Jan 6 cops lambast Trump’s pardon plan as Congress looks to certify 2024 results without another riot: Live

The results of the 2024 election will be ratified on Monday, four years after the violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol

Trump makes unfounded claim hush money trial was ‘rigged’ after guilty verdict

Former police officers have been “devastated” by Donald Trump’s vow to pardon January 6 rioters, four years on from the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

On Monday, Trump’s sweeping victory will be ratified four years after supporters of the President-elect refused to accept the result of the 2020 election and began a violent insurrection.

Since then, almost 1,600 people have been charged in the riot, including more than 590 people charged with assaulting or impeding law enforcement, according to the FBI.

The President-elect has repeatedly vowed to pardon those convicted when he returns to the White House. "I’m going to be acting very quickly, first day," Trump said on NBC News’ “Meet the Press.”

In an op-ed published in The New York Times, Aquilino Gonell, a former sergeant in the Capitol Police, said a pardon “outrageous mistake,” that could put him and other law enforcement officers in danger.

“I remain haunted by that day. Now Mr. Trump’s promised actions could erase the justice we’ve risked everything for,” he said. “Releasing those who assaulted us from blame would be a desecration of justice. If Mr. Trump wants to heal our divided nation, he’ll let their convictions stand.”

Key Points

• Trump celebrates ally who pressured Mike Pence to not certify 2020 election at Mar-a-Lago
• Elon Musk says Reform needs new leader and Nigel Farage ‘doesn’t have what it takes’
• Donald Trump met with Italian PM
• The president-elect appears to already be testing the unity of his party in Congress
• Michael J Fox cheered at White House as he steps forward to receive Medal of Freedom from Biden

[5 January 2025 21:00 · David Maddox]

When egos collide: Trump could be next after angry Musk turns on Farage

There is an old Asian proverb which goes along the lines of: “He who rides the tiger must beware lest he end up inside.” Nigel Farage might be reflecting on that after his spectacular fall-out with the world’s richest man on an otherwise quiet Sunday.

Making an ally of X (Twitter) owner Elon Musk with his vast wealth and enormous influence was always going to be too tempting to refuse for a man who, for the first time in his political career, feels like he has a sniff of actually winning power.

The power of a giant social media platform and the possibility of $100m in funds seemed to be a surefire way of getting a shortcut to turning British politics on its head again, after doing it once already with Brexit.

[5 January 2025 20:30 · Katie Hawkinson]

Laura Loomer chimes in on Musk/Farage feud

Laura Loomer has chimed in on the feud between Elon Musk and Nigel Farage, after the billionaire called for him to step down as leader of the Reform Party.

The apparent feud comes after Farage did not back Musk in calling for the release of jailed far-right political activist Tommy Robinson.

“President Trump is friends with @Nigel_Farage, @elonmusk,” Loomer wrote on X. “Trump loves Nigel. You can support @Nigel_Farage and also support Tommy Robinson. I know both of them. Tommy is a close friend.”

[5 January 2025 20:00 · Io Dodds]

ICYMI: What happens if the US bans TikTok?

With every passing day, the US government inches closer to doing something unprecedented: banning a social media app used by an estimated 170 million Americans each month.

But what would happen next?

Find out below:

[5 January 2025 19:30 · John Kampfner]

Musk’s support for the far right in Germany is part of a bigger plan that threatens eight decades of progress

As Germans headed into a year gripped by foreboding, I was reminded of an episode a decade ago that struck me then as absurd, and that now makes me marvel at its prescience.

I was chairing a conference about the internet in Berlin, sponsored by Google, when one of the participants suggested that the German government should establish a public internet company. Silicon Valley, she proffered earnestly, was the preserve of the American super-rich and could not be trusted to tell the truth or preserve democracy.

I scoffed at the idea, though I was too polite to say so. Half of her analysis was, and still is, impossibly quaint and ridiculous. The notion of the state being relied upon to provide an online platform for comment and information – in the very country of Goebbels and the Stasi – stretches credulity. But I must admit that the speaker foresaw the malignancy of the likes of Elon Musk far earlier than I, or anyone I know, ever did.

Keep reading:

[5 January 2025 19:00 · Associated Press]

Melania documentary to be screened by Amazon in latest Trump connection with Jeff Bezos

Incoming first lady Melania Trump will be the subject of a new documentary directed by Brett Ratner and distributed by Amazon Prime Video.

The streaming arm of the tech giant got exclusive licensing rights for a streaming and theatrical release later this year, the company said Sunday.

[5 January 2025 18:30 · Katie Hawkinson]

Republican Senator says Mike Johnson wouldn’t be speaker without Trump’s support

Republican Senator Jim Banks revealed he believes Speaker Mike Johnson wouldn’t have won his leadership role without President-elect Donald Trump’s support.

“Donald Trump weighed in in support of Mike Johnson. I don’t think Mike Johnson would be Speaker of the House this morning if Donald Trump wouldn’t have weighed in last week, spent political capital helping him get elected on one vote,” Banks told CNN on Sunday.

“And to me, that’s a positive sign that House Republicans are unified behind Donald Trump, the Trump agenda,” he added.

[5 January 2025 18:00 · John Bowden]

Chuck Schumer denies his party ‘misled’ Americans about Biden’s decline

Chuck Schumer denied on Sunday that his party misled the public about the extent of Joe Biden’s decline as presidential insiders tell news publications that the lame-duck president still believes he could have won the 2024 election.

The leader of the Senate Democratic caucus, now in the minority in the upper chamber, sat down with NBC’s Meet the Press and spoke about the incumbent president’s legacy in an interview on Sunday.

Keep reading:

[5 January 2025 17:30 · Josh Marcus]

MAGA-world in meltdown after George Soros awarded the Medal of Freedom

Conservative commentators were outragedafter the Biden administration gave billionaire investor and Democratic mega-donor George Soros the Medal of Freedom.

Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon called on the incoming Trump administration to rescind the medal, the nation’s highest civilian honor.

“Send a team to track down Soros and take the medal back,” Bannon said on his War Room podcast. “It is a disgrace that a demonic individual like that—who has been going out of his way to try to destroy this country, to mock this constitutional republic, which he hates and has dedicated his life to destroying—that we would be presenting him, awarding him, the highest civilian honor that you can give.”

[5 January 2025 17:00 · Alex Hannaford]

Trump has two years to cause real chaos and harm and only these people will be able to stop him

After he was elected president of the United States for the second time in November, Donald Trump’s announcements of his nominees to head-up his various government departments have caused more than a few eye rolls across America.

And with just a few weeks to go, people are bracing themselves for the potential chaos the new personnel could bring.

Keep reading:

[5 January 2025 16:30 · Archie Mitchell, David Maddox]

Elon Musk says Reform needs new leader and Nigel Farage ‘doesn’t have what it takes’

Elon Musk has suggested that Reform UK needs to replace Nigel Farage with a new leader amid a row between the pair over jailed political activist Tommy Robinson.

The Tesla tycoon said Mr Farage, who founded the party and is credited with its recent surge in the polls, “does not have what it takes”.

His call for change comes as a bitter blow after days of Mr Farage fawning over the world’s richest man, describing him as “a hero” and claiming he makes Reform “look cool”.

Keep reading: