EXCLUSIVE: Senate Republicans are demanding answers on whether confidential human sources from Justice Department agencies beyond the FBI were used on Jan. 6, 2021, while also questioning whether Inspector General Michael Horowitz thoroughly reviewed classified and unclassified communications between handlers and their sources, warning that without that review, there may be a "major blind spot" in his findings.
Horowitz last week released his highly anticipated report that there were more than two dozen FBI confidential human sources in the crowd outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, but only three were assigned by the bureau to be present for the event. Horowitz said none of the sources were authorized or directed by the FBI to "break the law" or "encourage others to commit illegal acts."
But now, Sens. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Ron Johnson, R-Wis., are demanding further information from Horowitz, writing to him in a letter exclusively obtained by Fox News Digital that it is "unclear" if his office reviewed the use of confidential human sources by other DOJ components during the Capitol riot.
"This IG report was a step in the right direction, but Senator Johnson and I still have questions the Justice Department needs to account for," Grassley told Fox News Digital. "The American people deserve a full picture of whether Justice Department sources from its component agencies, in addition to the FBI, were present on January 6, what their role was, and whether DOJ had knowledge of their attendance."
Grassley told Fox News Digital that Horowitz and his team "must redouble its efforts to make sure it has reviewed all relevant information and provide a sufficient response to our inquiry."
Johnson told Fox News Digital he believes the report made public last week "may have only provided a fraction of the story regarding the presence and activities of confidential human sources or undercover federal agents in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 6, 2021."
"I urge the Inspector General’s office to be fully transparent about their work to ensure that Congress and the public have an accurate and complete understanding about what it actually reviewed," Johnson said.
In their letter to Horowitz, Grassley and Johnson noted that the inspector general’s office received more than 500,000 documents from the Justice Department and its components as part of its investigation.
"According to the report, your office obtained: CHS reporting, thousands of tips provided to the FBI, investigative and intelligence records from the FBI case management system, emails, instant messages, and phone records; contemporaneous notes of meetings and telephone calls; chronologies concerning the lead-up of events to January 6; after-action assessments; training materials and policy guides; and preparatory materials for press conferences or congressional testimony as well as talking points," they wrote.
Grassley and Johnson told Horowitz "it is vital" that his office "more precisely explain what records it sought and received from all DOJ component agencies."
Grassley and Johnson are demanding answers on whether Horowitz obtained evidence on whether other DOJ component agencies had tasked or untasked undercover confidential human sources in the Washington, D.C., area or at the Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021.
They are also asking if all communications were obtained between DOJ component agency handlers and confidential human sources or undercover agents present in the D.C. area, and whether he has received classified and unclassified non-email communication platforms used by the FBI.
Grassley and Johnson are also demanding Horowitz share all FD-1023 forms, or confidential human source reporting documents, used in the investigation with them.
As for his initial report, Horowitz "determined that none of these FBI CHSs was authorized by the FBI to enter the Capitol or a restricted area or to otherwise break the law on January 6, nor was any CHS directed by the FBI to encourage others to commit illegal acts on January 6."
The report revealed that the FBI had a minor supporting role in responding on Jan. 6, 2021 – largely because the event was not deemed at the highest security level by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Horowitz, though, said the FBI took significant and appropriate steps to prepare for that role.
According to the report, there were a total of 26 confidential human sources in the crowd that day, but only three of them were assigned by the bureau to be there.
One of the three confidential human sources tasked by the FBI to attend the rally entered the Capitol building, while the other two entered the restricted area around the Capitol.
If a confidential human source is directed to be at a certain event, they are paid by the FBI for their time.
Attorneys at the Department of Justice are urging federal judges to reject petitions from at least two Jan. 6 defendants who are asking that they be allowed to return to the nation's capital for President-elect Trump's inauguration.
Cindy Young, convicted of four misdemeanors for her involvement in the riot at the Capitol, and Russell Taylor, who pleaded guilty to a felony conspiracy charge, both petitioned the courts to allow them to return to Washington, D.C., despite provisions of their sentences requiring them to stay away.
"Contrary to Young’s self designation that she ‘poses no threat of danger to the community,’ Young presents a danger to the D.C. community, including the very law enforcement officers who defended the Capitol on January 6, 2021," U.S. attorneys said in response to Young's petition. The federal attorneys cited calls from Young "for retribution against those involved in January 6 prosecutions" and argued that she has failed "to recognize the seriousness of her actions."
A request from Taylor, who was invited to attend the inauguration by members of Utah's congressional delegation, is also being challenged by attorneys at the Department of Justice who argue that the serious nature of his crimes should preclude him from being able to "return to the scene of the crime."
"He is asking for the Court to bless his desire to return to the scene of the crime, and the Court should not look past his criminal conduct the last time he was on Capitol grounds," the U.S. attorneys wrote in a filing to U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth. The attorneys added in their court filing that, while they had granted previous travel requests to other defendants involved in the Capitol siege, those approvals were to support people's continued employment, and the requests did not involve travel to the nation's capital.
However, another Jan. 6 defendant, Eric Peterson, who was convicted of a misdemeanor in November for his involvement in the Capitol riot but has yet to be sentenced, was given approval by U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to travel to the District for Trump's swearing-in ceremony, according to Peterson's criminal case docket. Notably, the docket did not include any responses from the Department of Justice urging Chutkan to deny Peterson's request.
There remains uncertainty around whether Trump will pardon any, some or all of those defendants who were convicted of crimes as a result of their involvement in the U.S. Capitol siege that occurred in 2021.
Trump has said at times that pardons will be reserved for those who remained peaceful on that fateful day; however, at other points he has suggested a blanket pardon for all those who were convicted. One thing that he has been steadfast on is that the pardons will come quickly following his inauguration on Jan. 20.
The Department of Justice declined to comment for this story.
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.
Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz said there were more than two dozen confidential human sources (CHSs) in the crowd outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, but only three were assigned by the FBI to be present for the event, while stressing that none of the sources was authorized or directed by the bureau to "break the law" or "encourage others to commit illegal acts," Fox News has learned.
Horowitz on Thursday released his highly anticipated report on the FBI’s Handling of its Confidential Human Sources and Intelligence Collection Efforts in the Lead Up to the Jan. 6, 2021 Electoral Certification.
"Today’s report also details our findings regarding FBI CHSs who were in Washington, D.C., on January 6," the report states. "Our review determined that none of these FBI CHSs was authorized by the FBI to enter the Capitol or a restricted area or to otherwise break the law on January 6, nor was any CHS directed by the FBI to encourage others to commit illegal acts on January 6."
The report revealed that the FBI had a minor supporting role in responding on Jan. 6, 2021 — largely because the event was not deemed at the highest security level by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
Horowitz, though, said the FBI took significant and appropriate steps to prepare for that role.
According to the report, there were a total of 26 confidential human sources in the crowd that day, but only three of them were assigned by the bureau to be there.
One of the three confidential human sources tasked by the FBI to attend the rally entered the Capitol building, while the other two entered the restricted area around the Capitol.
If a confidential human source is directed to be at a certain event, they are paid by the FBI for their time.
"One FBI field office tasked a CHS to travel to DC to report on the activities of a predicated domestic terrorism subject who was separately planning to travel to DC for the January 6 Electoral Certification; a second FBI field office tasked a CHS to travel to DC to potentially report on two domestic terrorism (DT) subjects from another FBI field office who were planning to travel to DC for the events of January 6; and a third CHS, who had informed their handling agent that they intended to travel to DC on their own initiative for the events of January 6, was similarly tasked by their field office to potentially report on two DT subjects from other FBI field offices who were planning to travel to DC for the events of January 6," the report states.
Horowitz stressed that no sources were encouraged or authorized by the FBI to enter the Capitol or any restricted area and stressed that they were not encouraged or authorized to commit any illegal acts.
Twenty-three of the confidential human sources present on Jan. 6 came to Washington, D.C., to the Capitol on their own. Of that group, three entered the Capitol during the riot, and an additional 11 sources entered the restricted area around the Capitol.
But Horowitz said that investigators "found no evidence in the materials we reviewed or the testimony we received showing or suggesting that the FBI had undercover employees in the various protest crowds, or at the Capitol, on January 6."
As for reimbursements to confidential human sources, Horowitz stated that at least one was "reimbursed" for their travel, even though that CHS "was only tasked with attending the Inauguration and not the electoral certification on January 6."
The FBI, reacting to Horowitz's report Thursday, said the bureau "did not have primary responsibility for intelligence collection or event security on January 6 but nonetheless ‘recognized the potential for violence and took significant and appropriate steps to prepare forthis supporting role.’ Further, the Report includes the OIG’s analysis regarding the FBI’s use of confidential human sources (CHSs), and concludes that no FBI CHSs ‘were authorized to enter the Capitol or a restricted area or to otherwise break the law on January 6, nor was any CHS directed by the FBI to encourage others to commit illegal acts on January 6.’"
The FBI said it accepts Horowitz's recommendations moving forward, specifically for the FBI to "assess the processes and procedures it uses to prepare for events that it determines present potential domestic security issues — but have not been designated as NSSE or SEAR events by DHS — to ensure that its processes and procedures set forth with clarity the division of responsibilities between and within the relevant FBI field office and FBI Headquarters."
The FBI said that DHS has since designated the upcoming 2025 certification of the election a national special security event, and said the bureau "is coordinating closely with DHS, the U.S. Secret Service, the U.S. Capitol Police and other responsible agencies in preparation for the 2025 electoral certification and the subsequent Presidential Inauguration."
"The FBI is nonetheless committed to assessing our policies and procedures for other, non-NSSE future events, as recommended, to ensure that they clearly set forth the division of labor among FBI field offices and divisions," the FBI said.
Horowitz had testified on Capitol Hill earlier this year before the House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, a subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee.
During the hearing, Horowitz did not deny that federal government confidential human sources were in the crowd during the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.
"This report confirms what we suspected," House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, told Fox News Digital. "The FBI had encouraged and tasked confidential human sources to be at the capitol that day. There were 26 total present. Four entered the Capitol and weren’t charged, which is not the same treatment that other Americans received."
Jordan added: "This has been our concern all along — agencies being weaponized against the American people. It’s not how our system is supposed to work."
Jordan reminded that there were two inspector general reports released this week — this report focused on CHSs on Jan. 6, and one earlier in the week about the FBI spying on congressional staffers during its Trump-Russia probe, including President-elect Trump's nominee for FBI director, Kash Patel, while he was on the House Intelligence Committee.
"There were two IG reports this week and I think they may have had something to do with Mr. Wray's announcement this week," Jordan said.
FBI Director Christopher Wray on Wednesday announced he will resign next month before Trump takes office.
"When Chris Wray first got there back in 2017, the FBI was spying on congressional hill staffers, including the guy who is slated to replace him, and then the day after he announces he's leaving, this report comes out and confirms what so many of us suspected, that there were these confidential human sources present on Jan. 6," Jordan said.
Mississippi Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson, who chaired the Jan. 6 House Select Committee, responded to President-elect Donald Trump floating jail time for members of the former congressional committee, underlining he is "not afraid of [Trump's] most recent threats."
"Donald Trump has shamefully undermined the rule of law, degraded our democracy, and eroded our Constitution for years, and his latest lies about the work of the January 6th Select Committee are just the latest installment. But let me be clear: Those of us who investigated his central role in the January 6th insurrection are simply not afraid of his most recent threats," Thompson said in a statement to Fox News Digital on Monday.
"Donald Trump and his minions can make all the assertions they want – but 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."
Trump joined NBC’s "Meet the Press" for an interview that aired Sunday, when the president-elect railed that former Wyoming Republican Rep. Liz 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 comments that aired Sunday come as President Biden reportedly mulls issuing blanket, "preemptive pardons" to those viewed as Trump’s political foes, such as Cheney, Thompson and California Sen.-elect Adam Schiff.
Thompson added in his statement to Fox Digital that the committee diligently followed House rules throughout the investigation. "Our committee was fully authorized by the House, all rules were properly followed, and our work product stands on its own. In fact, in the two years since we have completed our work, no court or legal body has refuted it."
Cheney, a longtime outspoken critic of Trump’s, also responded to Trump’s remarks earlier this week, slamming the suggestion of jail time as "a continuation of his assault on the rule of law."
"Here is the truth: Donald Trump attempted to overturn the 2020 presidential election and seize power," Cheney said in a response statement to Trump, which was provided to Fox News Digital. "He mobilized an angry mob and sent them to the United States Capitol, where they attacked police officers, invaded the building and halted the official counting of electoral votes. Trump watched on television as police officers were brutally beaten and the Capitol was assaulted, refusing for hours to tell the mob to leave."
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.
Trump has previously alleged that members of the committee "deleted" evidence amid the investigation, which was supported by a report released by House Republicans released earlier this year claiming the select committee "deleted" records and hired "Hollywood producers" to promote a political narrative while investigating Jan. 6.
Among its key findings, the report claimed that the select committee was designed "to promote a political narrative" and also asserted that it "deleted records and hid evidence" ahead of Republicans taking the House majority during the 2022 election cycle.
"THE SELECT COMMITTEE DELETED RECORDS AND HID EVIDENCE - Reps. Thompson and Cheney failed to turn over video recordings of witness interviews and depositions despite using these recordings in their high-profile, primetime hearings. The Subcommittee recovered over one hundred deleted or password-protected files, including some files that were deleted days before Republicans took the majority. They also hid multiple transcribed interviews of witnesses who had firsthand knowledge of Trump‘s actions on January 6," the report, which was spearheaded by Republican Georgia Rep. Barry Loudermilk, found.
Thompson 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." Cheney has also publicly and repeatedly denied claims the committee mishandled evidence.
"Donald Trump knows his claims about the select committee are ridiculous and false, as has been detailed extensively, including by Chairman Thompson," Cheney continued in her response to Trump’s remarks over the weekend, referring to Thompson’s 2023 letter. "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."
The pardon debate – individual, group, partisan, preemptive – is spinning out of control.
In his "Meet the Press" interview, Donald Trump mocked Joe Biden’s repeated assurances about Hunter: "‘I’m not going to give my son a pardon. I will not under any circumstances give him a pardon.’ I watch this and I always knew he was going to give him a pardon."
In a portion of that interview that did not air but was posted online, the president-elect complained to Kristen Welker:
"The press was obviously unfair to me. The press, no president has ever gotten treated by the press like I was."
Why did he appear on "Meet the Press"? "You’re very hostile," Trump said. Her response: "Well, hopefully, you thought it was a fair interview. We covered a lot of policy grounds."
"It’s fair only in that you allowed me to say what I say. But you know, the answers to questions are, you know, pretty nasty. But look, because I’ve seen you interview other people like Biden."
"I’ve never interviewed President Biden," Welker responded. Trump said he was speaking "metaphorically."
"I’ve seen George Stephanopoulos interview. And he’s a tough interviewer. It’s the softest interview I’ve seen. CNN interview. They give these soft, you know, what’s your favorite ice cream? It’s a whole different deal. I don’t understand why."
The strength of Welker’s approach is that she asked as many as half a dozen follow-ups on major topics, making more news. When she asked, for instance, whether he would actually deport 11 million illegal immigrants, as he’d said constantly on the campaign trail, he answered yes – which for some reason lots of news outlets led with. But a subsequent question got Trump to say he didn’t think the Dreamers should be expelled and would work it out with the Democrats.
As for Trump, he reminded me of the candidate I interviewed twice this year. He was sharp and serious, connecting on each pitch, fouling a few off. This was not the candidate talking about sharks at rallies.
With one significant misstep, he made the case that he was not seeking retribution – even backing off a campaign pledge that he would appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Biden.
That misstep, when Trump couldn’t hold back, was in saying of the House Jan. 6 Committee members, including Liz Cheney: "For what they did, honestly, they should go to jail."
He did add the caveat that he would let his attorney general and FBI chief make that decision, but it allowed media outlets to lead with Trump wanting his political opponents behind bars. For what it’s worth, there’s no crime in lawmakers holding hearings, and this business about them withholding information seems like a real stretch.
Now back to the pardons. This mushrooming debate was obviously triggered by the president breaking his repeated promise with a sweeping, decade-long pardon of his son, a 54-year-old convicted criminal.
But then, as first reported by Politico, we learned that the Biden White House is debating whether to issue a whole bunch of preemptive pardons to people perceived to be potential targets of Trumpian retaliation.
But the inconvenient truth is that anyone accepting such a pardon would essentially admit to the appearance of being guilty. That’s why Sen.-elect Adam Schiff says he doesn’t want a pardon and won’t accept one.
But many of those potential recipients don’t even know they’re under consideration for sweeping pardons covering anything they may or may not have done.
It is a truly awful idea, and with Biden and Trump both agreeing that DOJ engages in unfair and selective prosecutions – which in the Republican’s case made his numbers go up – the stage is set for endless rounds of payback against each previous administration.
I remember first thinking about the unchecked power of presidential pardons when Bill Clinton delivered a last-minute one to ally and super-wealthy Marc Rich.
So it’s time to hear from Alexander Hamilton, who pushed it into the Constitution. Keep in mind that in that horse-and-buggy era, there were very few federal offenses because most law enforcement was done by the states.
In Federalist 74, published in 1788, Hamilton said a single person was better equipped than an unwieldy group, and such decisions should be broadly applied to help those in need.
"In seasons of insurrection or rebellion," the future Treasury secretary wrote, "there are often critical moments, when a welltimed offer of pardon to the insurgents or rebels may restore the tranquillity of the commonwealth."
But another founding father, George Mason, opposed him, saying a president "may frequently pardon crimes which were advised by himself. It may happen, at some future day, that he will establish a monarchy, and destroy the republic. If he has the power of granting pardons before indictment, or conviction, may he not stop inquiry and prevent detection?"
An excellent argument, but Hamilton won out.
As Hamilton envisioned, George Washington, in 1794, granted clemency to leaders of the Whiskey Rebellion to calm a fraught situation.
Something tells me that Biden, Trump and their allies aren’t poring over the Federalist papers. But it’s still an awful lot of sweeping power to place in the hands of one chief executive, for which the only remedy is impeachment.
Former Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney said President-elect Trump floating jail time for her and other members of the Jan. 6 Committee "is a continuation of his assault on the rule of law."
"Here is the truth: Donald Trump attempted to overturn the 2020 presidential election and seize power," Cheney said in a response statement to Trump, which was provided to Fox Digital. "He mobilized an angry mob and sent them to the United States Capitol, where they attacked police officers, invaded the building and halted the official counting of electoral votes. Trump watched on television as police officers were brutally beaten and the Capitol was assaulted, refusing for hours to tell the mob to leave."
Cheney’s response follows Trump joining NBC’s "Meet the Press" for a pre-recorded interview that aired Sunday, where the president-elect railed that Cheney, committee chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson and others "deleted and destroyed" evidence related to the Jan. 6 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."
Cheney shot back in her statement that Jan. 6, 2021, "was the worst breach of our Constitution by any president in our nation’s history. Donald Trump’s suggestion that members of Congress who later investigated his illegal and unconstitutional actions should be jailed is a continuation of his assault on the rule of law and the foundations of our republic."
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.
Earlier this year, House Republicans released a report alleging the select committee "deleted" records and hired "Hollywood producers" to promote a political narrative while investigating Jan. 6.
"For nearly two years, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi's January 6th Select Committee promoted hearsay and cherry-picked information to promote its political goal – to legislatively prosecute former President Donald Trump," Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Ga., chairman of the Committee on House Administration's Subcommittee on Oversight, said in a statement regarding the report in March.
Among its key findings, the report claimed that the select committee was designed "to promote a political narrative" and also asserted that it "deleted records and hid evidence" ahead of Republicans taking the House majority during the 2022 election cycle.
"THE SELECT COMMITTEE DELETED RECORDS AND HID EVIDENCE - Reps. Thompson and Cheney failed to turn over video recordings of witness interviews and depositions despite using these recordings in their high-profile, primetime hearings. The Subcommittee recovered over one hundred deleted or password-protected files, including some files that were deleted days before Republicans took the majority. They also hid multiple transcribed interviews of witnesses who had firsthand knowledge of Trump‘s actions on January 6," the report found.
Trump had repeatedly claimed that Cheney and others on the committee "deleted" evidence. Cheney slammed Loudermilk’s report at the time as a "cover up" for Trump’s actions on Jan. 6.
"If your response to Trump’s assault on our democracy is to lie & cover up what he did, attack the brave men & women who came forward with the truth, and defend the criminals who violently assaulted the Capitol, you need to rethink whose side you’re on. Hint: It’s not America’s," she posted to X at the time.
Cheney added in her statement this week that Trump’s claims of the committee destroying evidence are "ridiculous and false."
"Donald Trump knows his claims about the select committee are ridiculous and false, as has been detailed extensively, including by Chairman Thompson," she continued. Cheney cited a July 2023 letter from Thompson to Loudermilk, refuting claims that evidence was destroyed, 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."
"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 continued.
Cheney added that materials from Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into Trump and the 2020 election should be preserved and made public.
"The Justice Department should ensure that all that material is preserved and cannot be destroyed. As much of that information as possible should be disclosed in the special counsel’s upcoming report."
As Trump surged in popularity ahead of the 2024 election, Cheney joined forces with Vice President Kamala Harris on the campaign trail to rally support for the Democratic ticket.
"I ask you to stand in truth. To reject the depraved cruelty of Donald Trump," Cheney told the Harris supporters in Wisconsin ahead of the election.
As Biden’s term in office comes to an end, speculation has mounted that the 46th president could hand "preemptive pardons" to those viewed as Trump’s political foes, including Cheney, Dr. Anthony Fauci, former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and California Sen.-elect Adam Schiff. Cheney did not say whether she would accept such a pardon if offered one.
Transgender rights activists on Thursday participated in a "bathroom sit-in" in a restroom across from House Speaker Mike Johnson's office on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., in protest of a new policy barring trans people from using bathroom facilities that match their gender identity.
Around 15 people were arrested on suspicion of crowding, obstructing or incommoding for illegally protesting inside the Cannon House Office Building, the U.S. Capitol Police told Fox News Digital.
The protest was organized by the Gender Liberation Movement, which describes itself as a grassroots organization that focuses on bodily autonomy and gender.
A video posted on the group's Instagram account shows protesters holding signs calling for a "Ban on bathroom bigotry," occupying a restroom and blocking a hallway.
The Hill reported that Chelsea Manning, a former U.S. Army intelligence analyst and whistleblower, was one of those being led away by authorities in zip ties. Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison in 2013 after disclosing classified documents and military reports to WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange. The sentence was commuted in 2017 by former President Obama and Manning was released from prison after serving seven years.
Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, announced the new bathroom policy in November after Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., tried to block trans people from Capitol restrooms that don't match their gender at birth.
The move came ahead of the first openly transgender lawmaker, Rep.-elect Sarah McBride, D-Del., joining Congress in January. McBride is a biological male who identifies and presents as a woman.
Mace recently introduced a resolution to ban men who identify as female from women's restrooms on Capitol Hill. On Thursday, she posted a video on X of herself standing outside a Capitol Police station.
Legal and political analysts are characterizing President Biden's stunning "full and unconditional pardon" of his son Hunter as an early holiday gift for President-elect Trump.
"He's essentially endorsing Trump's long-held opinion that the Department of Justice is politicized and isn't acting impartially," longtime Republican strategist and communicator Ryan Williams said of the move by Biden.
In absolving his son ahead of twin sentencings on separate gun and tax convictions later this month, the president argued that the Justice Department's handling of the cases against Hunter Biden was politicized.
Biden said in a statement Sunday night that his son, who is a recovering addict, was "treated differently" because of who his father is.
"No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter’s cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he is my son — and that is wrong," the president said in the statement. "There has been an effort to break Hunter — who has been five and a half years sober, even in the face of unrelenting attacks and selective prosecution. In trying to break Hunter, they’ve tried to break me — and there’s no reason to believe it will stop here. Enough is enough."
Biden, in his statement, appeared to be pointing to the way the case was handled by David Weiss. He is the Trump-appointed U.S. attorney from Delaware who originally investigated Hunter Biden and was later appointed as a special counsel during the Biden administration by Attorney General Merrick Garland.
While an impeachment inquiry by House Republicans that looked into the president and his son's business relationships fizzled, Trump, during the presidential campaign, hinted at continuing to investigate the younger Biden in his second term in the White House.
However, Trump will not be able to undo the pardon when he takes office. Additionally, the pardon's sweeping nature means the next Trump Justice Department would not be able to reopen the criminal probe against Hunter Biden.
However, Trump gains something arguably more valuable - political cover.
Trump was heavily criticized during his first term for using pardons to protect political aides and allies - including longtime fixer Roger Stone and 2016 campaign chairman Paul Manafort - and relatives, including his daughter's father-in-law, whom the president-elect named as his second term ambassador to France.
Biden's pardon of his son now gives Trump a powerful rebuttal.
"Biden has endorsed this idea that the Department of Justice acts in a political way, and he's thrown out long-held precedent when it comes to pardons," Williams told Fox News. "He's blowing up an institution and procedures, which is what Democrats have long criticized Trump for. They don't have any moral authority to say that Trump is undermining institutions and changing long-held procedures. That's what Joe Biden just did with this pardon."
The president-elect will be under pressure as he takes office next month to pardon many of those convicted of crimes in the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters aiming to upend congressional certification of Biden's 2020 election victory. Many of those convicted are still in prison.
Fox News legal editor Kerri Kupec Urbahn said that "Joe Biden has lowered the bar so much here in offering this pardon to Hunter Biden, that I think Donald Trump will be able to pardon a whole host of people including Jan. 6 [defendants]."
Trump, in a statement following Biden's move, raised expectations that he should issue pardons for some of those Jan. 6 convicts.
"Does the Pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the J-6 Hostages, who have now been imprisoned for years?" Trump wrote in a social media post Sunday night. "Such an abuse and miscarriage of Justice!"
Biden's pardon came 24 hours after Trump announced he would nominate loyalist Kash Patel as FBI director. Patel, a controversial pick, has long amplified Trump's unproven claims the 2020 election was stolen and long vowed to clean house at the FBI.
The move by Biden may help Trump as he works to push the nomination of Patel and Pam Bondi - a former Florida attorney general and another Trump loyalist who the president-elect named as his second pick for attorney general - through the Senate.
Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, a leading Trump ally in the Senate, argued in a social media post that "Democrats can spare us the lectures about the rule of law when, say, President Trump nominates Pam Bondi and Kash Patel to clean up this corruption."
The Hunter Biden pardon may convince some Republican senators who likely have reservations regarding the Patel and Bondi picks to now back Trump.
"I do think it makes it more likely that some of these more traditional Republican senators will be p****d off enough to help Trump confirm some of his more controversial nominees," a Republican who works on Capitol Hill told Fox News, as he noted that "it's the most sweeping pardon since Richard Nixon" a half a century ago.
