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Opinion: Trump promises to subvert the law — first by freeing the Jan. 6 criminals

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Opinion: Trump promises to subvert the law — first by freeing the Jan. 6 criminals

Trump, reelected, will subvert the law — first by freeing the Jan. 6 insurrectionists

Of all the promises that Donald Trump has made for a second term as president, he’s all but certain to fulfill one if he’s reelected: pardoning most, if not all, of the rioters who’ve been arrested, pleaded guilty or been convicted by judges or juries for their roles in besieging the nation’s Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, and injuring roughly 140 police defenders.

That’s nearly 1,400 people — “unbelievable patriots” all, in Trump’s noxious telling — who tried to overturn a free and fair election.

Most of the former president’s other campaign vows — deporting millions who’ve long lived in this country, deploying federal troops against protesters, spending government funds at whim and gutting the civil service, for example — can be stopped by Congress or the federal courts. Many likely would be.

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Jackie Calmes

Jackie Calmes brings a critical eye to the national political scene. She has decades of experience covering the White House and Congress.

A president’s pardon power, however, is virtually unlimited, as the Supreme Court held in 1886. And Trump, though not alone among presidents in this, has abused that power before.

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What could be more abusive or obscene than unilaterally absolving the would-be insurrectionists, nearly 900 currently, who have been fairly prosecuted and sentenced according to the rule of law that a president is sworn to uphold?

Yet, like so many of his outrageous statements, Trump’s pledge to wipe the criminals’ records clean and spring jailed “hostages” on “the first day we get into office” doesn’t shock as it should. It’s just Trump being Trump, shooting off his mouth.

But this vow isn’t like the implausible claims that he’d build a 2,000-mile border wall and Mexico would pay for it, or that he’d ban all Muslims from the country. A reelected Trump could and likely will make good on the vow that would erase accountability en masse for the fatal, antidemocratic violence on Jan. 6.

He’s committed. Since his first 2024 campaign rally in Texas more than a year ago, Trump typically opens the events with a recording of the so-called J6 Prison Choir, made up of insurrectionist inmates at the D.C. jail, singing the “Star-Spangled Banner” over his taped recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance. Each time, Trump salutes and reiterates his pardon promise. (The Washington Post identified some of the orange-clad choristers in a jailhouse video as defendants charged with assaulting police, including Officer Brian D. Sicknick, who died a day later.)

As Trump tells the rallygoers, “Our people love those people.”

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He isn’t wrong: A CBS News/YouGov poll conducted in January found that nearly two-thirds of adults opposed pardons, but two-thirds of Republicans favored them.

To restore a little shock value to Trump’s promise, it helps to put a face on “those people.” So get acquainted with Ryan T. Nichols, a 33-year-old Texan who was a leader in Trump’s hallowed J6 Prison Choir.

Just last Thursday, Nichols was sentenced in the U.S. District Court in Washington to five years in prison and fined $200,000 — the largest financial penalty to date for a Jan. 6 defendant — after prosecutors argued that he was in “a class of his own” among the rioters. Take it from Nichols: Late on Jan. 6, he posted a video of himself in a hotel room, showing off his “weapon” — a crowbar — and shouting in the third person, “Ryan Nichols grabbed his f—ing weapons and he stormed the Capitol. And he fought! For freedom!”

“Ryan Nichols stands for violence,” he raged in another video that prosecutors played.

This was after Nichols, wearing body armor and other tactical gear, had spent hours at the Capitol in the thick of the mayhem. He shows up in many clips: There’s Nichols wielding his crowbar. There he is shooting a canister of pepper spray stolen from the police against the officers who are trying to defend the building, the lawmakers within and Vice President Mike Pence. And there he is, bellowing into a bullhorn to goad the mob.

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“If you have a weapon, you need to get your weapon!” he shouts in footage cited in the January 2021 affidavit for his arrest. In another he’s yelling, “This is the second revolution right here, folks! … This is not a peaceful protest.”

Before he traveled to Washington, Nichols posted on Facebook that he would be “bringing the wrath of God, and there’s not a … thing you can do to stop it.” He arrived with another Texan and two firearms. He later wrote to a judge, in an unsuccessful bid to be released on bail, that he’d gone to the capital “because I believed that is what the president asked us to do.”

After his arrest, Nichols spent about two years in the D.C. jail before he was released pending trial after complaining of poor medical treatment for a post-traumatic stress disorder dating to his Marine Corps service in Japan. When he finally pleaded guilty in November to reduced charges assaulting law-enforcement officers and obstructing an official proceeding — senior U.S. District Judge Royce C. Lamberth, a Ronald Reagan appointee, sent him back behind bars.

At his sentencing last week, Nichols apologized to “the victims of Jan. 6,” including members of Congress, police officers and D.C. residents, said he’d stay on his meds and was “no longer a danger to society.” The judge acknowledged the apology but said “the court has not had great success in determining the sincerity of Jan. 6 defendants.” Lamberth then slapped Nichols with prison time and the record fine.

Which Nichols deserved. He may have been in a class of his own, as prosecutors claimed, but he wasn’t the worst of the anti-democracy offenders. Former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio got 22 years in prison and Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes got 18 years. Trump says he would undo all those convictions and sentences in a flash. And that’s one more reason voters should reject him in November.

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Video: Cassidy Loses Primary After Drawing Trump’s Ire

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Video: Cassidy Loses Primary After Drawing Trump’s Ire

new video loaded: Cassidy Loses Primary After Drawing Trump’s Ire

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Cassidy Loses Primary After Drawing Trump’s Ire

Republican Senator Bill Cassidy lost his Louisiana primary on Saturday after President Trump targeted him for voting to impeach him in 2021. The two-term senator took veiled swipes at the president in his concession speech.

Thank you, Louisiana! I want to say thank you to a very special man who you all know, the best president this country has ever had, President Donald Trump. I’ve been able to participate in democracy. And when you participate in democracy, sometimes it doesn’t turn out the way you want it to. But you don’t pout. You don’t whine. You don’t claim the election was stolen. Our country is not about one individual. It is about the welfare of all Americans, and it is about our Constitution. And if someone doesn’t understand that and attempts to control others through using the levers of power, they are about serving themselves. They’re not about serving us.”

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Republican Senator Bill Cassidy lost his Louisiana primary on Saturday after President Trump targeted him for voting to impeach him in 2021. The two-term senator took veiled swipes at the president in his concession speech.

By Cynthia Silva

May 17, 2026

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Trump warns Iran’s ‘clock is ticking’: Move ‘fast’ or ‘there won’t be anything left’

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Trump warns Iran’s ‘clock is ticking’: Move ‘fast’ or ‘there won’t be anything left’

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President Donald Trump renewed his stern warnings for Iran to come to peace and end its nuclear weapons aspirations Sunday.

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“For Iran, the Clock is Ticking, and they better get moving, FAST, or there won’t be anything left of them,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.

“TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE!”

Trump, fresh off his trek to meet China’s Xi Jinping face to face, is weighing restarting military action on Iran, Fox News Digital reported earlier Sunday.

TRUMP WARNS IRAN’S ‘CLOCK IS TICKING’: MOVE ‘FAST’ OR ‘THERE WON’T BE ANYTHING LEFT’

President Donald Trump is renewing threats for Iran to come to peace and commit to giving up its nuclear weapons aspirations. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

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The president also had a call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday.

“Our eyes are also open regarding Iran,” Netanyahu said Sunday morning, as translated from Hebrew. “I will speak today, as I do every few days, with our friend President Trump.

“I will certainly hear impressions from his trip to China, and perhaps other matters as well. There are certainly many possibilities, and we are prepared for every scenario.”

TRUMP MEETS NETANYAHU, SAYS HE WANTS IRAN DEAL BUT REMINDS TEHRAN OF ‘MIDNIGHT HAMMER’ OPERATION

Trump remains at the White House on Sunday, but no public or press appearances were on his schedule.

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The call with Netanyahu came amid regional intelligence assessments on Iran that restarting of military strikes might be coming because of Trump’s frustration with Iran’s tactics amid the closing of the Strait of Hormuz and the rejection of his demand to give up nuclear weapons aspirations.

“The prevailing assessment inside Iran is that President Trump may resort to restarting military action, and Tehran is now deliberately pursuing a strategy of ‘deception and delay’ with the hopes that buying time will complicate any potential return to war,” two regional intelligence officials told Fox News.

EXPERTS WARN IRAN’S NUCLEAR DOUBLE-TALK DESIGNED TO BUY TIME, UNDERMINE US PRESSURE

Intelligence officials believe that the Iranian regime thinks it can delay developments and stretch the crisis out for at least two more weeks, so that the situation could become more difficult for Trump to restart the military campaign, both politically and operationally.

These sources say Iranian officials are looking at the World Cup and America’s 250th anniversary as a backstop that could work in their favor.

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The impact of the U.S.-led blockade is becoming increasingly visible inside Iran, according to a senior Israeli official, early signs of a developing fuel crisis emerging over the weekend – including long lines at gas stations and growing public discontent over fuel shortages and distribution problems.

“It’s getting exponentially worse,” the official added.

Fox News’ Trey Yingst and Yonat Friling contributed to this report.

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Commentary: Californians on a confounding race for governor: ‘I haven’t … a clue who I’m going to vote for’

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Commentary: Californians on a confounding race for governor: ‘I haven’t … a clue who I’m going to vote for’

Eddie Martinez can’t stand Donald Trump. So when Eric Swalwell entered the race for California governor, Martinez had his candidate.

“I liked the way he took Trump on, the impeachment thing in Congress,” Martinez said of the former Bay Area congressman, a Trump nemesis who served as one of the House prosecutors in 2021 when Democrats held the wayward president to account for the second time.

Then, suddenly, Swalwell’s campaign collapsed under the weight of allegations of abuse, including charges he sexually assaulted a former aide. With Martinez’s choice out of the running, the Democrat turned to the candidate who’d been his second pick all along, Xavier Becerra.

Martinez has been familiar with Becerra for decades, going back to when the former congressman, state attorney general and Biden Cabinet member was in the state Assembly. To his credit, said the 65-year-old retired public relations strategist, Becerra has largely kept clear of controversy and there’s never been a whiff of personal scandal — an important consideration after Swalwell’s spectacular self-destruction.

On top of all that, Martinez said as he prepared to drop his mail ballot at a post office in Alhambra, it would be nice for California to elect its first Latino governor in modern times. It’s been, Martinez observed, more than 150 years.

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With the gubernatorial primary entering its final two weeks, a contest that had been stubbornly formless has finally gained coherence. Becerra, who’d been widely given up for dead as he foundered near the bottom of polls, has unexpectedly emerged as the Democrat to beat.

“He has the most experience,” said Ruben Avita, a 57-year-old actor who leans Democratic and is tilting toward Becerra over hedge-fund billionaire Tom Steyer. “At this point,” Avita said as he waited to catch a double feature at a cineplex in Monterey Park, “I want someone with a proven track record.”

Among the Republicans running, Trump’s pick — conservative commentator Steve Hilton — seems firmly ensconced atop the GOP field.

“He’s got a lot more common-sense approach than any of these other idiots,” said Wayne The Flame — yes, he explained, that’s his legal name —which, while not exactly a ringing endorsement, still counts as a vote.

The Claremont independent, retired at 73 after a career selling motorcycles and hot rods, described Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, the other major GOP contestant, as a racist and dismissed the entire Democratic field with a string of epithets. “Dumb—,” he said of the voters who keep putting the likes of them in power.

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Peaches, a chihuahua/boxer rescue, stands alongside her owner, Wayne The Flame

If not terribly enthused, at least The Flame has made up his mind. Many voters remain undecided — or, at least, not entirely wed to a candidate.

Some are holding on to their ballots longer than usual, awaiting any last-minute developments and weighing the election odds as though wagering in a high-stakes game of poker.

Like many Democrats, Bryce Dwyer’s concern is that Hilton and Bianco will seize both spots in June’s top-two primary, advancing to a November runoff and giving California its first Republican governor in 16 years.

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A 40-year-old project manager at the Getty Research Institute, Dwyer held his 2-year-old daughter as his son, 6, romped on a pleasant afternoon in Sierra Madre’s Memorial Park. Across the street, the bells of Christ Church chimed the hour.

“None of the Democrats are putting forth anything that is making me excited,” said Dwyer, who’s ruled out Becerra (he doesn’t see much there) and is deciding between Steyer and former Orange County Rep. Katie Porter. He’s trying to cast his ballot strategically, the East Pasadena resident said, and “it’s the first time in a while I haven’t really had a clue who I’m going to vote for so close to election day.”

A woman in a red dress in profile with her hands held in front of her

Democrat Priscilla Vega of Monrovia has yet to settle on her candidate for governor

This is a deeply unsettled season in California, with precious little hope the next governor — whoever he or she turns out to be — will make things better anytime soon. That mix of discouragement and discontent surfaced repeatedly, like a dull ache, in conversations with dozens of voters across the San Gabriel Valley.

The region’s ethnic and economic diversity — from the working-class neighborhoods of Pomona through the Asian-majority suburbs to the mountainside mansions of San Dimas and Pasadena — make the valley a prime battleground in the race for governor.

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Alana H., who asked not to use her last name, said she wasn’t even bothering to vote.

She ticked off some reasons: The soaring price of gas and rising cost of, essentially, everything else. The fear her college-age daughter will never be able to buy a home in California. Worse, is her loss of faith. She no longer believes in the promise, once taken for granted, that each generation will improve its lot over the last. And, Alana said, she’s not alone: “Anyone who’s an average person is in the same boat, we’re all just trying to stay afloat.” Standing in front of the post office in Alhambra, the 52-year-old paddled her arms as though to keep from sinking.

A man stands in front of a wall full of framed pictures

Jaunenito Pavon, in his Glendora wine and chocolate bar, would like California to elect a governor who could unify the state. He’s still deciding on a candidate

The politicians in both parties are “so out of touch,” she said, “all they’re doing is fighting over this and that, when everyone I know doesn’t care what party you’re in. They just want to put food on their table. They want their kids to have a better life.”

Shelby Moore has some of the same concerns. Forget about ever buying a home, said the 30-year-old California native, a Democratic-leaning independent. It’s no small feat scraping up money for rent. “I’ve lost almost every single friend that I went to high school or college with,” Moore said between waiting tables at a Mediterranean restaurant in Glendora. “They’ve all moved out of state.”

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A waitress places food on the table at a Glendora restaurant

Shelby Moore, 30, a waitress in Glendora, said all her friends from high school and college have left California because it’s so expensive.

She’ll definitely vote, Moore said, though she doesn’t know for whom. One of the Democrats. Someone who’ll work to make California more affordable and keep people like her friends from being priced out.

In Claremont, Eric Hurley was another undecided Democrat. He attended last month’s gubernatorial debate at Pomona College, where the 56-year-old professor teaches psychological science and Africana studies. Otherwise, he’s been too busy to pay much attention to the race.

But it’s important, Hurley said, that whoever wins “keep fighting the good fight and standing by our liberal principles. I would hate to see someone in the governor’s office start capitulating to what the current administration is asking.”

A man sitting outside a coffee shop with his image reflected in the window

Democrat Eric Hurley is undecided in the governor’s race. But he wants someone who’ll stand up to the Trump administration.

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Others seconded that notion, that California needs to stand as a bulwark against Trump and his excesses, such as the draconian crackdown that has terrorized the state’s large immigrant population.

But there’s not a great appetite for the sort of performative pushback that’s won the current governor a wide audience on social media and boosted Gavin Newsom’s political stock as he positions himself ahead of the 2028 presidential campaign.

Jennifer Harris, 56, is a single mom in Monrovia who oversees payroll at a food manufacturing company. She has to stretch each of her dollars to make ends meet; soon she’ll be shelling out $30,000 a year for her daughter to go to college. Buying a home, Harris said, is out of the question.

She confessed to chuckling at the governor’s memes — an over-the-top oeuvre that includes Newsom as super hero, Newsom as religious beacon, Newsom as romance-novel hunk — and his other cheeky jabs at the president. “But that’s not an adult way to handle it,” Harris said between errands in Monrovia’s quaint shopping district. “It’s not solving any problems.”

Better, she said, for the next governor — she hasn’t decided whom she’ll support — to focus on practicalities: improving the economy, making housing and healthcare more affordable, dealing with homelessness and the underlying mental health issues.

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A woman seen in profile

Jennifer Harris said Gov. Newsom’s over-the-top social media presence is amusing. But she wants the next governor to focus on more practical things.

Britnee Foreman echoed that sentiment.

The 41-year-old, who lives in Azusa and works in the music business, was meeting a friend, Priscilla Vega, 43, for lunch in Monrovia. Along with a meal, the two Democrats shared their concerns about inflation and income inequality.

“Memes are great for publicity,” said Foreman, who’s deciding between Becerra and Porter, based on their policy experience. (Vega, a lifestyle marketer, has yet to narrow down her choice.)

A woman gestures while discussing the California governors race

Britnee Foreman says the next governor needs policies “with teeth,” not an active social media presence.

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“But I prefer policy,” Foreman went on. “I don’t want them just to be the popular person out there on social media. It’s great if they’re tweeting and have a cute little Insta-story. But I need their policies to have teeth and actively move us forward. And not just look like it’s moving forward.”

After nearly eight years, amid widespread unease, California seems ready to put the Newsom era in the past. It’s just not clear what path voters will choose, or which candidate they’ll prefer to steer the state toward, hopefully, a better place.

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