Fox News Flash top headlines for January 20
Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Check out what’s clicking on Foxnews.com.
Although former President Donald Trump issued more than 73 pardons and 70 commutations before his departure from the White House on Wednesday, some popular names were not included on the list.
Recipients included former White House adviser Steve Bannon, former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, and rappers Lil Wayne and Kodak Black.
TRUMP PARDONS STEVE BANNON, LIL WAYNE, DOZENS OF OTHERS; ALSO COMMUTES SENTENCES
Bannon is awaiting trial after allegedly defrauding Trump-supporting donors, Kilpatrick has served part of a 28-year sentence on corruption charges, and Lil Wayne and Kodak Black — whose real names are Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. and Bill Kapri, respectively — have been convicted on weapons-related charges.
Although there were questions raised as to whether or not Trump would pardon himself or his family members on the way out the door, sources told Fox News that he was not expected to do so and did not before President Biden was sworn in on Wednesday afternoon.
Joe Exotic
Joseph Maldonado-Passage, also known as “Joe Exotic” from Netflix’s “Tiger King” documentary series, did not receive a pardon, though his team had reported on Monday they were “confident” one would be forthcoming.
“We will be standing by waiting for President Trump’s confirmation of the Tiger King Joe Exotic,” private investigator Eric Love, who is part of Exotic’s legal team, said Tuesday. “Much love to the fans. Thank you so much for all the support. God bless. We’ll see you as soon as we get the pardon.”
Love had been waiting inside a limousine to pick Maldonado-Passage up from a Texas prison if he was pardoned, according to KFOR-TV. He said that they had brought supplies for “hair, makeup, wardrobes” in addition to a doctor and mental health expert in the event of his release.
Maldonado-Passage, 57, was sentenced to 22 years in prison for his role in a murder-for-hire plot that targeted his rival, Carole Baskin.
This file photo provided by the Santa Rosa County Jail in Milton, Fla., shows Joseph Maldonado-Passage, also known as “Joe Exotic.” Maldonado-Passage was convicted in an unsuccessful murder-for-hire plot against Carole Baskin, the founder of Big Cat Rescue, who he has repeatedly accused of killing her husband Jack “Don” Lewis. Lewis’ unsolved 1997 disappearance and Maldonado-Passage’s accusations are the subject of new Netflix series “Tiger King.” (Santa Rosa County Jail via AP, File)
Julian Assange
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, 49, was also not on the list, though both “Baywatch” star Pamela Anderson and whistleblower Edward Snowden appealed to Trump.
The jailed publisher is being held in London following his eviction from the Ecuadorian Embassy, where he had been living in 2019.
Earlier this month, U.K. District Judge Vanessa Baraitser ruled against a request to extradite Assange to the U.S. where he faces espionage charges after publishing classified intelligence more than a decade ago.
The charges carry a maximum sentence of 175 years in prison.
The judge cited Assange’s mental health in the decision.
“We are enormously gratified by the U.K. court’s decision denying extradition,” Barry Pollack — a Washington, D.C.-based lawyer for Assange, told Fox News in a statement. “The effort by the United States to prosecute Julian Assange and seek his extradition was ill-advised from the start.”
The U.S. Government has since lodged an appeal against the decision to block his extradition.
Assange’s mother, Christine Assange, said she was “not shocked, just disappointed” by Trump’s decision.
“Courage is not always contagious,” she tweeted.
Edward Snowden
NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden also faces a sentence of up to 175 years in prison if convicted on charges of violating the Espionage Act, conspiring to hack government computers, and “unlawfully obtaining and disclosing classified documents related to the national defense.”
The 37-year-old fled the U.S. after leaking agency files in 2013 and was later given asylum in Russia.
In November, Snowden announced that he and his wife would apply for Russian citizenship for the sake of their family and ahead of the birth of their child.
Although many were opposed to a pardon for Snowden, Trump said he was considering granting clemency in August.
Following the White House’s release of the list of pardons, Snowden tweeted that he was “not at all disappointed to go unpardoned by a man who has never known a love he had not paid for.”
“But what supporters of his remain must never forgive that this simpering creature failed to pardon truth-tellers in far more desperate circumstances,” he said.
Ross Ulbricht
Ross Ulbricht, the founder of darknet website Silk Road, was reportedly considered for a pardon last month but also absent from Trump’s list.
Silk Road reportedly enabled users to mask their identities while purchasing illegal goods.
Rep. Thomas Massie, R-W.Va., has been a vocal advocate for pardoning both Ulbricht and Snowden.
Supporters of President Trump are confronted by U.S. Capitol Police officers outside the Senate Chamber inside the Capitol in Washington. An Arizona man seen in photos and video of the mob wearing a fur hat with horns was also charged Saturday in Wednesday’s chaos. Jacob Anthony Chansley, who also goes by the name Jake Angeli, was taken into custody Saturday, Jan. 9. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, File)
‘QAnon Shaman’
Jacob Anthony Chansley, who goes by Jake Angeli, was also not pardoned this week — though his attorney Albert Watkins said that it would be “appropriate and honorable” to do so.
Chansley, 33, was nicknamed “QAnon Shaman” after he was pictured in viral photos storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 wearing face paint and a bearskin headdress with horns.
Last week, Chansley was charged in a federal court with civil disorder, obstruction of an official proceeding, disorderly conduct in a restricted building, demonstrating in a Capitol building, entering a restricted building without lawful authority, and violent entry and disorderly conduct on Capitol grounds.
In a previous statement, Watkins said that his client had not participated in violence and had “accepted President Trump’s invitation to walk down Pennsylvania Avenue to the Capitol.”
CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP
Chansley is currently being held in a federal facility in Phoenix.
No one in connection with the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol received a pardon.
“No one was holding their breath on the request and, as such, there is no need to exhale,” Watkins said, according to KMOV.
Fox News’ Brie Stimson, Greg Norman and Sam Dorman contributed to this report.
>>>details