Month: January 2025

Multiple wildfires broke out in San Diego County (south of Los Angeles) early Tuesday, prompting evacuation orders, school closures and power shutoffs, while officials in Los Angeles remain on high alert amid strong winds and extreme dry conditions. Red flag warnings were issued down the coast of Southern California on Tuesday as weather officials warned of strong wind gusts that could rapidly spread fires.

The National Weather Service recorded strong winds with gusts up to 60-70 mph in the Los Angeles area Tuesday morning as the region remained under a “particularly dangerous situation” warning with an increased fire risk. The Palisades and Eaton wildfires continue to burn today.

Firefighters were working to contain several brush fires that broke out in northern San Diego County, with Cal Fire stating that the Pala Fire and Pala Fire 2 (north of the city of Pala Mesa) had destroyed some 47 acres and were zero percent contained. Two other blazes, dubbed the Lilac Fire1 and Lilac Fire 2 by Cal Fire, in the Bonsall area, had grown to 130 acres. The Lilac fires has displaced 86 residents and damaged two structures, and was 10% contained as of press time.

On a positive note, the North County Fire Protection District later said in a post on X that the “forward rate of speed” of one had been stopped ad evacuation orders were lifted, per the San Diego County Sheriff’s Office, which said: “Firefighters are making good progress on the fire. The fire activity has decreased significantly.”

However Jim Desmond, a San Diego County supervisor, warned in a social media post: “Two of the three fires that started overnight are now under control. However, the Lilac Fire is still actively burning at 80 acres. Please stay alert, follow official updates, and be prepared to leave if necessary. Our first responders are working tirelessly to protect lives and property.”

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Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio were released from prison on Tuesday, this coming after President Trump granted pardons to more than 1,500 defendants who faced charges in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. In addition to the clemency grants, Trump directed the Justice Department to ask for the dismissal of about 450 cases that are still being litigated.

Rhodes and Tarrio’s attorneys confirmed to The Associated Press on Tuesday they had been released hours after Trump pardoned, commuted the sentences of, and/or ordered the dismissal of cases against all those charged with federal crimes in the Capitol riot. Tarrio, of Miami, had led the Proud Boys from 2018 to 2021, and also worked as the Florida state director of Latinos for Trump.  He was 16 months into a 22-year prison sentence on seditious conspiracy and other charges. Rhodes, of Granbury, Texas, was almost 20 months into an 18-year sentence for the same offense.

Unlike many of the Jan. 6 defendants, neither Tarrior nor Rhodes actually set foot in the Capitol Building during the ransacking of the legislative seat, however, they were charged with helping to plot out the attack. Rhodes and others had stockpiled tactical gear and firearms, and he also stepped into restricted Capitol grounds while directing his Oath Keepers militia members as the chaos unfolded. Tarrio was not in Washington, DC on the day of the riot, but prosecutors highlighted text messages he he exchanged with members of the mob.

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President Donald Trump was sworn in as the 47th president of the United States in Washington, D.C. for the second time shortly after noon on Monday, Jan. 20th.  Members of Congress, Supreme Court justices, the Trump family, and Trump’s future Cabinet was in attendance along with former Presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, as well as billionaire tech CEOs including Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos and Tim Cook.

Trump took the oath of office, administered by Chief Justice John Roberts, at 12:05 p.m. EST, with his children and wife standing by along with outgoing President Biden and Vice President Harris looking on. He acknowledged the living former presidents in attendance before delivering his inaugural address inside the Capitol Rotunda for the first time in 40 years, due to the sub-freezing temperatures in Washington.

After being sworn in as president, Trump vowed in his inaugural address “from this day forward, our country will flourish and be respected again all over the world,” adding that “the golden age of America begins right now.” He announced a slate of executive orders and a series of changes, including declaring national emergencies at the southern border and energy. The President spoke for nearly 40 minutes in the Capitol Rotunda; while in a second set of free-style remarks in the Capitol’s Emancipation Hall, Trump attacked political adversaries, while once again calling the 2020 election “totally rigged”.

Trump was expected to sign a series of executive actions immediately, including declaring a national emergency on the US-Mexico border and pulling the US out of the Paris climate deal. He is also planning to pardon nonviolent January 6 defendants and commute the sentences of others.  Said Trump: “all illegal entry will immediately be halted and we will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came. We will reinstate my ‘remain in Mexico’ policy. I will end the practice of catch and release and I will send troops to the southern border to repel the disastrous invasion of our country.”

For a full recap of Inauguration Day events, head HERE.

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In the final moment of his presidency on Monday, President Joe Biden issued pardons to several close family members as well as several Trump critics. (per ABC NEWS.)

Shortly before Donald Trump was to be inaugurated as the nation’s 47th president, the White House announced that Biden granted clemency for Gen. Mark Milley, Dr. Anthony Fauci and members of Congress who served on the committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, and also issued five preemptive pardons to James Biden, Joe’s younger brother; Sara Jones Biden, James’ wife; Valerie Biden Owens, Joe’s younger sister; John T. Owens’, Valerie’s husband; and Francis W. Biden, Joe’s younger brother. Signed Jan. 19, the pardon excuses James Biden and the other family members of “ANY NONVIOLENT OFFENSES against the United States which they may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014, through the date of this pardon.”

Biden wrote in a statement: “My family has been subjected to unrelenting attacks and threats, motivated solely by a desire to hurt me — the worst kind of partisan politics. Unfortunately, I have no reason to believe these attacks will end.  That is why I am exercising my power under the Constitution to pardon James B. Biden, Sara Jones Biden, Valerie Biden Owens, John T. Owens, and Francis W. Biden. The issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that they engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense.”

Republicans in congress had pressed the incoming Justice Department to bring charges against James Biden, 75, for allegedly lying to Congress as part of its impeachment inquiry into the outgoing president and his family.  James Comer, the chair of the House Oversight Committee, wrote to incoming Attorney General Pam Bondi to hold James Biden accountable for “having misled Congress regarding Joe Biden’s participation in his family’s influence peddling and deserving of prosecution under federal law.”

Biden announced the preemptive pardons for his siblings and in-laws while in the Capitol Rotunda attending the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump: “I believe in the rule of law, and I am optimistic that the strength of our legal institutions will ultimately prevail over politics. But baseless and politically motivated investigations wreak havoc on the lives, safety, and financial security of targeted individuals and their families. Even when individuals have done nothing wrong and will ultimately be exonerated, the mere fact of being investigated or prosecuted can irreparably damage their reputations and finance. The issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that they engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense.”

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