Clemency: President Biden today announced that he is granting clemency to nearly 1,500 Americans who have shown successful rehabilitation and a strong commitment to making their communities safer. Biden is commuting the sentences of close to 1,500 individuals who were placed on home confinement during the Covid-19 pandemic and who have successfully reintegrated into their families and communities. He is also pardoning 39 individuals who were convicted of non-violent crimes. These actions represent the largest single-day grant of clemency by a U.S. president in modern history.
Trump: Donald Trump has been named Time magazine’s person of the year. Trump was selected because he had the most influence on the news during 2024, according to Sam Jacobs, the magazine’s editor in chief who appeared on NBC’s “Today” program this morning. Jacobs said that Trump has made an historic comeback and that his influence on the news, whether for better or worse, was clear. Trump rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange this morning with members of his family and J.D. Vance looking on.
Wray: FBI Director Christopher Wray says he will resign his position at the end of President Biden’s term in view of the threat by Donald Trump to fire Wray as soon as he takes office. Wray said that his resignation would be better for the FBI than to have the bureau become involved in what could be a fight. Trump has named his loyalist Kash Patel as his choice to run the FBI. Patel has said he intends to shut down the FBI’s Washington Headquarters as soon as he takes office.
Evidence: New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch says that the NYPD crime lab has matched the gun found in the possession of Luigi Mangione in Altoona, Pennsylvania, to shells found at the scene of the shooting of the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, Brian Thompson. Mangione is facing second degree murder charges in New York. He has refused to waive extradition and is currently being held in a state prison in Pennsylvania.
Middle East: The Health Ministry in Gaza says that at least 40 people were killed overnight in airstrikes by Israel. At least seven children were reported to have been killed in one of the airstrikes. Israel’s military said that it was targeting members of Hamas who were trying to hijack shipments of aid intended for civilians in Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan in Jerusalem today to discuss the situation in Syria after the downfall of dictator al-Assad.
Inauguration: Karoline Leavitt, who has been named White House Press Secretary under the incoming Trump Administration, confirmed in an interview on Fox News that Trump has invited Chinese President Xi to his inauguration. She said that whether Xi will attend has yet to be determined. She said that there is ample precedent for foreign leaders to be invited to presidential inaugurations in the U.S.
