Oath Keepers, Proud Boys leaders out of prison after Trump Jan. 6 pardons
Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — Enrique Tarrio, the former head of the Proud Boys, and Stewart Rhodes, the head of the Oath Keepers, were released Tuesday from prison following President Donald Trump’s sweeping pardon of those convicted in connection with the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
They were serving 22- and 18-year sentences, respectively, for their roles in the riot.
Four years after they raided the Capitol, threatened Congress members and assaulted police officers, a group of some of the Jan. 6 rioters convicted of the most violent incidents that day are now free men thanks to Trump.
Other convicted members were scheduled to be released throughout the day from Washington, D.C. area, jails and prisons.
Of the nearly 1,600 individuals who have faced charges associated with the Capitol attack, according to figures released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, 608 individuals faced charges for assaulting, resisting or interfering with law enforcement trying to protect the complex that day, the office said. Approximately 140 law enforcement officers were injured during the riot, the Department of Justice has said.
A federal judge sentenced Rhodes in May 2023 after he was convicted of seditious conspiracy the year prior for his and his group’s role in the riot. The Oath Keepers had stockpiled weapons at a D.C. hotel and organized the attack, according to prosecutors.
Rhodes himself did not enter the Capitol on Jan. 6 and maintained that his group only intended to provide security and medical aid to those attending multiple pro-Trump demonstrations in the area, prosecutors said.
Tarrio was sentenced in September 2023 for his conviction on seditious conspiracy and given the longest sentence of all of the convicted Jan. 6 rioters, though he was not at the Capitol on Jan. 6.
During his sentencing, prosecutors pointed to a nine-page strategic plan to “storm” government buildings in Washington on Jan. 6 that was found in Tarrio’s possession after the riot, as well as violent rhetoric they say he routinely used in messages with other members of the group about what they would do if Congress moved forward in certifying President Joe Biden’s election win.
As more of the rioters were released from jails and prisons, a group of Trump supporters, Proud Boys members and others gathered and cheered them on as they were released.
The group carried large flagpoles with Trump and American flags attached and signage that read, “no man left behind” and “pardon all j6 hostages day one.”
Current and former DOJ officials have expressed alarm over the potential that Trump would hand down pardons — or otherwise free — violent offenders, citing the potential risk they could seek to target the prosecutors who oversaw their cases, the judges who sentenced them to periods of incarceration, or witnesses who may have testified against them.
(WASHINGTON) — As Election Day arrives, polling still shows razor-thin margins between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump in battleground states.
If the actual vote margin remains that thin in some states, it is possible that automatic recounts could be triggered or that a campaign could request a recount, depending on that state’s rules.
A recent analysis of statewide recounts in general elections from 2000-2023 by the advocacy group FairVote found that statewide recounts in general elections are very rare and usually have not changed much of the vote count. Recounts have almost never changed the state’s winner of a presidential election, although in 1960, a recount in Hawaii changed the winner of the state’s Electoral College votes from Richard Nixon to John F. Kennedy.
More recent presidential recounts have not impacted the winner in the states they were held in, including the attempted 2000 recount in Florida meant to deal with a razor-thin margin between George W. Bush and Al Gore, which the Supreme Court halted. (If Florida’s results had flipped, Al Gore would have won that election.)
In 2020, Donald Trump’s campaign requested recounts in Georgia (after the secretary of state had already undertaken a recount) and some Wisconsin counties. In 2016, the campaign of Green Party candidate Jill Stein requested a recount that was fully undertaken in Wisconsin, and requested one in Michigan (which was halted) and Pennsylvania (which was denied).
Here’s what to know about the rules that govern if and how presidential race recounts are conducted in each of the seven battleground states.
The “canvass of the vote” discussed below refers to the county and/or state procedures that compile, confirm, and validate every vote cast. Recount rules may vary for other races, such as congressional or mayoral races. An “automatic recount” means a recount that is mandated by state law because of the results; the term does not reflect how votes are recounted.
Arizona
A recount is automatically triggered in Arizona if the margin between the two candidates who received the most votes is equal or less than half a percent of the total votes cast, according to Arizona law. The recount must be completed five days after the canvass of the vote is completed, which is Nov. 30.
It is not possible for a candidate, party or voters to request a recount in Arizona. (A Republican-aligned review of election results in Arizona’s Maricopa County in 2021 was not a state-run recount and found no evidence that changed the results in the county.)
Georgia
According to Georgia law, a candidate can ask for a recount within two days of results being certified if the margin between the candidates is less than half a percentage point of the vote. Election officials can also request recounts if they think there is an issue with the results, while the secretary of state can ask for a recount if a candidate petitions them about a suspected issue. There is no explicit deadline for a recount to be completed.
There are no automatic recounts in Georgia.
Michigan
According to Michigan law, an automatic recount is triggered in statewide races if the margin between the top two candidates is 2,000 votes or less.
A candidate can petition for a recount if a few requirements are met, including “a good-faith belief that but for fraud or mistake, the candidate would have had a reasonable chance of winning the election,” according to Michigan law. The petition needs to be filed within 48 hours of the canvass of votes being completed.
Recounts must be completed within 30 days of the end of the period that candidates are allowed to file petitions challenging results, or within 30 days of when recounts are allowed to begin.
(New laws changing how recounts can be done in Michigan were signed into law this year, but will not be in effect for the 2024 election.)
Nevada
A candidate for presidential elector — specifically an Electoral College elector, not the candidate — can request a recount in Nevada up to the 13th day following the election, according to Nevada statutes. The requester needs to deposit the estimated cost of the recount with the secretary of state, but gets the deposit refunded if the recount results in a change in the winner.
The recount needs to be started within a day after being requested and finished within 5 days.
There is a more general statute in Nevada law that allows statewide candidates to request recounts, but this does not apply to presidential races, according to Nevada-based attorney and election law expert Bradley Schrager. Rather, the specific and more recent statute overrides the more general one, so the recount request would have to come from the presidential elector.
“In practice, that’s not really significant, however, because any elector candidate would follow the direction of his or her presidential candidate,” Schrager said.
There are no automatic recounts in Nevada.
North Carolina
A presidential candidate can request a recount in North Carolina if the margin between the candidates is less than half a percentage point or 10,000 votes, whichever is less, according to state law. (The North Carolina State Board of Elections told ABC News that the threshold this year will likely be 10,000 votes.)
The candidate needs to ask for a recount by noon on the second day after the county canvassing of the vote. (In 2024, that day is Tuesday, Nov. 19.)
There are cases where a requested recount would trigger an automatic recount as well, but the election results themselves do not trigger automatic recounts in North Carolina.
Pennsylvania
An automatic recount is triggered in Pennsylvania if the margin between the candidates is within half a percentage of the vote.
The recount must begin “no later than” the third Wednesday after Election Day and be done by noon on the next Tuesday, according to guidance published by the Pennsylvania Department of State.
Candidates themselves cannot request recounts in Pennsylvania.
Wisconsin
In a presidential race, any presidential candidate can request a recount if the margin between the candidates that got the most votes is one percent or less of the total votes cast, according to Wisconsin state statutes. The candidate must request it within the first day after the canvass of the vote is completed.
The state itself pays if the margin is 0.25% of the vote or less; if it is larger, then the candidate who requested the recount must pay. (They receive a refund if the election result changes due to the recount.)
The recount must be completed within 13 days of being ordered.
There are no automatic recounts in Wisconsin.
ABC News’ Quinn Scanlan and Mitch Alva contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — House Republicans had mixed reactions to President-elect Donald Trump’s announcement that he would nominate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to be secretary of Health and Human Services in his administration.
Kennedy has been an anti-vaccine activist and founded the Children’s Health Defense, a prominent anti-vaccine nonprofit that has campaigned against immunizations and other public health measures like water fluoridation. Medical experts expressed concerns about a rise in medical misinformation through Kennedy’s candidacy.
HHS oversees major health agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, among others.
Rep. John Duarte, R-Calif., raised concerns about the pick, saying, “Well, all my kids are vaccinated and I hope he’s not going to move against one of the most life-saving technologies in the history of the world.”
Asked if Kennedy was the right choice, Duarte responded, “I don’t know.”
“I’d like to see more of his opinions and more of his thoughts in different matters, but the anti-vaccine mantra scares me a lot,” he said.
There was no immediate reaction from senators, who would vote on Kennedy’s nomination.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise didn’t clearly answer a question about his reaction to the selection of Kennedy, noting only that Trump was moving “fast” with his nominations.
“Clearly President Trump is moving fast to get as many people appointed as possible. It shows he’s carried through on the mandate the voters just gave him. To lay out his cabinet. To get to work,” Scalise said.
Scalise evaded a question about his position on the vaccine misinformation that Kennedy has espoused: “Ultimately, President Trump’s agenda….” Scalise pivoted.
Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, laughed when asked for an opinion, saying “It’s the president’s prerogative. I am not a senator.”
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, called the news “fantastic.”
“Robert’s a friend now for a few years, we’ve been talking a lot,” Roy said.
Roy said there’s a need to be “disrupting the corruption” in federal health agencies, which he expects Kennedy to accomplish.
Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., celebrated the news: “Oh my gosh, I’m so excited.”
Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., called Kennedy’s selection a “great pick.”
“Good pick on the president’s part, as all of them have been, and he’ll do a good job,” Norman said. “People say, ‘Well, he’s a Democrat.’ Look, he’s got an interest, he’s got an interest, a passion for the medical field. He’ll do a good job in it.”
Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-SD, took a more moderate position on the selection of Kennedy.
“I don’t mind disrupting. I mean, clearly, I think sometimes these big agencies get into some group think and I think it’s perfectly healthy to have some conventional wisdom challenged. Clearly, the Senate’s going to want to understand what is his vision for the agency,” Johnson said, adding that he wants to understand more about where Kennedy’s “scientific background is.”
Asked if he trusted Kennedy on public health, Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn. said “absolutely,” adding that “I think we need to broaden our horizons a little bit.”
(WASHINGTON) — U.S. military suicides increased by 30 in 2023, according to a Defense Department report released Thursday, continuing an upward trend the Pentagon has struggled to combat.
“The findings urgently demonstrate the need for the Department to redouble its work in the complex fields of suicide prevention and postvention,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said in a statement Thursday.
There were 523 service members who took their own lives last year, and the total force rate of suicide deaths per 100,000 service members was 9% higher than in 2022, the report said.
“Numerically, that was somewhat higher than the 493 that we lost in 2022, although that increase in terms of the rate and the count for the active component was not a statistically significant increase,” said Dr. Timothy Hoyt, deputy director of force resiliency for the DOD.
But while there was a slight dip in the military suicide rate in 2022, and a relatively modest increase in 2023, officials described a concerning overall upward trend since 2011 for active-duty forces.
“For the longer term, we continue to see a gradual, statistically significant increase in the active component suicide rates from 2011 to 2023,” said Dr. Liz Clark, director of the Pentagon’s Suicide Prevention Office. “There is a low likelihood that this change is due to natural variation or chance.”
Though concerning, military suicide rates have been comparable to those of the wider U.S. population over that time period.
While active-duty and reserve suicide rates increased in 2023, rates for the National Guard dipped slightly, according to the report.
The Pentagon is pursuing several lines of effort to reduce instances of suicide in the ranks, including by working to foster a supportive environment, improve mental health care, reduce stigma for seeking help and better suicide prevention training.
“Since his first day in office, the health, safety and well-being of our military community has been one of Secretary Austin’s top priorities,” deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh said during the Thursday Pentagon briefing. “As you’ve heard him say many times before, we owe it to our service members and our military families to provide the best possible care, to identify risk factors and spot warning signs and to eliminate stigmas around seeking help, and when it comes to suicide, one loss to suicide is one too many. The department remains focused on long-term, sustained initiatives to prevent suicide.”
If you or one of your loved ones are struggling or needs extra support, you are not alone. Please call the suicide and crisis lifeline at 9-8-8.
