Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove sent a memo to the acting FBI director Friday evening directing him to terminate eight FBI employees and identify all current and former bureau personnel assigned to Jan. 6 and Hamas cases for an internal review, Fox News has learned. 

Bove's memo to acting FBI Director Brian Driscoll, which was obtained by Fox News, asserts the Department of Justice cannot trust the FBI employees to carry out President Donald Trump's agenda.

The subject of the memo is "Terminations."

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT FIRES MORE THAN A DOZEN KEY OFFICIALS ON FORMER SPECIAL COUNSEL JACK SMITH'S TEAM

"This memorandum sets forth a series of directives, authorized by the Acting Attorney General, regarding personnel matters to be addressed at the Federal Bureau of Investigation," Bove wrote. 

Bove, a former Trump defense attorney, directed Driscoll to fire eight specific FBI employees by Monday, Feb. 3, at 5:30 p.m. 

"I do not believe that the current leadership of the Justice Department can trust these FBI employees to assist in implementing the President’s agenda faithfully," Bove wrote in the memo. 

Bove cited comments made by President Trump on his first day back in office, in which Trump accused the Biden administration's law enforcement and intelligence agencies of going after Biden's political adversaries.

"The American people have witnessed the previous administration engage in a systemic campaign against its perceived political opponents, weaponizing the legal force of numerous Federal law enforcement agencies and the Intelligence Community against those perceived political opponents in the form of investigations, prosecutions, civil enforcement actions, and other related actions," Bove's memo noted. "This includes the FBI."

ANTI-TRUMP FBI AGENT RESPONSIBLE FOR OPENING JACK SMITH ELECTOR CASE AGAINST PRESIDENT: WHISTLEBLOWER

Bove said the FBI’s "prior leadership actively participated in what President Trump appropriately described as ‘a grave national injustice that has been perpetrated upon the American people over the last four years’ with respect to events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

"The weaponization of the FBI’s security clearance process is similarly troubling," Bove continued. "So too are issues relating to the FBI’s reticence to address instructions and requests from, among other places, the Justice Department." 

Bove said the problems "are symptomatic of deficiencies in previous leadership that must now be addressed."

Bove wrote that he "deem[s] these terminations necessary, pursuant to President Trump’s January 20, 2025 Executive Order, entitled ‘Ending the Weaponization of the Federal Government’ in order to continue the process of restoring a culture of integrity, credibility, accountability, and responsiveness to the leadership and directives of President Trump and the Justice Department." 

Beyond the terminations of the eight employees, Bove directed Driscoll to identify by noon Tuesday, Feb. 4, "all current and former FBI personnel assigned at any time to investigations and/or prosecutions" relating to "the events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021" and United States v. Haniyeh, a terrorism case against six Hamas leaders charged with planning and carrying out the Oct. 7, 2023, attack in Israel. 

The defendants in that case include Ismail Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwar, high-level Hamas leaders believed to have been assassinated in 2024 by Israeli operatives.

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Bove ordered that the lists of employees Driscoll should compile "should include relevant supervisory personnel in FBI regional offices and field divisions, as well as at FBI headquarters." 

"For each employee included in the list, provide the current title, office to which the person is assigned, role in the investigation or prosecution, and date of last activity relating to the investigation or prosecution," Bove directed. "Upon timely receipt of the requested information, the Office of the Deputy Attorney General will commence a review process to determine whether any additional personnel actions are necessary." 

Fox News also obtained the letter Driscoll sent to bureau employees Friday evening after receiving Bove’s memo. In it, Driscoll notified employees he was directed to fire the specific employees Bove identified "unless these employees have retired beforehand." 

"I have been personally in touch with each of these impacted employees," Driscoll wrote. 

As for the directive to compile a list of FBI employees involved in the Jan. 6 and Hamas cases, Driscoll said that request "encompasses thousands of employees across the country who have supported these investigative efforts." 

"I am one of those employees, as is acting Deputy Director Kissane," Driscoll wrote. "As we’ve said since the moment we agreed to take on these roles, we are going to follow the law, follow FBI policy, and do what’s in the best interest of the workforce and the American people — always.

"We will be back in touch with more information as soon as we can. In the meantime, stay safe, and take care of each other." 

The FBI declined to comment on any personnel matters, including names, titles or numbers.

The DOJ directive comes after Acting Attorney General James McHenry earlier this week fired more than a dozen key officials who worked on special counsel Jack Smith’s team prosecuting Trump. Fox News Digital exclusively reported the action Monday. 

A DOJ official Monday used similar language to that seen in Bove's letter, telling Fox News Digital McHenry "does not trust these officials to assist in faithfully implementing the president’s agenda." 

The directive also comes a day after Fox News Digital exclusively reported that whistleblower emails were shared with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, revealing that a former FBI agent, Timothy Thibault, allegedly broke protocol and played a critical role in opening and advancing the bureau’s original investigation related to the 2020 election, tying President Donald Trump to the probe without sufficient predication. 

Bove's memo also comes a day after President Trump's nominee to lead the bureau, Kash Patel, testified during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. 

Trump and allies have maintained the law enforcement agency was weaponized against him and conservatives across the nation. 

The House Judiciary Committee, for months, investigated the FBI for the creation of a memo targeting Catholics and parents at school board meetings during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

President Trump on Friday evening denied any involvement in the DOJ directive. 

"We have some very bad people over there," Trump said Friday. "They came after a lot of people like me, but they came after a lot of people. No, I wasn't involved in that.

"I'll have to see what is exactly going on after this is finished," he added. "But if they fired some people over there, that's a good thing, because they were very bad. They were very corrupt people, very corrupt, and they hurt our country very badly with the weaponization. They used, they used the Justice Department to go after their political opponent, which in itself is illegal. And obviously it didn't work."

EXCLUSIVE: WASHINGTON — A previously identified anti-Trump FBI agent allegedly broke protocol and played a critical role in opening and advancing the bureau’s original investigation related to the 2020 election, tying President Donald Trump to the probe without sufficient predication, whistleblower disclosures obtained by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, revealed. 

That investigation into Trump was formally opened by the FBI on April 13, 2022, and was known inside the bureau as "Arctic Frost," Fox News Digital has learned. 

EX-FBI OFFICIAL WHO SHUT DOWN HUNTER BIDEN LINES OF INVESTIGATION VIOLATED HATCH ACT WITH ANTI-TRUMP POSTS 

Grassley, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations chair, shared internal FBI emails and predicating documents — legally protected whistleblower disclosures — exclusively with Fox News Digital. 

The senators say the documents prove the genesis of the federal election interference case brought against Trump began at the hands of FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Timothy Thibault. 

Fox News Digital exclusively reported in 2024 that Thibault had been fired from the FBI after he violated the Hatch Act in his political posts on social media. Previous whistleblowers claimed that Thibault had shown a "pattern of active public partisanship," which likely affected investigations involving Trump and Hunter Biden. 

Grassley first publicly revealed the existence of the whistleblower disclosures during the Senate Judiciary Committee’s confirmation hearing for Trump’s nominee to serve as FBI director, Kash Patel, on Thursday. 

One email, obtained and reviewed by Fox News Digital, revealed Thibault communicating with a subordinate agent on Feb. 14, 2022. 

Thibault said: "Here is draft opening language we discussed," and attached material that would later become part of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s elector case. 

Another email, sent by Thibault on Feb. 24, 2022, to a prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, John Crabb, states: "I had a discussion with the case team and we believe there to be predication to include former President of the United States Donald J. Trump as a predicated subject." 

Sources told Fox News Digital, though, that Thibault took the action to open the investigation and involve Trump, despite being unauthorized to open criminal investigations in his role — only special agents have the authority to open criminal investigations. 

Another email, sent on the same day, notes that he would seek approval from Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray to open the case. 

Next, an email on Feb. 25, 2022, sent by a subordinate agent, Michelle Ball, to Thibault states that they added Trump and others as a criminal subject to the case. 

Thibault responded: "Perfect." 

The fifth email, reviewed by Fox News Digital, reveals Thibault emailing a version of an investigative opening for approval. However, this email did not include Trump as a criminal subject. 

The sixth email, from April 11, 2022, shows Thibault approving the opening of Arctic Frost, and the next email, on April 13, 2022, was from an FBI agent to Thibault stating that the FBI deputy director approved its opening. 

Another email reviewed by Fox News Digital shows Thibault emailing DOJ official Crabb notifying him that the elector case was approved. 

Crabb responded, "Thanks a lot. Let’s talk next week."

"Between March 22 and April 13, other versions of the document opening the investigation existed, because a ninth email shows that the FBI General Counsel’s office made edits on March 25," Grassley said during Patel's confirmation hearing Thursday. "Was Trump still removed as an investigative subject?  If so, which Justice Department and FBI officials — other than Jack Smith — later added him for prosecution?" 

The email records appear to show that an official in the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section, Richard Pilger, reviewed and approved the FBI’s Arctic Frost investigation, authorizing the DOJ to move forward with a full field criminal and grand jury investigation that ultimately transformed into Smith's Trump-elector case. 

Grassley, in 2021, published a report which raised concerns regarding Pilger’s record at the DOJ.

Fox News Digital first reported in July 2022 that Grassley warned Attorney General Merrick Garland that Thibault and Pilger were "deeply involved in the decisions to open and pursue election-related investigations against President Trump."

GRASSLEY PRESSES DOJ, FBI FOR TRANSPARENCY ON 'PARTISAN' POLITICIZATION OF AGENCIES, HUNTER BIDEN PROBE

At the time, whistleblowers told Grassley that the Thibault-Pilger investigation's predicating document was based on information from "liberal nonprofit American Oversight." 

In the investigation’s opening memo sent to the upper levels of the DOJ for approval, however, whistleblowers claimed Thibault and Pilger "removed or watered-down material connected to the aforementioned left-wing entities that existed in previous versions and recommended that a full investigation — not a preliminary investigation — be approved."

Based on Smith’s scope memo, Grassley and Johnson, in 2022, wrote that the Thibault-Pilger investigation was included in the special counsel’s jurisdiction.

They also pointed out that Smith had a prior relationship with Pilger. Smith was in charge of the DOJ’s Public Integrity Unit while Pilger was in charge of the Election Crimes Branch.

Grassley and Johnson, in 2022, began sounding the alarm that Special Counsel Jack Smith was "overseeing an investigation that was allegedly defective in its initial steps and an investigation which his former subordinate [Pilger] was involved in opening." 

Former Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Smith, a former Justice Department official, as special counsel in November 2022. 

Smith, a former assistant U.S. attorney and chief to the DOJ's public integrity section, led the investigation into Trump's retention of classified documents after leaving the White House and whether the former president obstructed the federal government's investigation into the matter. 

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Smith also was tasked with overseeing the investigation into whether Trump or other officials and entities interfered with the peaceful transfer of power following the 2020 presidential election, including the certification of the Electoral College vote on Jan. 6, 2021.

Smith charged Trump in both cases, but Trump pleaded not guilty.

The classified records case was dismissed in July 2024 by U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida Judge Aileen Cannon, who ruled that Smith was unlawfully appointed as special counsel. 

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Smith charged Trump in the U.S. District Court for Washington, D.C., in his 2020 election case, but after Trump was elected president, Smith sought to dismiss the case. Judge Tanya Chutkan granted that request. 

Grassley, during the confirmation hearing on Thursday, said he is requesting "the production of all records on this matter to better understand the full fact pattern and whether other records exist." 

The FBI declined to comment. 

On President Donald Trump’s first day back in office, he signed an executive order entitled "Ending the Weaponization of the Federal Government," responding to the Biden administration’s lawfare against him. Democrats still harshly criticize that E.O.

On Nov. 15, 2022, former President Donald Trump announced that he again was running for president. On Nov. 18, Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Jack Smith as special counsel to investigate and prosecute Trump, a historical first because prosecuting a former president and the leading presidential candidate of the major opposition political party shattered two centuries of legal norms and tradition. 

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, recently said that Biden’s "Justice Department’s infected with political decision-making, while its leaders refuse to acknowledge that reality."

Trump consistently and correctly criticized the Biden administration’s politicization and weaponization of government. He must now fundamentally choose whether to allow the Democrats’ wrongful lawfare against him to naturally end.

SHOULD PROSECUTORS BE PROSECUTED FOR THEIR LAWFARE CAMPAIGN AGAINST TRUMP?

Unfortunately, the Biden administration’s last-minute machinations, such as politicized special counsel reports and Biden’s blanket pardons for his family, friends and political allies, signal that Democrats likely will not stop lawfare and weaponization until they are turned against them. 

Biden’s statement accompanying his pardons showed that he knew lawfare was wrong: "baseless and politically motivated investigations wreak havoc on the lives, safety and financial security of targeted individuals and their families… being investigated or prosecuted can irreparably damage their reputations and finances."

If Democrats disavowed lawfare and committed to never doing it again, Biden’s last-minute pardons would have been unnecessary. Instead, they indicate that Democrats still want lawfare, expect tit-for-tat Republican-led investigations of Democrats, and anticipate that Trump perhaps will pardon his family, appointees and political supporters when he leaves office.

NEW YORK LEGAL LAWFARE CIRCUS AGAINST TRUMP IS CONSTITUTIONAL THREAT THAT MUST BE DISMISSED

Democrats recently signaled their commitment to lawfare when they attacked Pam Bondi during her confirmation hearings about "future weaponization" at DOJ. They intend to do the same at Kash Patel’s upcoming hearings for FBI director. 

Their questions followed Special Counsel Jack Smith’s pointless report, where he inaptly claimed that he would have convicted Trump for J6 but for the 2024 election. Smith is wrong because he ignored the Supreme Court’s Trump immunity case and cases such as Fischer, McDonnell, and Yates, all of which stripped away the heart of Smith’s charges. Ironically, Smith was the lead prosecutor in McDonnell; the Supreme Court ruled against him, 9-0.

Furthermore, Smith’s report futilely cited the Trump dissenting opinions and the lower courts’ denials of presidential immunity, even though the Supreme Court rejected them; this reveals Smith’s bias and poor legal judgment. 

THE PUBLIC REJECTED LAWFARE WHEN THEY RE-ELECTED TRUMP

Smith’s report implied that the Supreme Court was wrong: "no court had ever found that presidents are immune from criminal responsibility for their official acts, and no text in the Constitution explicitly confers such criminal immunity on the President." The Supreme Court, however, never before had to rule on presidential immunity because no DOJ ever prosecuted a former president.

Perhaps Smith takes comfort from legacy media outlets which supported him. For example, The Washington Post noted that Smith’s report "seems to make a point to offer a subtle but pretty unmistakable rebuke of the Supreme Court and its role in sparing Trump a possible conviction."  Smith’s duty as a special counsel, however, is to obey the Supreme Court, not ignore or "rebuke" it.

Customarily, special counsel reports are dry, boring, factual documents.  Smith filled his with politically tinged allegations that he cribbed from his indictments and the congressional J6 committee. 

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He so strenuously claimed that he and his office were "unbiased," "neutral," and "professional" such that he "doth protest too much, methinks" as per Shakespeare’s "Hamlet," Act 3, Scene 2. No previous special counsel felt the need to repeatedly declare his own fairness and disinterest; none ever prosecuted a former president and the leading candidate of the main opposition party.

Worse, Smith dropped an "October Surprise" when he filed a huge J6 court brief shortly before Election Day, one-sidedly reciting unflattering allegations against Trump. It wrongly claimed, among other things, that Trump directed "an angry mob to the United States Capitol to obstruct the congressional certification of the presidential election and then leverage rioters’ violence to further delay it" and that Trump "resorted to crimes."

Smith violated DOJ’s internal rules, which state that federal prosecutors "may never select the timing of any action, including investigative steps, criminal charges, or statements, for the purpose of affecting any election or for the purpose of giving an advantage or disadvantage to any candidate or political party." 

It appears that Pam Bondi will be confirmed as attorney general. She and President Trump can right our DOJ and criminal justice system, but only if the Democrats admit that their lawfare and weaponizing the government were wrong and backfired on them. 

Sadly, it may be that Democrats have to be shown that investigations and prosecutions can descend on them just as easily as they did on Republicans in order to drive a stake into lawfare’s heart.

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The views expressed in this article are the writers' own.

EXCLUSIVE: The Justice Department is firing more than a dozen key officials who worked on Special Counsel Jack Smith’s team prosecuting President Donald Trump, after Acting Attorney General James McHenry said they could not be trusted in "faithfully implementing the president’s agenda," Fox News Digital has learned. 

McHenry has transmitted a letter to each official notifying them of their termination, a Justice Department official exclusively told Fox News Digital.

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It is unclear how many officials received that letter. The names of the individuals were not immediately released. 

"Today, Acting Attorney General James McHenry terminated the employment of a number of DOJ officials who played a significant role in prosecuting President Trump," a DOJ official told Fox News Digital. "In light of their actions, the Acting Attorney General does not trust these officials to assist in faithfully implementing the President’s agenda." 

This action "is consistent with the mission of ending the weaponization of government," the official told Fox News Digital.

The move comes after the Justice Department reassigned more than a dozen officials in the first week of the Trump administration to a Sanctuary City task force and other measures. 

DOJ RELEASES FORMER SPECIAL COUNSEL JACK SMITH'S REPORT ON INVESTIGATION INTO TRUMP ELECTION INTERFERENCE CASE

It also comes after Trump vowed to end the weaponization of the federal government. 

Former Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Smith, a former Justice Department official, as special counsel in November 2022. 

Smith, a former assistant U.S. attorney and chief to the DOJ's public integrity section, led the investigation into Trump's retention of classified documents after leaving the White House and whether the former president obstructed the federal government's investigation into the matter. 

HOUSE WEAPONIZATION PANEL RELEASES 17,000-PAGE REPORT EXPOSING 'TWO-TIERED SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT'

Smith was also tasked with overseeing the investigation into whether Trump or other officials and entities interfered with the peaceful transfer of power following the 2020 presidential election, including the certification of the Electoral College vote on Jan. 6, 2021. 

Smith charged Trump in both cases, but Trump pleaded not guilty.

The classified records case was dismissed in July 2024 by U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida Judge Aileen Cannon, who ruled that Smith was unlawfully appointed as special counsel. 

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Smith charged Trump in the U.S. District Court for Washington D.C. in his 2020 election case, but after Trump was elected president, Smith sought to dismiss the case. Judge Tanya Chutkan granted that request. 

Both cases were dismissed. 

January 6 defendants who received commutations from President Donald Trump are free to visit the U.S. Capitol without receiving prior permission, a federal judge ruled Monday.

District Judge Amit Mehta issued the order in response to a petition from Trump's Justice Department. Some of the January 6 defendants had included a restriction on visiting the capitol as part of their sentences, and the DOJ requested that those requirements be removed.

Mehta declined to remove the restrictions from their sentencing documents, but acknowledged that the commutation from Trump means those restrictions will not be enforced.

"The U.S. Department of Justice's motion is granted in part and denied in part," Mehta wrote. "The court will not ‘dismiss’ the non-custodial portion of defendants' sentences, but defendants are no longer bound by the judicially imposed conditions of supervised release."

COMMUTED JAN. 6 DEFENDANTS BARRED FROM DC, CAPITOL BUILDING BY FEDERAL JUDGE

The reversal comes days after Mehta imposed the restriction on "Defendants Stewart Rhodes, Kelly Meggs, Kenneth Harrelson, Jessica Watkins, Roberto Minuta, Edward Vallejo, David Moerchel, and Joseph Hacket," whose sentences were commuted. Those pardoned were not subject to the order.

The order stated, "You must not knowingly enter the District of Columbia without first obtaining the permission from the Court," adding, "You must not knowingly enter the United States Capitol Building or onto surrounding grounds known as Capitol Square."

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While pardons vacate a defendant's conviction, a commutation leaves the conviction in place while lessening the sentence. Mehta had argued that the language of Trump's pardon for the defendants in question had only applied to their terms of imprisonment, and not to the details of their supervised release.

DOJ CONSIDERS CHARGING 200 MORE PEOPLE 4 YEARS AFTER JAN. 6 CAPITOL ATTACK

Jonathan Turley, Fox News Media contributor and the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University, called the order "very unusual" when it came down last week.

"The judge is relying on the fact that the sentences were commuted, but the defendants did not receive full pardons," Turley told Fox News Digital.

Trump pardoned nearly all Jan. 6 defendants earlier this week after promising to do so at his inaugural parade.

The ordeal may not be over for some of the more than 1,500 Jan. 6 criminal defendants granted clemency by President Donald Trump, as certain prosecutors are currently investigating whether some of the individuals — particularly those alleged to have committed violent crimes — could be charged at the state or local level.

That loophole was floated by Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner, who told CNN that his office was looking into the possibility of bringing state election- or conspiracy-related charges against some of the Pennsylvania residents who were pardoned or saw their prison sentences commuted during the first week of the Trump presidency.

Krasner's office could theoretically take action against the more than 100 Pennsylvania residents who received full pardons or sentence commutations, including a Philadelphia-based Proud Boys leader who was sentenced to 15 years in prison on charges of seditious conspiracy and another Pittsburgh-area man sentenced to 14 years in prison for indiscriminately spraying pepper spray at police officers, throwing a folding chair at officers and wielding a large wooden "tire thumper," according to the Justice Department.

Krasner declined to detail further how, or if, his office will move on the state charges, and his office did not respond to several requests for comment from Fox News Digital.

However, Krasner maintained that in his view, "there is a path" for charging Jan. 6 individuals — and not just those living in the Keystone State.

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Trump's decision to sign a sweeping act of clemency freed more than 1,500 individuals that were charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021 U.S. Capitol breach. More than 100 police officers were injured, according to officials, and the incident ultimately sparked the largest FBI investigation in the bureau's history.  

"In many cases, it will be possible to go after people who have been federally pardoned," Krasner told CNN Thursday.

"The focus for most state prosecutors should be what occurred within their jurisdiction," he said. "Texting, phone calls, emails, reservations for transportation or hotels. Conspiratorial activity could give rise to a local charge — meaning a state charge — of criminal conspiracy." 

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Legal hurdles, "double jeopardy" concerns 

Still, that is not to say that the strategy is without significant hurdles.

Former prosecutors told Fox News Digital that those looking to bring state charges against Jan. 6 rioters will almost certainly find themselves mired in a complex legal minefield.

The difficulty of securing state convictions has nothing to do with the seriousness of the crimes committed by the Jan. 6 rioters — which range from charges of seditious conspiracy and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding to assault and assault against police officers — but rather, jurisdictional issues and wide double jeopardy protections.

Here, the facts are especially complex, since both Washington, D.C., and U.S. Capitol grounds fall under federal court jurisdiction, former U.S. prosecutor Andrew McCarthy explained in a Thursday message to Fox News Digital. 

This means any conspiracy to commit a crime would inherently be at the federal level — a complex catch-22 that would be difficult for state prosecutors to isolate in court.

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State prosecutors also have a very narrow scope in trying to prove new criminal action. 

That is because they must do so while respecting the broad double jeopardy protections included in the U.S. Constitution, which prevent individuals from being tried for the same case twice. It also is taken to mean that they cannot be tried twice for the same conduct. 

In fact, for state prosecutors to bring charges against an individual, they must prove successive actions are focused on remedying a "very different kind of harm or evil" than the federal charges, and it is unclear whether states will be able to meet that burden of proof. 

McCarthy and other lawyers pointed to the 2019 decision by a New York judge who cited the double jeopardy clause as the rationale for tossing a 16-count indictment state prosecutors brought against Paul Manafort, Trump's former campaign chairman, ruling that the conduct was not sufficiently different. 

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It is unclear how, or if, any charges brought by state prosecutors could satisfy the test of proving a "very different kind of harm or evil" — but Krasner, a self-proclaimed Democrat who has spent more than 20 years as a prosecutor, said he believes so. 

He is not the only one sharing that sentiment. Aria Branch, a partner at the Democrat-aligned Elias Law Group told Fox News Digital in an emailed statement Friday that it is the belief that "any individuals who committed crimes that day should be held accountable." 

"If any of the rioters may have violated state laws, it is up to state and local law enforcement officials to review the facts and bring charges as appropriate," Branch said. "The rule of law must be upheld, regardless of President Trump’s political incentives."

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Meanwhile, Republicans were forced to toe a delicate line in the aftermath of Trump's pardons — facing tough questions as to what the clemency orders meant for a party that has long been seen as one that "backs the blue" and supports police officer protections.

Vice President JD Vance used an interview on CBS News on Sunday to accuse former Attorney General Merrick Garland of applying "double standards in how sentences were applied to the J6 protesters, versus other groups," in an attempt to soften his earlier remarks.

Vance, a former U.S. senator, previously told Fox News that Jan. 6 participants who committed violence "obviously" should not be pardoned.

Meanwhile, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters Wednesday "the president has made his decision." "I don’t second-guess those," Johnson said. 

Others were more direct in their criticism.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Ala., told reporters that she was "disappointed to see" the decision to pardon violent offenders, including those who were convicted of violence against police officers. 

"I do fear the message that is sent to these great men and women that stood by us," she said.

This was echoed by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., who told reporters the pardons were "deeply un-American."

"Let's be clear, President Trump didn't just pardon protesters," Schumer said. "He pardoned individuals convicted of assaulting police officers. He pardoned individuals convicted of seditious conspiracy. And he pardoned those who attempted to undermine our democracy." 

More than 200 people were in the custody of the federal Bureau of Prison system prior to Trump's pardon. By Tuesday morning, all of them had been released, officials told The Associated Press.

Ed Martin, a defense attorney who represented three men charged in the Jan. 6 riots, was recently appointed as the acting U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. 

Martin filed a motion Friday to remove all remaining conditions imposed on commuted Jan. 6 defendants, including restrictions that barred certain individuals from entering Washington, D.C., or the U.S. Capitol building.

FIRST ON FOX: When Joan Bell, 76, was given the news she was one of the pro-life activists pardoned by President Donald Trump Thursday afternoon, she was in disbelief.

"I didn't know if that meant we would get out in a few weeks or a few months, or what. I didn't really know, but I knew we got pardoned," Bell, a grandmother of eight, told Fox News Digital Friday. "Well, then I ran upstairs because I had a rosary every evening."

After finishing her prayers and Bible study with other inmates, Bell, a lifelong pro-life advocate, was told by several other inmates that her husband, Christopher Bell, was on Laura Ingraham's Fox News show saying she was indeed one of the 23 others pardoned.

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"That was overwhelmingly beautiful," Bell recalled. "Everyone was clapping." She was then told by a guard to pack up her things for her release later that evening. 

"We are so grateful to Trump. And to just feel the fresh air, God's beautiful air, just wonderful," Bell said. "Just being out and being with my husband, my son, just glorious. There are no words to describe that kind of freedom." 

She added that she and her husband will take a "second honeymoon" soon. 

Bell, who lives in New Jersey, was sentenced to more than two years in prison in November 2023 for participating in a "blockade," conspiring with other activists at a Washington D.C. abortion clinic in October 2020, according to President Biden's Department of Justice (DOJ). 

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Prosecutors from the DOJ's Civil Rights Division and U.S. attorney's office for the District of Columbia argued the pro-life activists violated the 1994 FACE Act, a federal law that prohibits physical force, threats of force or intentionally damaging property to prevent someone from obtaining or providing abortion services.

The activists were sentenced by Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, a Clinton appointee, and immediately detained.

While signing the pardons Thursday, just a day before Friday's annual March for Life rally, Trump said, "They should not have been prosecuted." 

PRO-LIFE PROTESTERS PARDONED BY TRUMP, FOX CONFIRMS

"Many, many of them are elderly people," Trump said in the Oval Office. "They should not have been prosecuted. This is a great honor to sign this. They'll be very happy."

Bell, along with Paula Paulette Harlow, Jean Marshall and John Hinshaw, were all around 70 years old when they were imprisoned.

"That he personally knew our case is so touching," Bell said of Trump. "I want to give him a hug."

Attorneys from the Thomas More Society formally requested pardons from the Trump administration earlier this month for the 21 pro-life advocates the law firm was representing. 

"The heroic peaceful pro-lifers unjustly imprisoned by Biden’s Justice Department will now be freed and able to return home to their families, eat a family meal and enjoy the freedom that should have never been taken from them in the first place," Steve Crampton, senior counsel of the Thomas More Society, said in a statement. 

"These heroic peaceful pro-lifers were treated shamefully by Biden’s DOJ, with many of them branded felons and losing many rights that we take for granted as American citizens."

In a previous interview with Fox News Digital, Crampton said it was hard to find a "fair jury" and that most of the jurors were either Planned Parenthood donors or pro-choice advocates in the cases. He called Washington, D.C., the "most pro-abortion city in America." 

"She can say her pro-death words, but we weren't allowed to say pro-life words," Bell said of the judge in the trial. Nonetheless, she said it was more "heartbreaking" to be prosecuted for her religious beliefs.

This week, Trump also took action to pardon over 1,000 Jan. 6 rioters who were imprisoned, along with numerous other executive orders related to immigration and cryptocurrency and orders to declassify the MLK and JFK files.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the DOJ's Civil Rights Division for comment. 

The Department of Justice is rescinding job offers for the Attorney General’s Honors Program amid President Donald Trump’s federal hiring freeze, according to a new report. 

The Attorney General’s Honors Program, established in 1953, hires graduating law students or recent law school graduates from top law schools such as Harvard, Duke, Georgetown, Stanford and the University of Virginia. 

But the Department of Justice notified those who had been selected for the program, which serves as a pipeline to recruit top legal talent into the public sector, that their offers were being revoked, several people familiar with the decision told the Washington Post. 

CAREER JUSTICE DEPARTMENT OFFICIALS REASSIGNED TO DIFFERENT POSITIONS: REPORTS

The Department’s Office of Attorney Recruitment and Management distributed an email to those affected via email on Wednesday. 

"Pursuant to the hiring freeze announced Jan. 20, 2025, your job offer has been revoked," said the email," according to an email the Post obtained. 

Those familiar with the program said it may take on more than 100 lawyers annually, with recent hires assigned to the antitrust, national security, criminal and other divisions. 

They told the Post that the program is critical in recruiting new top talent to the Justice Department in order to replace outgoing legal talent. The two-year program places young attorneys on a career path to stay at the Department once the program concludes. 

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE FREEZES ALL CIVIL RIGHTS DIVISION CASES: REPORT

The Post reports that it is uncertain whether the program will resume once federal hiring starts again. 

The Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital. 

Trump signed a series of executive orders on Inauguration Day this week, including those initiating the federal hiring freeze as well as withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement, and directing every department and agency to address the cost-of-living crisis.

DOJ RACING THE CLOCK TO ENSHRINE ‘WOKE’ POLICING RULES, LAWYER SAYS, AS JUDGE HEARS BREONNA TAYLOR REFORM CASE

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"As part of this freeze, no Federal civilian position that is vacant at noon on January 20, 2025, may be filled, and no new position may be created except as otherwise provided for in this memorandum or other applicable law," a White House memo said. "Except as provided below, this freeze applies to all executive departments and agencies regardless of their sources of operational and programmatic funding."

Those exempt from the hiring freeze include military personnel and other federal jobs pertaining to immigration, national security or public safety. 

Eleven Democratic states on Thursday issued a statement criticizing the "vague" threats from the Trump administration related to possible prosecutions for not complying with immigration enforcement. 

The statement was signed by state attorneys general from California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Mexico, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont.

It addressed a recent Justice Department memo directing federal prosecutors to investigate state and local officials who refuse to enforce President Donald Trump's immigration policies, including hs mass deportation plans. 

TRUMP'S ICE RACKS UP HUNDREDS OF ARRESTS, INCLUDING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS ARRESTED FOR HORROR CRIMES

"Right now, these vague threats are just that: empty words on paper," the statement said. "But rest assured, our states will not hesitate to respond if these words become illegal actions."

In the memo, Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, Trump's former defense attorney, said that "federal law prohibits state and local actors from resisting, obstructing, and otherwise failing to comply with lawful immigration-related commands and requests, pursuant to, for example, the President's extensive Article II authority with respect to foreign affairs and national security, the Immigration and Nationality Act, and the Alien Enemies Act." 

‘PROMPT REMOVAL’: TRUMP DHS EXPANDS EXPEDITED DEPORTATION POWERS AS OPERATIONS RAMP UP

Bove said U.S. attorneys offices "and litigating components of the Department of Justice shall investigate incidents involving any such misconduct for potential prosecution, including for obstructing federal functions in violation of federal statutes."

The attorneys general cited Printz v. United States, saying the federal government can't force local or state authorities to carry out immigration actions. 

"Despite what he may say to the contrary, the President cannot unilaterally re-write the Constitution," they wrote. 

"The President has made troubling threats to weaponize the U.S. Department of Justice’s prosecutorial authority and resources to attack public servants acting in compliance with their state laws, interfering with their ability to build trust with the communities they serve and protect."

Fox News Digital's Jake Gibson, David Spunt and Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.

Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., slammed President Trump on Monday night for pardoning more than 1,000 people involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, riots. 

Trump signed pardons for approximately 1,500 defendants who were charged with crimes stemming from the riot at the U.S. Capitol, fulfilling a promise he made in December to act quickly and pardon them. 

Trump also commuted the sentences of six people on Monday, including the leaders of the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys extremist groups.

BIDEN TAKES DEPARTING JAB AT TRUMP, SAYS HE WAS ‘GENUINE THREAT TO DEMOCRACY’

But Pelosi called the move "shameful" and said to remember the "courage" of law enforcement "heroes" who "ensured that democracy survived."

"The President's actions are an outrageous insult to our justice system and the heroes who suffered physical scars and emotional trauma as they protected the Capitol, the Congress and the Constitution," Pelosi, who didn’t attend Trump’s inauguration on Monday, said in a statement posted to X.

"It is shameful that the President has decided to make one of his top priorities the abandonment and betrayal of police officers who put their lives on the line to stop an attempt to subvert the peaceful transfer of power," Pelosi wrote.

DOJ SEEKS TO BLOCK JAN. 6 DEFENDANTS FROM ATTENDING TRUMP INAUGURATION 

The Justice Department reported that approximately 140 police officers were assaulted during the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021. That included law enforcement members from both the U.S. Capitol Police and about 60 from the Metropolitan Police Department.

Trump announced earlier on Monday at his inaugural parade at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., he would issue pardons for the "hostages."

"Tonight I'm going to be signing on the J6 hostages, pardons to get them out," Trump said at the parade at Capital One Arena. "I'm going to the Oval Office, and we'll be signing pardons for a lot of people."

So far, judges or a jury after a trial have convicted roughly 250 people who faced charges for their involvement in the riot, and more than 1,000 had pleaded guilty to crimes as of January.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

President Donald Trump pardoned nearly all Jan. 6 defendants on Monday night, after promising at his inaugural parade to sign an executive order on the matter. 

Sitting at the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, Trump signed off on releasing more than 1,500 charged with crimes stemming from the Jan. 6, 2021, attack at the U.S. Capitol. The order requires the Federal Bureau of Prisons to act immediately on receipt of the pardons.

"Tonight I'm going to be signing on the J6 hostages, pardons to get them out," Trump said at the parade at Capital One Arena in Washington. "I'm going to the Oval Office and we'll be signing pardons for a lot of people."

Those pardoned include Enrique Tarrio, the former Proud Boys chairman, who faced a sentence of 22 years in prison for seditious conspiracy. Tarrio's attorney told the Associated Press he expects Tarrio to face release Monday evening. 

Trump previously promised that he would be "acting very quickly" on his first day in office to pardon to the so-called "hostages."  

TRUMP TO DEPLOY MILITARY TO BORDER, END BIDEN PAROLE POLICIES IN FLURRY OF DAY ONE EXECUTIVE ORDERS

Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called Trump's pardon "shameful," and said to remember the "courage" of law enforcement "heroes" who "ensured that democracy survived." 

"The President's actions are an outrageous insult to our justice system and the heroes who suffered physical scars and emotional trauma as they protected the Capitol, the Congress and the Constitution," Pelosi, who didn’t attend Trump’s inauguration Monday, said in a statement posted to X, formerly known as Twitter. 

"It is shameful that the President has decided to make one of his top priorities the abandonment and betrayal of police officers who put their lives on the line to stop an attempt to subvert the peaceful transfer of power," Pelosi said. 

The pardon was one of more than 200 executive orders Trump was expected to sign on Inauguration Day. Other directives he signed on Monday include withdrawing the U.S. from the Paris climate agreement that the U.S. initially entered under former President Barack Obama’s administration in 2015. 

Trump previously withdrew the U.S. from the agreement during his first term in 2020. 

TRUMP TO TAKE MORE THAN 200 EXECUTIVE ACTIONS ON DAY ONE

On Monday morning, then-President Joe Biden issued a series of pardons just hours before Trump’s swearing in at the U.S. Capitol. Those pardoned by Biden include former chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, retired Gen. Mark Milley, whom Trump has accused of committing treason. Others Biden pardoned were those involved in the Jan. 6 Select Committee investigation that conducted a probe into the attack. 

"The issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that any individual engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense," Biden said in a statement. "Our nation owes these public servants a debt of gratitude for their tireless commitment to our country."

Fox News’ Anders Hagstrom and Brooke Singman contributed to this report. 

President Trump did not pardon or commute the prison sentence of Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the anonymous marketplace website Silk Road, despite his promise on the campaign trail to free him on "day one."

Ulbricht was convicted because his website, which was founded in 2011 and used cryptocurrency for payments, was used to sell illegal drugs, even though he did not sell any of the illicit substances himself.

After being sworn into office on Monday, Trump issued several executive actions, including efforts to reduce immigration, designating cartels as foreign terrorist organizations, a move to resume federal executions and pardoning or commuting sentences to time served of people convicted in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

But Trump's first day back in the White House came to an end with Ulbricht still behind bars without a pardon or commutation from the president, who pledged to do so last spring.

TRUMP VOWS TO COMMUTE PRISON SENTENCE OF SILK ROAD FOUNDER ROSS ULBRICHT

In May, Trump delivered a speech at the Libertarian National Convention to a hostile crowd of boos in an attempt to win over Libertarian voters. Libertarians believe government investigators overreached in their case against Silk Road and generally oppose the War on Drugs.

While the attendees were not favorable to Trump for most of the event, they did give a big cheer when he said he would commute Ulbricht's sentence to time served, as the crowd chanted "Free Ross" in the hopes that the then-presidential candidate would take action if elected to allow the Silk Road founder to return home to his family after more than a decade behind bars.

"If you vote for me, on day one I will commute the sentence of Ross Ulbricht, to a sentence of time served. He’s already served 11 years. We’re going to get him home," Trump told the crowd of Libertarians, many of whom were holding signs that read "Free Ross."

Ulbricht reacted to Trump's comments the following day on the social media platform X.

"Last night, Donald Trump pledged to commute my sentence on day 1, if reelected," he wrote. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. After 11 years in prison, it is hard to express how I feel at this moment. It is thanks to your undying support that I may get a second chance."

Last month, Ulbricht wrote: "For my last monthly resolution of 2024, I intend to study every day and to get up to speed as much as I can as I prepare for freedom."

Trump later reiterated his promise to commute Ulbricht's life sentence at a bitcoin conference, which he received loud cheers for.

Despite Trump failing to deliver on his promise to free Ulbricht on his first day back in office, the president reportedly may still grant him clemency as early as Tuesday.

"Pres. Trump's staff just confirmed to me Ross's pardon will be issued late tonight or tomorrow morning," Libertarian Party chair Angela McArdle wrote Monday night on X.

Elon Musk, who serves in the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency in the Trump administration, also said Ulbricht would be released soon.

"Ross will be freed," Musk wrote on X.

Many Libertarians have said they supported Trump in November's election, citing, in part, his commitment to free Ulbricht.

TRUMP PARDONS NEARLY ALL 1/6 DEFENDANTS

During his first term, Trump considered intervening to release Ulbricht before ultimately deciding against a pardon.

Ulbricht, now 40, operated the website from 2011 until his arrest in 2013. He was sentenced two years later to life in prison.

"I was trying to help us move toward a freer and more equitable world," Ulbricht said from prison in 2021. "We all know the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and now here I am. I'm in hell."

"Trump is done signing EOs and pardons for the night," 2024 Libertarian presidential candidate Chase Oliver wrote on X. "Hopefully, we will see a #FREEROSSULBRICHT commutation in the morning."

Social media users laid into U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland after video of him leaving the Department of Justice in celebratory fashion went viral online.

A DOJ video depicted Garland exiting the department Friday to cheers and applause from department staffers and other government officials who had lined the halls to see him off. However, critics of the attorney general gave him quite a different reception on X, formerly Twitter.

"Good riddance, Merrick Garland — you pathetic hack. @PamBondi will finally restore dignity to the DOJ. MAGA!" RNC Research wrote on X.

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The embattled attorney general was a regular target of conservatives and GOP leaders who called him corrupt throughout the four years of the Biden administration. 

Critics accused Garland of weaponizing the department against President-elect Donald Trump after the official launched an investigation into Trump’s handling of classified records that included a raid of Mar-a-Lago. Garland admitted he "personally approved" the raid.

Conservatives have grilled Garland over his department’s treatment of Catholics in multiple instances — one being where GOP lawmakers accused the DOJ of refusing to "bring justice" after attacks on Catholic churches.

Garland was also grilled at a congressional hearing over Catholics being allegedly targeted by the FBI. 

Conservatives went after the attorney general in 2021 after he directed the FBI and U.S. attorney offices to hold meetings with federal, state and local law enforcement leaders about ways to combat what the DOJ called an "increase in harassment, intimidation and threats of violence against school board members, teachers and workers in our nation’s public schools" coming from parents.

Prominent conservatives on X apparently had not forgotten his record in their responses to the clip. 

Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., condemned Garland’s record, posting, "Merrick Garland has left @TheJusticeDept for the FINAL TIME. His DOJ attacked concerned parents. His DOJ attacked religious Catholics. His DOJ attacked political opponents. His DOJ was unprecedentedly weaponized. This disgraceful era of brazen political lawfare is FINALLY OVER."

Republican communications adviser Matt Whitlock called Garland, "One of the greatest disappointments in recent political history."

He added, "Garland went from Chief on the DC Circuit to lawless political hack for the dark money groups that controlled the Biden White House. The guy sent the FBI after parents for speaking out at school board meetings."

PURPORTED FBI DOCUMENT SUGGESTS AGENCY MAY BE TARGETING CATHOLICS WHO ATTEND LATIN MASS

Gov. Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., press secretary Jeremy Redfern savaged the attorney general, posting, "Never thought we’d see someone do more damage to the credibility of the DoJ than Eric Holder, but then Merrick Garland happened."

Rep. Kevin Hern, R-Okla., condemned the official, stating, "Merrick Garland presided over the wicked weaponization of the federal government against the American people. He has caused irreparable damage to the institution. Good riddance."

Conservative columnist Tim Young decried the DOJ staffers for applauding Garland in the video of his exit. 

"Fire every single one of the DOJ staff applauding Merrick Garland. If you can cheer for him, you should have ZERO influence on the justice system in this country once Trump takes office," he wrote. 

The Federalist CEO Sean Davis went after the applauding staffers as well, saying, "Identify and fire everyone in the photos applauding Garland or crying about his exit."

The Babylon Bee managing editor Joel Berry agreed with Davis, replying, "Just fire all of them. Empty it out completely."

Fox News Digital has reached out to Garland for comment. 

EXCLUSIVE: House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer is requesting President-elect Trump’s Justice Department investigate and prosecute President Biden’s brother, James Biden, for allegedly making false statements to Congress, Fox News Digital has learned. 

Fox News Digital exclusively obtained a letter that Comer, R-Ky., sent to Trump’s nominee for attorney general, Pam Bondi, encouraging the DOJ to "hold James Biden accountable for lying to Congress to protect his brother, the soon-to-be-former President Biden." 

House Republicans in June sent criminal referrals for James Biden and Hunter Biden to the Justice Department recommending they be charged with making false statements to Congress about "key aspects" of the impeachment inquiry of President Biden. 

HOUSE REPUBLICANS REFER HUNTER BIDEN, JAMES BIDEN FOR CRIMINAL PROSECUTION AMID IMPEACHMENT INQUIRY

Specifically, Comer at the time said the alleged false statements implicated President Biden’s "knowledge and role in his family’s influence-peddling schemes" and that they appeared "to be a calculated effort to shield Joe Biden from the impeachment inquiry." 

Comer, along with House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, and Ways & Means Committee Chair Jason Smith, R-Mo., led the impeachment inquiry into President Biden and found that he engaged in "impeachable conduct," "abused his office" and "defrauded the United States to enrich his family." 

FLASHBACK: HUNTER BIDEN BUSINESS ASSOCIATE'S TEXT MESSAGES INDICATE MEETING WITH JOE BIDEN

Comer, in his letter to Bondi this week, pointed to Biden’s "full and unconditional pardon" for his son, Hunter Biden. 

"President Biden’s latest scheme to cover his family’s grift cements his legacy as leading the most corrupt political family to attain the presidency in American history," Comer wrote to Bondi. "But it also appears incomplete. President Biden has displayed to the American people that his son is beyond accountability in a court of law for his crimes." 

FLASHBACK: HUNTER BIDEN IN 2017 SENT 'BEST WISHES' FROM 'ENTIRE BIDEN FAMILY' TO CHINA FIRM CHAIRMAN, REQUESTED $10M WIRE

But Comer said he wanted to "remind incoming Department of Justice leadership of Hunter Biden’s main accomplice in his influence peddling schemes (aside from Joe Biden himself), whom the House Committees on Oversight, the Judiciary, and Ways and Means previously identified to Attorney General Merrick Garland as having misled Congress regarding Joe Biden’s participation in his family’s influence peddling and deserving of prosecution under federal law: James Biden, the President’s younger brother." 

Comer reminded Bondi that he and House Republicans referred James Biden to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution, saying the president’s brother "made materially false statements to the Oversight and Judiciary Committees." 

BIDEN COMMITTED ‘IMPEACHABLE CONDUCT,’ ‘DEFRAUDED UNITED STATES TO ENRICH HIS FAMILY’: HOUSE GOP REPORT

"The nature of both his and Hunter Biden’s false statements is not lost on the Committees: every instance implicates Joe Biden’s knowledge of and role in his family’s influence peddling," Comer wrote. "James Biden’s denial of Joe Biden’s meeting with James Biden, Hunter Biden, and Hunter Biden’s business associate for a Chinese transaction, Tony Bobulinski — despite evidence being placed in front of him and being given multiple opportunities to amend his response — appears to be a clumsy attempt to protect Joe Biden from the reality that Joe Biden has indeed met with his family’s business associates." 

JOE BIDEN RECEIVED $40K IN 'LAUNDERED CHINA MONEY' FROM BROTHER IN 2017, COMER SAYS

Comer and House Republicans in June said James Biden "stated unequivocally during his transcribed interview that Joe Biden did not meet with Mr. Tony Bobulinski, a business associate of James and Hunter Biden, in 2017 while pursuing a deal with a Chinese entity, CEFC China Energy."

"Specifically, James Biden stated he did not attend a meeting with Joe Biden, Hunter Biden, and Tony Bobulinski on May 2, 2017 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel," Comer, Jordan and Smith said in their criminal referral to Attorney General Merrick Garland last year. "These statements were contradicted not only by Mr. Bobulinski, but Hunter Biden."

They also noted that Bobulinski "produced text messages that establish the events leading up to and immediately following his meeting with Joe Biden on May 2, 2017." 

In his letter to Bondi, Comer blasted President Biden, claiming he obstructed the committee’s impeachment inquiry and that in itself was "impeachable conduct." 

SPECIAL COUNSEL WEISS BLASTS BIDEN IN FINAL HUNTER PROSECUTION REPORT

"The legacy President Biden leaves behind is having led the most dishonest and corrupt administration in American history," Comer wrote. 

Biden, last month, made the decision to grant his son a "Full and Unconditional Pardon" covering nearly 11 years of conduct, including conduct related to both convictions Special Counsel David Weiss obtained.

Hunter Biden was found guilty of three felony firearm offenses stemming from Weiss’ investigation. The first son was also charged with federal tax crimes regarding the failure to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes. Before his trial, Hunter Biden entered a surprise guilty plea. 

Weiss released his highly anticipated report on his yearslong investigation into Hunter Biden last week and blasted Biden for having "unfairly" maligned Justice Department public servants and casting doubt on the U.S. justice system with "wrong" claims that his probe was political. 

"President Biden repeatedly told—or used White House personnel to tell—the American people he would not pardon his son. That was a lie," Comer wrote to Bondi. "President Biden continues to lie, now falsely claiming ‘[n]o reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter’s cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he is my son – and that is wrong.’" 

Comer added, "Though President Biden’s saccharine (and wholly ironic) rantings of political persecution and weaponized prosecution of Hunter Biden are specious, they are inapplicable to the non-prosecution of his brother, James Biden, who has lied to the United States Congress and has faced no accountability to date." 

"I write to encourage the Department under your leadership to hold James Biden accountable for lying to Congress to protect his brother, the soon-to-be-former President Biden," Comer continued. "No one should be above the law, regardless of his last name." 

President Biden announced Friday morning he is commuting the sentences of nearly 2,500 inmates as the end of his presidency draws near.

The commutations are for people convicted of non-violent drug offenses "who are serving disproportionately long sentences" compared to what they would receive if sentenced under today's law.

"Today’s clemency action provides relief for individuals who received lengthy sentences based on discredited distinctions between crack and powder cocaine, as well as outdated sentencing enhancements for drug crimes," Biden said in a statement.

The president said now is the time to "equalize these sentencing disparities" as recognized through the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 and the First Step Act of 2018.

BIDEN COMMUTES SENTENCES OF 37 FEDERAL DEATH ROW INMATES IN FINAL MONTH OF PRESIDENCY

"This action is an important step toward righting historic wrongs, correcting sentencing disparities, and providing deserving individuals the opportunity to return to their families and communities after spending far too much time behind bars," he continued.

The decision puts Biden thousands of cases ahead of all other presidents who have issued acts of clemency during their terms.

"With this action, I have now issued more individual pardons and commutations than any president in U.S. history," Biden said.

BIDEN SETS RECORD WITH FIRST-TERM CLEMENCY GRANTS, HERE'S HOW OTHER PRESIDENTS RANK

While granting clemency is not uncommon for a president, Biden has come under bipartisan fire for who he has decided to pardon or commute sentences for. 

At the end of December, he chose to commute the sentences of 37 of the 40 men on federal death row – helping them escape execution and sending them to prison for life without parole instead.

He was also criticized for pardoning his son, Hunter, of all crimes he "has committed or may have committed" against U.S. law from Jan. 1, 2014, to Dec. 1, 2024. Hunter was convicted last year of gun and tax crimes in two separate federal cases.

Biden also boasted about completing the "largest single-day grant of clemency" on Dec. 12 when he commuted sentences for 1,500 people and pardoned 39 others, most of whom were already serving time in home confinement because of decisions made during the COVID-19 era.

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The president added that he is "proud of [his] record on clemency" and said he will "continue to review additional commutations and pardons" ahead of his final full day in office on Jan. 19.

There are 1,947 people awaiting to be pardoned once they complete their sentence and around 6,625 cases awaiting commutation after Friday's decision, according to Jan. 13 statistics from the Department of Justice.

House Judiciary Democrats penned a letter Wednesday asking outgoing U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to drop the charges against President-elect Donald Trump’s former co-defendants in the classified documents case. 

They want Trump's valet Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira, the property manager of Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, to walk from the charges so that Garland can release the second volume, which is related to the classified documents case, of Special Counsel Jack Smith's report. Smith resigned from the Justice Department on Friday. Garland said he will not release the second volume because both men still face prosecution. 

In their letter, the Democrats said they believe that Trump will pardon both men, so Garland should drop the charges now or the report will not come out. 

"While we understand your honorable and steadfast adherence to Mr. Nauta’s and Mr. De Oliveira’s due process rights as criminal defendants, the practical effect of this position is that Volume 2 will almost certainly remain concealed for at least four more years if you do not release it before President-elect Trump’s inauguration on January 20," the letter obtained by Fox News says. 

"The public interest, however, now demands that the President-elect must not escape accountability to the American people," they added. "Accordingly, to the extent the tangential charges against Mr. Nauta and Mr. De Oliveira stand in the way of the overriding imperative of transparency and truth, the interests of justice demand that their cases be dismissed now so that the entirety of Special Counsel Smith’s report can be released to the American people."

FORMER TRUMP CO-DEFENDANTS WANT JUDGE TO BLOCK SPECIAL COUNSEL JACK SMITH REPORT

Garland's spokesperson, Xochitl Hinojosa, told Fox News on Thursday that the charges would remain in place. 

"The department stands by its case and is not dropping the charges it seeks to pursue against the remaining defendants," Hinojosa said. 

The letter was signed by House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin of Maryland, as well as Democratic committee members Reps. Jerry Nadler and Dan Goldman of New York; Eric Swalwell, Ted Lieu, J. Luis Correa, Sydney Kamlager-Dove and Zoe Lofgren of California; Hank Johnson and Lucy McBath of Georgia; Steve Cohen of Tennessee, Pramila Jayapal of Washington; Mary Gay Scanlon of Pennsylvania; Joseph Neguse of Colorado; Deborah Ross of North Carolina; Becca Balint of Vermont; Jesus G. "Chuy" Garcia of Illinois; and Jasmine Crockett of Missouri. 

"We obviously do not condone the sycophantic, delinquent, and criminal behavior that Mr. Nauta and Mr. De Oliveira are charged with," the letter says. "However, Donald Trump was plainly the mastermind of this deception operation to conceal and abuse classified material, a fact made clear by his being charged with 32 counts of willfully retaining these classified documents, while his co-defendants were charged with lesser offenses related to obstructing the investigation, largely at Mr. Trump’s direction. By virtue of DOJ policy prohibiting the indictment or prosecution of a sitting president, Mr. Trump has dodged any criminal accountability for his own wrongdoing. Mr. Trump’s 2024 victory saved him from a public trial and robbed the American people of the opportunity to learn the meaning and details of his unpatriotic, reckless, and intentional abuse of national security information." 

DOJ RELEASES FORMER SPECIAL COUNSEL JACK SMITH'S REPORT ON INVESTIGATION INTO TRUMP ELECTION INTERFERENCE CASE

Judge Aileen Cannon will hear arguments over Volume 2 in Fort Pierce, Florida, on Thursday. Garland released Volume 1, focused on the election interference case, earlier this week. 

Attorneys for Nauta and De Oliveira earlier this month asked Cannon to keep the special counsel report out of the public eye. 

Trump, Nauta and De Oliveira all pleaded not guilty to federal charges alleging they conspired to obstruct the FBI investigation into classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago. 

Smith was tapped by Garland in 2022 to investigate both the alleged effort by Trump and his allies to overturn the results of the 2020 election, as well as Trump's keeping of allegedly classified documents at his Florida residence. 

It is customary for a special counsel to release a final report when his or her work is done, detailing the findings of their investigation and explaining any prosecution or declination decisions they reached as a result of the probe. It's up to Garland whether to release it publicly. In Smith's case, the prosecution decision is immaterial, given Trump's status as president-elect and longstanding Justice Department policy against bringing criminal charges against a sitting president. 

Garland is expected to give his farewell address to the Justice Department on Thursday afternoon.

Pam Bondi, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for attorney general, has vowed to head up a Justice Department free from political influence and mismanagement if confirmed – using her confirmation hearing Wednesday to assuage concerns that she might use the role to go after Trump's so-called "enemies" or otherwise weaponize the Department of Justice. 

For weeks, Bondi has done the same behind closed doors – meeting with nearly every member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, a bipartisan charm offensive designed to head off any unexpected encounters and ensure an easy path to confirmation.

As of Wednesday, the careful strategy seems to have paid off, with even Democrats on the panel praising the former Florida AG in light of their earlier in light of their earlier one-on-one meetings in private.

TRUMP'S AG PICK HAS ‘HISTORY OF CONSENSUS BUILDING’

"I had a good meeting with her," Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., told Politico Wednesday following the hearing. 

Speaking to members of the Senate Judiciary Committee at the start of her confirmation Wednesday, Bondi highlighted her early dreams of becoming a prosecutor – a dream she said was realized almost immediately after beginning law school.

"From the moment I interned at the State Attorney's office in Tampa, Florida, all I wanted to do was be a prosecutor," Bondi said, noting that she had four jury trials while in law school. "I lost most of them," she laughed, but still "never wanted to do anything else." 

"If confirmed," Bondi continued, her tone turned serious, "I will fight every day to restore confidence and integrity to the Department of Justice and each of its components."

She also vowed to collaborate closely with the Judiciary Committee, building on earlier relationships developed with Senate offices in the run-up to Wednesday's hearing.

Trump’s Democratic detractors wasted little time in the hearing detailing their concerns about Bondi’s confirmation and her ability to steer the Justice Department in the face of a willful, and at times seemingly impulsive president-elect; many of them confronted her directly with the names of her would-be predecessors who tried and failed to do the same. 

They questioned her willingness to go after political "enemies" and asked her to give credence to certain remarks made by Kash Patel, Trump's FBI nominee. 

But Bondi appeared composed and largely unflappable during the course of Wednesday's hearing, which stretched for more than five hours, save for a 30-minute lunch break. 

She highlighted her record on fighting violent crime, drug trafficking, and human trafficking as Florida's top prosecutor, and outlined her broader vision for heading up the Justice Department, where she stressed her desire to lead a department free from political influence.

If confirmed, Bondi's former colleagues have told Fox News Digital they expect her to bring the same playbook she used in Florida to Washington – this time with an eye to cracking down on drug trafficking, illicit fentanyl use, and the cartels responsible for smuggling the drugs across the border. 

Whether the approach will prove successful, however, remains to be seen. 

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Sunshine State endorsements 

Those who have worked with Bondi in her decades-long prosecutorial career have described her in both a series of interviews and letters previewed exclusively to Fox News Digital as an experienced and motivated prosecutor whose record has proved to be more consensus-builder than bridge-burner. 

Democrat Dave Aronberg, who challenged Bondi in her bid for Florida attorney general, told Fox News Digital in an interview that he was stunned when Bondi called him up after winning the race and asked him to be her drug czar – a role where they would go on to work in tandem to crack down on the state's opioid crisis – some of the office's most important and lasting work. 

He credited her in an interview as the "most responsible for ridding the state of Florida of destructive pill mills," citing her push for statewide legislation, and her work in enforcing Florida's "Statewide Prescription Drug Diversion and Abuse Road Map" to coordinate federal, state and local efforts to fight the opioid crisis, among other actions.

At the time, the Sunshine State was at the epicenter of the U.S. opioid crisis, with an abundance of "pill mills," cash-only clinics, and lack of statewide prescribing laws that allowed for the purchase of addictive medications largely without restrictions.

When Bondi took office, opioids were killing around seven people each day, Aronberg said in an interview. There were also "more pain clinics than McDonald's locations" in Florida at the time, he said, illustrating the magnitude of the problem. If confirmed as U.S. attorney general, Bondi has made clear she plans to remain focused on cracking down on illicit drugs – albeit on a national scale. 

Other parts of her record in Florida were also highlighted Wednesday, including consumer protection victories and economic relief secured by then-Florida attorney general Bondi on behalf of residents in the Sunshine State. 

After the 2008 financial crisis, her work leading the National Mortgage Settlement resulted in $56 billion in compensation to victims, and in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, Bondi's lawsuit against BP and other companies responsible resulted in a $2 billion settlement in economic relief. 

These issues are likely to take center stage in Thursday's hearing – the second day of Bondi's two-day confirmation – which will focus on testimony of others who have worked with her over the years.

National praise

In the weeks ahead of Bondi's hearing, dozens of former state attorneys general and more than 100 former top Justice Department officials urged the Senate Judiciary Committee to confirm Bondi, praising both her experience for the role and commitment to the rule of law.

The letter from the former Justice Department officials was signed by top officials who served in Democratic and Republican administrations, and by former U.S. attorneys general John Ashcroft, Jeff Sessions, Bill Barr and Edwin Meese, who noted: "It is all too rare for senior Justice Department officials – much less Attorneys General – to have such a wealth of experience in the day-to-day work of keeping our communities safe."

The letter also praised what the officials described as Bondi's "national reputation" for her work to end human trafficking, and prosecuting violent crime in the state.

More recently, Bondi also earned the support of 60 former state attorneys general. The delegation included both Democrats and Republican attorneys general, who touted what they described as Bondi’s wealth of prosecutorial experience – including in her role as Florida's top prosecutor – that they said makes her especially qualified for the role. 

The Senate Judiciary Committee is slated to reconvene Thursday at 10:15 a.m. to hear from a panel of outside witnesses relating to Bondi's qualifications for attorney general.

President-elect Donald Trump's selection to be attorney general in his new administration faces the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday morning at a confirmation hearing. 

Trump tapped former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi to lead the Department of Justice (DOJ) in late November after former Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., withdrew from consideration. 

The Wednesday hearing begins at 9:30 a.m., and Bondi will be questioned by both Republican and Democrat members of the committee.

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"I hope that the Democrats give the same … courteous consideration to [her] that Republicans did of [Attorney General Merrick] Garland," Chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, told Fox News Digital ahead of the hearing.

"[A]nd I hope people stay within their timeline, because we've got to move right along," he added.

Members of the committee include Grassley and Republican Sens. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, John Cornyn of Texas, Mike Lee of Utah, Ted Cruz of Texas, Josh Hawley of Missouri, Thom Tillis of North Carolina, John Kennedy of Louisiana, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Eric Schmitt of Missouri, Katie Britt of Alabama and Mike Crapo of Idaho. 

Also on the committee are ranking member Dick Durbin, D-Ill., as well as Democrat Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Chris Coons of Delaware, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii, Cory Booker of New Jersey, Alex Padilla of California, Peter Welch of Vermont and Adam Schiff of California.

Durbin met with Bondi last week but emerged from their discussion with remaining concerns.
"In today’s meeting, I raised concerns with Ms. Bondi regarding her record – one in which she served as a personal attorney to President-elect Trump, was a leader in the effort to overturn the 2020 election, and has echoed the President-elect’s calls for prosecuting his political opponents. In addition, Ms. Bondi has a long track record of opposing fundamental civil rights, including reproductive rights, voting rights, and LGBTQ+ rights," he said in a statement.

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"The role of the Attorney General is to oversee an independent Justice Department that upholds the rule of law and is free of undue political influence. Given Ms. Bondi’s responses to my questions, I remain concerned about her ability to serve as an Attorney General who will put her oath to the Constitution ahead of her fealty to Donald Trump," he added.

The ranking member is likely to question Bondi during the hearing on these same subjects. 

On Monday, Durbin outlined several concerns he has with Trump's pick.

"The obvious concern with Ms. Bondi is whether she will follow the bipartisan tradition of the post-Watergate era and oversee an independent Department of Justice that upholds the rule of law. Ms. Bondi is one of four personal lawyers to President-elect Trump who he has already selected for Department of Justice positions. She was a leader in the effort to overturn the 2020 election. She has echoed the President[-elect]’s calls for prosecuting his political opponents, and she has a troubling history of unflinching loyalty to the president-elect," he said in floor remarks.

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The attorney general hopeful met with Grassley in early December, after which he said in a statement, "Pam Bondi is a well-qualified nominee with an impressive legal career, including eight years as Attorney General of the State of Florida and nearly two decades spent as a prosecutor. Bondi is prepared to refocus the Justice Department (DOJ)’s attention where it ought to be: on enforcing the law and protecting Americans’ safety."

The Judiciary chair promised the committee would "move swiftly to consider her nomination when the 119th Congress convenes in January."

SCHUMER DIRECTS DEMS TO PUT PRESSURE ON TRUMP NOMINEES AHEAD OF CONFIRMATION HEARINGS

Trump praised Bondi in his November announcement, writing in part, "For too long, the partisan Department of Justice has been weaponized against me and other Republicans - Not anymore."

"Pam will refocus the DOJ to its intended purpose of fighting Crime, and Making America Safe Again," he continued. "I have known Pam for many years — She is smart and tough, and is an AMERICA FIRST Fighter, who will do a terrific job as Attorney General!"

Since being picked by Trump, Bondi has received several influential endorsements. Recently, 60 former Democrat and Republican attorneys general urged senators to confirm her in a letter. Further, dozens of former Justice Department officials called on the Judiciary Committee last week encouraging them to confirm Trump's choice.

FIRST ON FOX: FIRST ON FOX: Special Counsel David Weiss blasted President Biden in his highly-anticipated report on his years-long investigation into Hunter Biden, saying the commander-in-chief's characterizations of the probe into his son were "wrong" and "unfairly" maligned Justice Department officials, while admitting that the presidential pardon made it "inappropriate" for him to discuss whether any additional charges against the first son were warranted. 

Fox News Digital obtained a copy of Weiss's final report after his years-long investigation into Hunter Biden.

The Justice Department transmitted the report to Congress on Monday evening. 

Weiss, in his report, chided President Biden for his Dec. 1, 2024 decision to grant his son a "Full and Unconditional Pardon" covering nearly eleven years of conduct, including conduct related to both convictions the special counsel obtained. 

Hunter Biden was found guilty of three felony firearm offenses stemming from Special Counsel David Weiss’ investigation. The first son was also charged with federal tax crimes regarding the failure to pay at least $1.4 million in taxes. Before his trial, Hunter Biden entered a surprise guilty plea. 

HUNTER BIDEN: A LOOK AT HOW THE SAGA SPANNING OVER SIX YEARS UNFOLDED

The charges carried up to 17 years behind bars. His sentencing was scheduled for Dec. 16, but his father, President Biden, pardoned him on all charges in December. 

Weiss, in the report, blasted the president's decision to pardon but also the press release that was sent out to the public that "criticized the prosecution of his son as ‘selective,’ ‘unfair,’ ‘infected’ by ‘raw politics,’ and a ‘miscarriage of justice.'"

"This statement is gratuitous and wrong," Weiss wrote in his report. "Other presidents have pardoned family members, but in doing so, none have taken the occasion as an opportunity to malign the public servants at the Department of Justice based solely on false accusations." 

Weiss also pointed to a comment made by Judge Mark C. Scarsi, who said: "The Constitution provides the President with broad authority to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, U.S. Const. art. II, § 2, cl. 1, but nowhere does the Constitution give the President the authority to rewrite history." 

"These prosecutions were the culmination of thorough, impartial investigations, not partisan politics," Weiss wrote in his report. "Eight judges across numerous courts have rejected claims that they were the result of selective or vindictive motives." 

Weiss added: "Calling those rulings into question and injecting partisanship into the independent administration of the law undermines the very foundation of what makes America's justice system fair and equitable. It erodes public confidence in an institution that is essential to preserving the rule of law." 

In another section of the report, Weiss notes that, in light of the presidential pardon, he "cannot make any additional charging decisions" and said it would be "inappropriate" to discuss "whether additional charges are warranted." 

"Politicians who attack the decisions of career prosecutors as politically motivated when they disagree with the outcome of a case undermine the public's confidence in our criminal justice system," Weiss wrote. "The President's statements unfairly impugn the integrity not only of Department of Justice personnel, but all of the public servants making these difficult decisions in good faith." 

Weiss added: "The President's characterizations are incorrect based on the facts in this case, and, on a more fundamental level, they are wrong." 

The federal investigation into Hunter Biden began in November 2018. 

But it wasn't until 2023 that whistleblowers from the IRS, Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler, brought allegations of politicization in the federal probe of Hunter Biden to Congress. 

The two alleged that political influence had infected prosecutorial decisions in the federal probe, which was led by Trump-appointed Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss, who they said had requested to become a special counsel. 

BIDEN PARDONS SON HUNTER BIDEN AHEAD OF EXIT FROM OVAL OFFICE

After Shapley and Ziegler testified publicly, Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Weiss as special counsel to continue his investigation of the first son and, ultimately, bring federal charges against him in two separate jurisdictions — Delaware and California. 

Justice Department regulations require Weiss to transmit any final report to Attorney General Merrick Garland, who has pledged to release as much as possible to the public. 

The Justice Department and Special Counsel Weiss’ office declined to comment. 

Meanwhile, President Biden's pardon of his son came after months of vowing to the American people that he would not do so. 

But last month, the president announced a blanket pardon that applies to any offenses against the U.S. that Hunter Biden "has committed or may have committed" from Jan. 1, 2014, to Dec. 1, 2024. 

"From the day I took office, I said I would not interfere with the Justice Department’s decision-making, and I kept my word even as I have watched my son being selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted," Biden said. "There has been an effort to break Hunter — who has been five and a half years sober, even in the face of unrelenting attacks and selective prosecution. In trying to break Hunter, they’ve tried to break me — and there’s no reason to believe it will stop here. Enough is enough."

Biden added, "I hope Americans will understand why a father and a president would come to this decision."