TRUMP’S APPEAL
A three-judge panel heard arguments from Donald Trump’s attorney John Sauer and Special Counsel Jack Smith over whether presidential immunity protected the former president from prosecution in his D.C. case.
Based on their questions, the judges seemed poised to uphold Judge Tanya Chutkan’s decision to reject Trump’s motion to dismiss for reasons of presidential immunity.
Judge Karen Henderson suggested it was “paradoxical” for Trump’s Article II duty to execute U.S. laws would allow him to violate criminal law. Judge Florence Pan, meanwhile, seemed to think Sauer had foregone an immunity defense by admitting that presidents’ “official acts” could be prosecuted in the criminal system after impeachment and trial in Congress.
Both sides warned that the other’s position would open the “floodgates” in terms of what would be permissible if they won. The Department of Justice maintained that while presidents enjoy certain immunity, they aren’t immune from criminal prosecution.
DOJ attorney James Pearce cited a hypothetical from Pan in warning that presidents could use SEAL Team Six to assassinate a political rival. Sauer, meanwhile, decried how the administration of Trump’s chief political opponent was prosecuting him—making “cycles of recrimination” likely.
Further appeal is likely regardless of the outcome. Smith already asked the Supreme Court to fast-track the appellate process but the justices refused. Trump is currently pursuing a separate en banc appeal (with all the appellate judges), after a three-judge panel on the D.C. Circuit partially upheld Chutkan’s gag order.
The March trial date seemed “highly unlikely” to law professor Jonathan Turley. He posted on X that the “question is whether a new trial could be shoehorned into the remaining calendar before the election.”
Trump responded to the hearing, calling the day “momentous” and suggesting Biden was trying to win the 2024 election through prosecution. “It will be bedlam in the country,” he said. “It’s a very bad thing. It’s a very bad precedent. As we said, it’s the opening of a Pandora’s Box.”
–Sam Dorman
JAN. 6 DOCUMENTARY SCREENING
The Epoch Times last night hosted a screening of its new exclusive documentary about Jan. 6, 2021 at the U.S. Capitol.
The documentary, “The Real Story of Jan. 6 Part 2: The Long Road Home” was released on the three-year anniversary of the “Stop the Steal” rally and is available online now for The Epoch Times subscribers.
The documentary is the long-awaited sequel to “The Real Story of Jan. 6,” The Epoch Times’ most popular documentary. The documentary was made publicly available on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Jan. 4, and has been viewed by over 13.6 million people since then.
Both the original documentary and the sequel are researched and narrated by The Epoch Times’ senior investigative journalist Joe Hanneman.
While the original documentary explored the events of Jan. 6 itself—including mysterious and unpunished deaths, misconduct by U.S. Capitol Police, and the possibility of law enforcement actors agitating events that day—the sequel explores how the aftershocks of Jan. 6 have changed America.
Over 1,250 people have been arrested since Jan. 6 in connection with the events of the day. The methods used to bring these suspects in has drawn widespread criticism, including from agency whistleblowers who say they faced swift retribution for speaking out.
Families caught in the vast Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutorial net have faced loss of income, ostracism from their communities, separation from spouses and children, and detention conditions that one lawmaker deemed “nothing short of human rights violations.”
These and other issues are explored in the documentary.
The screening, hosted by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), was open to the public and lawmakers alike.
In his opening remarks ahead of the screening, Johnson extolled the documentary, saying that it would help to combat the false narratives about Jan. 6 pushed after Democrats took full control of the federal government in 2021.
“We haven’t even begun to be told the full story, which means the truth about January 6,” Johnson said. “They always say ‘To the victor, go the spoils.’ The victor writes the history. And unfortunately, in November 2020, Democrats had the full suite. They’re the ones that had power, and they wrote the history of January 6.”
He added: “There’s just so many unanswered questions. I just have to thank Epoch Times for being those journalists that are utilizing our First Amendment rights to freedom of the press, freedom of speech, being the honest broker in terms of trying to expose and tell the American people the truth.”
—Joseph Lord
DeSANTIS’S MAKE OR BREAK IOWA CAUCUS
Ron DeSantis’ must exceed expectations in the Republican Party of Iowa’s Jan. 15 caucuses. If he does not finish in a strong second place, the viability of his campaign will be called into serious doubt.
Before he declared, DeSantis was polling close to President Donald Trump thanks to his national conservative fame. He’s been sliding down the polls since his campaign launched in May 2023 and hasn’t gotten the early momentum back.
DeSantis is flush with cash. The campaign and its allied super PAC Never Back Down had more than $161 million at their disposal headed into Iowa. It enlisted top Republican operative Jeff Roe to lead Never Back Down.
Although Roe left in December 2023, he had a reputation for winning in Iowa. He helped Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) beat Trump in 2016.
Roe likely preached the importance of retail politics, door-to-door canvassing, and phone banking in Iowa. DeSantis has toured Iowa thoroughly and hit all 99 of its counties.
DeSantis supporters in Iowa’s GOP say the strategy is paying off. He’s banked more than 50,000 commitments and counts more than 1,500 precinct captains who will argue for DeSantis and turn out the vote.
Neutral observers in Iowa say DeSantis’s comparative lack of attacks against Trump, and failure to market himself as anything other than a no-drama alternative to the former president, is hurting him. Negative messaging, however lowbrow it may be, is hitting its mark, too.
Both true believers and seasoned political scientists say DeSantis doesn’t need to win the Caucus. If he finishes first or in a close second, it will be perceived as an overachievement and propel him forward.
If Donald Trump wins the GOP’s Iowa Caucus handily, then the primary contest may be over before it even starts.
—Austin Alonzo
WHAT’S HAPPENING
- The House Homeland Security Committee holds impeachment proceedings against Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
- The House Judiciary and Oversight Committees hold sessions to mark up the contempt-of-Congress resolution against Hunter Biden, who had defied a subpoena to appear before impeachment investigators.
- In snow-swept Des Moines, President Donald Trump hosts a town hall, while Gov. Ron DeSantis and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley participate in a televised debate.
BOOKMARKS
The Pentagon finally disclosed why Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was missing in early January. According to the U.S. Department of Defense, Austin was checked into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center due to complications from prostate cancer surgery.
Politico composed a timeline of who knew what and when during the disappearance turned debacle. In early December, Austin learned he had prostate cancer. By Jan. 8, members of Congress were calling for his resignation. The Epoch Times’ Zachary Stieber reported Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.) is moving to impeach Austin.
Another Jan. 6 protester, Ray Epps, got 9 to 12 months of probation for his role in the riot. The federal sentence includes 100 hours of community service and a $500 restitution. The Epoch Times’ Matthew Vadum peered into the crystal ball with legal experts who predicted the Biden administration will have trouble prosecuting hundreds of additional defendants.
Another public figure got an unwelcome visit from the police on Christmas Day. This time, according to NBC News, special counsel Jack Smith saw Montgomery County Police instead of Santa Claus at his Maryland home. Smith is just the latest antagonist of President Donald Trump to be “swatted.” Federal judge Tanya Chutkan had a similar experience on Jan. 8.
A pair of Republican state attorney generals are vowing to cause headaches for Wall Street and the White House. In a special report, The Epoch Times’ Kevin Stocklin chatted with Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti about 2024 his tangles with the world of environmental, social and governance, or ESG, movement. Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey caught up with The Epoch Times’ Austin Alonzo about his forthcoming court date on the Missouri v. Biden First Amendment suit.
Correction: In our Jan. 8 newsletter, we incorrectly stated Dr. Anthony Fauci’s former title. He was the former head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Constitution Ave. regrets the error.
