As President Biden's term comes to an end, he is reportedly considering commuting the sentences of most, if not all, of the 40 men on the federal government’s death row.
The Wall Street Journal, citing sources familiar with the matter, reported that the move would frustrate President-elect Trump's plan to streamline executions as he takes office in January.
Attorney General Merrick Garland, who oversees federal prisons, recommended that Biden commute all but a handful of egregious sentences, the sources said.
The outlet reported that possible exceptions could include Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the 2013 Boston Marathon bomber who killed three and wounded more than 250; Robert Bowers, who killed 11 people in the 2018 attack on the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh; and Dylann Roof, who in 2015 killed nine at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina.
Those who could see their death sentences commuted to life in prison include an ex-Marine who killed two young girls and later a female naval officer, a Las Vegas man convicted of kidnapping and killing a 12-year-old girl, a Chicago podiatrist who fatally shot a patient to keep her from testifying in a Medicare fraud investigation and two men convicted in a kidnapping-for-ransom scheme that resulted in the killings of five Russian and Georgian immigrants.
The move came after Biden, a lifelong Catholic, spoke with Pope Francis Thursday. In his weekly prayer, Pope Francis asked for the commutation of America’s condemned inmates.
A decision from the president could come by Christmas, some of sources said. The outlet noted that the biggest question is the scope of the commutation of the death row inmates.
Biden is the first president to openly oppose capital punishment, and his 2020 campaign website declared he would "work to pass legislation to eliminate the death penalty at the federal level and incentivize states to follow the federal government’s example."
In January 2021, Biden initially considered an executive order, sources familiar with the matter told The Associated Press, but the White House did not issue one.
Six months into the administration, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced a moratorium on federal capital punishment to study it further. The narrow action has meant there have been no federal executions under Biden.
Aurora Police have confirmed that several members of the violent Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua (TdA) were involved in an "incredibly violent" armed home invasion and kidnapping that left two victims seriously injured in an apartment complex this week.
"I will say without question, in my opinion, that this is TdA activity. Some of these individuals have been identified as TdA gang members," Aurora Police Chief Todd Chamberlain said. "It's something that we are working very close with our partners in HSI [Homeland Security Investigations] and DHS [Homeland Security] to establish their relationship with gangs."
Chamberlain said authorities have little way of confirming that a suspect is a member of TdA since gang members do not typically broadcast their affiliation.
"It is a real challenge to try to say, ‘Hey, 100%, you are a gang member,’" he said.
Chamberlain said it was not a "big step" for him to identify them as members of the notorious Venezuelan gang.
"But when you look at the circumstances of this, when you look at the events of this, when you look at the individuals involved in this, when you look at the veracity and the violence involved in this, again, it is not a big step for me to say that they are TdA gang members," he said.
The gang members allegedly forced their way into a couple’s apartment at the Edge at Lowry Apartments in the Denver suburbs and bound, beat, stabbed and kidnapped the victims, leaving them hospitalized. The perpetrators also allegedly stole jewelry from the victims.
While the department cannot yet confirm whether all 19 of the suspects detained in the incident are TdA members, Chamberlain said he could categorically confirm that several are part of the gang that has been terrorizing Aurora residents in recent months.
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Chamberlain said one of the detained TdA members was also involved in the violent apartment takeover in Aurora earlier this year.
According to Chamberlain, this was not an isolated incident. He said the TdA members and their affiliates have regularly mistreated the couple and were extorting them for $500 every two weeks. He believes the couple were not the only victims being intimidated and extorted by the gang members.
Chamberlain also said Aurora Police are fully cooperating with ICE, DHS and Homeland Security Investigations to determine the identities and potential gang affiliation of those involved in the incident.
A total of 19 suspects were detained for questioning, three of whom have since been released and eight of whom are now in ICE custody. He said eight are still under investigation.
"Those pending charges range from everything from second-degree kidnaping, aggravated robbery, first-degree assault, extortion and burglary," he said.
Police have not released the names of the 16 arrested individuals.
The police chief reiterated that authorities did not conduct a "mass sweep" for the suspects, but instead went door to door to thoroughly investigate all parties involved.
During a press conference, Chamberlain emphasized that Aurora Police would respond to calls and help any victim in trouble "regardless of immigration status."
Law enforcement organizations and unions nationwide are throwing their support behind Republican South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem as Department of Homeland Security chief, citing her as the "best leader to restore justice" and tackle immigration woes left over from the Biden administration.
"We respectfully urge you and your colleagues in the Senate to confirm Governor Noem without delay. The border security crisis demands immediate attention, and the confirmation of Governor Noem is a critical step in addressing this urgent issue," International Union of Police Associations Local 6020, Broward Deputy Sheriffs Association, President Donald Prichard wrote in one of the endorsement letters to Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., earlier this month.
At least eight police groups or unions have issued letters to Paul, calling on the upcoming chairman of the committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs to swiftly confirm Noem to combat the immigration crisis along the southern border, as well as stem the flow of deadly narcotics coming across the border and crack down on crime. Trump announced Noem as his pick for DHS chief shortly after his decisive win over Vice President Kamala Harris in November.
The DHS oversees U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the U.S. Secret Service and the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
Law enforcement groups that have endorsed Noem include: the National Fraternal Order of Police, the largest organization of sworn law enforcement officers in the U.S.; the National Association of Police Organizations; the International Union of Police Associations; the Toledo Police Patrolman’s Association; International Union of Police Associations Local 6020; the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association; the Police Officers Association of Michigan; and the National Border Patrol Council.
The Police Officers Association of Michigan – the Great Lakes State’s largest law enforcement group – endorsed Noem in a letter to Paul this month, lamenting that, under the Biden administration, police have faced a more difficult job as illegal immigration moved north and rocked the state.
"We represented our members as they reported for work every day while others remained home during COVID and as groups of rioters attacked our members with a variety of weapons," James Tignanelli, the president of the Michigan police group, wrote in a letter to Paul on Dec. 5.
"The job has grown even more difficult because the Biden Administration has intentionally failed to enforce our immigration laws. Criminal aliens and deadly fentanyl have crossed our open borders and have increased crime in both rural and urban communities across Michigan. We always had the northern border to patrol. Now, the open border across the south has consumed Michigan as well. The current leadership of the Department of Homeland Security has betrayed us. Claims of ‘the border is secure’ were and are absurd," he continued.
The National Border Patrol Council, a union representing about 18,000 Border Patrol agents, called on Paul and his Senate colleagues to "quickly" consider Noem’s confirmation.
"On behalf of the men and women of the National Border Patrol Council (NBPC) who protect our nation's borders, we are excited to provide our support for President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee, Governor Kristi Noem, to be the next Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security," National Border Patrol Council President Paul Perez wrote in a letter this month.
The union said Noem has already established her ability to "get things done" both at home in South Dakota, and on the national stage when she aided Texas’ "Operation Lone Star" to battle the immigration crisis.
"Governor Noem was the first governor to deploy National Guard personnel to the border in Texas to support Operation Lone Star. This deployment bolstered our resources at a critical time along the border and helped to protect Texans and Americans alike."
Noem has repeatedly deployed South Dakota National Guard troops to the southern border in Texas to help stem illegal border crossings as part of Operation Lone Star.
"The border is a war zone, so we’re sending soldiers," Noem said in a press release in February, which marked the fifth deployment of National Guard troops to the border under the Biden administration. "These soldiers’ primary mission will be construction of a wall to stem the flow of illegal immigrants, drug cartels, and human trafficking into the United States of America."
Fraternal Order of Police President Patrick Yoes wrote in his letter to Paul that his organization also looks "forward to working with [Noem] to secure our border."
"The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) employs more law enforcement than any other Federal department, and as such we ask the Committee to expeditiously review and confirm nominees as soon as possible to ensure a seamless transition. We especially encourage the committee to hold the earliest possible hearing on Governor Kristi L. Noem to be the next Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The FOP supports her nomination, and we look forward to working with her to secure our border," Yoes wrote.
Trump, who ran on a pledge to end the immigration crisis at the southern border and crack down on the deadly drug epidemic ravaging communities across the nation, announced his nomination of Noem just days after winning the election.
"Kristi has been very strong on Border Security. She was the first Governor to send National Guard Soldiers to help Texas fight the Biden Border Crisis, and they were sent a total of eight times. She will work closely with ‘Border Czar’ Tom Homan to secure the Border, and will guarantee that our American Homeland is secure from our adversaries. I have known Kristi for years, and have worked with her on a wide variety of projects – She will be a great part of our mission to Make America Safe Again," he wrote last month in his announcement.
Noem has served as governor of the Mount Rushmore State since 2019, and notably gained national attention and praise from conservatives during the pandemic when she bucked lockdown orders and mask mandates common in liberal states such as California and New York. Ahead of her tenure as governor, Noem served in the U.S. House from 2011 to 2019.
Noem was on Capitol Hill this month meeting with senators to rally support for her confirmation, including meeting with Paul.
"My first order of business will be getting her confirmed, and I plan on trying to do that either the day of the inauguration or that week," Paul said on The Cats Roundtable with John Catsimatidis earlier this week.
The FBI field office in Newark urged New Jersey residents this week not to shoot down drones or point lasers at manned aircraft, taking to social media to warn against the dangerous — and possibly deadly — activity, which comes amid an uptick in reported drone sightings along the U.S. East Coast.
The drone sightings have prompted a collective sense of panic among residents, who have taken to social media to share photos and videos of believed drones captured in the darkened U.S. skies. The shared sense of fear-mongering has also prompted some vigilante-like responses, with some social media users documenting efforts to take matters into their own hands, including via laser beam.
In the statement, released by the FBI and New Jersey State Police, authorities expressly warned against such activities, citing an increase in pilots of manned aircraft in the area who have been hit in the eyes with lasers after being misidentified as a drone by someone on the ground.
Officials said there is also a concern that people on the ground could also mistakenly fire weapons at what they believe to be an Unmanned Aircraft Systems, or UAS, but is in fact a manned aircraft.
"FBI Newark, NJSP, and dozens of other agencies and law enforcement partners have been out every night for several weeks to legally track down operators acting illegally or with nefarious intent and using every available tool and piece of equipment to find the answers the public is seeking," the authorities said in the statement. "However, there could be dangerous and possibly deadly consequences if manned aircraft are targeted mistakenly as UAS."
They also noted how easy it can be for an individual on the ground to mistake a manned aircraft for a UAS.
"Misidentification often occurs when UAS are mistaken for more familiar objects such as manned aircraft, low-orbit satellites, or celestial bodies like planets or stars," they said.
"To improve accuracy and prevent false sightings, a variety of tools and techniques can be used to assist with the visual identification of suspected UAS. Accurate identification is critical for maintaining safety and ensuring appropriate responses to UAS activity."
The statement from the FBI field office and state police comes as New Jersey residents and lawmakers have voiced frustrations about the uptick in drone sightings and what they view as a lack of answers they have been given by the federal government in response.
Still, U.S. officials have sought to emphasize that the aircraft in question are not, in fact, a national security threat. Maj. Gen. Patrick S. Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, stressed to reporters during a briefing Tuesday that the drones are any sort of government asset, and ruled out the notion that they were any part of "experimental program" being tested by the U.S.
In a joint statement Monday, the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, the Federal Aviation Administration and the Department of Defense said that, while they "recognize the concern" from the general public, there is no evidence that the drones are "anomalous" or a threat to public safety or to U.S. national security.
Separately, senior officials from the CIA, FBI, and DOD traveled to Capitol Hill Tuesday afternoon to brief lawmakers on the House Intelligence Committee on the uptick in drone sightings.
It is unclear, however, how far these efforts have gone to thwart the rise in public concerns.
The FBI said Monday that it has received more than 5,000 reports of alleged drone sightings in the last "few weeks" — reflecting the rise in panic from some residents, including many who have taken to social media to document their sightings on social media.
Connecticut Rep. Jim Himes, R-Conn., used an interview on "Fox News Sunday" to call on more federal agencies — including the Federal Aviation Administration — to share more information about the drone sightings with the public.
"The FAA in particular, which is the agency of jurisdiction through the domestic skies, ought to be out Saturday morning saying, ‘Let’s show you a picture at the number of aircraft, commercial and private and military, that go over New Jersey in any 24-hour period,’" Himes said.
"Just putting information out there to fill that vacuum would be helpful," he added.
Former Rep. Liz Cheney is facing calls from GOP legislators that the FBI investigate her for "potential criminal witness tampering" related to her former role on the Jan. 6 House Select Committee, a report released Tuesday by the House Administration Subcommittee on Oversight chairman, Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga., details.
"Based on the evidence obtained by this Subcommittee, numerous federal laws were likely broken by Liz Cheney, the former Vice Chair of the January 6 Select Committee, and these violations should be investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Evidence uncovered by the Subcommittee revealed that former Congresswoman Liz Cheney tampered with at least one witness, Cassidy Hutchinson, by secretly communicating with Hutchinson without Hutchinson’s attorney’s knowledge," the report, which was provided to Fox Digital, found.
The Jan. 6 committee was founded in July 2021 to investigate the breach of the U.S. Capitol earlier that year by supporters of Trump ahead of President Biden officially taking office on Jan. 20. The Jan. 6 committee’s investigation was carried out when Democrats held control of the House.
The committee concluded its 18-month investigation last year, when Republicans regained control of the House and sent referrals to the Justice Department recommending Trump be criminally prosecuted for his involvement in the lead-up to supporters breaching the Capitol. The committee was composed of seven Democrats and two Republican lawmakers, Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, both of whom are no longer in office.
Loudermilk's subcommittee was tapped to investigate the J6 committee and its findings in January 2023.
The House Republicans' report Tuesday specifically took issue with Cheney’s alleged "direct intervention" with Hutchinson, who was considered the star witness of the investigation, including allegedly encouraging Hutchinson to hire "Select Committee-friendly attorneys to represent her," as opposed to keeping her original legal representation.
Hutchinson, who worked as an aide to Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, had claimed before the select committee that on Jan. 6, 2021, she was told Trump allegedly became "irate" and attempted to join supporters at the Capitol ahead of them breaching the government building. The incident reportedly unfolded after Trump delivered a speech at the Ellipse, which is a park just south of the White House fence.
Hutchinson alleged she was told Trump attempted to grab the steering wheel of a Secret Service SUV before the driver reportedly told Trump to remove his hand and that they were headed to the White House, not the Capitol. Hutchinson’s account was directly refuted by Anthony Ornato, who served as White House deputy chief of staff for operations under Trump after decades in the Secret Service.
Less than two weeks after firing her original attorney, and hiring "the attorneys Representative Cheney suggested – Hutchinson sat for her fourth transcribed interview with the Select Committee under unusual circumstances," the report found.
"Prior to this interview, nearly every interview the Select Committee conducted included approximately a dozen people – including committee staff members, committee counsel, often a Member of the Select Committee, the interviewee, and the interviewee’s legal representation. Most of the interviews were done in large conference rooms or over zoom, allowing space for all participants. Hutchinson’s fourth transcribed interview, however, was vastly different. It consisted of only four people: Representative Cheney, one attorney from the Select Committee, Hutchinson, and Hutchinson’s new counsel. Additionally, instead of the Select Committee conducting the interview in a conference room or virtually, Representative Cheney used her private hideaway inside of the United States Capitol Building," the report states.
The House Republican report continued that Hutchinson’s testimony to the Jan. 6 committee was crucial, arguing "it is unlikely the Select Committee could make its assertions about President Trump’s mood, attitude, and alleged culpability in the events of January 6" without her comments.
"Hutchinson is mentioned by name in the Select Committee’s Final Report no fewer than 185 times. Inexplicably, the Select Committee discredited the multitude of legitimate witnesses who, under oath, repeatedly refuted Hutchinson’s testimony. These legitimate witnesses include senior government officials and federal agents."
Cheney, in comments provided to Fox News Digital on Tuesday afternoon, defended her former committee's investigation, while arguing Loudermilk's report "intentionally disregards the truth and the Select Committee’s tremendous weight of evidence."
"January 6th showed Donald Trump for who [he] really is – a cruel and vindictive man who allowed violent attacks to continue against our Capitol and law enforcement officers while he watched television and refused for hours to instruct his supporters to stand down and leave," Cheney said to Fox News Digital.
"The January 6th Committee’s hearings and report featured scores of Republican witnesses, including many of the most senior officials from Trump’s own White House, campaign and Administration. All of this testimony was painstakingly set out in thousands of pages of transcripts, made public along with a highly detailed and meticulously sourced 800 page report. Now, Chairman Loudermilk’s 'Interim Report' intentionally disregards the truth and the Select Committee’s tremendous weight of evidence, and instead fabricates lies and defamatory allegations in an attempt to cover up what Donald Trump did. Their allegations do not reflect a review of the actual evidence, and are a malicious and cowardly assault on the truth. No reputable lawyer, legislator or judge would take this seriously."
The Democratic former chair of the committee, Rep. Bennie Thompson, also slammed Loudermilk's report in a comment to Fox News Digital on Tuesday.
"Representative Loudermilk has failed to discredit the work of the January 6th Select Committee. His so-called 'report' is filled with baseless, conclusory allegations rather than facts. That’s because there’s no escaping the reality that Donald Trump bears the responsibility for the deadly January 6th attack no matter how much Mr. Loudermilk would love to rewrite history for his political purposes," he said.
The president-elect railed in an interview on NBC earlier this month that Cheney, Thompson and others on the J6 committee "deleted and destroyed" evidence related to the investigation and "should go to jail."
"Cheney did something that’s inexcusable, along with Thompson and the people on the un-select committee of political thugs and, you know, creeps," he said in the interview. "They deleted and destroyed all evidence."
"And Cheney was behind it. And so was Bennie Thompson and everybody on that committee," he continued. "For what they did, honestly, they should go to jail."
Trump's claims of the committee allegedly "deleting" evidence was supported by a previous report released by Loudermilk earlier this year claiming the select committee "deleted" records and hired "Hollywood producers" to promote a political narrative while investigating Jan. 6.
The report released Tuesday found that the Jan. 6 committee failed to archive "as many as 900 interview summaries or transcripts," despite a process for committee chairs to properly archive data, including interviews.
"As part of its investigation, the Subcommittee learned that the Select Committee failed to archive or provide the Subcommittee with any of its video recordings of witness interviews, as many as 900 interview summaries or transcripts, more than one terabyte of digital data. Concerningly, of the documents that were archived, the Select Committee delivered more than 100 encrypted, password protected documents and never provided the passwords. It is unclear why the Select Committee chose only those documents to be shielded by password," the report found.
The Jan. 6 committee, the report found, failed to archive more than "one terabyte of digital data" after Thompson reported archiving more than four terabytes of data in a July 2022 letter. The subcommittee ultimately received less than three terabytes of digital data.
"One terabyte of data is equivalent to 6.5 million document pages such as PDFs or office files, 500 hours of high definition video, or 250,000 photos," the report noted.
Thompson previously denied the claims of deleting evidence in a July 2023 letter to Loudermilk, detailing that the committee had called on the federal government regarding the "proper archiving of such sensitive material to protect witnesses’ safety, national security, and to safeguard law enforcement operations."
Thompson provided three "facts" in response to the report Tuesday in comment to Fox Digital.
"Here are the facts: (1) The Select Committee was properly constituted, as every court that heard challenges found. Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro would not have gone to prison for contempt of Congress had there been a legitimate issue. Not even the Republican-controlled Supreme Court stayed their sentences, despite Mr. Loudermilk’s entreaties. (2) The Select Committee followed all House Rules, and it did not withhold or destroy any record that was required to be archived. Moreover, every record the Select Committee had was turned over to the Department of Justice, which was in turn provided to the former President’s defense team through the discovery process during his criminal proceedings. Most of those records are publicly available through the Government Publishing Office’s online repository," he said.
"(3) The Members of the Select Committee and the witnesses who came before us – who were mainly Republicans from the Trump administration – acted honorably and out of patriotic duty to the Constitution. The Select Committee’s Final Report was not based on any single witness’s testimony, and it painted a damning picture of the former President’s dereliction of duty. That work stands on its own."
Thompson added that Loudermilk failed to "to find a single valid problem with the Select Committee’s work," that reflects what he said is an "inescapable conclusion."
"Donald Trump orchestrated a multi-part conspiracy that attempted to overturn the legitimate results of the 2020 Presidential election by summoning a mob to Washington to disrupt the peaceful transfer of power for the first time in American history," he said.
Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy tapped Loudermilk to investigate both the Jan. 6 incident itself and the Jan. 6 House Select Committee’s report on the Capitol breach in January 2023.
"Over the past twenty-four months of this investigation, my subcommittee staff have faced incredible obstacles in pursuit of the truth; missing and deleted documents, hidden evidence, unaccounted for video footage, and uncooperative bureaucrats. At one point, the work of the subcommittee was completely halted due to the removal of Kevin McCarthy as Speaker, and subsequently faced internal efforts to derail the investigation. However, our team persevered through the delays; and, when Mike Johnson took the gavel as Speaker of the House, he allocated even more resources to our investigation and committed to more transparency for the American people," Loudermilk wrote in a letter to colleagues accompanying the report.
President Biden made history last week when he granted clemency to more than 1,500 people with a sweeping list of commutations and pardons.
However, the move was met with fierce backlash from critics pointing out various names on the clemency list included individuals who cost taxpayers tens of millions of dollars through their fraudulent actions.
Among those covered in what the Biden White House is calling the largest single-day act of clemency by a U.S. president was Rita Crundwell, a former comptroller in Dixon, Illinois. Crundwell was convicted and sentenced to nearly 20 years behind bars for using her position to steal nearly $54 million from the small town best known for the boyhood home of Ronald Reagan.
Also on the list was former New York law partner Paul M. Daugerdas, who was sentenced to 15 years in prison for his role in a multibillion-dollar tax fraud scheme described by prosecutors as one of the largest criminal tax fraud cases in U.S. history, as well as Toyosi Alatishe, who abused his position as a caretaker for patients with severe mental deficiencies and physical disabilities by using their personal information to file fraudulent tax returns.
In response to Biden's decision to grant clemency to Crundwell, Republican Illinois state Sen. Andrew Chesney called the move "nothing short of a slap in the face to the people of Dixon."
"Her crimes did not only affect the taxpayers of Dixon, but they also had a rippling effect across the region and state, as communities became subject to stricter, more tedious regulations," Chesney said in a statement following the commutation of Crundwell's sentence. "First, it was the pardoning of his son, and now Biden is apparently extending clemency to anyone with political connections, including corrupt government employees. It’s sickening."
Illinois Republican Rep. Darin LaHood echoed Chesney's remarks about the commutation being a "slap in the face" to those impacted by Crundwell's crime, adding that "while many families in Dixon were living paycheck to paycheck, [Crundwell] took advantage of their trust in government and used her access to live an unearned life of luxury."
In addition to schemes that defrauded public funds, many of the commutations Biden handed out went to white-collar criminals accused of defrauding their clients out of millions of dollars. Meanwhile, Biden also commuted the sentence of Michael Conahan, a former judge who imposed harsh sentences against juveniles in exchange for $2.8 million in illegal payments in what became known as a "kids for cash" scandal.
"I want to see [Conahan's] name removed because that's just… another slap in the face, another injustice, on top of all of the grief that everybody in this community has already endured," said Sandy Fonzo, whose son Edward committed suicide after being sent to a juvenile detention center for eight months after getting caught drinking underage.
The administration commuted sentences for inmates who were on home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic and who "have successfully reintegrated into their families and communities," according to the announcement.
This includes verification that the person’s primary or a prior offense was not violent, a sex offense, or terrorism-related; ensured a low or minimum recidivism risk; and confirmed that the person was not engaged in violent or gang-related activity while incarcerated. All were on good behavior, and the decisions were not made on an individual basis.
Between 2017 and 2021, then-President Trump granted just 143 pardons and 93 sentence commutations – amounting to just 2% of the clemency applications that his administration received, according to available Justice Department data.
A doctor in federal prison for chemotherapy fraud was among the recent recipients of clemency from President Biden, a stark contrast given the president's longtime advocacy for cancer patients and survivors.
Biden's sweeping clemency actions last week included sentence commutations of nearly 1,.500 prisoners, including Meera Sachdeva, a Mississippi oncologist who was senteced to two decades in prison after she pleaded guilty to chemotherapy fraud. Sachdeva gave her patients only partial doses of their prescribed cancer treatment while billing them for the full amount.
Sachdeva pleaded guilty in 2012 to the federal charges, which included defrauding health insurance providers and Medicare by submitting false claims on behalf of the patients she was treating. In addition to the prison time, she was also ordered to pay nearly $8.2 million in restitution.
U.S. prosecutors said that between 2007 and 2011, Sachdeva's patients believed that they were receiving an amount of chemotherapy equal to the amount being billed to their respective health care benefit programs, but that patients were instead receiving reduced dosages, lower than the prescribed and billed amount of chemotherapy drugs.
A U.S. district court judge in Jackson, Mississippi, said he was "appalled" by Sachdeva's treatment of her patients at a vulnerable time in their lives.
"It's a very small thing to send this woman to jail for the next 20 years when you compare it to the damage she has done," U.S. District Judge Daniel P. Jordan III said in court.
"The health care fraud perpetrated by these defendants was an abuse of public trust motivated by greed," U.S. attorney Gregory K. Davis said in a statement announcing the original prison sentence for Sachdeva in response to her guilty plea.
"We remain committed to protect the integrity of our health care system and will continue to strictly enforce our federal health care laws."
The news comes as certain names on Biden's clemency list have come under heightened scrutiny. Among those whose sentences were commuted or pardoned are Toyosi Alatishe, who abused his position as patient caretaker for individuals with severe mental deficiencies and physical disabilities by using their personal information to file fraudulent tax returns, and former Pennsylvania judge Michael Conahan, who was convicted in 2011 for his role in a "Kids-for-Cash" scheme, in which children were sent to for-profit detention centers in return for millions of dollars of kickbacks from the private prisons.
Biden's clemency in Sachdeva's case stands out in part from his history of advocacy on behalf of cancer patients.
In 2016, then-Vice President Biden launched the Cancer Moonshot, aimed at bringing together cancer researchers and accelerating scientific discovery in cancer research. The initiative was announced shortly after Biden's son, Beau Biden, died from a rare form of brain cancer.
In a statement last week announcing the new clemency actions, Biden said America "was built on the promise of possibility and second chances."
"As president, I have the great privilege of extending mercy to people who have demonstrated remorse and rehabilitation, restoring opportunity for Americans to participate in daily life and contribute to their communities, and taking steps to remove sentencing disparities for nonviolent offenders, especially those convicted of drug offenses," Biden said.
A Tennessee state lawmaker introduced a bill to require law enforcement to send illegal migrants accused of minor crimes to sanctuary cities rather than deporting them to another country.
State Rep. Todd Warner, a Republican, filed the bill, the Tennessee Illegal Immigration Act, ahead of the legislative session. The proposal would also ensure that all law enforcement agencies report illegal migrants to federal immigration authorities.
Warner told Fox 17 that sending migrants to a sanctuary city could cost the state less than deporting them to their home countries, even if the federal government would eventually take on the deportation costs.
"It seeks to make Tennessee safer. It seeks to make the federal government, you know hold their feet to the fire and enforce immigration law and it seeks the state to recoup some costs back out of it," he said.
Under the bill, if ICE fails to show up in 48 hours to pick up an illegal migrant who is detained, law enforcement would help send them to a sanctuary city. Warner said the arresting agency would be responsible for relocating the detained migrants.
Warner said this would be paid for by withholding money Tennessee generates for the federal government through the gas tax.
The lawmaker said he plans to add an amendment clarifying that the bill would only apply to illegal migrants charged with a minor offense. Violent criminals would still be subject to deportation.
"This is for victimless crimes. This is not for someone that has committed a terrible crime," Warner told Fox 17.
Hannah Smalley, the Advocacy and Education Manager at Tennessee Justice for Our Neighbors, argues that the proposal would unnecessarily separate migrant families.
"The mere act of being transported away from your family is damaging," she told Fox 17. "This means that people, including people who have not been charged with crimes, are going to be facing these really punitive consequences just on the basis of their immigration status."
"When U.S. citizens commit crimes and we pay a fine or we go to jail," she added. "Immigrants are also doing that. So to then make this about someone's immigration status, which is totally separate from any kind of crime that they would have committed, is not productive to our community as a whole."
Warner said he still has to tweak the bill, but he is hoping it will receive bipartisan support in the legislature.
A Washington, D.C. committee tasked with investigating bribery allegations against City Councilmember Trayon White Sr. voted on Monday to recommend the lawmaker be expelled for allegedly accepting over $150,000 in bribes.
The committee voted unanimously to recommend White be expelled, after reviewing a report that found "substantial evidence" that the councilman violated the D.C. Code of Conduct while in office.
Following the vote, D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson released a statement about the committee's decision.
"Let’s cut through the legal jargon. Trayon White is accused of taking bribes," Mendelson said. "The prosecutors have established probable cause, our own independent investigation found substantial evidence that he took bribes, and public servants are prohibited from taking bribes. This is quintessential corruption.
"There is only one remedy: to remove the corruption from our body," the councilman later added. "This incident has damaged the public trust necessary for government to function well. Anything less than expulsion will not rectify the situation."
Over the summer, White was arrested on a federal bribery charge after being accused of accepting over $150,000 from an associate in exchange for extending violence interruption contracts.
In response to the allegations, the ad hoc committee of the council commissioned an independent investigation, which was conducted by the law firm Latham and Watkins LLP.
The report was provided to the council last week, and it included an in-depth analysis along with 29 supporting exhibits, FOX 5 in DC reported.
After reviewing documents, interviews, emails and texts, investigators found "substantial evidence that Councilmember White violated Council Rules and several provisions of the Code of Official Conduct."
The investigators specifically said White accepted cash from business owners in exchange for agreeing to meet with and influence government officials who approve their contracts, the station reported.
The report also claimed White had a ledger detailing the profits he intended to earn, including a kickback of 3% of the grants he helped renew.
Mendelson and White did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on the matter.
The station reported that White spoke before the meeting on Monday, saying, "I do want to say that there has been no clear evidence of nobody in all these interviews saying that I tried to grab them. And so, I’m confident to that."
The council needed a five-sixths vote to adopt a resolution of expulsion, which is the most severe punishment available. A proceeding on the expulsion is to be held within 45 days, during which time White will be able to defend himself.
White’s federal bribery charge trial is on the calendar to begin in January 2026. He faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.
Fox News Digital's Greg Norman contributed to this report.
President Biden made history last week when he commuted the sentences of nearly 1,500 prisoners and pardoned another 39 people – sparking mixed reactions from lawmakers, including Democrats, who noted that his actions far outpace the clemency actions of any other U.S. president serving his first term in office.
In a statement last week announcing the new clemency actions, Biden said America "was built on the promise of possibility and second chances."
"As president, I have the great privilege of extending mercy to people who have demonstrated remorse and rehabilitation, restoring opportunity for Americans to participate in daily life and contribute to their communities, and taking steps to remove sentencing disparities for nonviolent offenders, especially those convicted of drug offenses," Biden said.
Biden's lengthy list sparked mixed reaction from some lawmakers and criminal justice reform advocates, who questioned the administration's decision-making in determining prisoners that were eligible for clemency.
The Biden administration told CNN that the decisions on who could be included were not made on an individual basis, but rather, was a "uniform" decision granted to people with a record of good behavior while on house arrest.
That includes former Illinois city comptroller Rita Crundwell, who, in 2012, pleaded guilty to a nearly $55 million embezzlement scheme, and former Pennsylvania judge Michael Conahan, who was convicted in 2011 for his role in a "Kids-for-Cash" scheme, in which children were sent to for-profit detention centers in return for millions of dollars of kickbacks from the private prisons.
A full list of individuals included in Biden's most recent clemency action can be found on the Justice Department website. The White House did not immediately respond to Fox News's request for comment on its decision-making in issuing presidential pardons.
Biden's decision to include Conahan on his list of prisoners granted clemency was sharply criticized Friday by Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat who had been considered on Vice President Kamala Harris' short-list for running mate earlier this year.
Shapiro said Friday he thinks Biden got it "absolutely wrong" in granting clemency to Conahan, saying the decision has "created a lot of pain here in northeastern Pennsylvania."
"Some children took their lives because of this. Families were torn apart," Shapiro said of the for-profit detention center scandal.
Before leaving office in 2017, President Barack Obama granted clemency to 1,927 individuals during his two terms as president – the highest total of any modern president going back to former president Harry Truman, also a Democrat, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of Justice Department data.
Truman, who served as president from 1945 to 1953, granted clemency to 2,044 individuals during his two terms in office – slightly outpacing Obama's list.
Franklin D. Roosevelt, who was elected president four times, granted a total of 3,687 pardons, sentence commutations and other acts of clemency during his time in the White House. After Roosevelt died in office during his fourth term, the U.S. Constitution was ratified to limit all future presidents to two terms in office.
Others noted the differences between individuals included on Biden's clemency list and those who saw reduced or pardoned sentences under Obama.
The vast majority of Obama’s clemency actions focused on commuting the sentences of federal inmates who met certain criteria outlined under his administration’s Clemency Initiative, a program that ended in 2017 when Trump took office.
But critics have noted the stark differences between the number of individuals selected for clemency under each president – and any relationship to a sitting commander in chief.
The Obama administration, for example, largely focused its commutations and reductions on nonviolent drug offenders, including many who had been sentenced under mandatory minimum sentencing laws passed by Congress in the late 1980s.
These clemency grants came under sharp criticism by some Republicans, who accused Obama of imposing his political will to end certain mandatory minimum sentences – which many argued at the time minimized the "lawmaking authority" of Congress.
But Biden’s clemency grants also far outpace his predecessor, Donald Trump, during his first term in office.
Between 2017 and 2021, Trump granted just 143 pardons and 93 sentence commutations – amounting to just 2% of the clemency applications that his administration received, according to available Justice Department data.
Some noted that the individuals selected for clemency during Trump's first term also appear to bear a very different list of criteria compared to former presidents.
An analysis conducted by Lawfare found that 29 of the 34 pardons granted by Trump were not based on recommendations of the Justice Department's Office of the Pardon Attorney.
Such recommendations are not necessary for clemency, but presidents in recent memory have relied on the DOJ for input into worthy recipients for pardons and commutations.
New Jersey-based attorney Alina Habba hit the nation’s radar back in 2021, becoming President-elect Trump's fierce legal defender and then spokeswoman as he battled an onslaught of legal cases and criminal charges ahead of his decisive win against Vice President Kamala Harris last month.
Now, Habba is readying to take on a new role: counselor to the president under Trump's second administration.
"Alina has been a tireless advocate for Justice, a fierce Defender of the Rule of Law, and an invaluable Advisor to my Campaign and Transition Team," Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social last week, announcing her new role. "She has been unwavering in her loyalty, and unmatched in her resolve - standing with me through numerous ‘trials,’ battles, and countless days in court."
Following the once and future president’s announcement, Fox News Digital took a look back at Habba’s legal career and meteoric rise in Trump’s orbit and, now, the White House.
Habba is the managing partner of Habba Madaio & Associates LLP, a law firm based in Bedminster, New Jersey, that also practices in New York, Pennsylvania and Connecticut. Habba, 40, is a New Jersey native, born to Chaldean Catholic Iraqi immigrant parents. She attended Lehigh University in Pennsylvania as an undergraduate before earning her J.D. from Widener University.
"As a devout Catholic, a proud first generation Arab American woman, and a feisty Jersey girl who’s fed up with far-left corruption in Washington – President Trump championed my journey, empowering me to become who I am today. His unwavering support not only shaped my career but has inspired other young women with big dreams," Habba declared in her RNC speech in July from Milwaukee.
Ahead of joining Trump's legal team, Habba litigated cases related to negligent nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic. She also earned recognition on the Super Lawyers Rising Stars List between 2016-2022, as well as a spot on the "Top 100 Lawyers in America" list, and has supported a handful of charity efforts, including a charity that benefits pregnant homeless women, Birth Haven.
Habba has seen a meteoric rise to national prominence in recent years, after Trump hired her in 2021 to help litigate a barrage of cases leveled at him ahead of the 2024 election, becoming his legal spokesperson and trusted adviser.
Habba hit the Trump legal scene when she spearheaded a lawsuit against the former and upcoming president’s niece, Mary Trump, and the New York Times for "tortiously breaching and/or interfering with his contractual rights and otherwise maliciously conspiring against him" to obtain and publish his tax records in 2018.
Habba’s legal successes for Trump include former "Apprentice" contestant Summer Zervos dropping a defamation suit against Trump in 2021 and the dismissal of another case related to New York state-level charges over allegations Trump and the Trump Organization were involved in a fraudulent marketing company. She also notched a win earlier this year when the Supreme Court dismissed ex-lawyer Michael Cohen’s appeal to revive a lawsuit against Trump as he sought monetary damages over his 2020 imprisonment related to lying to Congress and his previous work for Trump.
"Michael Cohen has exhausted every avenue of his pathetic attempt to drag my client into court time and time again. As expected, the Supreme Court has correctly denied Michael Cohen's petition and he must finally abandon his frivolous and desperate claims,"Habba told Fox News Digital in a statement in October.
Habba’s national name recognition grew as Trump battled the E. Jean Carroll cases.
Carroll, who previously worked as a columnist for Elle magazine, had filed two lawsuits against Trump since 2019, when she first accused him of raping her in an excerpt in her book "What Do We Need Men For? A Modest Proposal." Trump vehemently denied the allegation, saying, "it never happened," ultimately leading Carroll to sue Trump for defamation when he was still president. At the time, she was barred by the statute of limitations from suing him over the underlying rape allegation.
A jury would eventually find Trump had sexually abused Carroll and that, in denying it, defamed her, awarding her $5 million. But while that case was tied up in appeals, and with Trump continuing to deny ever even meeting Carroll, she filed another suit in 2022 alleging both defamation and rape. She was able to do this because earlier that year, New York had passed a law that allowed sex abuse plaintiffs to file a one-time civil case despite the expiration of the statute of limitations.
Habba joined the Trump legal team for the second case, in which the former president was accused of rape and defamation for social media posts in which Trump denied the allegations and accused Carroll of promoting a "hoax and a lie."
Trump was never criminally charged with sexual assault, and the initial jury found him liable for sexual abuse – though not rape. The jury specifically said Carroll hadn’t proven that Trump raped her.
The second case sought more than $10 million for damage to her reputation stemming from Trump’s comments in 2019, when he was still president. The jury ultimately awarded her $18.3 million in compensatory damages and $65 million in punitive damages.
"I have sat on trial after trial for months in this state, the state of New York, Attorney General Letitia James and now this. Weeks, weeks. Why? Because President Trump is leading in the polls and now we see what you get in New York," Habba said earlier this year following the verdict.
"So don’t get it twisted," she continued, calling the case evidence of the "violation of our justice system." "I am so proud to stand with President Trump. But I am not proud to stand with what I saw in that courtroom."
Habba also battled New York Attorney General Letitia James’ civil fraud suit – one of Trump’s most high-profile cases that the AG has refused to dismiss after Trump’s electoral win.
James announced an investigation into the Trump Organization, claiming there was evidence indicating that the president and his company had falsely valued assets to obtain loans, insurance coverage and tax deductions.
Both inside the courtroom, during press conferences and in media interviews, Habba defended Trump against James’ case.
"Letitia James is putting her nose into private companies and private individuals' work, which is not what is meant to happen and the law that she’s using is a consumer fraud law. So that she can establish some way to have control, to not have a jury to do certain things in this case that are nonsensical and shouldn’t be happening and we have been fighting it all along the way. The problem we have is the judge is the one that’s going make those decisions and he’s proven himself to be quite motivated by the other side," Habba said on "Sunday Morning Futures" with host Maria Bartiromo last year.
Trump and his legal team charged that James had conducted a "witch hunt" against him after she explicitly campaigned on a platform to prosecute the president. Trump and his family denied any wrongdoing, with the former president saying his assets had been undervalued.
Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron ruled in September of last year in the non-jury trial that Trump and his organization had deceived lenders by overvaluing his assets and exaggerating his net worth. Trump’s team called on James to drop the case following his election last month, which she rejected on Dec. 10.
Following the announcement that Habba will serve as counselor to the president, conservatives and supporters of Trump have touted Habba’s fiery defense of him over the last few years.
"I have sat with President Trump for years now while he has been targeted with lies and with judges, AGs, and DAs who have specifically run in this city and others on getting Trump," Habba said during a press conference in January following the Carroll verdict, rounding up the bevy of court cases Trump faced following his first administration.
"The Trump administration will fix this problem. We will stop Kamala Harris's regime – because she was there, let's not forget that, and she still is – of using officials from the White House, putting them in DAs' offices and AGs' offices, and attacking your political opponent," she continued.
Habba also delivered a powerful speech at the RNC in July – following Trump’s first assassination attempt – that has been revived this month for her emotional tone when she described her tight relationship with Trump.
"To my husband, whose family survived the Holocaust, [Trump] is a champion of the Jewish faith. To my Iraqi parents, he is a mentor to their daughter," she said from the RNC.
"But to me, he is my friend."
In Trump’s first administration, the counselor to the president role was filled by Fox News contributor Kellyanne Conway. The role entails advising the president on all legal matters related to the office of the president and the White House.
Habba joined Fox News’ Martha MacCallum last week, where she previewed that her new role will focus on "all things that we need to do to fix this country."
"First and foremost, anybody asked to serve this country in such an honorable role or any role, frankly, it's a responsibility that I take very seriously, but an honor. I told the president, I am there to do whatever it is you need me to do, and that's the truth. But I will say what a great privilege I will be there to advise. I will be there to help with policies that are important. I know that for me, obviously lawfare and all of the things that Pam Bondi is going to focus on are top of mind because of what we've lived for the last three and a half years. But I will tell you I'm ready to get to work, and that's on all things that we need to do to fix this country," Habba said.
Fox News Digital’s Anders Hagstrom, Brooke Singman and Greg Wehner contributed to this report.
A West Virginia state delegate-elect was arrested Thursday after allegedly threatening to kill multiple lawmakers, reportedly after being informed he might be dropped from his GOP caucus position.
Del-elect Joseph de Soto, a medical doctor from Gerrardstown – about 100 miles west of Washington, D.C. – allegedly threatened several other delegates, including the Speaker of the House, on Tuesday, reportedly expressing outrage over being told to step down.
De Soto was listed in state jail records for Berkeley County as having been booked as a "pretrial felon" for making terroristic threats.
Fox News Digital has learned that De Soto was advised of a vote removing him from a position for "undisclosed reasons," and that "he was upset" after hearing the news.
De Soto was reportedly being probed for potentially misrepresenting his medical and military information while running for office, and was subjected to a vote of expulsion from the GOP caucus, according to Huntington's CBS affiliate.
De Soto had threatened to kill several fellow Eastern Panhandle lawmakers as well as House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay.
"I am focused on four people who are evil … not angry, but at peace what I need to do," De Soto said, according to the criminal complaint. When an individual tried to stop de Soto from threatening people, his response was "I did say I am going to kill people. I said I am going (sic) what is necessary to put them (sic) from office."
De Soto said he had a vision from the Mormon Angel of Moroni to "destroy" Wayne Clark, R-Charles Town, and Dels. Michael Hite, Joe Funkhouser and Charles Horst, all R-Martinsburg. He also claimed to have been told by God to kill another lawmaker from Weirton.
"They play stupid games, they are getting stupid awards," de Soto wrote in an email to a person who complained to police, according to a law enforcement report obtained by Fox News Digital.
"I am upset only with the Eastern Panhandle delegates. I have only begun... and won't stop," he said in an email to another individual according to the complaint, which ends with: "they can all go to Hell. I will send them there as commanded,"
In an interview Friday, one such delegate – Clark – said he received a call early in his five-hour commute home from Charleston to Charles Town that his family should relocate immediately due to a threat.
"I was driving straight into a snowstorm. So, I didn't get to meet up with my family until almost 7 p.m., and I got the call at 3 p.m.," Clark said.
Clark praised the Charles Town Police Department and the Jefferson and Berkeley County sheriff’s offices for acting quickly to secure his family. He also said he hopes de Soto gets personal help.
"He obviously needs some sort of help because of some things that happened in his life prior. I don't know," he said.
The lawmaker said he understands that running for office means your identity and votes and comments are out in the public, but maintained that one’s family should never be.
"Having someone make threats that are now affecting my family, I don't know if you ever had that call: ‘Hey, Wayne. Get your family in a safe place’. Whoa. Okay. That's a tough one to deal with."
De Soto had been elected as a Republican in the 91st District, which includes the suburbs of Martinsburg. However, he reportedly filed to change his affiliation to Democratic just before his arrest.
That change could set up a partisan or legal fight as to how he is replaced, as West Virginia provides that if a delegate vacancy exists, the outgoing lawmaker's party’s county committee "shall appoint a member of the party" to the seat. The West Virginia State House is currently 89-11 Republican.
De Soto had reportedly been recently investigated for allegedly falsifying information about his medical career, which led to Republicans' concerns, according to Huntington's CBS affiliate.
West Virginia Democratic Party chair Del. Mike Pushkin said the party's thoughts are with the affected delegates and their families.
"No one—especially those working in public service—should ever have to fear for their safety or the safety of their loved ones," Pushkin, of Kanawha, said in a statement. "These allegations are deeply serious and should be treated with the full weight of the law."
In a statement, WVGOP Chairman Matt Herridge said the party is aware of the allegations and facts of the case, "as well as the steps the House GOP Caucus has taken toward [de Soto's] expulsion."
"Our elected officials sacrifice a lot to serve their communities, and it is a travesty for anyone to face the additional burden of threats made against themselves and their families. The West Virginia Republican Party supports our House leadership and their expulsion efforts."
"We disavow and condemn the behavior of the former Republican Delegate-elect and continue to thank all those who are willing to serve their communities and state, in spite of the serious challenges it too often poses."
Fox News Digital reached out to the West Virginia State Police for additional comment on de Soto’s arrest.
A call to a number listed for de Soto was not returned.
President Biden has sparked anger among Pennsylvanians after he commuted the sentence of a corrupt judge who was jailed for more than 17 years after he was caught taking kickbacks for sending juveniles to for-profit detention facilities.
In what came to be known as the kids-for-cash scandal, former Judge Michael Conahan shut down a county-run juvenile detention center and shared $2.8 million in illegal payments from the builder and co-owner of two for-profit lockups. Another judge, Mark Ciavarella, was also involved in the illicit scheme, the effects of which are still felt today among victims and families.
The scandal is considered Pennsylvania’s largest-ever judicial corruption scheme with the state's supreme court throwing out some 4,000 juvenile convictions involving more than 2,300 kids after the scheme was uncovered.
Conahan, 72, pleaded guilty in 2010 to one count of racketeering conspiracy but was released from prison to home confinement in 2020 because of COVID-19 health concerns with six years left in his sentence.
But Biden, the so-called favorite son of Scranton, commuted Conahan's sentence Thursday as part of the largest single-day act of clemency in modern history in which he commuted jail sentences for nearly 1,500 people and granted 39 pardons.
"My Administration will continue reviewing clemency petitions to advance equal justice under the law, promote public safety, support rehabilitation and reentry, and provide meaningful second chances," the president said.
Sandy Fonzo, who once confronted Ciavarella outside federal court after her son was placed in juvenile detention and committed suicide, said that the president’s actions were an "injustice" and "deeply painful."
"I am shocked and I am hurt," Fonzo said in a statement, per The Citizens Voice. "Conahan‘s actions destroyed families, including mine, and my son’s death is a tragic reminder of the consequences of his abuse of power. This pardon feels like an injustice for all of us who still suffer. Right now I am processing and doing the best I can to cope with the pain that this has brought back."
The decision has raised questions as to why Biden would choose to commute the sentence of a judge who is detested in the area.
Fox News has reached out to the White House for comment but has not received a response.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said that he opposed the president's actions and insisted that the judge should have been given a longer prison sentence given the damage he inflicted on families.
"I do feel strongly that President Biden got it absolutely wrong and created a lot of pain here in Northeastern Pennsylvania," Shapiro said at a press conference in Scranton Friday while adding he was not privy to all the information about the decision.
"This was not only a black eye on the community, the kids for cash scandal, but it also affected families in really deep and profound and sad ways. Some children took their lives because of this. Families were torn apart. There was all kinds of mental health issues and anguish that came as a result of these corrupt judges deciding they wanted to make a buck off a kid's back."
"Frankly, I thought the sentence that the judge got was too light, and the fact that he's been allowed out over the last years because of COVID, was on house arrest and now has been granted clemency, I think, is absolutely wrong. He should have been in prison for at least the 17 years that he was sentenced to by a jury of his peers. He deserves to be behind bars, not walking as a free man."
The scheme began in 2002 when Conahan shut down the state juvenile detention center and used money from the Luzerne County budget to fund a multimillion-dollar lease for the private facilities.
Ciavarella, who presided over juvenile court, pushed a zero-tolerance policy that guaranteed large numbers of kids would be sent to PA Child Care and its sister facility, Western PA Child Care.
Ciavarella ordered children as young as 8 years old to detention, many of them first-time offenders deemed delinquent for petty theft, jaywalking, truancy, smoking on school grounds and other minor infractions. The judge often ordered youths he had found delinquent to be immediately shackled, handcuffed and taken away without giving them a chance to put up a defense or even say goodbye to their families.
In 2022, both Conahan and Ciavarella were ordered to pay more than $200 million to nearly 300 people they victimized, although it's unlikely the now-adult victims will see even a fraction of the damages award.
During the case, one victim described how he shook uncontrollably during a routine traffic stop — a consequence of the traumatizing impact of his childhood detention — and had to show his mental health records in court to "explain why my behavior was so erratic."
Several of the childhood victims who were part of the lawsuit when it began in 2009 have since died from overdoses or suicide, prosecutors said.
The scheme, per The Citizens Voice, involved former Pennsylvania attorney Robert Powell paying Ciavarella and Conahan $770,000, who in turn funneled juvenile defendants to two private, for-profit detention centers Powell partly owned.
Powell served an 18-month prison sentence after pleading guilty to felony counts of failing to report a felony and being an accessory to a conspiracy.
Real estate developer Robert K. Mericle paid the judges $2.1 million and was later charged with failing to disclose to investigators and a grand jury that he knew the judges were defrauding the government. Mericle served one year in federal prison, per The Citizens Voice.
Ciavarella is serving a 28-year prison sentence on honest services mail fraud charges, per the publication.
Fox News' Matt Finn and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The sex abuse trial of Tampa Bay Rays player Wander Franco was supposed to commence Thursday. But it was delayed until June after 28 of 31 witnesses expected to testify were absent.
Franco has been charged with sexually abusing a minor, sexual and commercial exploitation against a minor and human trafficking. His trial is scheduled to resume June 2, 2025.
Dominican Judge Yacaira Veras postponed the trial at the request of prosecutors due to the absence of several key witnesses in the case. Only three of 31 witnesses arrived for the trial Thursday.
Franco’s lawyers asked the court to reconsider the postponement, arguing Franco must report to spring training in mid-February.
"There is no case against Wander. For as many witnesses as they present, there is no case now," Franco’s lead lawyer, Teodosio Jáquez, told The Associated Press.
The judge replied that Franco is obligated to continue with the trial schedule and his conditional release from detainment.
The 23-year-old shortstop said his career is not over yet, that he wants justice to be done and that "everything is in God’s hands."
Franco appeared upset when reporters asked if his MLB career was over.
"I did not had a career," he said, implying that he still has one. "This is not over."
Franco was arrested on a separate charge in the country for his involvement in an alleged armed altercation in November.
The Rays took down images of Franco around Tropicana Field after the allegations became public last year. There has also been no sign of Franco merchandise being sold at the Rays' team store within their ballpark.
He agreed to an 11-year, $182 million contract in November 2021. He was an All-Star for the first time in 2023, hitting .281 with 17 homers and 58 RBI over 112 games.
Tampa Bay placed him on the team's restricted list July 10, cutting off the pay he had been receiving while on administrative leave.
After Dominican police raided two homes associated with Franco just before the new year, he was eventually arrested. He was later released on the condition that he meet with local authorities once a month.
According to ESPN, Dominican prosecutors say Franco called the minor "my girl" in a WhatsApp message, admitting the relationship was a "risk," but he "loved it."
"My girl," Franco allegedly wrote in Spanish. "If my team realizes this, it could cause problems for me. It is a rule for all teams that we cannot talk to minors, and yet I took the risk and I loved it."
Prosecutors say Franco's relationship with the girl, now 15, lasted four months, and he paid her not to speak about it. The girl's mother also faces charges of money laundering based on gifts sent to her by Franco. Franco and the girl met Dec. 9, 2022, after he "took her from her home," had sex twice in a two-day span and began their relationship.
Prosecutors say the minor’s mother went from being a bank employee to leading an ostentatious life and acquiring assets using the funds she received from Franco. During the raids on the house of the minor’s mother, prosecutors say they found $68,500 and $35,000 that they allege was delivered by Franco.
Franco gave the girl the equivalent of $46,000 in July and August, the documents say, and paid the mother about $1,700 per month, along with a new car.
The White House released a list of names of the 39 people whom President Joe Biden pardoned, as well as a list of the nearly 1,500 whose sentences he commuted, on Thursday.
The move from Biden set a new, single-day record for clemency under any president, and it comes after he pardoned his son, Hunter, earlier this month. The controversial pardon of his son put pressure on Biden from others in the Democratic Party to issue additional pardons.
Biden said Thursday that he plans to take more steps during the next few weeks before he exits the Oval Office.
"My Administration will continue reviewing clemency petitions to advance equal justice under the law, promote public safety, support rehabilitation and reentry, and provide meaningful second chances," Biden said in a statement released by the White House.
A list provided to Fox News Digital by the White House indicated that all 39 pardons had been given to only non-violent offenders, many of whom had been convicted of drug crimes. Drug offenders were labeled as much on the list, but no other details were given about the non-drug-related, non-violent offenses committed by the list of 39 pardons.
The list did go into extensive detail as to why each of the 39 pardons was deserved, citing examples of community engagement, professional and academic accomplishments.
Speaking of the nearly 1,500 sentences he commuted, Biden said that their long prison sentences would have been shorter under today's laws. All of those selected had been placed under home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic, he said, and "have successfully reintegrated into their families and communities and have shown that they deserve a second chance."
Among those included in the sweeping action were a decorated military veteran and pilot, a nurse who helped lead vaccination efforts during the pandemic and an addiction counselor who works with young people to help them avoid drugs.
Biden has not reserved clemency and commutations for the end of his term. He first granted clemency in April 2022 to 75 people who had been convicted of drug offenses and others who were under home confinement as part of provisions of Congress' pandemic relief bills. That action was followed up by six pardons in December of that same year, consisting of people convicted of alcohol- and drug-related crimes.
Between April 2023 and April 2024, Biden granted 47 additional commutations and 11 pardons to people under home confinement or convicted of non-violent drug offenses.
EXCLUSIVE: Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin will introduce a budget proposal banning "sanctuary cities" in his state, along with ensuring tax money will not go to counties or independent cities that aren’t complying with ICE.
The proposal will require local police and corrections officers to fulfill Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detainer requests for criminal illegal immigrants and notify the federal government within two days of releasing any such person who matriculates through the justice system.
Additionally, any municipality that identifies as a sanctuary city or enacts similar policies will have state funding typically allocated toward supporting their police departments withheld by Richmond.
The Department of Criminal Justice Services, currently led by Youngkin appointee and former Prince William County Officer Jackson Miller, will be advised to withhold what is called "599 Funding" in that regard.
"Criminals who are in the United States illegally will be turned over to ICE," Youngkin told Fox News Digital on Thursday.
"We must stop the cycle of violence and crime that is being enabled by some local governments. Virginia is not a sanctuary state, and we must be clear that we will not allow localities to become ‘sanctuary cities.'"
The Republican governor, who is term-limited next year under Virginia’s one-and-done policy, said that if local governments "pander to pro-illegal immigrant groups" they’ll see the state-taxpayer assistance spigot turned off.
The news comes amid recent violent crimes committed by illegal immigrants in Virginia, most recently the sexual assault of a jogger on a popular Herndon rail-trail.
Shortly before Thanksgiving, Honduran national Denis Humberto Navarette-Romero was charged with intent to defile and rape a woman on the Old Dominion Trail. The Washington, D.C., suburb’s police chief said it was the first stranger-rape case in her 12 years on the job.
Critics pointed to Fairfax County’s sanctuary-type policies as Navarette-Romero had been previously arrested for auto theft and indecent exposure.
In 2018, Fairfax County Sheriff Stacey Kincaid notified ICE her office will no longer hold inmates past release dates unless an administrative request to hold the suspects is accompanied by a legal criminal detainer.
Kincaid told WJLA earlier this year her department requires such a warrant, after ICE officials criticized a lack of cooperation with Virginia’s largest county by-population.
Only three of 725 "undocumented individuals" in Fairfax custody between July 2023 and July 2024 were transferred to ICE, the outlet reported.
Also in November, Arlington County’s board voted 4-1 in favor of a policy stipulating police may only notify ICE in cases involving gang members and very serious crimes, according to ArlNow.
The vote came as activists chanted "ICE Out Of Arlington!"
Alexandria, an independent city, initiated a policy in 2007 stating it would not inquire about citizenship "beyond what is required by state and federal law."
In 2017, Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney responded to President Trump’s immigration policies by ordering the city's police department not to consent to participate in ICE collaboration agreements and not to inquire about citizenship status "in the interest of public safety."
Virginia officials have said the state Department of Corrections has always and continues to recognize ICE detainers during Youngkin’s tenure.
Incoming Trump "Border Czar" Thomas Homan has repeatedly pledged a "mass deportation" initiative and similarly warned sanctuary cities he will use the might of the federal government to enforce compliance with the law.
Seven-year-old Ivory Smith was killed by Venezuelan migrant Joel Enrique Gonzalez Chacin in a late-night drunk driving accident in north Houston just two and a half months after ICE released a hold against him, court documents revealed.
Fox 26 Houston reported that court records revealed that Chacin had previously been placed on another ICE hold earlier this year after being arrested for assaulting a family member in June.
The felony assault charge against him ended up being dropped to a misdemeanor and, after pleading guilty, Chacin was sentenced to 113 days in jail, which he had already served, and was released that same day. The ICE detainer against him was also lifted that same day for an unknown reason.
Fox News Digital reached out to ICE to find out why the detainer against Chacin was lifted and has not yet heard back.
Authorities confirmed to Fox News Digital that the 41-year-old migrant was intoxicated when he T-boned Christina Smith and her daughter Ivory at 2:45 a.m. Police said that Chacin took photographs of the scene of the crash "instead of helping" and then drove off. The two victims were only a few minutes from home.
Smith was severely injured in the wreck but has since been released from the hospital. Chacin was arrested for intoxicated manslaughter and has been put on a new ICE detainer.
Ivory was in second grade. According to a statement released by the family, the mother continues to "endure immense physical and emotional pain" from the accident.
"No parent should have to suffer the unbearable loss of a child, especially under circumstances that could and should have been prevented," said the family, adding, the incident is a "stark reminder that we need stronger accountability and justice to prevent further suffering for families like ours."
"Even more troubling is the fact that this individual was released after being detained earlier this year, only to find themselves back in custody after causing irreparable harm," the family went on. "Why do we have holds in place if they fail to keep dangerous individuals off our streets? … How can a system allow such leniency, where a person with such a record is given a chance to walk free and re-offend?"
Speaking of Ivory, the family said, "Her life, filled with innocence and joy, was taken far too soon due to the reckless actions of an individual who chose to drive under the influence."
"We will continue to demand answers and advocate for change so that no other family has to endure the pain, loss, and injustice that we are experiencing," they said. "Ivory’s light and legacy deserve better, and her memory will guide us as we work toward a safer future for all."
Washington, D.C., councilman Trayon White edged closer to expulsion this week after an investigative report found he violated multiple city code of conduct provisions.
Despite being arrested by the FBI on a federal bribery charge in August, White, a Democrat representing Ward 8, recently secured a third term on Election Day in a landslide victory.
While the federal criminal case remains pending, the report, commissioned by an ad hoc committee and conducted by the law firm Latham & Watkins LLP, was submitted to the council on Monday following an independent probe into whether White violated applicable D.C. law, the D.C. Code of Conduct, or Council Rules. The council is meeting next Monday to deliberate the findings and consider whether to recommend sanctions against White.
The councilman has pleaded not guilty to allegations he accepted $156,000 in cash payments in exchange for using his position to pressure government employees at the Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (ONSE) and Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services (DYRS) to extend several D.C. contracts. The federal complaint says the contracts were valued at $5.2 million and were for two companies to provide "Violence Intervention" services in D.C.
D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson established the ad hoc committee in August.
White has declined multiple offers to meet with the committee since.
Councilman Kenyan McDuffie, who chairs the ad hoc committee, said the investigation found "substantial evidence" that White’s alleged conduct connected to the bribery claims violated several provisions of the D.C. Council’s Code of Official Conduct, FOX 5 DC reported. McDuffie said that the report does not support allegations White violated residency requirements outlined in the District of Columbia Home Rule Act of 1973.
The investigation spanned 11 weeks and involved 22 interviews with officials from multiple D.C. agencies, including DYRS, ONSE and the Office of Risk Management; current and former members of White’s staff; leaders in the violence intervention community and other individuals believed to have information related to the allegations against White.
The law firm also reviewed relevant documents and records obtained from D.C. agencies and thousands of emails from the official accounts of White and his staff.
President Biden has commuted the sentences of nearly 1,500 people and granted 39 pardons, marking the largest single-day act of clemency in modern history, the White House announced Thursday morning.
Sentences were commuted for inmates placed on home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic and who "have successfully reintegrated into their families and communities," according to the announcement.
The 39 individuals pardoned were convicted of non-violent crimes.
"The President has issued more sentence commutations at this point in his presidency than any of his recent predecessors at the same point in their first terms," the White House said.
The move comes as the president faces bipartisan scrutiny for pardoning his son, Hunter, of felony gun and tax charges.
President Biden’s days in office are coming down to the wire, and amid President-elect Donald Trump’s transition into the Oval Office, the 46th president is reportedly considering pardoning high-profile allies and fellow Democrats who are viewed as Trump's political foes.
After Trump’s election win over Vice President Harris last month, Massachusetts Democrat Sen. Ed Markey said he expects Trump to act in a "fascistic way" as president and called on Biden to pardon Democrats and the party's allies who could face prosecution under a second Trump administration.
"I think that, without question, Trump is going to try to act in a dictatorial way, in a fascistic way, in a revengeful first year at least of his administration toward individuals who he believes harmed him," Markey said during a local radio interview last month.
"If it’s clear by Jan. 19 that that is his intention, then I would recommend to President Biden that he provide those preemptive pardons to people because that’s really what our country is going to need next year."
The comments were soon echoed by other Democrats and some legal experts in a bid for Biden to sink any prospect of Trump getting "revenge" against his political enemies.
"Biden should keep going with his pardons: Trump, Jack Smith & team, Mueller & team, and a blanket pardon for all on Trump’s enemies list for any and all political statements before December 25, 2024! Merry Christmas," John Dean, CNN contributor and former President Nixon’s White House counsel during the Watergate scandal, posted to social media this month. "Take the wind out of retribution/revenge!"
As Biden wraps up his final days, Fox News Digital compiled a list of prominent Trump antagonists who have been rumored to be among those considered for pardons.
Cheney, the Republican former Wyoming congresswoman, and Rep. Bennie Thompson, the Jan. 6 House Select Committee chair, were the targets of Trump's ire during a recent interview on NBC's "Meet The Press."
"Cheney did something that’s inexcusable, along with Thompson and the people on the un-select committee of political thugs and, you know, creeps," he said in the interview. "They deleted and destroyed all evidence."
"And Cheney was behind it, and so was Bennie Thompson and everybody on that committee," he continued. "For what they did, honestly, they should go to jail."
The Jan. 6 committee was founded in July 2021 to investigate the breach of the U.S. Capitol earlier that year by supporters of Trump ahead of President Biden officially taking office on Jan. 20. The Jan. 6 committee’s investigation was carried out when Democrats held control of the House.
Cheney slammed Trump’s remarks in a statement this week, saying they were a "continuation of his assault on the rule of law," but she did not address a potential blanket pardon or whether she would accept such an offer.
"There is no conceivably appropriate factual or constitutional basis for what Donald Trump is suggesting – a Justice Department investigation of the work of a congressional committee – and any lawyer who attempts to pursue that course would quickly find themselves engaged in sanctionable conduct," Cheney said in her statement.
Thompson’s office also slammed Trump’s comment in a statement provided to Fox Digital this week, arguing that "no election, no conspiracy theory, no pardon, and no threat of vengeful prosecution can rewrite history or wipe away his responsibility for the deadly violence on that horrific day."
"We stood up to him before, and we will continue to do so," he added.
The former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Dr. Anthony Fauci, was a keystone of the nation's pandemic response, including advising then-President Trump in 2020 on how to handle COVID-19 as it swept across communities.
Fauci’s tenure under the first Trump administration, however, devolved with Trump slamming him and fellow pandemic task force adviser Dr. Deborah Birx as "two self-promoters trying to reinvent history to cover for their bad instincts and faulty recommendations."
Conservatives, including lawmakers such as Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., slammed Fauci for his promotion of mask mandates, vaccine mandates and strict lockdown orders that upended the day-to-day lives of Americans.
"Dr. Fauci should be voluntarily removed from TV because what he says is such a disservice, and such fearmongering and almost all of what he says isn’t even matched by the science of his own institute," Paul, who is a doctor, said in 2021 during an appearance on Fox Business.
"It doesn’t obey the science," he said at the time. "There is no scientific evidence that the lockdowns in Michigan have done anything or in California. In fact, the daily incidents of the disease in the last two months has been about almost one and a half times greater in California than it has been in Florida. The death rate is lower in Florida. So there is no real correlation between economic lockdowns, mask mandates or any of this."
Trump allies, including tech billionaire Elon Musk and Trump’s pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy Jr, have endorsed calls to prosecute Fauci if evidence is found of any crimes during the pandemic, including the Wuhan lab leak in China.
"If there were crimes that he committed, of course I would tell the attorney general to prosecute him, not hold off," Kennedy said on Fox News last year.
Fauci has denied any wrongdoing amid the pandemic, and he told CNN this year, "I don't know what one would prosecute me for. … I played a major role in the development of the vaccine that was responsible for the saving of millions of lives. … I'm definitely guilty of that."
New York Attorney General Letitia James and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg have been at the forefront of legal cases aimed at Trump ahead of the 2024 election, frequently landing in the upcoming president’s line of fire for criticism as he battled lawsuits he slammed as "shams."
James, a former City Council member in New York and public defender, launched her run for New York AG during the 2018 cycle while emphasizing that if she were elected, she would aggressively pursue charges against Trump.
"What is fueling this campaign, what is fueling my soul right now, is Trump and his abuses, abuses against immigrants, against women, against our environment. We need an attorney general who will stand up to Donald Trump," James said on the campaign trail in 2018.
About three months after taking office, James announced an investigation into the Trump Organization, alleging there was evidence indicating the president and his company had falsely valued assets to obtain loans, insurance coverage and tax deductions. The investigation began after Trump’s former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, who had previously served federal prison time for violating campaign finance laws, testified before Congress that the Trump Organization exaggerated the value of his assets.
James officially sued Trump, the Trump Organization and its senior leadership for allegedly falsely inflating "his net worth by billions of dollars to induce banks to lend money to the Trump Organization on more favorable terms than would otherwise have been available to the company, to satisfy continuing loan covenants, to induce insurers to provide insurance coverage for higher limits and at lower premiums, and to gain tax benefits, among other things."
Trump charged that James had launched a "witch hunt" against him after she explicitly campaigned on a platform to prosecute the president. Trump and his family denied any wrongdoing, with the former president saying his assets had been undervalued.
James was also caught on camera appearing gleeful as Donald Trump Jr. took the stand at his father's civil trial in November, after frequently sitting in the courtroom amid proceedings.
Judge Arthur Engoron ruled in September last year in the non-jury trial that Trump and his organization had committed fraud while building his real estate business by deceiving banks, insurers and others by overvaluing his assets and exaggerating his net worth. Trump appealed the ruling in September this year.
James said this week that she will not drop Trump’s civil fraud judgment after his win last month.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg emerged as another Trump political foe, leading the charge in his criminal trial this year after charging Trump with 34 counts of falsifying business records.
Trump was found guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records after his Manhattan criminal trial in May. Bragg's office worked to prove that Trump falsified the business records to conceal a $130,000 payment to former porn star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 election to quiet her claims of an alleged affair with Trump in 2006. Trump has maintained his innocence in the case, and he has argued that it was "lawfare" promoted by the Biden administration and Democrats to injure his re-election efforts.
Sentencing in the case was indefinitely postponed after Trump’s election win, with his legal team calling on the presiding judge to drop the case altogether.
Trump was hit with four separate indictments issued between March and August 2023, including Special Counsel Jack Smith prosecuting Trump in two of the cases: a classified documents case and a election interference case.
In the classified documents case, the FBI agents seized 33 boxes of documents in August 2022 from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida, spurring another legal battle that Trump has called a "scam." Smith, who Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed to the job, oversaw the case and charged Trump with 40 felony counts, including allegedly violating the Espionage Act, making false statements to investigators and conspiracy to obstruct justice.
In the election interference case, which focused on alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election and the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, Trump was charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy against rights.
Both cases were dropped after the presidential election, but Trump’s repeated criticisms and condemnation against Jack Smith, who he commonly referred to as "deranged," and other prosecutors have continued.
"These cases, like all of the other cases I have been forced to go through, are empty and lawless, and should never have been brought. Over $100 Million Dollars of Taxpayer Dollars has been wasted in the Democrat Party’s fight against their Political Opponent, ME. Nothing like this has ever happened in our Country before," Trump posted on social media after the election.
In that same social media post, Trump also took issue with Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis, who led the prosecution of Trump in connection to a racketeering indictment for allegedly trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. Trump pleaded not guilty in that case and has maintained his innocence.
"They have also used State Prosecutors and District Attorneys, such as Fani Willis and her lover, Nathan Wade (who had absolutely zero experience in cases such as this, but was paid MILLIONS, enough for them to take numerous trips and cruises around the globe!)" Trump posted. "It was a political hijacking, and a low point in the History of our Country that such a thing could have happened, and yet, I persevered, against all odds, and WON. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"
California Sen. Adam Schiff, who won election to the Senate last month after serving in the U.S. House, has been a common target of Trump’s for spearheading the first impeachment trial.
The House impeached Trump in 2019 over allegedly leveraging U.S. military aid to Ukraine for political favors involving investigations of the Biden family. Schiff, who served as chair of the House Intelligence Committee, said Trump’s call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy "reads like a classic organized crime shakedown," opening the floodgates of Trump’s criticisms aimed at the Democrat.
The Senate ultimately acquitted Trump in the first impeachment as well as his second impeachment involving allegations he incited an insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021. Trump and Schiff have continued trading barbs since the impeachment saga.
"We have two enemies. We have the outside enemy, and then we have the enemy from within. And the enemy from within, in my opinion, is more dangerous than China, Russia and all these countries," Trump told Fox News’ "Sunday Morning Futures" in October.
"But the thing that’s tougher to handle are these lunatics that we have inside, like Adam Schiff – Adam ‘Shifty’ Schiff," Trump added.
As speculation mounts over who Biden could pardon ahead of his White House exit, Schiff has balked at calls for blanket pardons for those viewed as Trump’s political foes.
"I don't think the idea of a blanket pardon of some kind is a good idea. And I would recommend against it," he told CBS News last week.
Just days ahead of the election, news broke that the former chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, retired Gen. Mark Milley, slammed Trump as a "fascist" and "the most dangerous person to this country" in Washington Post editor Bob Woodward’s latest book.
Trump has repeatedly slammed Milley since leaving office, including after the United States' botched withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021 when he called Milley a "loser who shamed us in Afghanistan and elsewhere!"
After the election, Milley apparently backtracked his characterization of Trump as a "fascist," saying America will "be OK" under Trump’s second administration.
Trump minced no words on the 2016 campaign trail that if elected president, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton could face jail time, perhaps previewing a Biden pardon for the Democratic stalwart years later.
It is "awfully good that someone with the temperament of Donald Trump is not in charge of the law in our country," Clinton said during a presidential debate against Trump.
"Because you’d be in jail," Trump shot back in a mic-drop moment that earned praise from conservatives and condemnation from Democrats.
"Lock her up" became a common chant during Trump’s 2016 rallies.
FBI Director Christopher Wray, who Trump appointed during his first administration, is set to be fired or voluntarily resign from the position as Trump tees up his new pick for FBI chief, Kash Patel, and as conservatives slam Wray for "failing" his duties at the FBI.
The FBI director has also repeatedly come under fire from Trump, including during his Sunday interview on NBC for the FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago in 2022.
"He invaded my home. I’m suing the country over it. He invaded Mar-a-Lago. I’m very unhappy with the things he’s done. And crime is at an all-time high. Migrants are pouring into the country that are from prisons and from mental institutions, as we’ve discussed. I can’t say I’m thrilled," Trump said during the interview.
The FBI declined to comment.
Legal experts have grappled for years with whether a president could pardon himself, but no president has yet tested the waters and actually issued a self-pardon.
Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution states that the president has the power to "grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment." The Constitution does not stipulate who a president can and can't pardon, instead granting them power to pardon any federal crime.
"Joe could be a convicted felon with all of the things that he’s done," Trump said of Biden in June.
"This man is a criminal. This man – you’re lucky. You’re lucky. I did nothing wrong. We’d have a system that was rigged and disgusting. I did nothing wrong."
Trump’s pick for FBI director, Patel, is known as a "deep state" crusader, who detailed in his book, "Government Gangsters," an alphabetical list of alleged "deep state" members who are either currently or formerly employed in the executive branch.
Among those on the list are Vice President Harris, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Biden.
Patel has advocated for the firings of "corrupt actors" within the FBI and the federal government overall, "aggressive" congressional oversight over the agency, complete overhauls of special counsels, and moving the FBI out of Washington, D.C. His list of alleged "deep state" actors could indicate which political players could face investigation during a second Trump administration, and if Patel is confirmed by the Senate.
Fox News Digital's Gabriel Hays, Tyler Olson and Kristen Altus contributed to this report.
