Transcript

1.21.25 · Washington Post

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Speaker 1: Welcome to the reading of the Washington Post for Thursday,
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January twenty first, twenty twenty five. As a reminder, RADIOI
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is a reading service intended for people who are blind
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or have other disabilities that make it difficult to read
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printed material. Your reader for to day is Cindy Fraser.
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To day's front page headlines from the Washington Post are
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Trump's stark vision taking office. He orders policy reversals and
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begins shaping government. President signals a dramatic turn and new
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course begins to unfold. Speech declares liberation, claims mandate for
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emergency powers. Next, Biden's prempt of pardons mark a big
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leap into uncharted waters. Next, Trump extends clemency to all
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involved in January sixth riot. And the final item from
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to Day's front page is entitled Executive order attempts to
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end birthright citizenship. Let's turn to our first item entitled
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President signals a dramatic turn and new course begins to unfold.
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This is an analysis by Dan Balls. President Donald Trump
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turned Monday's traditional inauguration Day ceremonies into something untraditional, part
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stated the Union Address and part political pep rally. The
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sixtieth presidential inauguration, most of all, was pure Donald Trump
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and an extension of the campaign that restored him to power.
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It's long been said that elections have consequences. There may
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be no better example than what transpired under the dome
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of the Capital Rotunda on a blustery and bitterly cold
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day in the nation's capital on day one of his
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second term. Trump showed how profound those consequences could be
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as he signaled his determination to move as quickly as
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possible to make good on his campaign promises. As former
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President Joe Biden sat grim near by. Trump shredded the
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Biden administration's policies and those of the administrations of other
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presidents and attendants, as well, setting a new course for
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the country that represents profound and controversial change. He declared
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that his victory in November represented a quote mandate to
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completely and totally reverse a horrible betrayal and all of
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these many betrayals that have taken place. The inaugural address
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included a few of the flourishes of unifying rhetoric customary
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on this day, but those seemed almost like afterthoughts, added
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after proclaiming the substance of the executive orders he would
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later sign. Though Trump is more popular than he was
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eight years ago, the country remains closely divided about him.
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Those executive orders are aimed at implementing campaign promises on immigration,
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including mass deportations, energy, where he said quote drill, baby,
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drill would define his policies, and the economy, where tariffs
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will be his main weapon, though economists say that could
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add to inflation. The orders also included several aimed at
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culture war issues about race and gender. Trump justified these
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changes by describing a country in crisis and a government
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unable to protect its citizens because, in his view, it
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has coddled criminals and failed to meet the moment when
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crises and natural disasters occur. He said current policies fund
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the protection of foreign borders, but not the security of
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the United States borders. He trashed the public health system
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and the educational system that he said teaches children quote
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to hate our country. He denounced a quote radical and
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corrupt establishment, and a government quote stumbling into a continuing
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catalog of catastrophic events abroad. He promised that his second
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term would bring a golden age for America after what
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he characterized as a period of decline. His ambitions include
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a return to a kind of manifest destiny, as he
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talked about taking back the Panama Canal, renaming the Gulf
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of Mexico the Gulf of America, and restoring the name
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Mount McKinley to the Alaska mountain today known as Denali.
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Our sovereignty will be reclaimed, Our safety will be restored,
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he said. The scales of justice will be rebalanced. The vicious, violent,
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and unfair weaponization of the Justice Department and our government
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will end, and our top priority will be to create
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a nation that is proud, prosperous, and free. These were
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some of the echoes of his American Carnage inaugural address
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from eight years ago. What made this day different from
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that one, however, was considerable evidence that Trump is more
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focused and better prepared to act swiftly and in doing so,
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establish himself and his powers. His first transition was a
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mess almost from the start. This one has been strikingly different,
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More disciplined by f are. The number of executive orders
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he signed on Monday eclipsed by orders of magnitude what
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previous presidents have done. That was an indication of the
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work that has been done before and since he was
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elected to turn promises into action in twenty seventeen, he
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was slow to populate his administration and in many cases
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recruited people who did not share his views on the issues.
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This time, he has what he lacked eight years ago,
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which is a loyal group of aids and advisers who
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share his diagnoses and remedies, and who appear capable of
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orderly execution. Trump came to this moment more popular than
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he was at the time of his first inauguration. His
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victory in November, winning both a popular vote and a
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big majority in the electoral college, gave him credibility that
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he lacked eight years ago when he lost a popular
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vote to Hillary Clinton but won in the electoral college. Meanwhile,
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his opponents have been subdued, no less fearful about what
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a second term could do to the country, but far
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less confrontational in their opposition. He certainly will face resistance,
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but the strategies of his resistors are only beginning to
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take shape. The Democratic Party itself is going through its
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own period of reflection and debate about why Trump won
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and what their party needs to do about it. Many
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who opposed him in the past or who merely kept
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their distance, have embraced his victory as a catalyst to
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seek to work with him. The tableau of tech company
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billionaires in prime seats inside the Capitol, including Elon Musk, Metis,
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Mark Zuckerberg, and Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon and
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the owner of The Washington Post, symbolized the change as
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much as anything. Silicon Valley was no friend to the
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forty fifth president in the way that Silicon Valley has
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reached out to the forty seventh president four years ago.
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This month, on January sixth, twenty twenty one, the capital
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was overrun by pro Trump protesters who broke windows, assaulted
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police officers, and sacked offices, all in the hope of
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delaying the certification of Biden's twenty twenty victory and keeping
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Trump in power. Hundreds were later convicted and imprisoned. Trump's
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executive orders Monday included pardons for virtually all those convicted
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and commutations for fourteen. On Monday, the capital was filled
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again with Trump loyalists, though this time there were guests, dignitaries,
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elected officials, and others. The decision to move the inauguration
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ceremonies from the capital's West front to the Rotunda. Because
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of the frigid weather gave the event a far different feel,
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and many of those in the audience rose to cheer
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Trump as he outlined his priorities. As a result, the
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tone and energy of this inauguration was unlike that of
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those held outdoors. Trump used inauguration Day as an opportunity
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for symbolism and substance. With a tiny majority in the
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House and in majoritying the Senate too small to overc
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come the sixty bot threshold, he knows that passing most
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legislation will be difficult. He and congressional Republicans are still
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debating the best procedures by which to try to pass
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the legislation that will be required in the coming months.
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Executive orders and executive action are for more effective tools
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to signal changes, but they can be transitory, easily reversed
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by a president from a different party. But for Trump,
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they speak to the powers of the president and everything
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he said in his campaign and sense points to a
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desire to maximize that power. Trump wants a fast start
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to show that this term will be different. This made
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for a busy and dramatic opening day to his second term,
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but it is only the beginning. In some ways, the
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executive orders are the easy part declarations of action and intent.
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The challenges lie ahead, both in the substance of the
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first round of orders and more important, in issues that
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executive orders cannot solve. Inaugurations are a moment for a
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new president to outline goals and set a tone. Trump
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did that on Monday, but it is only a beginning.
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Our next item from today's front page is entitled speech
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Declares Liberation, claims mandate for emergency powers by Isaac Arnsdorf.
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Donald Trump took office as the forty seventh president, claiming
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an electoral and divine mandate to immediately invoke emergency powers
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on immigration and energy, pursue territorial expansion, and reverse Joe
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Biden's policies on car emissions and trans rites. Trump declared
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his inauguration Liberation Day, condemning the country's past leaders joining
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him in the capital rotunda for the swearing in ceremony,
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and describing a vision for the country that was at
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once nostalgic and futuristic, and America where there are two genders.
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The cause Alaska's tallest peak, Mount mc kinley, where the U.
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S Flag flies on Mars, and all wars are over.
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My recent election is a mandate to completely and totally
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reverse a horrible betrayal and all of these many betrayals
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that have taken place, and to give the people back
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their faith, their wealth, their democracy, and indeed their freedom,
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he said, referencing the July thirteenth assassination attempt that wounded
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his ear. Trump added, I was saved by God to
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make America great again. Republican lawmakers, billionaire donors, media personalities,
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and foreign allies rose to cheer, while fans at a
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downtown arena embraced and cried as Trump began detailing first
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day actions to deport millions of people and use wartime
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powers against gangs. Outgoing President Joe Biden appeared to sink
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in his seat. Vice President Kamala Harris, whom Trump defeated
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on November fifth, sat stoneface with her arms crossed in
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her lap. Inaugural co chair Senator Amy Klobuchar, Democrat from Minnesota,
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who spoke before Trump about the endurance of democracy, visibly squirmed.
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By evening, Trump had taken those first steps with dozens
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of executive actions, and won the confirmation of his first
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cabinet nominee Secretary of State Mark Rubio, whom the Senate
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voted ninety nine to zero to confirm. The handoff of
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power showcased diametrically opposed views of justice through executive grants
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of clemency. Shortly before entering the ceremony, Biden preemptively pardoned
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his family members, saying he sought to shield them from
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retaliation from a new president who has repeatedly threatened to
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investigate them. Biden also preemptively pardoned Trump critics, including lawmakers
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who investigated the January sixth, twenty twenty one attack on
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the capital and former military chief General Mark A. Milley.
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Trump criticized those pardons as on fortunate and said they
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made the recipients look guilty. For his part, the president
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pardon about one thousand, five hundred January sixth defendants and
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commuted the sentences of fourteen more. Almost four hundred people
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were charged with assaulting police officers or others, meaning some
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of his pardons went to violent offenders. Federal prison officials
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began the process of releasing some, including former Proud Boys
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leader Enrique of Tario, on Monday night. The president is
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also expected to direct the Justice Department to dismiss about
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three hundred cases that have not yet gone to trial.
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Speaking to supporters in an overflow room after his official address,
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Trump said he was talked out of mentioning the January
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sixth defendants, whom he calls hostages, and insulted Biden's pardon recipients,
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including Millie and former Congresswoman Liz Cheney, Republican from Wyoming.
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He spoke extemporaneously for thirty two minutes, a minute or
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two longer than his official remarks. Afterward, he briefly joined
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congressional leaders in the capital to officially sign his cabinet
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nominations and appoint temporary agency leaders. He also signed a
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proclamation to raise U s flags to full staff after
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complaining when the banners were lowered for the December twenty
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ninth death of former President Jimmy Carter. Later, after an
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indoor parade at the capitaljan Arena, Trump signed executive orders
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to revoke unspecified Biden policies, freeze federal regulations in hiring,
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returned the federal workforce to full time in person work,
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and withdraw from the Paris Climate Treaty. He said that
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January sixth pardons would come when he returned to the
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Oval office. Can you imagine Biden doing this, Trump told
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the cheering crowd as he signed the documents and held
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them up for view. I don't think so. When he finished,
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he tossed out his pens to the audience as souvenirs.
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One of the executive orders he signed directs the Justice
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to Department, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the Federal
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Trade Commission to examine the prior administration's actions for politically
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motivated enforcement and funding decisions. It also calls for a
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review of spying activities. A separate measure revoked security clearances
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for more than fifty former intelligence officials who warned about
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possible Russian disinformation operations in the twenty twenty election. Another
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proclamation directs agencies to come up with ways to reduce
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prices by expanding housing, reducing health care costs, cutting environmental regulations,
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and attracting discouraged workers to the labor force. At the
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White House, Trump signed more actions, declaring an emergency on
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the southern border, designating foreign gangs as global terrorists, ending
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automatic citizenship for people born in the United States to
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undocumented immigrants, withdrawing from the World Health organization, changing civil
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service hiring, and creating a federal spending review called the
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Department of Government Efficiency, run by billionaire donor Elon Musk
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and implemented by a staff of twenty. Trump signed several
15:12
papers without reading them or giving staff Secretary Will Sharp
15:16
a chance to explain what they said, instead taking questions
15:19
from reporters on arrange of subjects. He was joined in
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the Oval office by Chief of Staff Susie Wilds, Deputy
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chief of Staff Dan Sgavino, economic adviser Peter Navarro, who
15:31
was convicted of contempt of Congress, and lawyer Boris Epstein,
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whom transition lawyers recommended expelling for soliciting payments from administration
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job seekers. The President was due to visit Balls later.
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In his scripted remarks on Monday morning, Trump envisioned himself
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as a transformative figure in American history, citing the legacy
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of manifest destiny to set his sights on renaming the
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Gulf of Mexico, retaking the Panama Canal, and exploring Mars.
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The United States will once again consider itself a growing nation,
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one that increases our wealth, expands our territory, builds our cities,
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raises our expectations and carries our flag into new and
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beautiful horizons, he said. Trump did not mention revenge Monday,
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but he repeatedly portrayed himself as a victim of persecution.
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He called himself the most tested and challenged president in history.
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He did not address reconciliation with Americans who have opposed him,
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encouraging them to submit to his popular majority. The entire
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nation is rapidly unifying behind our agenda, with dramatic increases
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in support from virtually every element of our society, he said,
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mostly sticking to his script throughout the address. Many people
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thought it was impossible for me to stay such an
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historic political comeback, But as you see today here I am.
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The American people have spoken. Trump won the electoral College
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with a historically average margin and won the popular vote
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by about one point five percentage points. His party also
17:07
controls Congress, but has only a two seat majority in
17:10
the House, with looming deadlines to fund the government and
17:14
raise a death sealing. Trump did not unveil any landmark
17:18
legislative proposals Monday, focusing instead on executive actions he could
17:22
take Unilatterly, he repeatedly praised tariffs in his speech, including
17:27
by mischaracterizing them as a tax on foreign countries when
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they are paid by importers and the costs typically passed
17:35
on to domestic consumers. He was not expected to impose
17:39
any import duties Monday, AIDS said he signed a memorandum
17:43
directing departments to review trade deals and explore creating a
17:47
new agency for import duties. Some of Trump's actions faced
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immediate legal challenges. Public interest groups filed two lawsuits minutes
17:56
after Trump was sworn in, alleging that his appointment of
17:59
Musk violates laws on transparency for government advisory groups. Musk
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attended the ceremony alongside Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Amazon founder
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and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg,
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Apple CEO Tim Cook, and tik Tok CEO Shao Zi Chu,
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sitting in the rotunda in front of Trump's cabinet nominees.
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The president's other first day actions included measures to deploy
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the military to the US Mexico border, require migrants to
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await asylum hearings in Mexico, suspend refugee resettlement for at
18:36
least four months, expand extraction of Timber oil gas and
18:41
critical minerals in Alaska, make it easier to fire civil servants,
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and repeal Biden administration efficiency standards for cars and consumer
18:49
appliances over the objection of domestic manufacturers that have asked
18:54
for consistency, The new administration officially recognized two sexes, man
19:00
and female, defined based on the reproductive sales at conception.
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Government agencies will issue documents reflecting people's sex of conception,
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stop using gender identity or preferred pronouns, and maintain woman
19:13
only spaces in prisons and shelters. That measure also directed
19:18
the Attorney General to write new policies around the twenty
19:20
twenty Supreme Court ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County, which
19:25
found that sex discrimination in employment includes gender identity and
19:29
sexual orientation. The Biden administration had relied on that ruling
19:33
to say the same logic applies to Title nigh, the
19:36
law that bars sex discrimination in schools. The action could
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prompt the Education Department to punish schools that recognize gender identity,
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for instance, by allowing transgender girls access to girls' bathrooms,
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locker rooms, or sports teams. It might also affect teachers
19:53
who in some districts are told to use students preferred
19:56
names and pronouns. An incoming official said having to use
20:00
someone else's preferred pronouns violates free speech. Another executive action
20:06
aims to eliminate government diversity programs by reviewing grants and
20:10
contracts and holding regular meetings monitoring the issue. An incoming
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White House official named examples such as hiring people with
20:18
intellectual disabilities in the Federal Aviation Administration Agriculture departments, spending
20:23
on environmental justice and diversity training at the Treasury Department.
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The official called the measure very fitting for m LKA Day,
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the holiday commemorating the civil rights leader Martin Luther King Junior,
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which coincided with Inauguration Day. This year, Trump also granted
20:39
provisional security clearances to White House staff, blaming the regular
20:44
processes for taking too long. Next from Today's front page.
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Biden's preemptive pardons mark a big leap into unchartered waters
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by Sabrina Roduguez and Matt Viiser in one of his
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life acts in the White House. Just hours before Donald
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Trump's inauguration, President Joe Biden issued preemptive pardons Monday to
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his siblings and their spouses saying he feared they would
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be targeted for political reasons by the due administration. Biden
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also preemptively pardoned retired General Mark A. Milly, who has
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been highly critical of Trump, Anthony an Stalci, who spearheaded
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the country's pandemic response, members of the House committee that
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investigated the January sixth, twenty twenty one attack on the U. S. Capitol,
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and police officers who testified before the committee. In a
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lengthy statement, Biden said he was issuing the pardons not
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because of any wrongdoing by those individuals, but to protect
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them from potential political prosecution. Trump has repeatedly threatened to
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go after those who have crossed him politically or attempted
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to hold him accountable for his efforts to overturn the
21:54
twenty twenty election. These public servants have served our nation
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with honor and distinction and do not deserve to be
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the targets of unjustified and politically motivated prosecutions. Biden said,
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I believe in the rule of law, and I am
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optimistic that the strength of our legal institutions will ultimately
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prevail over politics. But these are exceptional circumstances, and I
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cannot in good conscience do nothing. Biden gave similar reasons
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for pardoning his siblings James Biden, Frank Biden, and Valerie
22:28
Biden Owens, as well as John Owens and Sarah Biden,
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the spouses of Valerie Owens and James Biden. My family
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has been subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats motivated solely
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by a desire to hurt me, the worst kind of
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partisan politics, Joe Biden said. Unfortunately, I have no reason
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to believe these attacks will end. Valerie Owens has been
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a long time adviser to the former president and is
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a fixture in Delaware politics. James Biden has launched business
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deals throughout his career benefit from the Biden family name,
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sometimes in collaboration with the former president's son Hunter, making
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him a target of Congressional Republicans. The unprecedented actions a
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president has never before pardoned people who have neither been
23:15
charged with nor suspected of wrongdoing reflected the historic uncertainties
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of the moment as a commander in chief takes office
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who has regularly threatened to imprison his political opponents. It
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also gave a glimpse into the fear and anger underlying
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the stately ceremonies of inauguration Day, as the White House
23:35
made the pardon's announcement hours before Biden welcomed Trump there
23:39
for a tea and coffee reception. Legal scholars say Biden's pardons,
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along with Trump's vow to pardon those convicted of crimes
23:47
related to the January sixth capital attack, will rewrite the
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notion of presidential clemency into the future. Although President Gerald
23:56
Ford pardon predecessor Richard M. Nixon before Nixon had been
23:59
charged with a crime, the current wave of pardons is different,
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the scholars said. The pardons that have been announced by
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Biden and forecast by Trump this month will reflect a
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wholesale rethinking of what pardoning means, said Mark Osler, law
24:15
professor at the University of Saint Thomas School of Law.
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Before this, Watergate was a high water mark of pardons
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in American history, but that was done in the spirit
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of moving the country forward in unity. The current use
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of these pardons couldn't be farther from that. Biden, hours
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from the end of a decades long political career in Washington,
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did not name Trump in his statement, but repeatedly alluded
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to Trump's actions and his attacks on those now being pardoned.
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Rather than accept accountability, those who perpetrated the January sixth
24:49
attack have taken every opportunity to undermined and intimidate those
24:53
who participated in the Select Committee in an attempt to
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rewrite history, erase sustain of January six for partisan gain,
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and seek revenge, including by threatening criminal prosecutions, Biden said. Milly,
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a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said
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he was deeply grateful for Biden's decision after forty three
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years of faithful service in uniform to our nation, protecting
25:19
and defending the Constitution. I do not wish to spend
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whatever remaining time the Lord grants me fighting those who
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unjustly might seek retribution for perceived slights, Miley said. In
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his statement, Trump has falsely stated that phone calls authorized
25:35
by then Trump administration officials in which Miley sought to
25:39
reassure Chinese officials that the United States was stable during
25:42
the tumult of the last presidential transition, where a treasonous act.
25:47
In twenty twenty three, Trump posted on truth Social this
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is an act so egregious that in times gone by,
25:54
the punishment would have been death. Trump also has repeatedly
25:59
threatened retacalation against members of the House committee that investigated
26:03
the January sixth attack, including former Congresswoman Liz Cheney of Wyoming.
26:08
One of his most prominent Republican critics, Michael Fanone, a
26:13
former DC police officer who was beaten, unconscious and threatened
26:16
with his own gun during the riot, denounced the need
26:19
for pardon. I think it's effed up that I live
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in a country where president feels that it's necessary to
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preemptibly pardon a police officer for testifying truthfully for what
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they experienced on January sixth, to protect them from another
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president who incided the January sixth and is about to
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take office, Fanone said. Fanon said that he had not
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decided whether he will accept the preemptive pardon and that
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he is not sure it is constitutional. It further fuels
26:48
a narrative that those of us who testify did something wrong,
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he said, But at the end of the day, I
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can't help that. Now it's all about protecting me and
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my family. Trump to aim at Biden's action. I think
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it was unfortunate that he did that, the new president said,
27:05
insulting several of the figures Biden had pardoned. Other Republicans
27:10
said it was Biden, not Trump, who was politicizing the
27:13
justice system. Representative James Comer from Kentucky, who led an
27:18
impeachment investigation into Biden and his family, sharply criticized the
27:22
pardons for Biden's relatives. President Biden's premptive pardons for the
27:26
Biden crime family serve as a confession of their corruption
27:30
as they sold out the American people to enrich themselves.
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Comer sat in his statement. Comber's investigation fizzled last year
27:38
when he was unable to unearth substance of evidence that
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Biden had benefited from his relatives business dealings. Because such
27:45
pardons are unprecedented, they have not been tested in court,
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but the courts have often been deferential in allowing presidents
27:52
to exercise as a see fit the authorities explicitly granted
27:57
them in the Constitution, such as the pardon power. The
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closest historical analogy might be for its pardon of Nixon.
28:06
Nixon had not been charged with a crime, but he
28:08
resigned under the threat of impeachment and was being investigated
28:12
by a special prosecutor in the Watergate scandal. Those pardon Monday,
28:16
in contrast, have not been charged with anything, and allegations
28:20
of wrongdoing have not been backed up by any substantial evidence.
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Recipients of the preemptive pardons also include Fauci, former director
28:30
of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who
28:33
was a public phase of the government response to the
28:35
coronavirus pandemic. Fauci has faced years of investigation by congressional
28:41
Republicans who alleged that the longtime civil servant was not
28:45
forthcoming about the possible origins of the pandemic. Fauci led
28:49
a US health agency that helped fund virus research in Wuhan, China,
28:54
where the coronavirus outbreak was first detected in twenty nineteen,
28:58
and some scientists and government officials believed that the virus
29:01
leaked from a laboratory there. There is no evidence that
29:04
the TSARS Kobe two, the virus behind the pandemic, was
29:08
in any laboratory before the outbreak. Trump and other conservatives
29:13
also blamed Fauci and other public health officials for recommending
29:17
measures they say were overly harsh. Robert F. Kennedy, Junior,
29:21
Trump's pick to lead the Department of Health and Human
29:24
Services and Senator Ran Paul, Republican from Kentucky, who chairs
29:28
a Senate oversight panel, have called for potentially prosecuting Fauci.
29:33
On Monday, Fauci said he appreciated the pardon. Let me
29:38
be perfectly clear, I have committed no crime, and there
29:41
are no possible grounds for any allegation or threat of
29:44
criminal investigation or prosecution of me. He said. The fact is, however,
29:51
that the mere articulation of these baseless threats and the
29:55
potential that they would be acted upon, create immeasurable and
29:59
intoleran distress for me and my family. As speculation about
30:04
preemptive pardons floated around Washington in recent weeks, some potential beneficiaries,
30:09
such as Senator Adam Shiff, Democrat from California, said they
30:13
did not want a pardon, as they had done nothing
30:15
wrong and trusted the justice system. Others, including Representative Benny G. Thompson,
30:22
Democrat from Mississippi, who chaired the January sixth committee, said
30:26
they would accept a pardon given Trump's repeated and explicit threats.
30:31
On Monday, Thompson and Cheney issued a joint statement thanking
30:35
Biden for the pardons on behalf of the committee members.
30:38
These are indeed extraordinary circumstances when public servants our pardoned
30:43
to prevent false prosecution by the government for having worked
30:47
faithfully as members of Congress to expose the facts of
30:50
a month's long criminal effort to override the will of
30:53
the voters after the twenty twenty election, including by inciting
30:57
a violent insurrection to thwart the peaceful transfer of power.
31:01
The statement said. If Biden's action was extraordinary, so was
31:06
the climate that prompted it. Trump and his allies have
31:09
said for months that his political opponents should be prosecuted
31:14
and imprisoned now that he is back in power. It
31:17
is not clear whether Trump will pursue such prosecutions. In
31:21
the twenty sixteen election, Trump supports chanted lock her up
31:25
about his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, but she was not
31:28
targeted once he took office. This time, however, Trump made
31:32
revenge and retribution a central theme of his campaign. Many
31:37
of his threats have been aimed at the January sixth Committee.
31:41
Everybody on that committee for what they did. Yeah, honestly,
31:45
they should go to jail, Trump told NBC News in December,
31:49
not long after winning election to a second term. In September,
31:53
Trump posted on Truth's Social when I win, those people
31:58
that cheated will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of
32:00
the law, which will include long term prison sentences, so
32:04
that this depravity of justice does not happen again. Trump's
32:09
associates have echoed those promises. The prosecutors will be prosecuted
32:14
the bad ones. Pambondy, Trump's pick for attorney general, said
32:17
on Fox News in twenty twenty three, shortly after Trump
32:21
was charged in his fourth criminal case, the investigators will
32:25
be investigated. Trump also promised to pardon those convicted of
32:29
offenses related to the capital attack. The convictions include charges
32:34
of seditious conspiracy, assaulting police officers, conspiracy to obstruct an
32:39
official proceeding, and lesser offenses. On Monday night, the new
32:43
president said he had pardoned nearly all of the defendants
32:47
and commuted the sentences of the remaining fourteen. During his
32:51
final weeks in office, Biden took a number of executive
32:54
actions with an eye to Trump's arrival. Many, however, can
32:58
be quickly undone by Trump. That is one reason Biden
33:02
focused on pardons and commutations, which cannot be reversed. In
33:06
his final weeks, he granted clemency to most federal death
33:09
row inmates and pardons to other federal prisoners. He also
33:13
gave his son Hunter a sweeping pardon, a controversial decision
33:17
that marked a reversal of his long standing pledge not
33:20
to use his presidential powers to protect his son, who
33:23
was found guilty of gun related charges in Delaware and
33:27
pleaded guilty to tax evasion in California. In addition to
33:31
protecting those named, Biden's pardons, Monday served as his final
33:35
effort to remind Americans that the man replacing him had
33:39
sought to overturn the results of the previous election and
33:42
to urge vigilance about what might lie ahead. Peter Hermann,
33:47
Dan Diamond, and Dan le Mouth contributed to this report.
33:52
Next Trump extends clemency to all involved in January sixth
33:56
riot by Spencer s Sue, Tom Jackman, Hannah Knowles, and
34:02
Clara and smrth. President Donald Trump granted a blanket pardon
34:06
Monday evening to virtually all January sixth, twenty twenty one
34:10
capital riot defendants and commuted the sentences of the remaining fourteen,
34:15
a sweeping move that gives some form of clemency to
34:18
all those charged or convicted in the riot. In one
34:22
of the earliest acts of his second term, Trump signed
34:25
a proclamation issuing a complete and unconditional pardon to all
34:29
but fourteen people convicted for any offenses related to the
34:33
attack at the Capitol. As his first term drew to
34:36
a close, he cut short the sentences for the other
34:39
fourteen nine members of the Oath Keepers and five members
34:42
of the Proud Boys. That means everyone prosecuted by the
34:46
Justice Department, from the plotters in prison for seditious conspiracy
34:51
and felons convicted of assaulting police officers to those who
34:54
merely trespass on the restricted grounds on January sixth, twenty
34:58
twenty one, would soon be released from incarceration if they
35:01
were still in federal custody. Trump ordered his Attorney general
35:06
to make sure that those who are currently held in
35:08
prison are released immediately, and also to dismiss all pending indictments.
35:13
We hope they come out tonight, frankly, Trump said as
35:16
he signed the order. The blanket action for the January
35:20
sixth defendants marked an extraordinary statement about one of the
35:23
most divisive chapters of recent US history. In recent days,
35:28
Vice President J. D. Vance, Attorney General nominee Pam Bondi,
35:32
and lawmakers including Senator Tom Tillis, Republican from North Carolina,
35:37
have strongly condemned rioters who attacked police, who account for
35:41
many of those spared the most time behind bars by Trump.
35:45
For many in Trump's space, the trials and punishments of
35:48
January sixth defendants have become a potent symbol of over
35:52
zealous prosecution by the Biden administration's Justice Department, even as
35:57
historians and elected officials not closely aligned with Trump orn
36:01
that mass pardons would amount to an endorsement of election
36:04
denihilism and the use of violence for political gain. By
36:09
pardoning and commuting the sentences of those who participated in
36:12
the January sixth insurrection, including violent organizers convicted of seditious conspiracy,
36:19
Trump has both legitimized the insurrection and signal to supporters
36:23
that there will be no price to pay for pro
36:25
Trump political violence. De cool Hammer, a Vanderbilt University professor
36:30
and the director of its Center for American Presidency, taking
36:35
such a defining action at the outset of his second
36:38
term will only fuel concern about the authoritarian tendencies of
36:42
the incoming administration. Hammer said Trump's move came hours after
36:47
President Joe Biden preemptively pardoned members of his family, members
36:52
of the House committee that investigated the capital attack, and
36:55
witnesses who testified to it from potential prosecutions by Trump's
36:59
adminsis stration. The dueling actions fed a split screen reality
37:04
facing Americans, even as polls show Americans oppose efforts to
37:08
further test democracy's limits. Outside the d C jail, as
37:13
word of pardons broke January sixth, defendants and their families
37:17
jumped in excitement. Defendants locked inside called into the celebration,
37:22
banking supporters waiting in the cold, to all the haters
37:26
out there, President Trump kept his word, said Greg Purdy,
37:29
twenty six, of New York, who faced a u S
37:32
request for a five year prison sentence next week after
37:35
jury found him guilty on six felony counts, including two
37:39
for assaulting police. They can't do anything now. This is
37:43
true freedom, added Brandon Fellows, He spoke outside after serving
37:47
three years in jail for entering the Capitol through a
37:50
broken window, smoking marijuana in his senator's office, heckling officers,
37:55
calling the mother of his probation officer and being found
37:58
in criminal contempt of court by a Trump appointed judge
38:01
and former Justice Department official who said he flagrantly lied
38:05
on the stand at trial. Core parts of Trump's space
38:10
made clear they want everyone accused in the right to
38:12
be cleared, with Joy Menarino, a packcast host with a
38:16
large social media following, calling for the defendants to be
38:19
honored as well. Not only should the JA sixers be
38:23
pardoned in mass blanket pardon, they should be given Presidential
38:26
Medals of Freedom for standing up when the country needed
38:29
fighters the most Menarino wrote on as this month, Yes,
38:33
the violent ones too. Trump had repeatedly promised the pardons
38:38
before and after voters returned him to the office in November,
38:42
but even late that month, Trump told magazine he would
38:45
take a case by case approach. Trump commuted the sentences
38:49
of fourteen members of the right wing Oath Keepers and
38:52
Proud Boys extremist groups, most of whom received long prison
38:56
terms for seditious conspiracy, including Oath Keepers leaders Stuart Roads.
39:01
Trump said he would still consider extending them pardons. Proud
39:05
Boys former chairman Henry and Lugue Tarrio did receive a pardon.
39:09
His lawyer said he was being released Monday night. We
39:13
have steadfastly maintained that the charges and the subsequent prosecution
39:17
were politically motivated, and to day, with President Trump's active clemency,
39:22
that long fought battle concludes, said Nayep Hassan, whose clients
39:26
served less than three years of a twenty two year
39:28
term for leading his far right groups plotting to battle
39:32
police and keep Trump in office after the twenty twenty election.
39:36
Tarrio's was the longest sentence handed down in the Capital
39:39
breach prosecutions. Earlier Monday, members of the Proud Boys returned
39:44
to march to the nation's capital, sending what extremism researchers
39:48
called a brazen message to other far right groups whose
39:52
streets our street. The group's members chanted, holding a banner
39:56
that said Proud Boys did nothing wrong. They Aaron Bolden,
40:00
said Heidi Bayerisch, a long time hate monitor who co
40:04
founded the non profit Global Project Against Hate and Extremism.
40:09
They're back, and I think it means that their ranks
40:12
are going to grow and were going to see them
40:14
involved in all kinds of pro Trump and other white
40:17
supremacist activity, and their slight has been cleaned overall. More
40:22
than one thousand, five hundred eighty defendants have been charged
40:26
and more than one thousand, two hundred seventy convicted in
40:30
the Capital Right investigation on charges ranging from misdemeanor parading
40:34
to seditious conspiracy. More than seven hundred of one thousand,
40:38
one hundred people sent in so far have received no
40:41
prison time or have completed their sentence, and they would
40:45
receive limited immediate impact from a Trump pardon, but about
40:49
four hundred others remain incarcerated, serving sentences after admitting they
40:53
committed the crimes they were charged with or being found
40:56
guilty by a jury or judge. About fifty teen people
41:00
remain held at the DC jail. Some are pending trial
41:04
or sentencing, others are waiting to be sent to prison
41:07
after being sentenced, and some have been returned for re
41:10
sentencing or probation violations. Officials said dozens of supporters waited
41:15
late into the night in freezing temperatures, expecting them to
41:19
walk free any minute. More than one hundred and forty
41:22
police officers were injured in the Capital attack, which grew
41:26
out of a rally at which Trump repeated his false
41:29
claims that he had defeated Joe Biden and the election
41:32
had been stolen from him. The breach of the Capitol
41:35
forced the evacuation lawmakers and Vice President Mike Pence from
41:39
a joint session of Congress, and delayed the certification of
41:43
the twenty twenty election results for hours. Participants carried weapons,
41:47
including firearms, chemical sprays, stun guns, axes, baseball bats, a sword,
41:53
and a hockey stick. A female rider was shot and
41:56
killed by police inside the Capitol, and one officers succumbed
42:00
to two strokes that were partly attributed to the stress
42:03
of the attack. Three people died as a result of
42:06
medical emergencies suffered during the riot. Four police officers later
42:11
died by suicide. About three hundred eighty seven riders were
42:15
charged with felony assault on police officers or others. At
42:19
least two hundred eighty nine others were charged with less
42:22
violent or non violent felony, including federal riding, property destruction, theft, obstruction,
42:29
or firearms violations. More than eight hundred people, just over
42:34
half of the total number of defendants, faced only misdemeanor
42:38
counts such as trespassing or disorderly conduct. Trump has embraced
42:43
the cause of those jailed or charged, meeting with some
42:45
relatives of the convicted, and lending his voice to a
42:48
recording of the J six prison choir singing Justice for All,
42:53
which he played to start the first rally of his
42:56
twenty twenty four presidential campaign, But several of his top
43:00
administration officials distanced themselves from his ultimate action, which police
43:05
leaders and advocates condemned. Vance drew backlash from activists this
43:09
month for seeming to rule out pardons for those who
43:12
attacked police or others. If you committed violence on that day,
43:16
obviously you shouldn't be pardoned, Vance said on Fox News.
43:21
Criticism from the right prompted Advance to defend himself on
43:24
acts and say that Trump expects to look at each case.
43:28
I assure you we care about people unjustly locked up.
43:32
Vance wrote, Yes, that includes people revoked, and it includes
43:36
people who got a garbage trial. Two thirds of Americans
43:40
opposed pardons for people convicted of crimes in the riot,
43:44
according to a Washington Post University of Maryland poll conducted
43:47
in early December. Although strong with jories of Republicans sixty
43:51
percent and Trump voters sixty nine percent approved of them.
43:56
A pardon is not an expungement of a conviction. The
44:00
charges remain on the books, but the person's sentence is commuted,
44:04
and restrictions on voting, gun ownership, and other privileges are eliminated.
44:09
Getting pardoned can help a person restore a security clearance
44:13
or remove a basis for deportation, or for a bank
44:17
to refuse financing. The heads of the FBI and Capitol
44:21
Police police officers injured on January sixth, and many lawmakers
44:25
who were in the Capitol that day have voiced strong
44:28
opposition to pardoning those who participated in the riot, especially
44:32
those who committed violence. In a statement Monday, the brother
44:36
of Capitol Police officer Brian D. Sicknick, who was pepper
44:40
sprayed in the riot and died of two strokes partly
44:42
attributed to the attack, condemned a blanket pardon and signed
44:46
a petition organized by the liberal group move On. Donald
44:51
Trump and his loyalists not only celebrate the deadly mob
44:54
that killed my brother, they are determined to pardon those responsible.
44:58
Craig sick Nick said it is a betrayal to not
45:01
only the families and loved ones of those who were
45:04
injured and killed, but all Americans. Michael Fanone, the former
45:09
DC police officer who was dragged into the mob, beaten, unconscious,
45:13
and threatened with being killed with his own gun during
45:16
the riot, received a pardon Monday from Biden. I think
45:20
it's leffed up that I live in a country where
45:23
a president feels that it's necessary to preemptively pardon a
45:26
police officer for testifying truthfully for what they experienced on
45:30
January sixth, to protect them from another president who incited
45:34
January sixth and is about to take office, Fenone said.
45:39
Asked about the possibility of pardons at her confirmation hearing
45:42
for Attorney General on Wednesday, Bondi said, the pardons, of
45:46
course fall under the president, but if asked to look
45:49
at those cases, I will look at each case and
45:52
advise on a case by case basis, just as I
45:55
did my entire career as a prosecutor. Bondi said, I
45:58
condemn any violence on a law enforcement officer in town
46:03
for inauguration events. Trump supporters and interviews often agreed that
46:07
the capital attack was overblown and not worth dwelling on,
46:10
but many said they did not think a pardon would
46:13
be appropriate for the most serious cases. Anybody who did
46:16
anything violent I don't care if there are Republican or
46:19
a Democrat, said Armand Baumann, sixty three from Maryland, who
46:23
attended Trump's Washington rally. They have to be prosecuted by
46:27
the law. Ellie Silverman, Peter Herman, Dan Rosenswig Ziff, Hannah Allum,
46:34
Marisa Lange, and Emily Davies contributed to this report. Our
46:40
final item from today's front page is entitled Executive Order
46:44
attempts to end birthright Citizenship by Nick Mirot, Marius Acchetti,
46:49
arelus R, Hernandez and Dan Lamouth. President Donald Trump directed
46:55
U S Government agencies to no longer issue citizenship documentation
46:59
to baby born in the United States to parents who
47:02
lack legal status, one of several immigration related orders he
47:06
signed in the Oval Office on Monday evening after his inauguration.
47:11
Trump's order seeks to reinterpret the fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution,
47:16
which grants citizenship to all people born on US soil,
47:20
a change legal scholars say is illegal and will be
47:23
quickly challenged in the courts. The birthright order was part
47:27
of a burst of immigration related directives aimed at undoing
47:31
Biden administration policies and wielding obscure presidential powers to launch
47:36
a broad crackdown along the border and across immigrant communities.
47:42
Trump said during his inaugural speech that he will invoke
47:45
the Alien Enemies Act of seventeen ninety eight, a wartime authority,
47:50
to deploy the full and immense power of federal and
47:53
state law enforcement to eradicate foreign gangs and criminals from
47:56
the United States. The Act has been deployed only three
48:00
times during conflicts, most recently during World War II, when
48:04
US officials forced one hundred twenty thousand Japanese Americans and
48:08
others to live in prison camps. I have no higher
48:12
responsibility than to defend our country from threats and invasions,
48:16
Trump said, we will do it at a level that
48:18
nobody has ever seen before. He declared a national emergency
48:23
at the southern border to restart border wall construction and
48:26
direct the armed forces to provide troops, detention, space, transportation,
48:31
including aircraft, and other services to boost border security. All
48:36
illegal entry will be halted, he said. Asylum seekers who
48:40
made appointments to come to the U. S border Monday
48:42
afternoon were blocked at international crossings after Trump officials halted
48:48
use of the c b P one mobile app, which
48:51
the Biden administration used as a scheduling tool. Trump also
48:55
ended all categorical parole programs that under President Joe Biden
48:59
allowed thirty thousand migrants per month to enter the country
49:02
via U S airports by passing the border for applicants
49:05
from Cuba, Venezuela, Haiti, and Nicaragua. Lawmakers gave Trump's agenda
49:11
an additional boost Monday evening, as a dozen Democratic senators
49:15
joined Republican to approve the Lake and Riley Act. The bill,
49:20
named for a Georgia nursing student whose murdered by a
49:22
Venezuelan migrant last year became a cause de leb for
49:25
a Trump's campaign, will require US authorities to jail immigrants
49:30
accused of minor property crimes such as shoplifting. The measure
49:34
is now headed to the House, where it is expected
49:36
to pass, and it will probably be the first piece
49:39
of legislation Trump signs into law. Trump said that the
49:44
armed forces have played a long and well established role
49:47
in security US borders, and he directed the Defense Secretary
49:51
to deliver a plan within ten days that assigns US
49:54
Northern Command, which oversees operations in North America, to seal
49:59
the borders and maintain the sovereignty, territorial integrity, and security
50:03
of the United States. Additional orders directed officials to restart
50:08
the Remain in Mexico policy of Trump's first term and
50:12
to designate drug cartels and gangs as foreign terrorist organizations.
50:16
Another order is suspended refugee admissions, a pause Trump officials
50:21
said will be in place for four months. Trump's rapid
50:24
fire decrees have been crafted to immediately put immigration advocates
50:28
and other opponents on their heels. His aids say they
50:32
view his November win as a mandate to order sweeping
50:35
changes to the US immigration system, and said their record
50:38
influx of unlawful crossings in the first three years of
50:41
the Biden administration demands bold action. But lawyers say they
50:45
have been preparing for months, and many stayed up late
50:48
Monday night to consider challenges to his orders on birthright,
50:52
citizenship and other issues. This is Hallmark Trump doing what
50:57
he wants, what he wants, how he wants. The U
51:00
the US Constitution be damned, said California Attorney General Rob Bonta,
51:05
a Democrat, in an interview Monday. That's not how it
51:09
works in our democracy. Trump officials provided few details Monday
51:14
about how the new policies would correspond with existing federal law,
51:18
international treaties, and ongoing federal litigation. An official also declined
51:24
to specify when US troops would be sent to the
51:26
southern border, how many will be involved, and the rules
51:30
of engagement for possible military activity against foreign drug cartels.
51:35
The officials said those details would be worked out by
51:37
the Secretaries of Defense and State. Attempt to end birthright citizenship.
51:43
The move to end birthright citizenship fulfills a goal long
51:47
held by conservative groups that say too many migrants are
51:50
crossing into the United States illegally to have US citizen children.
51:55
Trump's order would stop the State Department from issuing passports
51:59
and direct the Social Security Administration to no longer recognize
52:03
the babies as US citizens. The order will take effect
52:06
in the next thirty days. It is unclear how many
52:10
US born children of undocumented immigrants are in the United
52:13
States or born each year. About four point four million
52:17
US born children under eighteen were living with an undocumented
52:21
parent in twenty twenty two, according to the Pew Research Center.
52:25
At least one point four million adults have parents who
52:28
are undocumented. In twenty eighteen and twenty nineteen, Trump threatened
52:33
to sign an order revoking birthright citizenship, but he never did.
52:37
The Congressional Research Service said then that prevailing legal interpretations
52:42
held that children of undocumented immigrants are citizens, but the
52:47
Service cautioned that the Supreme Court has not firmly settled
52:50
the issue in the modern era sending troops to the border.
52:55
Defense Department officials held discussions last week that sought to
52:59
keep active duty forces out of any kind of law
53:02
enforcement role, a cultural and political land mine that senior
53:06
military officials have long been keen to avoid because of
53:10
the damage it could do to the U. S. Military
53:12
as an institution. Defense officials will follow legal orders from
53:17
the new president, according to one Pentagon official, but must
53:21
adhere to the Posse Coommatas Act, which limits the use
53:24
of active duty troops in domestic law enforcement. During his
53:28
first administration, Trump sought to invoke the Insurrection Act to
53:33
use active duty forces to help quell domestic unrest after
53:37
the police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Doing so
53:40
would allow the new Trump administration to use active duty
53:43
troops more broadly and would also be immediately controversial. Defense
53:49
officials have typically seen the invocation of the Insurrection Act
53:53
as a last resort, to be used only when other
53:56
options are insufficient. The law was last invoked by President
54:00
George H. W. Bush in nineteen ninety two to quell
54:03
riding in Los Angeles after the acquittal of police officers
54:07
who had been recorded beating Rodney King, shutting down asylum
54:11
program at southern border. Although illegal border crossings soar to
54:17
record levels during Biden's first three years in office, averaging
54:20
two million per year, his team eventually devised a system
54:24
of incentives and deterrence to encourage more migrants to seek
54:28
to enter the United States legally by expanding what it
54:31
called lawful pathways. Biden officials paired those measures with the
54:36
harshest crackdown along the border by any democratic administration in memory.
54:41
They worked with Mexican authorities to rest migrants traveling north
54:44
to the US border, and they issued rules essentially barring access
54:48
to the US immigration system for anyone who entered illegally.
54:53
Those policies produced dramatic results. In their final year of
54:56
Biden's term, illegal crossings at the US Mexasico border dropped
55:01
more than eighty percent. In twenty twenty four. Over the
55:04
past few weeks, the number of migrants taken into custody
55:08
along the border has fallen to roughly one thousand per day,
55:11
a level far lower than when Trump left office four
55:14
years ago. The Ladies' US Customs and Border Protection data
55:19
shows more migrants seeking to enter at official border crossings
55:23
known as ports of entry, than the number apprehended by
55:26
border patrol after crossing illegally. Among those seeking lawful entry
55:31
are the roughly one thousand, four hundred fifty people per
55:34
day who've been using the CBP one mobile app to
55:38
schedule an appointment to make a humanitarian claim. A notice
55:42
posted Monday to the agency's website said future appointments have
55:46
been canceled. The cancelations will effect about thirty thousand people,
55:51
according to two CBP officials not authorized to discuss the change.
55:56
Moments after Trump was worn in, migrants waiting for their
55:59
appointments on the order bridge between SIU dat Forrees and
56:02
Alpasso logged on to the app and saw the message
56:05
existing appointments are no longer valid, increasing deportations. During his speech,
56:12
Trump said his administration will launch a historic deportation campaign
56:17
and begin the process of returning millions and millions of
56:20
criminal aliens back to the places from which they came.
56:23
No government estimates have ever published such a number. Trump
56:27
aids said the president's mass deportation campaign would unfold nationwide,
56:32
targeting immigrants with criminal records and suspected gang ties. Both
56:37
categories have long been immigration and custom Enforcement's top priority,
56:42
but the officials said Trump's orders will once more give
56:45
officers broad discretion to arrest anyone living in the United
56:48
States illegally. Trump pledged to immediately deport millions of immigrants
56:53
when he took office in twenty seventeen, but he didn't
56:56
come close to that goal. Ice carried out two hundred
57:00
seventy one thousand deportations during the fiscal year that ended
57:03
September thirtieth, the highest total in a decade. Resuming Remain
57:08
in Mexico program, Trump created Migrant Protection Protocols MPP, known
57:14
as Remain in Mexico in January twenty nineteen, amid a
57:18
surge of migrants arriving at the US Mexico border without permission,
57:22
crowding border jails and thwarting his promises to limit migration.
57:27
The next year, migration plunged amid the global pandemic, though
57:31
Republican lawmakers have frequently credited MPP for regaining control over
57:35
the southern border. Biden considered the program in humane and
57:40
suspended it on his first day in office, but Republicans
57:43
fought in court to reinstate it, though their efforts failed
57:46
once Mexico refused to take Peogable back. The Department of
57:50
Homeland Security said the Biden administration had not enrolled any
57:54
new broader crossers in the program since August twenty twenty two,
57:58
and it gradually admitted those who are waiting their hearings
58:01
into the United States. On February sixth, twenty twenty three,
58:06
weeks after a federal judge in Texas ordered the Biden
58:09
administration to restart m p P, Mexco ended the debate
58:13
by announcing that it would no longer participate in the program. Unfortunately,
58:18
we will not be able to complete that item due
58:20
to the constraints of time. This concludes the reading of
58:24
the Washington Post for to day, Thursday, January twenty first,
58:28
twenty twenty five. Your reader has been Cindy Fraser. If
58:32
you have any questions, comments, or suggestions concerning this program,
58:36
please feel free to call US at eight five nine, four,
58:39
two two six three nine zero. Thank you for listening,
58:42
and now please stay tuned for continued programming on Radio
58:46
I