Thursday, December 12, 2024

More pardons from Biden

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On Politics

Thu Dec 12 2024

Rebecca Morin | Senior National News Reporter

@RebeccaMorin_

Happy Holidays! It's Rebecca Morin, senior national news reporter at USA TODAY. I'll be spending the holidays in Texas! Programming note: Starting next week, the newsletter will be on vacation (as will I!) for a few weeks. You can expect some guest or special editions for any breaking news.

Biden commutes nearly 1,500 sentences and pardons 39 people

Less than two weeks after President Joe Biden gave his son, Hunter, a "full and unconditional" pardon, the president announced he is commuting the sentences of nearly 1,500 people who were placed on home confinement during the COVID pandemic and pardoning 39 others convicted of nonviolent crimes. The move is the largest single-day act of clemency in modern history, the White House said. Read more.

•	Who did President Biden pardon? See the full list of names.
•	What's the difference between a pardon and commutation of sentence?
•	Some of Biden's allies are preparing for retribution from President-elect Donald Trump, and would accept a preemptive pardon from Biden. Rep. Bennie Thompson says he'd take a Biden pardon after Trump's Jan. 6 jail threat.
•	Trump is already planning his own pardons once he takes office next year. Watch what we know about what Trump pardons to Jan. 6 rioters could do for the far-right.

Trump named Time magazine Person of the Year

We're in the Age of Trump. Despite two impeachments, four indictments and losing the 2020 election, Donald Trump's political comeback is lauded as a remarkable moment in American history. And Trump's good fortune is continuing after Time magazine announced him as the winner of Person of the Year. Read more.

•	Time magazine's Person of the Year: Iconic covers show historical leaders of our time

Trump rings open the stock exchange

Donald Trump for the first time rang the stock exchange bell, a symbolic ritual that is often designated to celebrities and visiting dignitaries.

President-elect Donald Trump rings the opening bell on the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange on Dec.12, 2024 in New York City. Trump was invited to the Exchange after being named TIME's "Person of the Year" for the second time.

Spencer Platt, Getty Images

A politics pit stop

•	Zooey Zephyr, a Montana lawmaker, on trans rights and the fight to use the bathroom
•	Trump Organization plans a Trump Tower in Saudi Arabia, Eric Trump says
•	Watch: Secretary of State Antony Blinken heckled during Afghanistan withdrawal hearing
•	American Travis Timmerman found in Syria prison months after going missing
•	Meta donates $1 million to Trump inauguration as Zuckerberg mends fences
•	House passes defense bill with controversial provision on transgender healthcare

How Trump's years of feuding with FBI Director Christopher Wray led to Wray's resignation

Trump called Christopher Wray "a model of integrity" when he first appointed him FBI director seven years ago. But in the years since, the now-president-elect has soured on the nation's top law enforcement official — especially for overseeing investigations into Trump allegedly trying to overturn the 2020 election. Here's a list of key events in the fraught relationship between Trump and Wray. Read more.

Kari Lake called reporters 'monsters.' Now she'll lead Voice of America

Arizona firebrand Kari Lake has derided news media as "fake news" and has called reporters "monsters" during a 2022 campaign stop. Now, she will serve as the next director of the Voice of America to help counter the news media's portrayal of America and its values, Trump announced. Read more.

Got a burning question, or comment, for On Politics? You can submit them here or send me an email at rdmorin@usatoday.com.