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Former police officers have been “devastated” by Donald Trump’s vow to pardon January 6 rioters, four years on from the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
On Monday, Trump’s sweeping victory will be ratified four years after supporters of the President-elect refused to accept the result of the 2020 election and began a violent insurrection.
Since then, almost 1,600 people have been charged in the riot, including more than 590 people charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, according to the FBI.
The President-elect has repeatedly vowed to pardon those convicted when he returns to the White House. “I’m going to be acting very quickly, first day,” Trump said on NBC News’ “Meet the Press.”
In an op-ed published in The New York Times, Aquilino Gonell, a former sergeant in the Capitol Police, said a pardon “outrageous mistake,” that could put him and other law enforcement officers in danger.
“I remain haunted by that day. Now Mr. Trump’s promised actions could erase the justice we’ve risked everything for,” he said. “Releasing those who assaulted us from blame would be a desecration of justice. If Mr. Trump wants to heal our divided nation, he’ll let their convictions stand.”
ANALYSIS: Mike Johnson may be the speaker, but Democrats will still have power
But Johnson’s speech afterward did not set the tone, nor did the speech of House Republican Conference Chairwoman Lisa McClain.
Rather, it came when House Democratic Caucus Chairman Pete Aguilar nominated Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries and called Democrats the “governing majority.”
Eric Garcia6 January 2025 03:30
MAGA-world in meltdown after George Soros awarded the Medal of Freedom
Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon called on the incoming Trump administration to rescind the medal, the nation’s highest civilian honor.
“Send a team to track down Soros and take the medal back,” Bannon said on his War Room podcast. “It is a disgrace that a demonic individual like that—who has been going out of his way to try to destroy this country, to mock this constitutional republic, which he hates and has dedicated his life to destroying—that we would be presenting him, awarding him, the highest civilian honor that you can give.”
Josh Marcus6 January 2025 02:00
ICYMI: MSNBC panel laughs while reading Trump rant about being ‘evilly’ treated by courts
“There has never been a President who was so evilly and illegally treated as I,” Trump wrote. “Corrupt Democrat judges and prosecutors have gone against a political opponent of a President, ME, at levels of injustice never seen before.”
Katie Hawkinson6 January 2025 00:30
ICYMI: Republican Senator says Mike Johnson wouldn’t be speaker without Trump’s support
Republican Senator Jim Banks revealed he believes Speaker Mike Johnson wouldn’t have won his leadership role without President-elect Donald Trump’s support.
“Donald Trump weighed in in support of Mike Johnson. I don’t think Mike Johnson would be Speaker of the House this morning if Donald Trump wouldn’t have weighed in last week, spent political capital helping him get elected on one vote,” Banks told CNN on Sunday.
“And to me, that’s a positive sign that House Republicans are unified behind Donald Trump, the Trump agenda,” he added.
Katie Hawkinson5 January 2025 23:00
Rep. Mike Lawler suggests Trump’s hush-money conviction helped him get elected
New York Representative Mike Lawler, a Republican, suggested Donald Trump won the 2024 presidential election in part due to his hush-money conviction.
“Well, the great irony in all of this is that I don’t think anyone did more to help elect Donald Trump president of the United States than Alvin Bragg and Tish James,” Lawler told Fox News, referring to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who prosecuted the hush-money case.
In May, Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in connection with a scheme to silence adult film stat Stormy Daniels, whose story about having sex with Trump threatened to derail his 2016 presidential campaign.
The judge overseeing the case ordered Trump to appear for sentencing on January 10. However, he has indicated the sentence will be an unconditional discharge. This means Trump will face no jail time, probation or fines.
Katie Hawkinson5 January 2025 22:30
Musk gets good news a day after Italian PM visits Trump as Rome announces potential $1.6bn SpaceX deal
A deal that would see Elon Musk’s SpaceX take over secure communications for the Italian government is reportedly back on track and nearing final approval after Italy’s prime minister met with Donald Trump this weekend.
John Bowden5 January 2025 22:02
Pelosi says her husband is still suffering from effects of hammer attack as she condemns pro-Trump violence
House speaker emerita Nancy Pelosi discussed the ongoing threat of political violence and the dangers posed by Donald Trump’s 2020 misinformation campaign in an interview Sunday on Face the Nation.
The former top Democrat in the lower chamber said that her husband, Paul Pelosi, still faces medical issues resulting from a violent attack he suffered in 2022, when an intruder in their home attacked him with a hammer.
The suspect, David DePape, was convicted of the violent attack and found to have been consumed by far-right conspiracy theories promoted by various figures aligned with MAGA Republicanism, including the 2020 stolen election conspiracies promoted by Trump himself.
John Bowden5 January 2025 22:00
Trump hosts party at Mar-a-Lago, celebrates ally who pressured Mike Pence to not certify 2020 election
President-elect Donald Trump held a party at Mar-a-Lago on Saturday night during which he screened a documentary about John Eastman, a close ally who tried to pressure then-Vice President Mike Pence to not certify the 2020 election, MSNBC and CBS News reports.
Trump spoke at the event, praising Eastman and insisting he was “right the whole time,” the outlet reports. MSNBC’s Symone Sanders Townsend slammed Trump’s speech, calling the celebration “sickening.”
The party was held without formal invitations or notifications to the media, The Daily Beast reports.
Katie Hawkinson5 January 2025 21:55
When egos collide: Trump could be next after angry Musk turns on Farage
There is an old Asian proverb which goes along the lines of: “He who rides the tiger must beware lest he end up inside.” Nigel Farage might be reflecting on that after his spectacular fall-out with the world’s richest man on an otherwise quiet Sunday.
Making an ally of X (Twitter) owner Elon Musk with his vast wealth and enormous influence was always going to be too tempting to refuse for a man who, for the first time in his political career, feels like he has a sniff of actually winning power.
The power of a giant social media platform and the possibility of $100m in funds seemed to be a surefire way of getting a shortcut to turning British politics on its head again, after doing it once already with Brexit.
David Maddox5 January 2025 21:00
Laura Loomer chimes in on Musk/Farage feud
Laura Loomer has chimed in on the feud between Elon Musk and Nigel Farage, after the billionaire called for him to step down as leader of the Reform Party.
“President Trump is friends with @Nigel_Farage, @elonmusk,” Loomer wrote on X. “Trump loves Nigel. You can support @Nigel_Farage and also support Tommy Robinson. I know both of them. Tommy is a close friend.”
Katie Hawkinson5 January 2025 20:30
