Doug Jones Still Favored to be Selected Next US AG

• Doug Jones is the Even odds favorite to be chosen Joe Biden's Attorney General

• Jones is well regarded for his efforts at prosecuting two church bombers

• Jones was also involved in the prosecution of Eric Rudolph whose attack on an abortion clinic killed an off-duty officer

• The former Alabama Senator's close friendship with Biden could be seen as an impediment

Former Democratic Senator of Alabama Doug Jones is favored to be selected the next US Attorney General by the Joe Biden Administrator.

Jones was listed at Even odds.

Bill Clinton nominated Doug Jones to be the US attorney for the Northern District of Alabama in September 1997.  He was confirmed by a voice vote in the Senate two months later.

It was Jones who reopened an investigation into the 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham that killed four African American girls and allegedly carried out by KKK members.   Two individuals were brought to justice as a result.

Jones was also involved in the prosecution of Eric Rudolph, whose 1998 alleged attack on a Birmingham abortion clinic killed an off-duty police officer.  Rudolph was ultimately convicted after Jones left office.

While Jones is known to be well regarded among his Republican colleagues, some have called into question his longtime friendship with Biden. Whomever is chosen to be the next Attorney General will likely oversee a case involving the new president's son Hunter.  Republicans, particularly those eyeing presidential runs in 2024, are making clear they will press Biden on the issue.

Merrick Garland is the next most likely to be chosen for the position at 2-1 odds.

But it is the Dems who expressed concern Thurday over Garland's highly consequential U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

"[P]icking Merrick Garland for AG would mean letting Moscow Mitch hold a DC Circuit seat hostage for four years," MSNBC's Joy Reid said. "Recall that Republicans said they'd do exactly that with any SCOTUS openings -- for four full years -- if Hillary Clinton became president."

- Gilbert Horowitz, Gambling911.com