuberville threatened on June 6, 2026, to sue the Lagniappe Daily, an independent newspaper based in Mobile, Alabama, after the outlet reported on details of Tuberville’s finances and residency.

Tuberville, the Republican nominee in the state’s 2026 gubernatorial race, has been facing multiple challenges to whether he has lived in Alabama for the seven years required by the state constitution to be eligible for the position.

Lagniappe found that tax returns volunteered by Tuberville’s campaign June 1 had been improperly redacted, with the “PDF417” bar codes — which are widely used and can encode large amounts of information — visible on each page.

“When scanned, that code renders the data from the entire tax return, from Social Security numbers, driver’s license information, wages, deductions, and investment earnings,” wrote Scott Johnson, Lagniappe digital manager and investigative reporter.

Johnson specified that the newspaper was not republishing the bar code of the sensitive, identifying information. “However,” he added, “Lagniappe does believe some of that data is pertinent to the ongoing residency controversy Tuberville has faced as he runs for governor.”

Tuberville’s attorney Albert Jordan sent a cease and desist letter to Lagniappe’s co-publisher Rob Holbert and Johnson on June 6, the day after Johnson’s article was released.

The letter accused them of “unlawfully accessing” the information, claiming that scanning the bar codes “plainly misused the document,” and thereby violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and the federal anti-doxxing statute protecting public officials.

Jordan went on to demand the removal of all articles, images or other content concerning the tax return data, and that the paper identify anyone who accessed, transmitted or handled it.

“Your conduct and that of the organization is not protected by the First Amendment when it involves unlawful acquisition and publication of statutorily protected tax and income data for a person, especially when that person is an official of the United States,” he wrote.

Lagniappe co-publishers Ashley Trice and Holbert said in a statement to the paper that they stand behind the reporting.

“We will assert our right to publish information important to our readers and voters statewide and fight to uphold the First Amendment rights Senator Tuberville apparently does not value,” they said.