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Statement from the Press Secretary Regarding Executive Grants of Clemency — President Donald J. Trump granted pardons to 73 individuals and commuted the sentences of an additional 70 individuals. — Todd Boulanger - President Trump granted a full pardon to Todd Boulanger.
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With hours left in office, Trump pardons Bannon. — President Trump has granted clemency to Stephen K. Bannon, the former White House chief strategist who was charged with defrauding people who supported building a border wall that Mr. Trump supported, White House officials said.
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Mediaite, The Week, The Independent, USA Today, Breitbart, Los Angeles Times, Axios, CNN, Washington Times and The Wrap

Trump grants clemency to 143 people in late-night pardon blast — President Trump on Tuesday granted clemency to 143 people, using a final act of presidential power to extend mercy to former White House strategist Stephen K. Bannon, well-connected celebrities and nonviolent drug offenders …
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ABC News, Politico, Talking Points Memo, Outside the Beltway, Slate, Common Dreams and STEPHANIE MILLER SHOW

With Hours Left in Office, Trump Grants Clemency to Bannon and Other Allies — The president continued using his power to help his supporters, including his former chief strategist and one of his top 2016 fund-raisers. — WASHINGTON — President Trump used his final hours in office …
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NBC News, New York Post, Reuters, TheBlaze, Conservative News Today, Deseret News, CBS Baltimore, Raw Story, Japan Times, The Daily Caller and Defense One

Still Faces ‘We Build the Wall’ State Investigation — Joe Biden's presidency has just begun and the Donald Trump era has just come to an end - with its chief enabler the recipient of a last-minute pardon for federal felony charges. But new reporting shows that Steve Bannon is still staring …
Discussion:
Crooks and Liars

Trump Has Discussed Starting a New Party — President Trump has talked in recent days with associates about forming a new political party, according to people familiar with the matter, an effort to exert continued influence after he leaves the White House. — Mr. Trump discussed the matter …
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Trump Discussed Forming ‘Patriot Party’ and Ditching GOP in Final Days: WSJ
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Florida Politics, The Daily Beast and Wall Street Journal

Trump departs on final Air Force One flight — President Trump and his family took off on Air Force One at 9 a.m. on Wednesday morning for the final time en route to Florida. — The big picture: Trump's final hours as president were punctuated by his decisions to snub his successor's inauguration …
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Inauguration Live Updates: Trump Leaves White House as Biden Prepares to Assume the Presidency — Having issued a raft of pardons overnight, President Trump defied convention by skipping his successor's swearing-in. After taking the oath of office, President-elect Joe Biden plans …
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Wall Street Journal, The Hill, Axios, The Stranger, HotAir, Breitbart, Mercury News, GovExec.com and NBC News

FACT SHEET: President-elect Biden's Day One Executive Actions Deliver Relief for Families Across America Amid Converging Crises — Actions Address the COVID-19 Pandemic, Provide Economic Relief, Tackle Climate Change, and Advance Racial Equity — Today, hours after taking the oath of office …
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Washington Examiner, Politico, Axios, Al Jazeera, Sputnik News and Cyprus Mail
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Biden plans executive action blitz for day one — President-elect Joe Biden is planning a rush of immediate unilateral actions after taking office on Wednesday, marking his first extensive effort to undo the last four years under President Donald Trump. — On Day One, Biden …
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Washington Post, Business Insider, Vox, NBC News, National Review, Associated Press, Washington Times, Just Security, KTLA and The Colorado Sun

Joe Biden Is Starting His Presidency With Tons Of Orders To Undo Trump
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Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Business Insider, Politico, New York Times, GovExec.com, UPI, Denver Post, Louder With Crowder, CNN, Mercury News and Gothamist

Biggs and Gosar sought pardons for Capitol riot, but won't get them: report — Arizona Republican Congressmen Andy Biggs and Paul Gosar have asked President Donald Trump to preemptively pardon them for their roles in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, but the president has no plans to do so, CNN reported Tuesday.
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NBC News, The Stranger, Raw Story and Associated Press
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Trump talked out of pardoning kids and Republican lawmakers — (CNN)President Donald Trump received an unsettling warning on his final Saturday night in the White House. — Huddled for a lengthy meeting with his legal advisers, Trump was warned the pardons he once hoped to bestow upon …

Obituary for a Failed Presidency — One last Letter from Trump's Washington. — Susan B. Glasser's column will continue as Letter from Biden's Washington. Sign up for her newsletter to get her stories delivered to your in-box every week. — Precisely at noon on Wednesday …
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Common Dreams, Raw Story, IJR, Power Line and Business Insider
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David Yaffe-Bellany / Bloomberg:
Trump Ends Where He Began, Fighting Release of His Tax Returns
Trump Ends Where He Began, Fighting Release of His Tax Returns
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Washington Times, Politico, Voice of America and Washington Post

Trump revokes rule barring lobbying by former officials as he leaves office — The Trump legacy of new American carnage — Washington (CNN)As his term comes to an end, President Donald Trump revoked a rule he signed early in his term that imposed a five-year lobbying ban for administration officials …
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NPR, The American Independent, Bloomberg, Florida Politics, The Daily Caller, Forbes, Axios and Washington Times
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Trump revokes rule preventing White House staff from lobbying
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The White House, Washington Post, Common Dreams and The Week
Hans Nichols / Axios:
Incoming White House plans extraordinary steps to protect Biden from COVID-19
Incoming White House plans extraordinary steps to protect Biden from COVID-19
Discussion:
Politico, Washington Post, The Week and The Hill

Biden to ask Surgeon General Adams to resign — Ouster is regarded as a break with the Trump administration's covid-19 response, which the president-elect has called a failure — The Washington Post is providing this important information about the coronavirus for free.

‘We hope to work with you’: 17 House GOP freshmen write letter to Biden — Just before Joe Biden is sworn in as president, 17 House GOP freshmen wrote a letter congratulating him and encouraging unity. — WASHINGTON — The morning before Joe Biden takes the oath of office …
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Vox and The Federalist
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Andrew Stiles / Washington Free Beacon:
HISTORIC: Joe Biden to Be Sworn In on Jeffrey Epstein's Birthday
HISTORIC: Joe Biden to Be Sworn In on Jeffrey Epstein's Birthday
Discussion:
ABC News and No More Mister Nice Blog

Biden to rescind 1776 commission via executive order — (CNN)President-elect Joe Biden will issue an executive order to dissolve the 1776 commission, a panel stood up by President Donald Trump as a rebuttal to schools applying a more accurate history curriculum around slavery in the US, Biden's transition team announced Wednesday.
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The Atlantic, BuzzFeed News and The Root
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Fox News Fires a Key Player in Its Election Night Coverage — The politics editor who defended the network's accurate projection that Biden had won Arizona is out after a backlash from viewers, including President Trump. — Two senior leaders of Fox News's reporting division are exiting …
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Media Matters for America, Business Insider, Outside the Beltway, TVNewser and The Hill, more at Mediagazer »
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Senator Ron Johnson calls editorial about him ‘unhinged and uninformed.’ The Editorial Board responds. — Senator Johnson objects to the Editorial Board's call for him to resign over his actions after the presidential election. … In an unhinged and uninformed editorial …

‘Like a Ghost’ in the White House: The Last Days of the Trump Presidency — During his last days in the White House, Donald Trump spent a lot of time thinking about the one and only election he ever lost, plotting every way he could to try to change the results. — He thought about when to leave Washington.

Republicans take on Biden's Cabinet, but without the Trumpian fury — A series of low-key confirmation hearings may reflect a shift in Washington's political atmosphere. — Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., listens during a confirmation hearing for Secretary of State nominee Antony Blinken …
Discussion:
The Bulwark, Real Clear Politics and Jewish Insider
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Karen DeYoung / Washington Post:
Blinken appears to be sailing to confirmation as Biden's secretary of state
Blinken appears to be sailing to confirmation as Biden's secretary of state
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The Hill, Associated Press, Daily Camera, Townhall, The Sun, New York Times, Politico, Vox, USA Today, Fox News, Roll Call and KIFI-TV

Justice Dept. Ends Stock Trade Inquiry Into Richard Burr Without Charges — Law enforcement officials told the senator that they would not pursue charges over his dumping of hundreds of thousands of dollars of stock after Senate coronavirus briefings early in the pandemic.
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The Daily Caller, The Progressive Pulse, Washington Post, Raw Story, HotAir, The Week, HuffPost, Breitbart, Axios, TheBlaze, POLITICUSUSA, Politico, The Hill, Associated Press and KIFI-TV

Off the rails: Inside Trump's campaign to coerce Pence into overturning the election — Beginning on election night 2020 and continuing through his final days in office, Donald Trump unraveled and dragged America with him, to the point that his followers sacked the U.S. Capitol with two weeks left in his term.
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The Independent, The Daily Beast, Fox News, Foreign Policy, Boston Herald and Reuters

Joe Biden must put an end to business as usual. Here's where to start — In this time of unprecedented crises, Congress and the Biden administration must respond through unprecedented action — record-breaking 4,000 Americans are now dying each day from Covid-19, while the federal …

Jack Ma Emerges for First Time Since Ant, Alibaba Crackdown — Billionaire addressed rural teachers live online Wednesday — His emergence follows persistent rumors about his plight — Jack Ma has resurfaced after months out of public view that fueled intense speculation …
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, The Daily Caller, The Week and Al Jazeera, more at Techmeme »

The Complete List of Trump's Twitter Insults (2015-2021) — As a political figure, Donald J. Trump used Twitter to praise, to cajole, to entertain, to lobby, to establish his version of events — and, perhaps most notably, to amplify his scorn. This list documents the verbal attacks …

Conspiracy Theorists Target Comet Ping Pong on Trump's Last Night in Office — The Trump era in DC ends in a very similar fashion to the way it began — In a fitting finale to the Trump years in hometown DC, a group of homophobic conspiracy theorists gathered to shout slogans outside Chevy …