(WASHINGTON) — After nine public hearings and interviews with hundreds of witnesses, the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol released its final report late Thursday night.
The 814-page volume is divided into eight chapters: The Big Lie; “I just want to find 11,780 votes”; Fake electors and the “President of the Senate strategy”; “Just call it corrupt and leave the rest to me”; A coup in search of a legal theory; “Be there, will be wild”; 187 minutes of dereliction; and Analysis of the attack.
Among its recommendations, the committee said that “Congressional committees of jurisdiction should consider creating a formal mechanism for evaluating whether to bar those individuals identified in this Report [including former President Donald Trump] … from holding future federal or state office.”
Earlier this week, the committee referred former President Donald Trump and others to the Justice Department for “possible prosecution under 18 U.S.C. 2383, including for assisting and providing aid and comfort to an insurrection,” as described in the report.
In the two months between the November election and the Jan. 6 attack, the report says that Trump and members of his inner circle engaged in at least 200 apparent acts of public or private outreach, pressure, or condemnation — targeting either state legislators or state or local election administrators — in an effort to overturn states’ election results.
All told, the Trump campaign contacted, or attempted to contact, nearly 200 state legislators from battleground states between Nov. 30, 2020, and Dec. 3, 2020, to solicit backing for possible statehouse resolutions to overturn the election, the report said. At least some messages said they were “on behalf of the president.”
In addition, nearly 300 state legislators from battleground states reportedly participated in a private briefing with Trump, attorneys Rudy Giuliani and John Eastman, and others, on Jan. 2, in which Trump reportedly urged them to exercise what he called “the real power” to choose electoral votes before Jan. 6, because, said Trump on the call, “I don’t think the country is going to take it,” the report said.
The committee also reported that, in the year leading up to the Jan. 6 attack, there were at least nine incidents in which far-right protesters entered state capitols, and that at least four of these capitol incursions — in Michigan, Idaho, Arizona and Oregon — involved identifiable individuals who later participated in the attack on the U.S. Capitol.
The report said that a week before the attack, “in a December 29th text to [Trump campaign fundraiser Caroline] Wren, [former Trump staffer Justin] Caporale wrote that after the President’s planned speech there ‘maybe [sic] a call to action to march to the [C]apitol and make noise.'” The committee said this was the earliest indication they uncovered that the president planned to call on his supporters to march on the Capitol.
The report also said that after Trump, speaking to supporters on the Ellipse, called on the crowd to “take back our country” and “walk down Pennsylvania Avenue,” the Secret Service deployed a last-minute response team “to filter in with the crowds” in the event that the president made his way to the Capitol, and to establish an emergency plan “if things go south.”
The Secret Service did not immediately respond to an inquiry from ABC News about what presence agents might have had in the crowd.
Prior to the final report’s release, the committee on Monday released a 160-page summary with an overview of its findings, which identified Trump as the “central cause” of the Jan. 6 attack.
The summary of the report presented the committee’s conclusions as 17 findings, including that Trump knew his actions “would be illegal” when he pressured then-Vice President Mike Pence to “refuse to count electoral votes”; that Trump “unlawfully” pressured state officials and legislatures to overturn the election; that he “oversaw an effort to obtain and transmit false electoral certificates to Congress and the National Archives”; and that he never ordered the deployment of the National Guard once the attack was underway.
Jan. 6 committee Chairman Bennie Thompson had initially said the committee would be releasing the final report Wednesday, but the panel released a statement Wednesday afternoon saying the report’s release would be delayed until Thursday.
Instead, the committee on Wednesday released the interview transcripts of 34 witnesses who were interviewed as part of the sprawling 17-month probe.
Among those witnesses whose testimony was released were Trump’s one-time national security adviser Michael Flynn, Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio, Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes, Infowars host Alex Jones, onetime Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone, and Trump-backed attorneys John Eastman and Jenna Ellis.
Most of the transcripts contained responses from the witnesses invoking their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
The panel on Monday said it would make multiple criminal referrals to the Department of Justice on at least four charges against Trump in connection to his actions surrounding the riot at the Capitol.
The committee said it would also be referring Eastman, who drafted a plan for Trump to cling to power by falsely claiming Pence could reject legitimate electors during the Jan. 6 certification of the vote, to the DOJ on multiple charges.
The referrals, however, are viewed as largely symbolic. The DOJ is not obligated to act on them, and the department has been conducting its own investigation into the events of Jan. 6.
The committee also said at least four sitting Republican members of Congress would be referred to the House Ethics Committee for “appropriate sanction,” including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Rep Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, Rep Scott Perry, R-PA, and Rep Andy Biggs, R-Ariz.
Trump has dismissed the work of the committee, mocking it as the “Unselect Committee” and calling it a “political Witch Hunt.”
(WASHINGTON) — The abortion landscape of the United States has changed dramatically since Roe v. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court six months ago.
The decision to reverse Roe, which guaranteed a constitutional right to abortion care, means states now choose how much access residents have to abortion.
Some states either had so-called trigger laws go into effect or laws that pre-dated Roe that were enforced following the court’s decision.
Meanwhile, some other states enacted laws that strengthened abortion rights or rejected ballot initiatives that would have further restricted access to the procedure. And then there were states did neither.
“Both those legal changes happened, and we went to this patchwork,” Katie Watson, an associate professor of medical social sciences, medical education, and obstetrics & gynecology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, told ABC News. “And states took different positions and it’s still in flux six months later.”
Abortion care nearly ceased in at least 14 states
Since Roe was overturned, at least 14 states have nearly ceased all abortion services.
According to the Guttmacher Institute, Alabama, Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia have completely banned abortion with limited exceptions.
Additionally, in Wisconsin, abortion services have stopped “due to legal uncertainty around the status of the state’s pre-Roe ban,” the Guttmacher Institute states.
Wisconsin has a 20-week ban but also a pre-Roe abortion ban on the books that could go into effect now that Roe has been overturned. Georgia also has a six-week ban in place.
Additionally, Florida has a 15-week ban in effect. Arizona also has a 15-week ban, but it won’t be enforced until 2023.
Meanwhile, in Indiana, North Dakota, Ohio, Utah and Wyoming, abortion bans were passed, but are currently being blocked while legal action proceeds.
Over a dozen states work to protect abortion access
While many states enacted abortion restrictions following the overturning of Roe v. Wade, multiple states adopted protections for and committed funding to abortion access.
States including California, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York and Oregon committed over $250 million collectively to abortion funding over the past year, according to Guttmacher.
Other efforts to protect abortion access included new laws to improve abortion access in four states — Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York — to increase security for providers and patients accessing abortion care.
According to Guttmacher, 14 states adopted so-called shield laws designed to shield people who travel across states lines to receive an abortion and the providers who care for those patients. This means they can’t be charged for receiving an abortion out-of-state.
Voters go to the polls to vote on abortion access
The fall of Roe v. Wade raised the stakes for the 2022 midterm election in November, as multiple states had abortion-related questions on the ballot.
Kansas voters decisively rejected a bid to remove abortion protections from its state constitution.
The vote came after the state’s Supreme Court decided in 2019 that the Kansas constitution establishes a fundamental right to abortion.
The Kansas vote was the first state-level test after the Supreme Court voted to overturn Roe v. Wade.
In California, voters decided to amend the state constitution to prohibit the state from denying or interfering with a person’s “reproductive freedom.” Voters also accepted lawmakers’ proposal to protect the fundamental right to choose to get an abortion or use contraceptives.
Currently, abortion is legal up until viability in California, which is about 24 to 26 weeks gestation, according to the Guttmacher Institute.
In Vermont, voters approved amending the state’s constitution to include a right to “personal reproductive autonomy,” which includes abortion. Although it is currently legal in Vermont at any stage of pregnancy, the state’s constitution did not grant explicit protections for the right to abortion prior to the acceptance of the amendment.
Michigan voters meanwhile approved a constitutional amendment that would add protections for reproductive rights. The amendment defines reproductive freedom as “the right to make and effectuate decisions about all matters relating to pregnancy, including but not limited to prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, contraception, sterilization, abortion care, miscarriage management and infertility care.”
A state abortion ban on the books in Michigan since 1931 is being challenged in state courts, but a state judge ruled in September that the ban is unconstitutional, barring its enforcement by the state’s attorney general and state prosecutors.
In Kentucky, voters rejected an amendment to the state’s constitution that specified the right to abortion does not exist, nor is the government required to allocate funding for abortion.
Abortion is currently banned in the state after a trigger law went into effect when Roe was overturned. Arguments against the ban will soon be heard in the Kentucky Supreme Court, something the amendment would have prevented.
Montana voters rejected a proposal to change the state constitution to define all fetuses “born alive” as legal persons, including those born after an attempted abortion. The proposal would have granted any fetus born alive the right to appropriate and reasonable medical care and treatment.
Montana state courts have blocked three abortion bans passed last year from going into effect while litigation continues.
Patients travel further to seek abortion care
Dr. Beverly Gray, an obstetrician and gynecologist at Duke Health in Durham, North Carolina, told ABC News that ever since Roe was overturned, there has been an increase in patients, both locally and from out-of-state.
“With Florida having a 15-week ban, Georgia and Tennessee having fairly strict bans, and then South Carolina kind of going back and forth with bans, patients ended up coming to North Carolina for care,” she said. “We’re seeing a handful of patients almost every day in clinic that are traveling for care.”
“I think it’s really scary for patients who might find themselves in a situation that they weren’t expecting and needing care and their providers may not be able to provide evidence-based care because of laws that are now in place,” she continued.
Gray said she has seen a “sustained increase” in the number of patients seeking abortions in North Carolina after the Supreme Court decision, and that a significant number of them have come from neighboring states with strict abortion restrictions.
“When South Carolina had their strict ban in place, there were like six or seven weeks this summer we had a fairly high volume and then when Georgia law went into effect,” she said.
Having this increase can be logistically challenging, Gray said. North Carolina has a 72-hour waiting period before an abortion can be performed and providers are required to read a mandatory counseling script from the state, which includes information about public and private services available during pregnancy and possible adverse effects of abortion and pregnancy.
Critics say the script is a fear tactic to shame and scare people out of having abortions.
“So, there’s a lot of … logistics and requirements that have to be in place before people can get here, so it requires a lot of coordination,” Gray said. “We have someone who pretty much deals with … phone calls and logistics most day, every day that we’re in clinic.”
Clinics closing down or moving across state lines
Following the Supreme Court’s decision, several abortion clinics were forced to either shut down or move their practices out of state.
The Red River Women’s Clinic moved from Fargo, North Dakota, to Moorhead, Minnesota — a mile-and-a-half away — after Roe’s overturn due to the legal battles currently being waged in North Dakota, although abortion is still legal in the state.
Since opening on Aug.10, Tammi Kromenaker, director of RRWC, told ABC News it was bittersweet to move but they’ve found a rhythm.
“We’re providing care to patients in North Dakota, South Dakota, northwestern Minnesota; we have had a couple of gals from Texas come, like two,” she said. “We’re still able to see people in a very short amount of time, I feel like we’ve just like hit — I don’t want to call it ‘normal’ — but we’re back to seeing patients that we used to see in Fargo.”
She said the difference in political climate between North Dakota and Minnesota offers more freedom with abortion care.
“It’s so indescribable that we can just make an appointment with a person without having to go through telling them very stigmatizing awful language that the state made us used to say in North Dakota,” Kromenaker said. “Literally just being five minutes away, it’s the same community, but it’s such a stark contrast between the two states.”
Although Kromenaker and her colleagues are currently fighting legal battles in the state to prevent abortion bans from going into effect, she said she’s not sure if the clinic would ever move back or if she would open a second clinic in the Peace Garden State.
“There are so many onerous restrictions on providers in North Dakota, that unless or until those are taken away — I mean, we had to tell patients 24 hours ahead of time, ‘Abortion terminates the life of a whole separate unique living human being.’ We had to force materials from the state on women, they couldn’t refuse it, they had to receive it. We were restricted in our medication abortion regimen,” she explained.
“I need to see those … things go away before we would think about going back and providing care there. And I just don’t see, with the way North Dakota is right now, that happening for quite some time,” she added.
ABC News’ Nadine El-Bawab and Alexandra Svokos contributed to this report.
(PHOENIX) — Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey has agreed to deconstruct the makeshift border wall his administration has been building out of shipping containers for several months.
Court records show the governor and federal officials reached an agreement to “remove all previously installed shipping containers and associated equipment, materials, vehicles, and other objects from the United States’ properties in the U.S. Border Patrol Yuma Sector, including from lands over which the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation holds an easement on the Cocopah Indian Tribe’s West Reservation.”
Last week, the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Ducey, accusing him of illegally placing the containers on federal land.
“Not only has Arizona refused to halt its trespasses and remove the shipping containers from federal lands, but it has indicated that it will continue to trespass on federal lands and install additional shipping containers,” the DOJ said in a filing.
Since August, Ducey has spent $82 million in his efforts to fill gaps in the border barrier with containers. To date, he has covered approximately 1,800 feet — or 182 containers — in the Yuma, Arizona, region and about 3.5 miles in Cochise County with 982 containers, a spokesperson for the governor said.
Ducey, a Republican, agreed to remove the containers by Jan. 4, the court records show. Incoming Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, will be sworn in on Jan. 5.
In an October letter obtained by ABC News, Coronado National Forest Supervisor Kerwin Dewberry had warned Ducey that he was placing containers on National Forest System (NFS) lands.
“The Forest Service did not authorize this occupancy and use,” Dewberry wrote then, urging Ducey to obtain a permit before continuing the work.
Court records show Arizona officials will now be having a discussion with the U.S. Forest Service “within one week” about safely removing containers and equipment from NFS land to “avoid and minimize damage to United States’ lands, properties, and natural resources or disruption to federal actions or activities within the Coronado National Forest.”
In a statement, Ducey spokesperson C.J. Karamargin said he reached an agreement because the federal government was taking steps to fill those gaps, though not with shipping containers.
“For more than a year, the federal government has been touting their effort to resume construction of a permanent border barrier. Finally, after the situation on our border has turned into a full blown crisis, they’ve decided to act. Better late than never. We’re working with the federal government to ensure they can begin construction of this barrier with the urgency this problem demands,” Karamargin said. (The DOJ has not responded to ABC News’ request for comment.)
Before the lawsuit was filed, the Bureau of Reclamation had warned Ducey that he was building his wall in areas where the Department of Homeland Security was already intending to erect a border barrier.
Ducey launched his own lawsuit against the federal government in October, seeking to affirm his right to build the wall.
“Our border communities are overwhelmed by illegal activity as a result of the Biden administration’s failure to secure the southern border,” he said in a statement announcing his suit.
Officials with the Cocopah Indian Tribe told ABC News in October that they welcomed any challenge to the governor’s efforts to place containers along the border in tribal lands, noting that a crucial emergency access road was being partially blocked by the construction.
The tribe often collaborates with U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents to help mitigate the flow of unauthorized migrants through their land and help get aid to migrants in distress.
Cocopah Public Safety Director Paul De Anda previously said the containers have “compromised our mission.”
“The containers have been placed on adjacent property and they’ve partially blocked one of the main thoroughfares that can be used as an exit and entrance,” he has said. “Not only that, it makes it more difficult for ambulances and rescue equipment to get in when we find sick and injured along the border crossing.”
The Center for Biological Diversity filed a notice of intent to sue over the wall, claiming Ducey was disrupting a crucial movement corridor for endangered jaguars and ocelots in the region.
“Gov. Doug Ducey’s efforts over the last two months to dump shipping containers at the border are dangerous and illegal. He wasted millions of dollars of taxpayer money for this political stunt. But we are extremely happy that he has finally agreed to clean up his mess and remove his boxcar wall,” Russ McSpadden, Southwest conservation advocate with Center for Biological Diversity, previously said. “The state must also restore the damage it caused to public lands, Cocopah tribal land, the watershed of the San Pedro River and this important wildlife corridor. We’ll continue to monitor the situation, and we’ll weigh our legal options should Gov. Ducey fail to adhere to his promises.”
(WASHINGTON) — The Senate on Thursday reached a last-minute deal on a sprawling $1.7 trillion package to keep the government funded through the next fiscal year — and send more aid to Ukraine — while getting one step closer to averting a shutdown just before Christmas.
The chamber voted 68-29 to pass the omnibus spending bill after speeding through votes on 17 amendments. Eighteen Republicans joined Democrats in approving the bill that would keep federal agencies operational through Sept. 30, 2023.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, in a news conference after the vote, said it took “a lot of hard work, a lot of compromise, but we funded the government with an aggressive investment in American families, American workers, American national defense.”
“It is one of the most significant appropriations packages we’ve done in a really long time,” Schumer said.
The legislation will now go to the House for approval before making its way to President Joe Biden’s desk.
The administration has signed off on the package despite it not including everything White House officials requested, such as more COVID-19 funding.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., had said at her weekly press conference that the “hope” was the House could pass the bill on Thursday night but noted it takes several hours for it to pass between chambers.
But later Thursday, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said the chamber will vote on the omnibus bill Friday, giving members enough time to go through the text. The House will reconvene as early as 9 a.m. ET.
Lawmakers have been scrambling to get the bill across the finish line both before Friday’s midnight deadline and before a powerful winter storm unleashes blizzard conditions and severe cold, making their travel home difficult.
The legislation includes disaster relief, medical services for military veterans, a ban of the use of TikTok on government-issued devices and reforms to the Electoral Count Act to avoid a repeat of the Jan. 6 attack.
Also included is $45 billion in humanitarian, economic and security assistance for Ukraine amid Russia’s ongoing invasion. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a historic visit to Washington on Wednesday to make the case for continued aid, amid some calls from Republicans for more oversight, telling U.S. lawmakers the money “isn’t charity.”
“It’s an investment in the global security and democracy that we handle in the most responsible way,” Zelenskyy said.
How the deal happened
Schumer announced Thursday morning an agreement had been struck to expedite the process of passing the omnibus spending bill.
“I would say that the omnibus was an appropriate metaphor for the last two years … a lot of ups and downs but in the end a great result that really helped the American people,” Schumer said after the bill was passed.
Negotiations had hit a snag over an amendment from Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, that would have reinstated Title 42 — the Trump-era order used to rapidly expel migrants since the early days of the COVID-19 outbreak on the basis of public health concerns.
A federal judge had ordered Title 42 to expire earlier this week, but Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts temporarily paused that ruling as the justices considers a request from Republican-led states to keep the policy in place.
Enough Democratic senators supported Lee’s Title 42 amendment that it likely would have passed — and doomed the whole bill to fail in the House, where the amendment doesn’t have the same backing.
To push the legislation forward, Democratic leadership crafted a workaround by voting on two amendments related to Title 42. One brought forward by Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Ariz., and Montana Democratic Sen. Jon Tester would’ve preserved Title 42 but included money for humanitarian assistance and border security and required 60 votes to pass.
The other, brought forward by Lee, required 51 votes to pass.
Neither Title 42-related amendment passed.
But several of the other proposed amendments did pass and will be included in the version of the omnibus bill being sent to the House.
Those amendments include the PUMP Act, which expands breastfeeding accommodations in the workplace, and the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which ensures people with limitations related to pregnancy or childbirth are not forced out of the workplace.
Senators also approved an amendment that will allow states and local jurisdictions to repurpose COVID-19 relief money for infrastructure, disaster relief or other issues.
A measure known as 9/11 Responder and Survivor Health Funding Correction Act that funds a shortfall in the 9/11 first responder fund called the World Trade Center Healthcare Program was also passed as an amendment to the omnibus bill, as was a bill to authorize $2.7 billion in compensation payments to the families of victims of the 9/11 terror attacks, the Beirut Marine barracks bombing and all victims of terrorism.
ABC News’ Lauren Peller contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden delivered what the White House called a “Christmas address” Thursday afternoon where he emphasized unity, reflection and kindness as 2022 comes to end.
Biden said he hopes “this holiday season will drain the poison that has infected our politics and set us against one another” and mark “a fresh start for our nation — because there’s so much that unites us as Americans, so much more that unites us than divides us.”
“Our politics has gotten so angry, so mean, so partisan, and too often we see each other as enemies, not as neighbors, as Democrats or Republicans, not as fellow Americans. We have become too divided,” he said. “But as tough as these times have been, if we look a little closer, we see bright spots all across the country. The strength and determination, the resilience that’s long defined America. We’re surely making progress.”
“Things are getting better. COVID no longer controls our lives. Our kids are back in school. People are back to work,” he continued. “So, my hope this Christmas season is that we take a few moments of quiet reflection, find that stillness in the heart of Christmas, that’s at the heart of Christmas, and look, really look at each other not as Democrats or Republicans, not as members of Team Red or Team Blue, but as who we really are.”
Biden acknowledged the holidays can be a time of “great pain and terrible loneliness” for many Americans, reminding that 50 years ago this week he lost his first wife, Neilia, and infant daughter, Naomi, in a car accident while his family was out shopping for a Christmas tree.
“Here’s what I learned long ago: No one can ever know what someone else is going through,” he said. “That’s why sometimes the smallest act of kindness can mean so much. A simple smile. A hug. An unexpected phone call. A quiet cup of coffee. Simple acts of kindness that can lift a spirit, provide comfort, and perhaps, maybe even save a life.”
The speech was teased as focusing “on what unites us as Americans, his optimism for the year ahead, and wishing Americans joy in the coming year,” the White House said.
“We are truly blessed to live in this nation. And I truly hope we take the time to look out for one another — not at one another — look out for one another,” Biden said. “So this Christmas, let’s spread a little kindness,” he added.
Biden’s address follows a powerful address from Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Congress where the wartime leader invoked the Battle of the Bulge at Christmastime during World War II and reminded Americans of shared values during the holidays as Russian continues its violent invasion of Ukraine.
“Just like the brave American soldiers which held their lines and fought back Hitler’s forces during the Christmas of 1944, brave Ukrainian soldiers are doing the same to Putin’s forces this Christmas,” Zelenskyy said.
“Ladies and gentlemen, Americans, in two days we will celebrate Christmas. Maybe candlelit. Not because it’s more romantic, no, but because there will not be, there will be no electricity,” he continued. “We’ll celebrate Christmas. Celebrate Christmas and, even if there is no electricity, the light of our faith in ourselves will not be put out.”
The speech has drawn comparisons to Winston Churchill’s address to Congress 81 years ago — seeking U.S. help to repel the German invasion of Europe.
“On this special Christmastime, I want to thank you, all of you. I thank every American family which cherishes the warmth of its home and wishes the same warmth to other people,” Zelenskyy said.
Biden’s remarks Thursday also came as Senate lawmakers reach a deal on the massive $1.7 trillion government funding bill, which includes $45 billion to Ukraine. That funding has faced resistance from House Republicans, days before they take control of the chamber.
The president spoke earlier in the day from the Oval Office with a warning on “dangerous” winter weather conditions impacting the country and encouraged anyone planning on traveling for the holidays to “leave now” before it gets worse.
(WASHINGTON) — In February, former newspaper executive Kenneth Kurson pleaded guilty to cyberstalking his ex-wife. Months later, rapper Kodak Black was arrested on felony drug charges in Florida before pleading not guilty. And in October, jurors found political operative Jesse Benton guilty of illegally funneling Russian money into a group aligned with former President Donald Trump.
The trio’s circumstances may seem unrelated, but they share one notable link: All were previously granted clemency by Trump while he was in office.
And the list doesn’t end there.
An ABC News analysis of the 238 people who were pardoned or had their sentences commuted during the Trump administration found at least 10 who have since faced legal scrutiny — either because they are under investigation, are charged with a crime, or are already convicted.
Legal experts call this recurring theme unprecedented — but not entirely unexpected, given the former president’s unorthodox approach to the pardon process.
“President Trump bypassed the formal and orderly Justice Department process in favor of an informal and fairly chaotic White House operation, relying in some cases on his personal views and in others on recommendations from people he knew or who gained access to him in various ways,” said Margaret Love, a lawyer who represents clients seeking pardons and a former U.S. Pardon Attorney, a Justice Department appointee who helps advise presidents on grants of clemency.
“So it might have been predicted,” said Love, “that some who made it through that lax gauntlet were going to get in trouble again.”
Friends and allies
Those pardoned by Trump during his term in office included dozens of friends and political allies. The list included celebrities, lawmakers and former aides who had been convicted of crimes ranging from fraud to murder — including four private military contractors who were in prison for murdering 17 Iraqi citizens, including two children, in a 2007 attack in Baghdad.
An analysis by two Ivy League academics determined that just 25 of those 238 pardons went through the Office of the Pardon Attorney, a small enclave within the Justice Department that fields clemency applications and examines the merits of each case before deciding whether to recommend a convict for presidential action. The researchers said that figure represented “an historic low.”
“The process is supposed to be fair, it’s supposed to be careful, it’s supposed to be accurate … and it’s also supposed to be a process that helps predict who is not going to recidivate,” said Larry Kupers, who served as the U.S. Pardon Attorney for more than two years at the beginning of the Trump administration.
Recidivism rates from previous administrations’ clemencies is opaque, as federal agencies don’t keep tabs on clemency grantees after their release. But in one study reviewing former President Barack Obama’s 2014 clemency initiative, which led to sentence commutations for nearly 1,700 federal drug offenders, the independent and bipartisan U.S. Sentencing Commission found only three who had been rearrested by the end of 2017. A Texas woman was rearrested on theft charges less than a year after earning an Obama commutation on her life sentence in 2016, and another Texan pleaded guilty to drug charges less than two years after earning a life sentence commutation under Obama’s 2014 clemency initiative.
Based on news accounts and other available evidence, the number of clemency grantees who have gone on to commit additional crimes remains “incredibly low,” Kupers said.
For Trump-era pardons, however, experts said the numbers seem disproportionately high.
Trump’s inner circle
Chief among those pardoned is Steve Bannon, a former senior White House aide and one of Trump’s highest-profile political allies.
Bannon was found guilty in July of contempt of Congress for his refusal to testify before the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, and was sentenced to four months in prison. He also faces charges in New York State for allegedly defrauding donors to the “We Build the Wall” fundraising campaign — the same allegations for which he faced federal charges before Trump intervened with a presidential pardon. Bannon has pleaded not guilty to the state charges.
Two other notable members of Trump’s inner circle, veteran political operative Roger Stone and Trump’s first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, are also involved in ongoing investigations. Both were prosecuted by former special counsel Robert Mueller — Stone for lying to Congress, Flynn for lying to federal investigators — and were later pardoned by Trump.
A federal appellate judge recently ordered that Flynn must provide testimony to an Atlanta-area district attorney who called Flynn a “necessary and material witness” to Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, and Justice Department prosecutors investigating the events of Jan. 6 are reportedly examining Stone’s alleged ties to violent extremists who attacked the Capitol.
Mark Osler, a professor at St. Thomas University Law School and an expert on presidential clemency, said many of the Trump-era clemency recipients — particularly those who were prosecuted for crimes they committed while working for Trump, like Stone, Bannon and Flynn — “were people who thought they were above the law already.”
“And Trump, by giving them a pardon after they’d been charged or convicted of a crime, only enhanced that sense of entitlement,” Osler said.
U.S. presidents have, in the past, gone to lengths to avoid the appearance of political patronage tainting the clemency process. George W. Bush went so far as to revoke a pardon one day after granting it, after it came to light that the grantee’s father had donated almost $30,000 to the Republican Party just months earlier.
Some experts ABC News spoke with noted the irony of Trump’s clemency practices, considering his repeated claims to support law and order.
“If the Democratic Party wants to stand with anarchists, agitators, rioters, looters, and flag-burners, that is up to them, but I, as your president, will not be a part of it,” Trump told attendees at the 2020 Republic National Convention. “We must always have law and order.”
Trump has also suggested that he would look “favorably” at pardons for those convicted for their participation in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, if reelected to the White House in 2024.
‘A slapdash approach’
Another notable Trump-era clemency recipient who has since fallen back into legal jeopardy is former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, whose fraud sentence was cut 20 years short by a commutation — but who reportedly remains under federal investigation for unpaid restitution tied to the public corruption charges that in 2013 landed him in prison. A lawyer who has represented Kilpatrick said that outstanding restitution payments for ex-convicts are common, but acknowledged that failure to repay them could leave Kilpatrick in legal jeopardy.
And Jonathan Braun, whose 10-year drug smuggling sentence was cut nine years short by a Trump commutation, is facing lawsuits from the Federal Trade Commission and the New York attorney general’s office for allegedly running a predatory loan scheme targeting small businesses.
Braun “harassed, insulted, swore at, and threatened” his debtors, according to a June 2020 petition filed by the New York attorney general. He allegedly told one small business owner, “I will take your daughters from you,” and told another: “I am going to make you bleed.” In court, Braun has denied these claims and requested a trial.
The lawsuits predate Braun’s sentence commutation, but that he still managed to secure a commutation from Trump in spite of the active suits “shows what happens when you ignore the formal process in favor of a slapdash approach,” said Osler, the presidential clemency expert.
“A trained staff of analysts who specialize in sniffing out facts like this was sidelined, with predictable results,” Osler said.
Some who have faced legal scrutiny since securing clemency have accused prosecutors of pursuing vendettas against Trump. After learning of the charges filed against him by New York state prosecutors, Bannon said, “This is nothing more than a partisan political weaponization of the criminal justice system.”
And in August, after federal prosecutors suggested they would seek to re-try Philip Esformes, a Florida-based nursing home business owner, on six hung counts from his 2019 trial after his 20-year fraud sentence was commuted by Trump, a member of Esformes’ legal team said the Justice Department’s “flagrant disregard of President Trump’s clemency order is motivated by acrimony towards him.”
Prosecutors in Manhattan also attempted to target former Trump campaign chief Paul Manafort on state mortgage fraud charges after he was convicted in 2019 on similar federal charges — a move widely seen as a means to ensure Manafort would face justice even in the event that Trump pardoned him for the federal offenses. Manafort was indeed pardoned by Trump in December 2020 — and in 2021 a New York appeals court ruled that the state charges should be tossed, citing the state’s double jeopardy rule.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Pardon Attorney’s office says more than 17,000 applicants for clemency remain pending. And while experts agree that the clemency process is in desperate need of an overhaul — many suggest removing it from the Justice Department’s bureaucracy and into its own office — there remains widespread support for the institution and its principles.
Osler said he’s concerned that Trump’s approach to clemency and the subsequent legal travails for some beneficiaries could cause lasting harm to the process.
“It could sour clemency for people who really, deeply, richly deserve it,” Osler said.
(WASHINGTON) — The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday released the interview transcripts of 34 witnesses who were interviewed as part of the sprawling 17-month probe.
House Jan. 6 committee Chairman Bennie Thompson had initially said the committee would be releasing its voluminous final report Wednesday, but the panel released a statement Wednesday afternoon saying the report’s release would be delayed until Thursday.
Among those witnesses whose testimony was released are former President Donald Trump’s one-time national security adviser Michael Flynn, Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio, Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes, Infowars host Alex Jones, onetime Trump campaign adviser Roger Stone, and Trump-backed attorneys John Eastman and Jenna Ellis.
Most of the transcripts included responses from the witnesses invoking their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
The committee said on Monday it would refer Eastman to the Department of Justice for prosecution after he drafted a plan for Trump to cling to power by falsely claiming then-Vice President Mike Pence could reject legitimate electors during the Jan. 6 certification of the vote.
The committee also said it would make multiple criminal referrals to the DOJ on at least four charges against Trump in connection to his actions surrounding the attack on the Capitol.
The referrals, however, are viewed as largely symbolic, as the DOJ is not obligated to act on them.
The referrals were announced Monday in conjunction with the release of a 160-page summary report that fingered Trump as the “central cause” of the Capitol attack.
Trump has dismissed the work of the committee, mocking it as the “Unselect Committee” and calling it a “political Witch Hunt.”
Thompson said the full final report will be posted online once it’s released to the public.
(WASHINGTON) — Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a dramatic visit to Washington Wednesday — his first known trip outside Ukraine since the Russian invasion began in February.
He met with President Joe Biden at the White House and later addressed Congress as lawmakers are set to vote on $45 billion more in emergency aid as part of a larger spending package. Biden on Wednesday also announced the U.S. will send Ukraine a Patriot anti-missile battery to defend against devastating Russian attacks.
In a virtual address to U.S. lawmakers back in March, Zelenskyy emotionally pleaded for more aggressive measures to help fight the war. Invoking key American tragedies, including Pearl Harbor and the Sept. 11 attacks, Zelenskyy told members at the time, “Just remember it … Our country experiences the same every day right now.”
Here is how the story developed:
Dec 21, 8:21 PM EST
Zelenskyy’s speech welcomed by numerous ovations
ABC News’ Will Steakin estimates that Zelenskyy, who has broad bipartisan support on the Hill, received 18 standing ovations during his speech.
Republican Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, the likely next House speaker, stood and clapped along with other lawmakers at nearly every interval.
Some other Republicans, including Reps. Jim Jordan, Andrew Clyde, Matt Gaetz and Lauren Boebert, stood for less than half of the ovations but were seen repeatedly clapping as well.
Gaetz appeared to be on his phone through the speech. At one point he showed Boebert something with a smile
Gaetz has been critical of future Ukrainian aid while McCarthy has called for Republicans to ensure accountability on how it is used.
-ABC News’ Adam Carlson
Dec 21, 8:43 PM EST
A gift for Congress: Ukrainian flag from soldiers
Closing his speech, Zelenskyy quoted late President Franklin D. Roosevelt and gifted a battle flag signed by soldiers to Congress as lawmakers debate additional funding to Ukraine.
“‘The American people, in their might, will win to absolute victory.’ The Ukrainian people will win too, absolutely,” he said to applause.
“I know that everything depends on us, on Ukrainian armed forces, yet so much depends on the world. So much in the world depends on you,” he told lawmakers. “When I was in Bakhmut yesterday, our heroes gave me the flag, the battle flag, the flag of those who defend Ukraine, Europe and the world at the cost of their lives.”
He said soldiers gave him the flag to bring to U.S. lawmakers, “whose decisions can save millions of people.”
“So let this decision be taken, let this flag stay with you, ladies and gentlemen. This flag is a symbol of our victory in this war. We stand, we fight and we will win because we are united, Ukraine, America and the entire free world,” he said, handing the flag to Pelosi.
She then gifted Zelenskyy a folded and framed U.S. flag that had flown over the Capitol on Wednesday in honor of his visit. He held it aloft, to more applause, and then exited the chamber shortly afterward.
Dec 21, 8:31 PM EST
‘Your money is not charity,’ Zelenskyy tells lawmakers of aid
While continuing to ask for help with weapons and financial assistance, Zelenskyy reminded lawmakers that he has never asked for U.S. troops on the ground, which American leaders have long resisted.
“I believe in us and our alliance. Ukraine never asked the American soldiers to fight on our land instead of us. I assure you that Ukrainian soldiers can perfectly operate American tanks and planes themselves,” he said to some laughs and applause.
“Your money is not charity. It’s an investment in the global security and democracy that we handle in the most responsible way,” he said, also to applause and cheers.
The speech comes as lawmakers consider billions in additional aid to Ukraine as part of a larger government spending package, which is seeing resistance from some House Republicans and calls on the right for more oversight on funding to the war-torn country.
Dec 21, 8:23 PM EST
‘The light of our faith in ourselves will not be put out’
Zelenskyy said his country will persevere through the winter and celebrate Christmas. Alluding to Russian strikes on his country’s infrastructure such as its energy resources, he said, “Even if there is no electricity, the light of our faith in ourselves will not be put out.”
“If Russian missiles attack us, we’ll do our best to protect ourselves. If they attack us with Iranian drones and our people will have to go to bomb shelters on Christmas Eve, Ukrainians will still sit down at the holiday table and cheer up each other, and we don’t have to know everyone’s wish as we know that all of us, millions of Ukrainians, wish the same: Victory,” he said. “Only victory.”
He thanked President Biden, “both parties” of Congress and the American people for supporting Ukraine over the last 10 months.
Dec 21, 7:33 PM EST
Pelosi wears broach Zelenskyy gifted her
Presiding over the House chamber, Speaker Nancy Pelosi wore a blue suit with a broach — the “Order of Olga the Duchess of 3rd Degree,” a Ukrainian civil decoration given to her by Zelenskyy when she was in Kyiv, her office said.
Pelosi visited Ukraine in May, marking the first official congressional delegation since Russia invaded.
Dec 21, 7:34 PM EST
Color inside the chamber ahead of speech
Here is some early color ahead of Zelenskyy’s scheduled 7:30 p.m. remarks to a joint meeting of Congress:
The mood is good inside with members mingling. Early attendees included incoming House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and Republican Reps. Matt Gaetz of Florida and Lauren Boebert of Colorado.
Gaetz has been one of the most vocal critics in Congress of future Ukraine funding, vowing a few weeks ago not to support additional money.
Some members are wearing yellow scarves and yellow suit jackets — an apparent reference to solidarity with Ukraine.
Shortly ahead of Zelenskyy’s address, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi welcomed senators to the House chamber for the joint meeting, including Vice President Kamala Harris, president of the Senate.
Wyoming Republican Rep. Liz Cheney was seated on the Democrats’ side of the House chamber next to lawmakers she served with on the Jan. 6 committee.
-ABC News’ Will Steakin
Dec 21, 7:00 PM EST
Top congressional leaders meet behind closed doors with Zelenskyy
The big four — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell and House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy — met behind closed doors with Zelenskyy ahead of his address to Congress.
Zelenskyy was spotted walking through Statuary Hall outside the House chamber with Pelosi, Schumer and McConnell, but McCarthy, the likely incoming House speaker, was not with them for that walk.
McCarthy, also needing to win over conservatives to back his bid for speaker, has signaled he could oppose more funding to Ukraine, warning that Republicans will not write a “blank check” for aid when they soon assume the majority.
Some conservative House Republicans have made it clear they would oppose any additional funding even as Congress votes on a must-pass $1.7 trillion government funding bill this week that includes $45 billion in aid to Ukraine.
-ABC News’ Katherine Faulders and Lauren Peller
Dec 21, 5:48 PM EST
Biden defends sending Patriot missile defense system: ‘Not escalatory’
President Biden defended the decision to send a Patriot missile defense system to Ukraine and denied the move was escalatory.
“It’s a defensive system. It’s a defensive weapon system. It’s not escalatory, it’s defensive,” Biden said. “We’d love to not have them use it. Just stop the attacks,” he said, referring to Russia.
Zelenskyy delicately added that he may call on the U.S. to send another Patriot missile in the near future, prompting laughter.
“We’re working on it,” Biden said with a smile.
Zelenskyy said, “We are in war. I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. That is my appreciation.”
Dec 21, 5:35 PM EST
Training Ukrainian troops on Patriot system could take months, official says
The training of Ukrainian troops on the Patriot missile battery could take “several months,” according to a senior defense official who briefed reporters this afternoon.
“I can just say that the training will begin very soon,” the official said, noting the “Ukrainians will have to complete the training in order to be able to field the system and it’s the Ukrainians who are operating the system.”
The Patriot missile system and JDAM kits to convert “dumb bombs” to “smart bombs” are included in the latest round of military aid to Ukraine. Ukraine has been asking for the advanced air defense system since shortly after Russia’s invasion began.
The official would not provide any concrete timelines, telling reporters: “We also would obviously want to be really, really careful for operational security reasons to not you know, not be overly precise on a date, even once we have it.”
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez
Dec 21, 5:27 PM EST
Zelenskyy’s message to Americans: ‘We will win’
Zelenskyy was asked by a reporter what his message is to the American people ahead of his address to U.S. lawmakers later this evening.
“I think I will tell you very simple things which are very important for me,” Zelenskyy responded. “And I think so that we have the same values and the same understanding of the life, the sense of the life. My message: I wish you peace.”
“And I wish you to see your children alive and adult,” Zelenskyy continued. “And I wish you to see your children when they will go to universities, and to see their children. I think that is the main thing, what I can wish you.”
Zelenskyy said the U.S. and Ukraine are fighting for “common victory against this tyranny” and predicted, “We will win.”
“I really want win together,” he said, before slightly amending his words: “Not ‘want.’ Sorry. I’m sure.”
Dec 21, 5:21 PM EST
Zelenskyy confident of continued support ‘regardless of changes in the Congress’
At the top of their joint news conference, Zelenskyy again thanked Biden, Congress and the American people for providing defense and aide to Ukraine against Russia, which he called a “terrorist country.”
“This visit to the United States became really a historic one for our relations with the United States and the American leadership,” Zelenskyy said.
“I have good news returning home,” he continued, raising the new nearly $2 billion aid package. “This is a very important step to create a secure airspace for Ukraine, and that’s the only way we would be able to deprive the terrorist country and terror attack.”
Zelenskyy said “regardless of changes in the Congress,” he believes there will be support for Ukraine, showing his apparent knowledge of resistance from House Republicans.
“We need to survive this winter, we need to protect our people, and we need to be very specific in this area. This is a key humanitarian issue for us right now. This is the survival issue,” he said. “We are discussing sanctions and legal pressure on the terrorist country of Russia. Russia needs to be held accountable for everything it does against us, against our people, against Europe, and the whole free world.”
Dec 21, 5:10 PM EST
Biden tells Zelenskyy Ukraine ‘will never stand alone’
At a joint news conference in the White House East Room, Biden said it’s important for the world to hear directly from President Zelenskyy as his country stands up to the aggression of Russia’s “imperialist autocrats.”
“We should be clear about what Russia is doing,” Biden said. “It is purposely attacking Ukraine critical infrastructure, destroying the system to provide heat and light Ukrainian people during the coldest darkest part of the year. Russia is using winter as a weapon, Freezing people, starving people, cutting them off from one another.”
Biden criticized Vladimir Putin, who he said has “no plans” to pursue peace or bring an end to the war.
Biden told Zelenskyy “you will never stand alone” and that the U.S. and its partners are ready to provide necessary assistance.
“The American people know that if we stand by in the face of such blatant attacks, on liberty and democracy and the core principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity, the world would surely face worse consequences,” Biden said, adding, “The American people are prepared to have us stand up to bullies, stand up for freedom.”
Dec 21, 4:21 PM EST
Biden, Zelenskyy to hold White House news conference as Congress weighs aid to Ukraine
Zelenskyy and Biden are scheduled to hold a joint news conference in the White House East Room at 4:30 p.m. before Zelenskyy travels to Capitol Hill to address lawmakers at 7:30 p.m.
The high-security trip to Washington comes as Biden announced another $2 billion package in security assistance for Ukraine, which includes a Patriot missile defense system Zelenskyy had been requesting.
The visit also comes as Congress weighs $45 billion in funding for Ukraine, which has met resistance from some House Republicans. Asked how much of the visit is about Biden sending a message them, the White House said it’s not about politics, despite the timing.
“This isn’t about sending a message to a particular political party,” said a senior administration official. “This is about sending a message to Putin and sending a message to the world that America will be there for Ukraine for as long as it takes.”
-ABC News Justin Gomez
Dec 21, 3:25 PM EST
McCarthy tells ABC News he’ll attend Zelenskyy’s address to Congress
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy — who has previously signaled his reluctance to further back Ukrainian aid as the country fends off a Russian invasion — told ABC News he would attend the Ukrainian president’s address to Congress this evening.
“Well, by going to the Zelenskyy speech, we’d be listening to it,” he said in remarks to reporters.
“We’ll meet with him privately,” he added.
McCarthy oversees some conservative members of the House Republican caucus who have ardently opposed additional funding for Ukraine and has himself spoken out against providing a “blank check” for the county without an audit of how it’s spending the billions in U.S. aid.
Before his remarks, it was unclear if McCarthy would attend.
–ABC News’ Trish Turner
Dec 21, 3:13 PM EST
Zelenskyy presents Biden with Ukrainian soldier’s award
As they spoke at the White House, Zelenskyy presented Biden with an award given to a Ukrainian soldier. The soldier wanted the president to have it, Zelenskyy explained.
“He’s very brave,” Zelenskyy said of the soldier, who he said is a captain of an HIMARS battery — an advanced rocket system sent by the U.S. “And he said, ‘give it to a very brave president.'”
Biden then asked for the solider’s name and if there was any way to contact him.
“Undeserved but much appreciated,” Biden said, adding he would give the captain a challenge coin.
Dec 21, 3:00 PM EST
Zelenskyy thanks Biden, ‘ordinary’ Americans for support
In front of a roaring fire inside the Oval Office and flanked by reporters, Zelenskyy thanked President Biden for the support of the United States, which Biden said now includes a Patriot missile defense system and precision bomb kits.
“Thank you so much. Mr. President. Great honor for me to be here, with your journalists. Thank you so much for the invitation,” Zelenskyy said. “I really wanted to come earlier, Mr. President knows, but I couldn’t do it because the situation was so difficult.”
Zelenskyy thanked Biden for his “big support and leadership,” as well as the “ordinary” American people for standing with Ukraine.
“Thanks from our ordinary people to your ordinary people — Americans — I really appreciate.” Zelenskyy said. “Thank you so much.”
Dec 21, 2:55 PM EST
Biden says US will support Ukraine in pursuing a ‘just peace’
Welcoming Zelenskyy back to the Oval Office, Biden said it was an honor to be meeting again amid the “brutal” war being waged by Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
“Hard to believe 300 days we’ve going through this, and Putin has waged a brutal assault on the Ukraine’s right to exist as a nation and the attack on innocent Ukrainian people for no reason other than to intimidate,” Biden said.
“And he’s escalated his assault on civilians after hitting schools, orphanages, hospitals, landmarks, it’s just — and he’s trying to use winter as a weapon. But the Ukrainian people continue to inspire the world. I mean that sincerely, not just inspire us but inspire the world with their courage and how they have chose resilience and resolve for their future,” Biden said.
Biden said Democrats and Republicans will make sure Ukraine has the economic, humanitarian and security assistance they need to keep fighting and will “support Ukraine in pursuing a just peace.”
“President Zelenskyy, the United States stands with the brave people of Ukraine, we stand with you, you’ve been a great leader,” he said as he turned it over to Zelenskyy to give remarks.
Dec 21, 2:09 PM EST
Biden greets Zelenskyy at the White House
President Biden and first lady Jill Biden greeted Zelenskyy on the South Lawn of the White House Wednesday afternoon just after 2 p.m. Zelenskyy, donning army green, shook hands with the Bidens after exiting the motorcade.
The South Portico, decorated with holiday wreaths, was also adorned with the American and Ukrainian flags.
“Mr. President, welcome back,” Biden said.
In a show of support, Biden was wearing a blue-and-yellow striped tie, the colors of the Ukrainian flag.
Dec 21, 1:34 PM EST
Zelenskyy arrives at Blair House
President Zelenskyy has arrived at Blair House, which now has a Ukrainian flag flying overhead. Blair House, located across the street from the White House, is the residence where foreign dignitaries often stay when visiting Washington.
Dec 21, 1:21 PM EST
McConnell says more Ukraine aid boosts ‘American interests’
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., made the case for more military aid for Ukraine on Wednesday as some in his party oppose sending more money to the nation.
“The reason that a big bipartisan majority of the American people and a big bipartisan majority in Congress support continuing to assist Ukraine is not primarily about inspiring speeches or desire to engage in philanthropy,” McConnell said on the Senate floor.
“The most basic reasons for continuing to help Ukraine degrade and defeat the Russian invaders are cold, hard, practical, American interests,” he continued. “Helping equip our friends in eastern Europe defeat this world is also a direct investment in reducing Putin’s future capabilities to menace America, threaten our allies and contest our core interests.”
But some in the GOP are questioning the amount of aid being sent to Ukraine, arguing the government should be investing that money domestically. “American taxpayers are literally paying to prop up many countries all over the world in foreign aid, but America is virtually crumbling before our eyes,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene argued in a series of tweets on Wednesday.
Other Republicans argue the need for more oversight of the funds being approved for Ukraine, stating they don’t want to write a “blank check” to Ukraine.
Dec 21, 1:02 PM EST
Zelenskyy continues to take risks for country
From the frontlines of the war in Ukraine to the political frontlines of Washington on Capitol Hill and the White House, Zelenskyy continues to take risks to defend Ukraine and show masterful skill at using language and symbolism to marshal international support.
“Remember Pearl Harbor. The morning of December 7, 1941, when your sky was black from the planes attacking you. Remember. Remember September 11. A terrible day in 2001 when people tried to turn your cities into battlefields. When innocent people were attacked from the air. No one expected it. You couldn’t stop it,” he said in his virtual speech to Congress in March.
“Our country experiences the same every day,” he said.
Zelenskyy made an unannounced visit to the front-line city of Bakhmut on Monday, where Ukrainian and Russian forces have fought a months-long battle. The comedian-turned-politician who was elected to lead Ukraine in 2019, was named Time’s person of the year earlier this month “for proving that courage can be as contagious as fear.”
Dec 21, 12:45 PM EST
Zelenskyy has landed in the US
A U.S. official confirms to ABC News that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has landed in the U.S.
–ABC News’ Sarah Kolinovsky
Dec 21, 12:27 PM EST
‘Significant’ security measures in place at Capitol
Zelenskyy’s trip to Capitol Hill will be similar to State of the Union preparations because of the high-level nature of the address. Security officials at the most senior levels of government are “very” concerned about the prospect of something happening tonight, domestically or abroad, one source told ABC News.
According to an email sent to staff at the Capitol and obtained by ABC News, security measures will be “significant.” The email says only staff and members will be allowed in the House wing past a certain time.
Another official said, “We are very cognizant that Russia has assets in this country and might try to do something. We know what is at stake.”
The source said the U.S. is aware that early on in the conflict the Russians apparently plotted to kill Zelenskyy. The official expressed concern that news of Zelensky’s visit broke so early about him coming to the United States. It would have been much better, he said, if our adversaries had less time, not more time, to think about doing something and to move assets and operatives around.
-ABC News Chief Justice Correspondent Pierre Thomas and Luke Barr
Dec 21, 12:19 PM EST
Secret Service leading security for Zelenskyy’s trip
Zelenskyy’s trip to Washington is being treated as a mini-state visit — a visit with extraordinary security implications, according to multiple sources. Hundreds of law enforcement and intelligence officials have been activated for this visit with the U.S. Secret Service tasked as the lead agency.
“From the moment he lands and walks down those stairs of his plane, he will have a Secret Service security detail,” one official tells ABC News. “He will have that detail until he gets on the plane to leave.”
Secret Service is also consulting with the Capitol Police, CIA, FBI and other intelligence agencies about the security environment. One source told ABC News every Capitol Police officer is on standby.
-ABC News’ Chief Justice Correspondent Pierre Thomas and Luke Barr
Dec 21, 11:50 AM EST
Schumer compares Zelenskyy to Winston Churchill
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., compared Zelenskyy to Winston Churchill during floor remarks on Wednesday.
“Where Winston Churchill stood generations ago, so, too, President Zelenskyy stands not just as a president but also as an ambassador to freedom itself,” Schumer said.
Churchill, prime minister of the United Kingdom during World War II, addressed U.S. lawmakers in a speech the day after Christmas in 1941 — just weeks after the Pearl Harbor attack.
“Sure I am, that this day, now, we are the masters of our fate,” Churchill told Congress. “That the task which has been set us is not above our strength. That its pangs and toils are not beyond our endurance. As long as we have faith in our cause, and an unconquerable willpower, salvation will not be denied us.”
Schumer said he will “happily join” Congress in welcoming Zelenskyy, and urged Republicans to attend the joint meeting.
“It is a high honor to welcome a foreign head of state to Congress, but it is nearly unheard of to hear from a leader who is fighting for his life fighting for his country’s survival and fighting to preserve the very idea of democracy,” Schumer said.
(WASHINGTON) — Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is making a dramatic visit to Washington Wednesday — his first trip outside Ukraine since the Russian invasion began in February.
He’s set to visit President Joe Biden at the White House and address Congress as lawmakers vote on $45 billion more in emergency aid, and Biden is expected to announce the U.S. will send Ukraine a Patriot anti-missile battery to defend against devastating Russian attacks.
In a virtual address to U.S. lawmakers back in March, Zelenskyy emotionally pleaded for more aggressive measures to help fight the war. Invoking key American tragedies, including Pearl Harbor and the Sept. 11 attacks, Zelenskyy told members at the time, “Just remember it … Our country experiences the same every day right now.”
Please check back for updates. All times Eastern:
Dec 21, 7:33 PM EST
Pelosi wears broach Zelenskyy gifted her
Presiding over the House chamber, Speaker Nancy Pelosi wore a blue suit with a broach — the “Order of Olga the Duchess of 3rd Degree,” a Ukrainian civil decoration given to her by Zelenskyy when she was in Kyiv, her office said.
Pelosi visited Ukraine in May, marking the first official congressional delegation since Russia invaded.
Dec 21, 7:34 PM EST
Color inside the chamber ahead of speech
Here is some early color ahead of Zelenskyy’s scheduled 7:30 p.m. remarks to a joint meeting of Congress:
The mood is good inside with members mingling. Early attendees included incoming House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., and Republican Reps. Matt Gaetz of Florida and Lauren Boebert of Colorado.
Gaetz has been one of the most vocal critics in Congress of future Ukraine funding, vowing a few weeks ago not to support additional money.
Some members are wearing yellow scarves and yellow suit jackets — an apparent reference to solidarity with Ukraine.
Shortly ahead of Zelenskyy’s address, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi welcomed senators to the House chamber for the joint meeting, including Vice President Kamala Harris, president of the Senate.
Wyoming Republican Rep. Liz Cheney was seated on the Democrats’ side of the House chamber next to lawmakers she served with on the Jan. 6 committee.
-ABC News’ Will Steakin
Dec 21, 7:00 PM EST
Top congressional leaders meet behind closed doors with Zelenskyy
The big four — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell and House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy — met behind closed doors with Zelenskyy ahead of his address to Congress.
Zelenskyy was spotted walking through Statuary Hall outside the House chamber with Pelosi, Schumer and McConnell, but McCarthy, the likely incoming House speaker, was not with them for that walk.
McCarthy, also needing to win over conservatives to back his bid for speaker, has signaled he could oppose more funding to Ukraine, warning that Republicans will not write a “blank check” for aid when they soon assume the majority.
Some conservative House Republicans have made it clear they would oppose any additional funding even as Congress votes on a must-pass $1.7 trillion government funding bill this week that includes $45 billion in aid to Ukraine.
-ABC News’ Katherine Faulders and Lauren Peller
Dec 21, 5:48 PM EST
Biden defends sending Patriot missile defense system: ‘Not escalatory’
President Biden defended the decision to send a Patriot missile defense system to Ukraine and denied the move was escalatory.
“It’s a defensive system. It’s a defensive weapon system. It’s not escalatory, it’s defensive,” Biden said. “We’d love to not have them use it. Just stop the attacks,” he said, referring to Russia.
Zelenskyy delicately added that he may call on the U.S. to send another Patriot missile in the near future, prompting laughter.
“We’re working on it,” Biden said with a smile.
Zelenskyy said, “We are in war. I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. That is my appreciation.”
Dec 21, 5:35 PM EST
Training Ukrainian troops on Patriot system could take months, official says
The training of Ukrainian troops on the Patriot missile battery could take “several months,” according to a senior defense official who briefed reporters this afternoon.
“I can just say that the training will begin very soon,” the official said, noting the “Ukrainians will have to complete the training in order to be able to field the system and it’s the Ukrainians who are operating the system.”
The Patriot missile system and JDAM kits to convert “dumb bombs” to “smart bombs” are included in the latest round of military aid to Ukraine. Ukraine has been asking for the advanced air defense system since shortly after Russia’s invasion began.
The official would not provide any concrete timelines, telling reporters: “We also would obviously want to be really, really careful for operational security reasons to not you know, not be overly precise on a date, even once we have it.”
-ABC News’ Luis Martinez
Dec 21, 5:27 PM EST
Zelenskyy’s message to Americans: ‘We will win’
Zelenskyy was asked by a reporter what his message is to the American people ahead of his address to U.S. lawmakers later this evening.
“I think I will tell you very simple things which are very important for me,” Zelenskyy responded. “And I think so that we have the same values and the same understanding of the life, the sense of the life. My message: I wish you peace.”
“And I wish you to see your children alive and adult,” Zelenskyy continued. “And I wish you to see your children when they will go to universities, and to see their children. I think that is the main thing, what I can wish you.”
Zelenskyy said the U.S. and Ukraine are fighting for “common victory against this tyranny” and predicted, “We will win.”
“I really want win together,” he said, before slightly amending his words: “Not ‘want.’ Sorry. I’m sure.”
Dec 21, 5:21 PM EST
Zelenskyy confident of continued support ‘regardless of changes in the Congress’
At the top of their joint news conference, Zelenskyy again thanked Biden, Congress and the American people for providing defense and aide to Ukraine against Russia, which he called a “terrorist country.”
“This visit to the United States became really a historic one for our relations with the United States and the American leadership,” Zelenskyy said.
“I have good news returning home,” he continued, raising the new nearly $2 billion aid package. “This is a very important step to create a secure airspace for Ukraine, and that’s the only way we would be able to deprive the terrorist country and terror attack.”
Zelenskyy said “regardless of changes in the Congress,” he believes there will be support for Ukraine, showing his apparent knowledge of resistance from House Republicans.
“We need to survive this winter, we need to protect our people, and we need to be very specific in this area. This is a key humanitarian issue for us right now. This is the survival issue,” he said. “We are discussing sanctions and legal pressure on the terrorist country of Russia. Russia needs to be held accountable for everything it does against us, against our people, against Europe, and the whole free world.”
Dec 21, 5:10 PM EST
Biden tells Zelenskyy Ukraine ‘will never stand alone’
At a joint news conference in the White House East Room, Biden said it’s important for the world to hear directly from President Zelenskyy as his country stands up to the aggression of Russia’s “imperialist autocrats.”
“We should be clear about what Russia is doing,” Biden said. “It is purposely attacking Ukraine critical infrastructure, destroying the system to provide heat and light Ukrainian people during the coldest darkest part of the year. Russia is using winter as a weapon, Freezing people, starving people, cutting them off from one another.”
Biden criticized Vladimir Putin, who he said has “no plans” to pursue peace or bring an end to the war.
Biden told Zelenskyy “you will never stand alone” and that the U.S. and its partners are ready to provide necessary assistance.
“The American people know that if we stand by in the face of such blatant attacks, on liberty and democracy and the core principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity, the world would surely face worse consequences,” Biden said, adding, “The American people are prepared to have us stand up to bullies, stand up for freedom.”
Dec 21, 4:21 PM EST
Biden, Zelenskyy to hold White House news conference as Congress weighs aid to Ukraine
Zelenskyy and Biden are scheduled to hold a joint news conference in the White House East Room at 4:30 p.m. before Zelenskyy travels to Capitol Hill to address lawmakers at 7:30 p.m.
The high-security trip to Washington comes as Biden announced another $2 billion package in security assistance for Ukraine, which includes a Patriot missile defense system Zelenskyy had been requesting.
The visit also comes as Congress weighs $45 billion in funding for Ukraine, which has met resistance from some House Republicans. Asked how much of the visit is about Biden sending a message them, the White House said it’s not about politics, despite the timing.
“This isn’t about sending a message to a particular political party,” said a senior administration official. “This is about sending a message to Putin and sending a message to the world that America will be there for Ukraine for as long as it takes.”
-ABC News Justin Gomez
Dec 21, 3:25 PM EST
McCarthy tells ABC News he’ll attend Zelenskyy’s address to Congress
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy — who has previously signaled his reluctance to further back Ukrainian aid as the country fends off a Russian invasion — told ABC News he would attend the Ukrainian president’s address to Congress this evening.
“Well, by going to the Zelenskyy speech, we’d be listening to it,” he said in remarks to reporters.
“We’ll meet with him privately,” he added.
McCarthy oversees some conservative members of the House Republican caucus who have ardently opposed additional funding for Ukraine and has himself spoken out against providing a “blank check” for the county without an audit of how it’s spending the billions in U.S. aid.
Before his remarks, it was unclear if McCarthy would attend.
–ABC News’ Trish Turner
Dec 21, 3:13 PM EST
Zelenskyy presents Biden with Ukrainian soldier’s award
As they spoke at the White House, Zelenskyy presented Biden with an award given to a Ukrainian soldier. The soldier wanted the president to have it, Zelenskyy explained.
“He’s very brave,” Zelenskyy said of the soldier, who he said is a captain of an HIMARS battery — an advanced rocket system sent by the U.S. “And he said, ‘give it to a very brave president.'”
Biden then asked for the solider’s name and if there was any way to contact him.
“Undeserved but much appreciated,” Biden said, adding he would give the captain a challenge coin.
Dec 21, 3:00 PM EST
Zelenskyy thanks Biden, ‘ordinary’ Americans for support
In front of a roaring fire inside the Oval Office and flanked by reporters, Zelenskyy thanked President Biden for the support of the United States, which Biden said now includes a Patriot missile defense system and precision bomb kits.
“Thank you so much. Mr. President. Great honor for me to be here, with your journalists. Thank you so much for the invitation,” Zelenskyy said. “I really wanted to come earlier, Mr. President knows, but I couldn’t do it because the situation was so difficult.”
Zelenskyy thanked Biden for his “big support and leadership,” as well as the “ordinary” American people for standing with Ukraine.
“Thanks from our ordinary people to your ordinary people — Americans — I really appreciate.” Zelenskyy said. “Thank you so much.”
Dec 21, 2:55 PM EST
Biden says US will support Ukraine in pursuing a ‘just peace’
Welcoming Zelenskyy back to the Oval Office, Biden said it was an honor to be meeting again amid the “brutal” war being waged by Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
“Hard to believe 300 days we’ve going through this, and Putin has waged a brutal assault on the Ukraine’s right to exist as a nation and the attack on innocent Ukrainian people for no reason other than to intimidate,” Biden said.
“And he’s escalated his assault on civilians after hitting schools, orphanages, hospitals, landmarks, it’s just — and he’s trying to use winter as a weapon. But the Ukrainian people continue to inspire the world. I mean that sincerely, not just inspire us but inspire the world with their courage and how they have chose resilience and resolve for their future,” Biden said.
Biden said Democrats and Republicans will make sure Ukraine has the economic, humanitarian and security assistance they need to keep fighting and will “support Ukraine in pursuing a just peace.”
“President Zelenskyy, the United States stands with the brave people of Ukraine, we stand with you, you’ve been a great leader,” he said as he turned it over to Zelenskyy to give remarks.
Dec 21, 2:09 PM EST
Biden greets Zelenskyy at the White House
President Biden and first lady Jill Biden greeted Zelenskyy on the South Lawn of the White House Wednesday afternoon just after 2 p.m. Zelenskyy, donning army green, shook hands with the Bidens after exiting the motorcade.
The South Portico, decorated with holiday wreaths, was also adorned with the American and Ukrainian flags.
“Mr. President, welcome back,” Biden said.
In a show of support, Biden was wearing a blue-and-yellow striped tie, the colors of the Ukrainian flag.
Dec 21, 1:34 PM EST
Zelenskyy arrives at Blair House
President Zelenskyy has arrived at Blair House, which now has a Ukrainian flag flying overhead. Blair House, located across the street from the White House, is the residence where foreign dignitaries often stay when visiting Washington.
Dec 21, 1:21 PM EST
McConnell says more Ukraine aid boosts ‘American interests’
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., made the case for more military aid for Ukraine on Wednesday as some in his party oppose sending more money to the nation.
“The reason that a big bipartisan majority of the American people and a big bipartisan majority in Congress support continuing to assist Ukraine is not primarily about inspiring speeches or desire to engage in philanthropy,” McConnell said on the Senate floor.
“The most basic reasons for continuing to help Ukraine degrade and defeat the Russian invaders are cold, hard, practical, American interests,” he continued. “Helping equip our friends in eastern Europe defeat this world is also a direct investment in reducing Putin’s future capabilities to menace America, threaten our allies and contest our core interests.”
But some in the GOP are questioning the amount of aid being sent to Ukraine, arguing the government should be investing that money domestically. “American taxpayers are literally paying to prop up many countries all over the world in foreign aid, but America is virtually crumbling before our eyes,” Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene argued in a series of tweets on Wednesday.
Other Republicans argue the need for more oversight of the funds being approved for Ukraine, stating they don’t want to write a “blank check” to Ukraine.
Dec 21, 1:02 PM EST
Zelenskyy continues to take risks for country
From the frontlines of the war in Ukraine to the political frontlines of Washington on Capitol Hill and the White House, Zelenskyy continues to take risks to defend Ukraine and show masterful skill at using language and symbolism to marshal international support.
“Remember Pearl Harbor. The morning of December 7, 1941, when your sky was black from the planes attacking you. Remember. Remember September 11. A terrible day in 2001 when people tried to turn your cities into battlefields. When innocent people were attacked from the air. No one expected it. You couldn’t stop it,” he said in his virtual speech to Congress in March.
“Our country experiences the same every day,” he said.
Zelenskyy made an unannounced visit to the front-line city of Bakhmut on Monday, where Ukrainian and Russian forces have fought a months-long battle. The comedian-turned-politician who was elected to lead Ukraine in 2019, was named Time’s person of the year earlier this month “for proving that courage can be as contagious as fear.”
Dec 21, 12:45 PM EST
Zelenskyy has landed in the US
A U.S. official confirms to ABC News that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has landed in the U.S.
–ABC News’ Sarah Kolinovsky
Dec 21, 12:27 PM EST
‘Significant’ security measures in place at Capitol
Zelenskyy’s trip to Capitol Hill will be similar to State of the Union preparations because of the high-level nature of the address. Security officials at the most senior levels of government are “very” concerned about the prospect of something happening tonight, domestically or abroad, one source told ABC News.
According to an email sent to staff at the Capitol and obtained by ABC News, security measures will be “significant.” The email says only staff and members will be allowed in the House wing past a certain time.
Another official said, “We are very cognizant that Russia has assets in this country and might try to do something. We know what is at stake.”
The source said the U.S. is aware that early on in the conflict the Russians apparently plotted to kill Zelenskyy. The official expressed concern that news of Zelensky’s visit broke so early about him coming to the United States. It would have been much better, he said, if our adversaries had less time, not more time, to think about doing something and to move assets and operatives around.
-ABC News Chief Justice Correspondent Pierre Thomas and Luke Barr
Dec 21, 12:19 PM EST
Secret Service leading security for Zelenskyy’s trip
Zelenskyy’s trip to Washington is being treated as a mini-state visit — a visit with extraordinary security implications, according to multiple sources. Hundreds of law enforcement and intelligence officials have been activated for this visit with the U.S. Secret Service tasked as the lead agency.
“From the moment he lands and walks down those stairs of his plane, he will have a Secret Service security detail,” one official tells ABC News. “He will have that detail until he gets on the plane to leave.”
Secret Service is also consulting with the Capitol Police, CIA, FBI and other intelligence agencies about the security environment. One source told ABC News every Capitol Police officer is on standby.
-ABC News’ Chief Justice Correspondent Pierre Thomas and Luke Barr
Dec 21, 11:50 AM EST
Schumer compares Zelenskyy to Winston Churchill
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., compared Zelenskyy to Winston Churchill during floor remarks on Wednesday.
“Where Winston Churchill stood generations ago, so, too, President Zelenskyy stands not just as a president but also as an ambassador to freedom itself,” Schumer said.
Churchill, prime minister of the United Kingdom during World War II, addressed U.S. lawmakers in a speech the day after Christmas in 1941 — just weeks after the Pearl Harbor attack.
“Sure I am, that this day, now, we are the masters of our fate,” Churchill told Congress. “That the task which has been set us is not above our strength. That its pangs and toils are not beyond our endurance. As long as we have faith in our cause, and an unconquerable willpower, salvation will not be denied us.”
Schumer said he will “happily join” Congress in welcoming Zelenskyy, and urged Republicans to attend the joint meeting.
“It is a high honor to welcome a foreign head of state to Congress, but it is nearly unheard of to hear from a leader who is fighting for his life fighting for his country’s survival and fighting to preserve the very idea of democracy,” Schumer said.
(WASHINGTON) — Ahead of an expected deluge of Republican probes, Hunter Biden has retained high-powered defense lawyer Abbe Lowell to help navigate congressional oversight, according to another attorney for the president’s son.
The Department of Justice is currently probing the younger Biden over whether he paid sufficient taxes on income he received while serving on the board of directors of a Ukrainian natural gas company, as well as the manner in which he paid off tax obligations in recent years.
Congressional Republicans last month unveiled plans to push ahead with an investigation into President Joe Biden’s family once the GOP takes control of the House in January. Lawmakers said their primary focus will be finding out whether the elder Biden was more involved in his son’s dealings than previously known.
“Hunter Biden has retained Abbe Lowell to help advise him and be part of his legal team to address the challenges he is facing,” attorney Kevin Morris said in a statement to ABC News. “Lowell is a well-known Washington-based attorney who has represented numerous public officials and high-profile people in DOJ investigations and trials as well as Congressional Investigations.”
Morris said Lowell will handle “congressional investigations and general strategic advice” for the younger Biden.
Hunter Biden has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, ethically or criminally, but has acknowledged that his family ties likely bolstered his career. He has not been charged with any crimes.
President Biden has said that he and his son never discussed his son’s overseas business dealings.
Lowell has represented a number of high-profile political figures, including Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump; Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J.; and former Sen. John Edwards.
Lowell most recently secured an acquittal for an aide to Tom Barrack, a longtime ally of former President Donald Trump, in a foreign influence case.
