A new Justice Department report on January 6th, 2021 confirms that the Capitol was crawling with over two dozen federal informants during the riot, with some sharing updates with FBI handlers as the chaos progressed.
The findings provide support for speculation about the federal government's role in the Capitol breach, which some Donald Trump supporters have alleged was a set-up.
The Office of Inspector General report suggests that the feds, at the very least, anticipated violence and missed opportunities to stop it.
"For those keeping score at home, this was labeled a dangerous conspiracy theory months ago," vice president-elect J.D. Vance wrote in response to the report.
The review identified three FBI informants who were directed to travel to Washington D.C. to monitor potential domestic terrorists before the January 6th certification.
An additional 23 FBI informants were present during the riot. Four of them entered the Capitol and another 13 entered the restricted area around the Capitol. While none of the FBI informants present were authorized to enter the Capitol, none were prosecuted for doing so.
The OIG did not find evidence that the FBI had undercover employees embedded in the crowd. However some of the informants who were present provided updates to their FBI handlers while the riot was in progress.
The FBI also received information prior to the event about the possibility of violence from sources connected to militia groups like the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys, whose leaders have received some of the longest January 6th sentences for crimes like seditious conspiracy.
One of the informants "indicated they had concerns for the safety of Members of Congress on Jan. 6.”
While it's customary for the FBI to canvass field offices before a major national event, they did not do this for the electoral certification on January 6th, 2021, the OIG found, with FBI deputy director Paul Abbate calling this a "basic step that was missed."
Still, the feds anticipated possible violence and played a "supporting role" in preparing, which enabled the FBI to rapidly mobilize tactical assets to assist with local police once the violence started.
"Indeed, after the Capitol was breached by rioters on January 6, the FBI was in a position to deploy tactical assets to help clear the Capitol of protesters and to help USCP secure the perimeter around the Capitol Complex," the report said.
Over 1,500 defendants have been charged over January 6th. President-elect Trump has promised to pardon many of them when he returns to office in January.
Donald Trump has chosen former news anchor Kari Lake to lead Voice of America, a stunning promotion for the fiery pro-Trump personality after she lost back-to-back elections in Arizona.
Voice of America, or VOA, is a federally funded international broadcaster that reaches millions of people around the world.
"I am pleased to announce that Kari Lake will serve as our next Director of the Voice of America. She will be appointed by, and work closely with, our next head of the U.S. Agency for Global Media, who I will announce soon, to ensure that the American values of Freedom and Liberty are broadcast around the World FAIRLY and ACCURATELY, unlike the lies spread by the Fake News Media," Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Despite its nominal editorial independence, VOA has been known to push liberal viewpoints. Trump's efforts to reform the agency in his first term faced backlash, as he was accused of trying to turn VOA into a MAGA mouthpiece.
The Voice of America website has an article about Lake's nomination listed under the category "press freedom " - alongside stories about murders and terrorist attacks targeting journalists.
Founded in 1942 to battle Nazi propaganda, Voice of America has a $267 million budget and some 2,000 employees. In a post on X, Lake said she was "honored" to receive Trump's trust.
"@VOANews is a vital international media outlet dedicated to advancing the interests of the United States by engaging directly with people across the globe and promoting democracy and truth," she wrote.
I am honored that President Trump has asked me to lead the Voice of America. @VOANews is a vital international media outlet dedicated to advancing the interests of the United States by engaging directly with people across the globe and promoting democracy and truth.
With an… pic.twitter.com/UWVdPeF6Ye
— Kari Lake (@KariLake) December 12, 2024
Lake spent more than 20 years at Phoenix-based Fox affiliate KSAV-TV before pursuing a failed venture in electoral politics.
The pro-Trump personality surged onto the political scene in the 2022 midterm election cycle, becoming known for her brash confrontations with liberal journalists.
Lake narrowly lost a governor's race against Democrat Katie Hobbs, and Lake would pursue a protracted legal challenge claiming the contest was rigged.
This year, Lake lost a second race against Democrat Ruben Gallego for an Arizona Senate seat.
While her abrasive style wasn't what voters wanted, Lake's toughness and broadcasting experience will help ensure that VOA's coverage is fair and loyal to the American people.
Florida state legislator Susan Valdes is leaving the Democratic party for the GOP, adding to Republicans' supermajority in Tallahassee.
Valdes, who won re-election last month as a Democrat, said she no longer wants to be with the "party of protesting" in a statement announcing her decision. Her move leaves Florida Republicans with their largest ever supermajority of 86-34 supermajority.
Valdes' move is another blow to Democrats in a former swing state that has shifted significantly to the right.
President-elect Trump won Florida by a monster, double-digit margin in last month's election - which saw him reclaim the presidency with a broad, multiracial coalition supporting him.
This month, Trump had a street officially named after him in Miami-Dade County, which he flipped red for the first time since the 1980s.
In a post on X, Valdes said she comes from a family of Democrats and had long believed the party fought for the working-class, but she has changed her mind. She slammed her fellow Democrats as close-minded, echoing critics who blame progressive intolerance for the party's shellacking in November.
“I’m tired of being the party of protesting when I got into politics to be part of the party of progress,” Valdes wrote in her statement.
See statement below… pic.twitter.com/JUVhsziSL7
— Susan L. Valdés (@SusanLValdesFL) December 9, 2024
“I know that I won’t agree with my fellow Republican House members on every issue, but in know that in their caucus, I will be welcomed and treated with respect.”
“In the House, I have long known that no one has a monopoly on good ideas,” Valdes wrote. "I will not waste my final two years in the Florida Legislature being ignored in a caucus whose leadership expects me to ignore the needs of my community.”
Republicans embraced Valdez' move, with Florida governor Ron DeSantis (R) writing, "welcome to the GOP, Rep. Valdez."
But Democrats like Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith accused her of being an opportunist.
"To be clear— her community re-elected her as a Democrat, just to get that straight,” Smith said.
“If you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for everything… And only a few days ago, she lost a leadership race for the Democratic Party to be the local chair."
Democrats are just proving her point. If Democrats want to rebuild their party, they will have to stop attacking everyone who disagrees with them.
The Supreme Court rejected a series of appeals from conservatives Monday on hot-button issues like DEI and gun control.
More than a year after the court ended affirmative action in colleges, the justices declined to take up a case on the use of race in admissions in Boston's high schools. The court also turned away a Second Amendment challenge to Hawaii's draconian gun laws and a controversy on transgender policy in schools, the Washington Examiner reported.
Two of the court's most reliable conservatives, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, disagreed with the court's decision to reject the appeal of Boston parents who challenged anti-white and anti-Asian admissions policies at three prestigious high schools.
The criteria indirectly factored in race by using ZIP codes, leading to a drop in white and Asian students accepted. Since the policies are no longer in effect, Justice Neil Gorsuch argued the court should not review the case, but he did not call it completely moot.
Dissenting, Alito and Thomas expressed concern about a lower court's analysis that relied on "disparate impact" theories that the Supreme Court previously rejected when striking down affirmative action in 2023.
“I would reject root and branch this dangerously distorted view of disparate impact. The Court, however, fails to do so today, so I must respectfully dissent,” Alito wrote.
Although the Supreme Court formally ended affirmative action, liberal schools and universities have sought workarounds. Chris Kieser, a senior attorney at the Pacific Legal Foundation, told the Washington Examiner that the Boston case shows the continued danger of racial discrimination in admissions.
"Boston Public Schools’ use of a ZIP Code quota as a naked proxy for race violates the Constitution’s promise of equal protection," he said.
“Regardless of today’s disappointment, the government’s use of skin color or ethnicity to choose who can attend public schools is a critical constitutional question that must be settled,” Kieser added.
In a separate matter, the court declined to take up a challenge from a man who was charged under Hawaii's strict gun control laws, which require "special need" to get a license.
The case led to a bizarre and extraordinary rebuke of the Supreme Court by Hawaii's top court, which invoked the "spirit of Aloha" while rejecting the Supreme Court's precedent in the landmark case New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen. The ruling led to a nationwide rollback of strict gun laws and spurred liberals to find ways to circumvent the court's decision.
Thomas and Alito criticized the Hawaii court's ruling as contradictory to Bruen, but they rejected the case Hawaii v. Wilson on technical grounds. However, they said they are open to hearing an "appropriate case" to vindicate the right to bear arms in the future.
The Supreme Court also declined to get involved in a dispute in a Wisconsin school district that allows students to "transition" without parental consent. A lower court found the parents lacked standing to bring the case, but Thomas, Alito, and Brett Kavanaugh said they would have heard the case.
While progressives argue the Supreme Court is a rubber stamp for the right, that's clearly not true. That does not mean the court has not granted some significant victories for conservatives, however.
In one of the first major cases of the new term, the Supreme Court seemed open to allowing states to restrict transgender surgeries on minors.
The Illinois Supreme Court rejected an emergency appeal to move up a pre-trial release hearing for the police officer accused of murdering Sonya Massey.
Sean D. Grayson was charged with first-degree murder for the July killing of Massey during a 911 call. Grayson has a hearing set for January 2 with the Circuit Court to go over the conditions of his release.
The Office of the State Appellate Defender filed an emergency motion last week to release him sooner, but it was denied by the state's top court.
On November 27, the Illinois Appellate Court found that Grayson's pre-trial detention was not warranted and ordered the Circuit Court to set conditions for his release.
The appellate court said it was unconvinced that Grayson poses a danger to the community, noting he was fired from his job as an officer.
“The trial court’s focus on defendant’s failings as a law enforcement officer, while understandable, distracted from the central question of how to address any risk he posed after being stripped of his office,” the court ruled.
Grayson's pre-trial release hearing was scheduled for last week, but prosecutors then submitted a Petition for Leave to Appeal (PLA) asking the Illinois Supreme Court to review the appellate court's ruling. The hearing was pushed back to January 2, pending the appeal.
Grayson's emergency motion argued he should not be kept in jail during the state's appeal, but the top court denied the request.
According to Sangamon County State's Attorney John Milhiser, Grayson has demonstrated that he "cannot comply with conditions and is a danger to the community," although it's far from clear how Grayson remains a threat to anyone.
The former Sangamon County Sheriff's deputy responded to a 911 call on July 6 from Sonya Massey, who reported fears of an intruder. Grayson shot and killed Massey after she said, "I rebuke you in the name of Jesus" while handling a pot of boiling water.
Massey's family condemned Grayson's pending release at a press conference last week as he filed his emergency motion.
"This man is still a threat to everybody in Springfield,” Massey's father said. “Somehow it needs to make sense. We all saw the film. We saw what occurred."
Prosecutors have argued Grayson's release would risk triggering "societal upheaval," an argument Grayson's lawyers blasted as an appeal to the mob.
"The State offers no support for its insinuation that public opinion, not statutes, rules, and case law, should govern this Court’s actions."
President Joe Biden shocked the nation with the announcement of a generous and sweeping pardon for his son, convicted criminal Hunter Biden.
But the latest pardon rumors are even worse, as it was reported by several media outlets, including NBC News, that Biden is now considering "preemptive" pardons for a number of President-elect Donald Trump's critics.
The outlet reported that the president and his administration are considering preemptive pardons because they fear "retribution" by Trump for certain political figures.
Some of those pardons could be issued for "Senator-elect Adam Schiff, D-Calif., Dr. Anthony Fauci and former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY)" according to the outlet.
The outlet noted that there are some "Never Trump" Republicans and Democrats who fully support the idea of preemptively pardoning some of Trump's top critics from both sides.
Liberals should be ashamed. Biden is reportedly considering issuing preemptive pardons that could include Liz Cheney, Anthony Fauci, and Adam Schiff. Trump has never said one thing about retribution. The pardon list is telling, all of them are criminals. pic.twitter.com/Y2VsNjW49L
— Scott Adams (@scottadamsshow) December 5, 2024
Many have argued that preemptive pardons is essentially an admission of guilt for the people who would receive such a rare privelege.
While super rare, they have been issued in the past from presidents from both sides of the aisle.
NBC News noted:
Previous presidents have issued such pardons, including George H.W. Bush for former Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger over his role in the Iran-Contra scandal; Gerald Ford for former President Richard Nixon in the wake of the Watergate scandal; Jimmy Carter for Vietnam War draft dodgers; and Abraham Lincoln for ex-Confederate soldiers.
The outlet then went on to talk about some of the things Trump has said about the aforementioned people and others, fearing Trump could retaliate once he's in office.
Many across social media were furious with the idea of issuing preemptive pardons for certain Trump critics. Some said it should be illegal to issue such a pardon before the person has even been charged with a crime.
"The only time to pardon someone is after they have been convicted," one X user wrote.
Another X user wrote, "Presidential pardons should be limited to individuals charged and convicted of crimes PRIOR to the pardon. Congress needs to change the law to prevent pardons for crimes not yet adjudicated."
Only time will tell if Biden actually goes through with it, and what the ramifications will be if he does.
The sweeping pardon issued by President Joe Biden for his son, convicted criminal Hunter Biden, for an 11-year period, stunned the political and legal world, and many are speculating that there's much more behind the scenes than meets the eye.
According to the Daily Caller, Hoover Institution senior fellow Victor Davis Hanson believes that Hunter Biden's bombshell pardon was only issued because he might have "blackmailed" his father into making it happen.
Hanson claimed during a recent podcast that he believes Hunter could have leveraged his father into issuing the pardon by threatening to expose his involvement in past crimes.
The Biden family influence-peddling operation has been under intense investigation for years, so it's not impossible that Hanson, and others, are onto something.
It's also much more likely given the fact that President Biden and the White House, for months, vowed and swore the president wouldn't use the power of the pardon to spare his son from legal consequences.
Hanson held nothing back in sharing his theory during his recent podcast.
"There is a sickness in Hunter Biden vis-a-vis his father. I mentioned that if one reads carefully the laptop communications, there’s an anger. He is not Beau Biden. He’s the bad seed, the prodigal son,” Hanson said.
Hanson suggested that Hunter Biden had to do the "dirty work" of the family.
He added "He feels that he cooked up the entire shakedown operation. He is the dirty bag man. He is Hunter. Remember he says to his cousin, ‘They always have me do stuff. Nobody ever, I’m the one making this family. If I was like dad, I’d charge everybody.’ So he had to do the dirty work."
"When he was up with the IRS and they were squeezing him because of this phony sweetheart deal they cooked up and the judge was mad. His lawyer said, ‘We might have to call in Joe Biden, now president.’ Think of that,” Hanson added.
“They’re going to call the president of the United States to testify on behalf of Hunter Biden. He would say something that would probably be preposterously false."
Hanson isn't the only one who believes that's a possibility.
Others have suggested that President Biden issued the pardon to eventually help cover up his own involvement in certain past crimes.
Some legal experts believe Hunter Biden's pardon could mean that he no longer has the ability to use the Fifth Amendment in future testimonies against cases involving his family members.
Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch is stepping aside from a case on a railroad project after pressure from liberals.
In a letter, Gorsuch did not provide an explanation but hinted at a conflict of interest in the controversy, which has to do with the scope of environmental regulation under federal law.
Gorsuch's critics highlighted his past ties to an oil industry billionaire, Philip Anschutz, who has a stake in the case although he is not a party to the legal dispute.
A company owned by Anschutz filed a brief in the case urging the court to limit the scope of the National Environmental Policy Act, which requires environmental reviews of every federal action.
"Because NEPA applies to every major federal action— including the authorizations Anschutz needs to develop federal oil-and-gas reserves—far more is at stake in this case than the 88-mile rail line in rural Utah," the brief says.
The case, which is going to be heard on Tuesday, concerns a proposed 88-mile rail line in eastern Utah that has faced opposition from environmentalists
More than a dozen Democratic lawmakers pushed Gorsuch to step aside over his ties to Anschutz, whom Gorsuch represented when he was an attorney.
Gorsuch confirmed that he will not participate, citing the Supreme Court's new code of conduct.
"I am writing to inform you that, consistent with the Code of Conduct for Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, Justice Gorsuch has determined that he will not participate in this case," a letter from Gorsuch's clerk said.
Over the past couple of years since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, Democrats have brought mounting pressure on the court and its conservative members, who comprise a 6-3 majority.
Criticism has focused on two of the court's most reliable conservatives, Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, and their ties to billionaire donors.
Under pressure, the Supreme Court adopted an ethics code last year that works on the honor system, but Democrats have called for more stringent restrictions to be imposed directly by Congress.
While there is no evidence that the justices have conducted court business to please wealthy benefactors, it appears Gorsuch did not want to feed any more outrage by getting involved in this case.
Indeed, Gorsuch appears to be sending a message that the court can be trusted to regulate itself.
House Speaker Mike Jonhson (R-LA) says he will block Joe Biden's last-minute request to send $24 billion to support Ukraine in its war with Russia. Johnson's move complicates Biden's efforts to inflame the conflict and sabotage President-elect Trump's plan for a peaceful settlement.
While Johnson has supported Ukraine, he said Biden's request is inappropriate with President-elect Donald Trump set to take office and shift foreign policy in a new direction.
Trump has pledged to quickly end the almost three-year conflict between Russia and Ukraine, leaving Biden desperate to arm Ukraine with as much lethal weaponry as possible before he steps down.
The lame duck president has backtracked on supplying deadly anti-personnel mines, which can harm civilians, and he has authorized long-range strikes into Russian territory, raising the risk of escalation.
The Biden White House has also pushed Ukraine to lower the age of the draft from 25 to 18, but the demand has faced pushback from Ukraine.
Biden is making a last push for an additional $24 billion in aid, including $8 billion in security assistance to arm Ukraine and $16 billion to replenish U.S. stockpiles. But Biden will not receive any more help from Republicans, according to Johnson.
The House Speaker - who won praise across the aisle for pushing Ukraine aid through earlier this year - said no additional funding should be authorized while Biden is president.
"As we predicted and as I said to all of you weeks before the election, if Donald Trump is elected it will change the dynamic of the Russian war on Ukraine, and we’re seeing that happen,” Johnson said.
"So it is not the place of Joe Biden to make that decision now, we have a newly elected president and we’re going to wait and take the new commander in chief’s direction on all that, so I don’t expect any Ukraine funding to come up now."
By the way, Biden is not even finished sending the $61 billion in aid that Congress authorized in April, with Johnson's backing. Indeed, Biden still has about $7 billion left to send before he steps down, and officials are skeptical it will all be allocated, CNN reported.
Ukraine's demands are placing a strain on diminished U.S. stockpiles, but the Biden administration has said it intends to allocate all of the remaining funding before Trump's inauguration.
Despite Biden's furious push to prolong the war in Europe, Russia has been gaining momentum and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has already begun negotiating with President-elect Trump on ending the conflict.
Zelensky has suggested Ukraine is open to conceding territory in exchange for security guarantees from NATO. Zelensky has long insisted on reclaiming all of the land seized by Russia, but Trump's return clearly has Zelensky rethinking his position.
By calling for another $24 billion to prolong a hopeless war, Biden is clearly trying to tie Trump's hands and undermine his foreign policy agenda. Johnson is right to block Biden's maneuver.
Fox News fans are mourning the tragic death of Dr. Kelly Powers, who shared her medical expertise with viewers on various shows.
The 45-year-old surgeon died from an aggressive form of brain cancer, glioblastoma, that she was diagnosed with in 2020. The cancer went into remission only to return this year.
Powers studied medicine at New York College of Podiatric Medicine and completed her residency at Georgetown and Boston University.
A regular on Red Eye, Fox & Friends and The Willis Report, Powers was open about her health struggle.
She called herself the "luckiest unlucky girl" after the cancer initially went into remission - and she was blessed with a baby boy, Bennett. She would joke that her treatment made her bald like her infant son, who is now 3.
Her cancer diagnosis came after a major seizure that sent her to the hospital in July 2020.
Her family created a GoFundMe page to raise money for an experimental treatment after her cancer returned this year, despite three surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation treatment.
Prior to her cancer battle, Powers began experiencing symptoms of heart failure in 2018 during a Fox Business broadcast.
“It’s crazy. I went into heart failure while doing a report on Fox Business — live — on heart health and talking about the subtle signs that women often miss. You can’t make this up,” she told Preferred Health.
Meghan McCain, whose father John McCain died from the same form of cancer, said she is sending prayers to Powers' loved ones.
"Sending so much love, light and prayers to Dr. Powers family and loved ones," McCain wrote on X. "Glioblastoma is pure, unadulterated evil that no person or family should go through. My family is here if you need anything."
Powers' obituary called her a "brave and beautiful soul" who enjoyed gardening, surfing, and ballet and was very dedicated to her family.
"She was a brave and beautiful soul who could make friends anywhere she went. Kelly had a love for people and she was dedicated to helping others. She held many hobbies including gardening, surfing, ballet, biking, running, horseback riding, travel, and several more activities," the obituary said.
She is survived by her husband, Steven Doll, her son Bennett, her parents, and her mother and father-in-laws Daniel and Laraine Doll.