News of the World

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USA

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GRANTING PARDONS AND COMMUTATION OF SENTENCES FOR CERTAIN OFFENSES RELATING TO THE EVENTS AT OR NEAR THE UNITED STATES CAPITOL ON JANUARY 6, 2021

BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

A PROCLAMATION

This proclamation ends a grave national injustice that has been perpetrated upon the American people over the last four years and begins a process of national reconciliation.

Acting pursuant to the grant of authority in Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution of the United States, I do hereby:

(a)  commute the sentences of the following individuals convicted of offenses related to events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, to time served as of January 20, 2025:

•    Stewart Rhodes
•    Kelly Meggs
•    Kenneth Harrelson
•    Thomas Caldwell
•    Jessica Watkins
•    Roberto Minuta
•    Edward Vallejo
•    David Moerschel
•    Joseph Hackett
•    Ethan Nordean
•    Joseph Biggs
•    Zachary Rehl
•    Dominic Pezzola
•    Jeremy Bertino

(b)  grant a full, complete and unconditional pardon to all other individuals convicted of offenses related to events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021;

The Attorney General shall administer and effectuate the immediate issuance of certificates of pardon to all individuals described in section (b) above, and shall ensure that all individuals convicted of offenses related to events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, who are currently held in prison are released immediately.  The Bureau of Prisons shall immediately implement all instructions from the Department of Justice regarding this directive.

I further direct the Attorney General to pursue dismissal with prejudice to the government of all pending indictments against individuals for their conduct related to the events at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021.  The Bureau of Prisons shall immediately implement all instructions from the Department of Justice regarding this directive.

    IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this

twentieth day of January, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-five, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-ninth.

Trump Gets Rid of Biden's 78 Executive Orders

Trump Rescinds 78 of Biden’s Executive Actions with Stroke of a Pen

President Donald Trump rescinded 78 of former President Joe Biden’s executive actions with the stroke of a pen on Monday night.

Trump’s executive order covers an array of actions Biden took throughout his term, ranging from nixing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) policies to the southern border and the climate.

“I can undo almost everything Biden did, he through executive order. And on day one, much of that will be undone,” Trump said in a statement shared in a White House fact sheet obtained by Breitbart News.

Trump’s action notably undoes Biden’s first executive order, “Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government,” and several other “racial equity” orders Biden imposed, per the fact sheet.

“We will terminate every diversity, equity, and inclusion program across the entire federal government,” Trump said in a statement.

Regarding the border, Trump is working to reverse Biden’s executive orders that reinstated catch-and-release, halted criminal illegal alien deportations, and granted government-funded benefits for illegal aliens.

Trump is targeting several of Biden’s climate orders as well, including his electric vehicle mandate to phase out gas-powered automobiles.

“Several EOs imposed crushing emissions standards designed to end gas powered vehicles, set an EV mandate by 2030, canceled the Keystone Pipeline, stopped drilling, and prevented permitting,” the sheet notes.

“We’re going to have a great border, we’re going to have more energy than you’ve ever had, and we’re never going back,” Trump vowed.

The order further mandates a review of all of Biden’s executive actions, meaning more recessions can be expected this year, according to the White House.

According to a Fox News report published Sunday, Trump is set to sign more than 200 executive orders on his first day.

Many Departures in the State Department

A wave of Trump-demanded departures hits the State Department

A large number of senior career diplomats who served in politically appointed leadership positions and also lower-level posts at the State Department are leaving their jobs at the demand of the incoming Trump administration, which plans to install its own people, according to current and outgoing U.S. officials.

Personnel changes in the senior ranks of the department, like those at all federal agencies, are not uncommon after a presidential election, and career officials serving in those roles are required, just as non-career political appointees, to submit letters of resignation. However, it is unusual for incoming administrations to seek the resignations of officials serving in positions not nominated by the president.

In the past, some resignations have not been accepted, allowing career officials to remain in their posts at least temporarily until the new president can nominate his team. That offers some degree of continuity in the day-to-day running of the bureaucracy.

One senior career diplomat who is staying, Lisa Kenna, was appointed acting secretary of state shortly after Monday's inauguration. She was only in that job for several hours, until Marco Rubio was confirmed by the Senate as top diplomat. Kenna will return to a previous job she held as executive secretary.

Officials at the State Department’s global talent management team spent part of Monday calling career senior diplomats at the behest of the Trump administration, asking them to resign immediately, according to a person familiar with matter. The person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss personnel matters, said that while requests for resignations were anticipated, the number of diplomats being called on to step down was greater than expected.

It was not immediately clear how many non-political appointees were being asked to leave.

While turnover is inevitable during any change of administration, the departures come at a fraught time, notably in Ukraine and the Middle East, in the foreign policy realm. Conflict is raging between Russia and Ukraine, and new negotiations will be required early next month to extend and expand a temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza.

Thus, changes in the top ranks of the State Department and the White House National Security Council may have a more significant impact than they might have had during previous transitions.

Trump & the Oval Office

Trump Brings Back The Winston Churchill Bust Back to the Oval Office

A bust of Winston Churchill’s head has been in a game of political football for over 15 years, with Democrat Presidents removing it from the Oval Office and President Trump putting it back again.

A bronze likeness of British wartime leader and scourge of Nazism Sir Winston Churchill given to America by the British government in July 2001 has been returned to the Oval Office — again — as part of President Donald Trump’s inauguration redecoration.

While redecorating the Oval Office for an incoming President to reflect their tastes and needs — changing curtains, for instance, and the large oval rug over the decorative timber floor — has become a normal part of the inauguration day handover, the presence of the bust of Churchill has become a political matter. Having sat in the Oval Office after being made a gift in 2001 for seven years, the bust was removed by President Barack Obama upon his inauguration in 2009 and replaced with one of Martin Luther King Jr.

This was met with controversy and allegations President Obama had demoted the Churchill Bust to a corridor in the Residence because of anti-British sentiment, something his administration later denied.
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President Trump restored the bust when he took power in 2017 following lobbying by Brexit’s Nigel Farage. Speaking in 2016 of a meeting he had with then President-Elect Trump, Mr Farage had said he was “especially pleased at his very positive reaction to the idea that Sir Winston Churchill’s bust should be put back in the Oval Office”.

President Trump made a point of showing the Churchill bust to then-British Prime Minister Theresa May when she visited the White House in 2017.

But the story didn’t end there, with President Joe Biden again removing the Churchill bust in 2021, adding busts of Robert F. Kennedy, Cesar Chavez, Rosa Parks, and former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt instead. Biden also removed the flags of the branches of the U.S. armed forces from the Office, something else Trump had returned to their place this week.

Now it is noted the bust has returned once again, having been photographed in the Oval Office as President Trump sat in the room signing executive orders, the bronze cast placed on a side table near the fireplace, which is where it had been before it was removed by Biden.

Trump on Canada & Mexico + Tariffs

Trump Warns 25% Tariffs on Canada and Mexico Could Begin on February 1

Shortly after delivering his inauguration address on Monday, President Donald Trump said 25-percent tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico could be imposed as soon as February 1.

“We are thinking in terms of 25% on Mexico and Canada, because they are allowing vast numbers of people — Canada is a very bad abuser also – vast numbers of people to come in and fentanyl to come in,” Trump told reporters from the Oval Office on Monday evening.

“I think we’ll do it February 1,” Trump responded when a reporter asked for the timing on these tariffs.

Trump later said he would consider putting a “universal tariff” on “anybody doing business in the United States” if “they’re stealing our wealth, they’re stealing our jobs, they’re stealing our companies, they’re hurting our companies.”

Trump’s comments clearly surprised the Canadian government, whose officials and political leaders have been talking tough about fighting a trade war with Trump – especially the candidates jockeying to replace departing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau – even as they evidently believed the tariff threat had subsided.

Canada’s Globe and Mail noted that U.S. media coverage on Monday suggested Trump would “direct government agencies to remedy persistent trade deficits and ensure trade deals prioritize U.S. jobs,” but he had largely stopped talking about tariffs – until he suddenly started talking about them again during his freewheeling post-inauguration press conference.

Biden's Preemptive Pardons - That Had Not Existed Ever Before

President Biden Preemptively Pardons General Milley, Anthony Fauci, and January 6 Committee Members

President Joe Biden preemptively pardoned former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Retired Gen. Mark Milley, Anthony Fauci, and members of the January 6 Committee — with just hours left in his administration.

In a statement released Monday morning at 7 a.m. — just several hours before President-Elect Donald Trump’s inauguration, the White House issued a statement from Biden touting them “dedicated, selfless public servants.”

He claimed he believed in the rule of law, but said, “But these are exceptional circumstances, and I cannot in good conscience do nothing.”

House Oversight Committee Republicans reminded Americans that Biden also pardoned his son Hunter Biden — which the outgoing president had told the country he would not do:

Joe Biden will be remembered for using his last few weeks in office to shield his son from the law and protect himself.
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Sen. Jim Banks (R-IN) posted: “Mark Milley might be pardoned but we will continue to explore ways to hold him accountable.”
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Biden’s statement said in full:

Our nation relies on dedicated, selfless public servants every day. They are the lifeblood of our democracy.

Yet alarmingly, public servants have been subjected to ongoing threats and intimidation for faithfully discharging their duties.

In certain cases, some have even been threatened with criminal prosecutions, including General Mark A. Milley, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, and the members and staff of the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol. These public servants have served our nation with honor and distinction and do not deserve to be the targets of unjustified and politically motivated prosecutions.

General Milley served our nation for more than 40 years, serving in multiple command and leadership posts and deploying to some of the most dangerous parts of the world to protect and defend democracy. As Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he guided our Armed Forces through complex global security threats and strengthened our existing alliances while forging new ones.

For more than half a century, Dr. Fauci served our country. He saved countless lives by managing the government’s response to pressing health crises, including HIV/AIDS, as well as the Ebola and Zika viruses. During his tenure as my Chief Medical Advisor, he helped the country tackle a once-in-a-century pandemic. The United States is safer and healthier because of him.

On January 6, 2021, American democracy was tested when a mob of insurrectionists attacked the Capitol in an attempt to overturn a fair and free election by force and violence. In light of the significance of that day, Congress established the bipartisan Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol to investigate and report upon the facts, circumstances, and causes of the insurrection. The Select Committee fulfilled this mission with integrity and a commitment to discovering the truth. Rather than accept accountability, those who perpetrated the January 6th attack have taken every opportunity to undermine and intimidate those who participated in the Select Committee in an attempt to rewrite history, erase the stain of January 6th for partisan gain, and seek revenge, including by threatening criminal prosecutions.

I believe in the rule of law, and I am optimistic that the strength of our legal institutions will ultimately prevail over politics. But these are exceptional circumstances, and I cannot in good conscience do nothing. Baseless and politically motivated investigations wreak havoc on the lives, safety, and financial security of targeted individuals and their families. Even when individuals have done nothing wrong—and in fact have done the right thing—and will ultimately be exonerated, the mere fact of being investigated or prosecuted can irreparably damage reputations and finances.

That is why I am exercising my authority under the Constitution to pardon General Mark A. Milley, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the Members of Congress and staff who served on the Select Committee, and the U.S. Capitol and D.C. Metropolitan police officers who testified before the Select Committee. The issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that any individual engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense. Our nation owes these public servants a debt of gratitude for their tireless commitment to our country.

John Bolton Lost his Security Clearance

John Bolton Stripped of Secret Service Detail After Being Stripped of Security Clearance

Former National Security Adviser John Bolton was stripped of his Secret Service detail on the same day that President Donald Trump stripped him of his security clearance, according to several reports.

CNN reported that Bolton had confirmed that “within hours” of Trump taking office, the president terminated the Secret Service detail that had been assigned to Bolton.

Several sources also informed CBS News that the decision to terminate Bolton’s Secret Service detail had been made “in the past 24 hours.”
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In a statement on X, Bolton expressed that he was “disappointed but not surprised that President Trump” had terminated his Secret Service detail. Bolton added that despite his “criticisms” of former President Joe Biden’s national security policies, Biden “made the decision to extend” Bolton’s Secret Service detail protection.

“I am disappointed but not surprised that President Trump has decided to terminate the protection previously provided by the United States Secret Service,” Bolton wrote. “Notwithstanding my criticisms of President Biden’s national-security policies, he nonetheless made the decision to extend that protection to me in 2021.”

“The Justice Department filed criminal charges against an Iranian Revolutionary Guard official in 2022 for attempting to hire a hit man to target me,” Bolton added. “That threat remains today, as also demonstrated by the recent arrest of someone trying to arrange for President Trump’s own assassination. The American people can judge for themselves which President made the right call.”