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Trump Again Hints at Jan. 6 Pardons, Including for Attacks on Police

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Trump Again Hints at Jan. 6 Pardons, Including for Attacks on Police

President-elect Donald J. Trump on Tuesday once again left open the possibility of offering pardons to some of his supporters who are serving prison time for assaulting police officers during the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Mr. Trump, who campaigned on a pledge to restore “law and order,” said that the pardons he intended to offer could cover people charged and convicted of violent crimes.

“Well, we’re looking at it,” Mr. Trump told reporters at a news conference at Mar-a-Lago, his Florida estate, when asked whether he was considering pardoning people charged with violent offenses. “We’ll be looking at the whole thing, but I’ll be making major pardons, yes.”

When a reporter pressed Mr. Trump on whether he would pardon anyone who attacked a police officer, Mr. Trump deflected and suggested that his supporters were the true victims of Jan. 6.

“Well, you know, the only one that was killed was a beautiful young lady named Ashli Babbitt,” he said, adding that she was “shot for no reason whatsoever.” In fact, three other pro-Trump protesters also died during the riot.

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Ms. Babbitt, an Air Force veteran, was shot and killed by a police officer while she was part of a group trying to break through a door to the House floor, where lawmakers were seeking shelter from the mob. Her death has become a cause célèbre on the right.

Mr. Trump did not mention the more than 140 police officers who were injured during the attack by people wielding baseball bats, flagpoles, metal batons, broken table legs, crutches and even a hockey stick. He also said nothing about four officers who later died by suicide or another who died shortly after Jan. 6 of a stroke that a medical examiner determined was caused in part by “all that transpired” on that day.

At Tuesday’s news conference, Mr. Trump sought to blame the F.B.I. for the riot, echoing a conspiracy theory that is widespread on the right and that was contradicted by a recent report from the Justice Department’s internal watchdog.

Moreover, he seemed to suggest, without evidence, that the Iranian-backed terrorist organization Hezbollah was somehow involved in the attack — an allegation that has never come up in the multiple criminal and congressional investigations into Jan. 6.

Representatives for Mr. Trump did not respond to questions about these comments.

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Even though he repeatedly promised during his campaign and after the election to issue pardons to potentially hundreds of Jan. 6 rioters, Mr. Trump has never described specific criteria for who will get clemency.

Sometimes, he has said that he will pardon rioters charged only with nonviolent crimes — of which there are about 1,000. At other times, including during an interview with the National Association of Black Journalists, Mr. Trump left open the possibility that he would pardon people who attacked the police.

When Mr. Trump won the election, there was jubilation among the Jan. 6 defendants and their families who have been urging him to issue a blanket amnesty to all of the nearly 1,600 who have been charged over the past four years in connection with the Capitol attack.

But if Mr. Trump decides to do that, it will mean granting some form of clemency to people, say, who hit officers with two-by-fours or members of far-right groups like the Proud Boys who were convicted and imprisoned on charges of seditious conspiracy.

After initially condemning the riot as “a heinous attack” and vowing that those who broke the law that day “will pay,” Mr. Trump and his allies quickly pivoted into a campaign to rebrand and launder Jan. 6 as a day of patriotism by Trump supporters. Mr. Trump continued that rewriting of history at Tuesday’s news conference.

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He portrayed the imprisoned supporters as nonviolent victims of unfair prosecutors. He falsely claimed that his supporters brought “not one gun” to the Capitol. And he implied, without evidence, that the riot was instead a plot by either the F.B.I. or shadowy foreign actors.

“They had people in some form related to the F.B.I.,” Mr. Trump said of the riot, referring to the false-flag conspiracy theory prevalent on the right.

The baseless claim that Jan. 6 was instigated by “deep state” actors rather than the hundreds of Trump supporters who were trying to block the peaceful transfer of power in his name has been rejected by defense lawyers working on Capitol riot cases, the Justice Department’s inspector general and even some of the F.B.I.’s own informants who were at the Capitol that day.

“We have to find out about Hezbollah,” Mr. Trump said. “We have to find out about who exactly was in that whole thing, because people that did some bad things were not prosecuted.”

It is unclear why Mr. Trump mentioned Hezbollah in connection with Jan. 6.

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Bill Clinton to testify before House committee investigating Epstein links

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Bill Clinton to testify before House committee investigating Epstein links

Former president Bill Clinton is scheduled to give deposition Friday to a congressional committee investigating his links to Jeffrey Epstein, one day after Hillary Clinton testified before the committee and called the proceedings “partisan political theatre” and “an insult to the American people”.

During remarks before the House oversight committee, Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state, insisted on Thursday that she had never met Epstein.

The former Democratic president, however, flew on Epstein’s private jet several times in the early 2000s but said he never visited his island.

Clinton, who engaged in an extramarital affair while president and has been accused of sexual misconduct by three women, also appears in a photo from the recently released files, in a hot tub with Epstein and a woman whose identity is redacted.

Clinton has denied the sexual misconduct claims and was not charged with any crimes. He also has not been accused of any wrongdoing connected to Epstein.

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Epstein visited the White House at least 17 times during the early years of Clinton’s presidency, according to White House visitor records cited in news reports. Clinton said he cut ties with him around 2005, before the disgraced financier, who died from suicide in 2019, pleaded guilty to solicitation of a minor in Florida.

The House committee subpoenaed the Clintons in August. They initially refused to testify but agreed after Republicans threatened to hold them in contempt.

The Clintons asked for their depositions to be held publicly, with the former president stating that to do so behind closed doors would amount to a “kangaroo court”.

“Let’s stop the games + do this the right way: in a public hearing,” Clinton said on X earlier this month.

The committee’s chair, James Comer, did not grant their request, and the proceedings will be conducted behind closed doors with video to be released later.

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On Thursday, Hillary Clinton’s proceedings were briefly halted after representative Lauren Boebert leaked an image of Clinton testifying.

During the full day deposition, Clinton said she had no information about Epstein and did not recall ever meeting him.

Before the deposition, Comer said it would be a long interview and that one with Bill Clinton would be “even longer”.

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Read Judge Schiltz’s Order

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Read Judge Schiltz’s Order

CASE 0:26-cv-00107-PJS-DLM

Doc. 12-1 Filed 02/26/26

Page 5 of 17

and to file a status update by 11:00 am on January 20. ECF No. 5. Respondents never provided a bond hearing and did not release Petitioner until January 21, ECF Nos. 10, 12, after failing to file an update, ECF No. 9. Further, Respondents released Petitioner subject to conditions despite the Court’s release order not providing for conditions. ECF Nos. 5, 12–13.

Abdi W. v. Trump, et al., Case No. 26-CV-00208 (KMM/SGE)

On January 21, 2026, the Court ordered Respondents, within 3 days, to either (a) complete Petitioner’s inspection and examination and file a notice confirming completion, or (b) release Petitioner immediately in Minnesota and confirm the date, time, and location of release. ECF No. 7. No notice was ever filed. The Court emailed counsel on January 27, 2026, at 10:39 am. No response was provided.

Adriana M.Y.M. v. David Easterwood, et al., Case No. 26-CV-213 (JWB/JFD)

On January 24, 2026, the Court ordered immediate release in Minnesota and ordered Respondents to confirm the time, date, and location of release, or anticipated release, within 48 hours. ECF No. 12. Respondent was not released until January 30, and Respondents never disclosed the time of release, instead describing it as “early this morning.” ECF No. 16.

Estefany J.S. v. Bondi, Case No. 26-CV-216 (JWB/SGE)

On January 13, 2026, at 10:59 am, the Court ordered Respondents to file a letter by 4:00 pm confirming Petitioner’s current location. ECF No. 8. After receiving no response, the Court ordered Respondents, at 5:11 pm, to immediately confirm Petitioner’s location and, by noon on January 14, file a memorandum explaining their failure to comply with the initial order. ECF No. 9. Respondents did not file the memorandum, requiring the Court to issue another order. ECF No. 12. On January 15, the Court ordered immediate release in Minnesota and required Respondents to confirm the time, date, and location of release within 48 hours. ECF No. 18. On January 20, having received no confirmation, the Court ordered Respondents to comply immediately. ECF No. 21. Respondents informed the Court that Petitioner was released in Minnesota on January 17, but did not specify the time. ECF No. 22.

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Chicagoans pay respects to Jesse Jackson as cross-country memorial services begin

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Chicagoans pay respects to Jesse Jackson as cross-country memorial services begin

James Hickman holds a photo montage of the late Rev. Jesse Jackson before a public visitation at Rainbow/PUSH Coalition in Chicago on Thursday.

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CHICAGO — A line of mourners streamed through a Chicago auditorium Thursday to pay final respects to the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. as cross-country memorial services began in the city the late civil rights leader called home.

The protege of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and two-time presidential candidate will lie in repose for two days at the headquarters of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition before events in Washington, D.C., and South Carolina, where he was born.

Family members wiped away tears as the casket was brought into the stately brick building. Flowers lined the sidewalks where people waiting to enter watched a large screen playing video excerpts of Jackson’s notable speeches. Some raised their fists in solidarity.

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The casket with the Rev. Jesse Jackson arrives before a public visitation at Rainbow/PUSH Coalition in Chicago on Thursday.

The casket with the Rev. Jesse Jackson arrives before a public visitation at Rainbow/PUSH Coalition in Chicago on Thursday.

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Inside, Jackson’s children, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and the Rev. Al Sharpton were among those who stood by the open casket to shake hands and hug those coming to view the body of Jackson, dressed in a suit and blue shirt and tie.

“The challenge for us is that we’ve got to make sure that all he lived for was not in vain,” Sharpton told reporters. “Dr. King’s dream and Jesse Jackson’s mission now falls on our shoulders. We’ve got to stand up and keep it going.”

The Rev. Al Sharpton speaks as Jesse Jackson Jr. listens after the public visitation for the Rev. Jesse Jackson at Rainbow/PUSH Coalition in Chicago on Thursday.

The Rev. Al Sharpton speaks as Jesse Jackson Jr. listens after the public visitation for the Rev. Jesse Jackson at Rainbow/PUSH Coalition in Chicago on Thursday.

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Jackson died last week at age 84 after battling a rare neurological disorder that affected his mobility and ability to speak in his later years.

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Remembrances have already poured in from around the globe, and several U.S. states, including Minnesota, Iowa and North Carolina, are flying flags at half-staff in his honor.

But perhaps nowhere has his death been felt as strongly as in the nation’s third-largest city, where Jackson lived for decades and raised his six children, including a son who is a congressman.

Bouquets have been left outside the family’s Tudor-style home on the city’s South Side for days. Public schools have offered condolences, and city trains have used digital screens to display Jackson’s portrait and his well-known mantra, “I am Somebody!”

People wait to enter the security checkpoint for the public visitation for the Rev. Jesse Jackson at Rainbow/PUSH Coalition in Chicago on Thursday.

People wait to enter the security checkpoint for the public visitation for the Rev. Jesse Jackson at Rainbow/PUSH Coalition in Chicago on Thursday.

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His causes, both in the United States and abroad, were countless: Advocating for the poor and underrepresented on issues including voting rights, job opportunities, education and health care. He scored diplomatic victories with world leaders, and through his Rainbow PUSH Coalition, he channeled cries for Black pride and self-determination into corporate boardrooms, pressuring executives to make America a more open and equitable society.

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“We honor him, and his hard-earned legacy as a freedom fighter, philosopher, and faithful shepherd of his family and community here in Chicago,” the mayor said in a statement.

Next week, Jackson will lie in honor at the South Carolina Statehouse, followed by public services. According to Rainbow PUSH’s agenda, Gov. Henry McMaster is expected to deliver remarks; however, the governor’s office said Thursday that his participation wasn’t yet confirmed. Jackson spent his childhood and started his activism in South Carolina.

Details on services in Washington have not yet been made public. However, he will not lie in honor at the United States Capitol rotunda after a request for the commemoration was denied by the House Speaker Mike Johnson’s office.

The two weeks of events will wrap up next week with a large celebration of life gathering at a Chicago megachurch and finally, homegoing services at the headquarters of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition.

Family members said the services will be open to all.

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“Our family is overwhelmed and overjoyed by the amazing amount of support being offered by common, ordinary people who our father’s life has come into contact with,” his eldest son, Jesse Jackson Jr., said before the services began. “This is a unique opportunity to lay down some of the political rhetoric and to lay down some of the division that deeply divides our country and to reflect upon a man who brought people together.”

The family of the Rev. Jesse Jackson arrives as Yusep Jackson wipes his eyes before public visitation at Rainbow/PUSH Coalition in Chicago on Thursday.

The family of the Rev. Jesse Jackson arrives as Yusep Jackson wipes his eyes before public visitation at Rainbow/PUSH Coalition in Chicago on Thursday.

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The services included prayers from some of the city’s most well-known religious leaders, including Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich. Mourners of all ages — from toddlers in strollers to elderly people in wheelchairs — came to pay respects.

Video clips of his appearances at news conferences, the campaign trail and even “Sesame Street” also played inside the auditorium.

Claudette Redic, a retiree who lives in Chicago, said her family has respected Jackson, from backing his presidential ambitions to her son getting a scholarship from a program Jackson championed.

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“We have generations of support,” she said. “I’m hoping we continue.”

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