Trump grants clemency to 2 of Hunter Biden’s ex-associates
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(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump has granted clemency to a pair of Hunter Biden’s former business partners, both of whom accused former President Joe Biden’s son of improperly leveraging his father’s political power to broker overseas business relationships.
Last Tuesday, Trump issued a full pardon to Devon Archer, who was sentenced to more than a year in prison for defrauding a Native American tribal entity in 2022.
Later in the week, Trump commuted the 189-month sentence of Jason Galanis for his role in multiple fraudulent schemes.
Archer and Galanis charted a similar path to their presidential pardons: Both men brokered business ties with Hunter Biden, were later found guilty of unrelated fraud schemes, pleaded with the Biden administration for executive clemency, and, when rebuffed, publicly accused Hunter Biden of improperly trading on his family name to secure overseas business deals.
Galanis went a step further than Archer by retaining a high-powered Washington lawyer with close ties to the Trump political machine: Mark Paoletta, whom Trump recently tapped for general counsel at the White House Office of Management and Budget.
Paoletta did not respond to a request for comment regarding Galanis’ commutation.
Last year, Galanis testified before the House Oversight Committee about the Biden family’s business arrangements from a jail cell in Alabama. He asserted that Joe Biden was more engaged in Hunter Biden’s business dealings than the former president publicly let on, and that “the entire value add of Hunter Biden to our business was his family name and his access to his father, Vice President Joe Biden.”
Joe Biden has forcefully denied any wrongdoing and Republicans were unable to find evidence that he used his political perch to support his son’s businesses. A House impeachment inquiry concluded last August without any articles of impeachment drawn up.
Matthew Schwartz, an attorney for Archer, told ABC News that “the American jury system is an amazing thing, but as the trial judge held in finding serious questions about Devon Archer’s innocence, sometimes juries get it wrong.”
Schwartz said that Trump’s “pardon corrects a serious injustice, and finally allows an innocent man to be free of the threat of misguided prosecution. Mr. Archer is deeply appreciative of the President.”
(NEW YORK) — Former President Joe Biden, in a wide-ranging interview on ABC’s “The View” on Thursday, said he was not surprised by Vice President Kamala Harris’ loss in the 2024 presidential election, but not because of her qualifications as a candidate — instead, pointing to sexism and racism he said had been leveled against her.
“I wasn’t surprised, not because I didn’t think the vice president was the most qualified person to be president … I wasn’t surprised because they went the route of — the sexist route, the whole route,” Biden said.
He continued: “I’ve never seen quite as successful and consistent campaign, undercutting the notion that a woman couldn’t lead the country — and a woman of mixed race.”
But Biden, separately, said he still thinks he would have beaten Trump if he had stayed in the race.
“Yeah, he still got seven million fewer votes,” Biden said of Trump, noting by how much he beat Trump in the 2020 election popular vote.
His comments come after several months out of the spotlight for the former president as he and Democrats look to sort out his role post-presidency. Last month, Biden emerged from private life to deliver a speech on Trump’s potential impact on Social Security and made an appearance at Harvard University.
Questions persist on the party’s priorities and who may be the best to message and communicate on the Democrats’ behalf — questions that extend to both Biden and Harris.
Biden, for his part, told “The View” that he’s in the midst of self-reflection — and, to that end, writing a book.
“Things are moving along and we’re getting squared away trying to figure out what the most significant and consequential role I can play, consistent with what I’ve done in the past,” he said.
The former president also addressed his relationship with his former running-made-turned-candidate, saying that he and Harris had spoken as recently as Wednesday. Yet, he quickly stopped himself from addressing specifics of their “frequent” conversations, including side-stepping any chatter about Harris’ possible gubernatorial or potential presidential ambitions.
Sources have told ABC News previously that Harris may be mulling a run for governor of California, her home state; others have speculated she could mount a run for president in 2028 — a controversial notion within the Democratic Party.
Many of Harris’ longtime national supporters told ABC News in March that they are lukewarm on her potentially running for president in 2028; others have called for a full break from the Biden-Harris administration and for the party to consider new standard bearers.
But on Harris’ broader political future, Biden said he was hopeful that she stayed involved in some significant way, but stopped short of sharing which route he hopes she takes.
“She’s got a difficult decision to make about what she’s going to do. I hope she stays fully engaged. I think she’s first-rate, but we have a lot of really good candidates as well. So, I’m optimistic. I’m not pessimistic,” Biden said.
Biden’s remarks don’t seem to have mollified progressives who felt he hamstrung Democrats’ chances in 2024. Progressive Change Campaign Committee co-founder Adam Green said in a statement after the interview that the former president is in “denial” over both his and Harris’ viability as strong candidates on the 2024 ticket, suggesting that anti-establishment Democrats would fare better to lead the party.
“Joe Biden is in denial about the fact that neither he nor Kamala Harris should have been the 2024 Democratic nominee if we wanted to defeat Donald Trump. In this moment, voters demand authentic anti-establishment figures who will shake up a broken political system and economic status quo rigged for billionaires against working people, and that’s not Biden or Harris.”
Asked on “The View” to respond to claims that he should have dropped out of the race and endorse Harris sooner, Biden said that Harris still had a long period to campaign and that they worked together “in every decision I made.”
Biden also denied reporting that claimed he had advised Harris to suggest that there was no daylight between the two of them — saying that they were partners and worked together.
“The View” co-anchor Sunny Hostin brought up Harris’ comments on “The View” in October, toward the end of her presidential campaign, when asked if she would have done “something differently” from what Biden had done over the last four years. She responded, “there is not a thing that comes to mind,” a moment widely seen as one that hurt her among voters who felt she needed to make a cleaner break from the Biden White House.
“I did not advise her to say that,” Biden said, adding that he thought Harris meant she would not change any of the successes that the Biden-Harris White House had achieved.
“She was part of every success we had. We’d argue like hell, by the way,” Biden added, stressing that the disagreements were all signs of a positive working relationship.
Even though he indicated no tension between himself and Harris, Biden did not answer directly when asked about tension between him and other longtime supporters, including former President Barack Obama, whose administration he served in as vice president.
Asked about what his relationship with Obama is like now, and how he addresses concerns Obama and others reportedly raised over his ability to serve a second term as president, Biden pivoted to why he got out of the race — and did not mention Obama.
“The only reason I got out of the race was because I didn’t want to have a divided Democratic Party … I thought it was better to put the country ahead of my interest, my personal interest,” Biden said.
Biden did say, in his response, that concerns over his age — 81 during the campaign — were valid, but pointed to what he still accomplished at the end of his presidency as evidence against claims he had cognitively declined.
ABC News’ Alexandra Hutzler and Zohreen Shah contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — President Donald Trump on Monday named Alina Habba, his personal attorney-turned-White House counselor, to serve as the next interim U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey.
“Alina will lead with the same diligence and conviction that has defined her career, and she will fight tirelessly to secure a Legal System that is both ‘Fair and Just’ for the wonderful people of New Jersey,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Habba told reporters outside the West Wing after the announcement that she’s going to do a “bang-up job” tackling corruption.
“As you know, I’ve stood by President Trump, his family, the [Trump] organization, and many other clients in that state where I’ve been born and raised, and I’m raising my babies now, but there is corruption, there is injustice, and there is a heavy amount of crime right in [Sen.] Cory Booker’s backyard and right under Governor [Phil] Murphy, and that will stop,” Habba said without making any specific allegations of corruption.
Asked who she will go after, she said, “We’ll see when I get in there.”
Pressed on whether she would go after politicians, she shot back that the media would “love that narrative.” When it was pointed out that she had mentioned politicians in her remarks, she said, “I didn’t,” but when reminded that she had mentioned Booker and Murphy, she admitted it.
“Correct, because I think Cory Booker and Governor Murphy have failed the state of New Jersey. If you look at what happened in crime, what’s going on in Newark, what’s going on in Camden, this has been a neglected state,” she said. “It is one of the most populated states for its size, and it needs to stop. We’re going to do a bang-up job. I cannot wait. It’s a great honor.”
Habba did not answer repeated questions on why Trump appointed her to the role on an interim basis rather than permanently, and she would not say if she had political ambitions in New Jersey.
“I look forward to working with [Attorney General] Pam Bondi, with the Department of Justice, and making sure that we further the president’s agenda of putting America first, cleaning up mess and going after the people that we should be going after, not the people that are falsely accused,” she added. “That will stop in the great state of New Jersey, starting now.”
Earlier Monday Habba posted on X, “I am honored to serve my home state of New Jersey as Interim U.S. Attorney and I am grateful to President Trump for entrusting me with this tremendous responsibility. Just like I did during my time as President Trump’s personal attorney, I will continue to fight for truth and justice. We will end the weaponization of justice, once and for all.”
Trump said Habba would replace the current interim U.S. attorney, John Giordano, who he will nominate to be the ambassador to Namibia.
Habba rose to fame as a member of Trump’s circle after several years in private practice in New Jersey.
After working as a merchandiser at fashion company Marc Jacobs for two years, Habba attended Widener University Commonwealth Law School in Pennsylvania, graduating in 2011. She served a yearlong clerkship with then-New Jersey Superior Court Judge Eugene Codey Jr. then worked in private practice for eight years at two separate firms before starting her own practice in 2020, focusing on civil and commercial litigation.
After reportedly becoming acquainted with Trump through membership in his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club, Habba’s big break with the former president came when she represented him in a $100 million lawsuit against the New York Times and his estranged niece, Mary L. Trump.
The New York Times lawsuit was ultimately dismissed, and Habba’s other cases for Trump have resulted in a mixed record. She received praise from Trump after Summer Zervos, a former “Apprentice” contestant who accused the former president of sexual assault, dropped her defamation case against Trump.
But when Habba filed a lawsuit claiming that Hillary Clinton and others conspired to damage Trump’s reputation, the judge overseeing the case dismissed the suit, accused Trump of “using the courts to seek revenge on political adversaries,” and fined Trump and Habba nearly $1 million.
Habba became linked to Trump by serving as his legal spokesperson on the heels of his four criminal indictments, and appearing by his side every day he has attended his civil fraud trial in New York. Along the way, her firm has been paid $3.6 million from Trump’s political action committees, according to records reviewed by ABC News.
She has cited her experiences with the former president to not only defend his conduct but also his character. Appearing on Fox News after Trump was indicted for the unlawful retention of classified documents in Florida, she said of Trump, “He’s the most ethical American I know.”
In announcing her appointment as counselor to the president in December, Trump said “Alina has been a tireless advocate for Justice, a fierce Defender of the Rule of Law, and an invaluable Advisor to my Campaign and Transition Team. She has been unwavering in her loyalty, and unmatched in her resolve – standing with me through numerous ‘trials,’ battles, and countless days in Court.”
-ABC News’ Peter Charalambous contributed to this report
(WASHINGTON) — The Trump administration has deported hundreds of migrants it alleges are MS-13 gang members — calling them “terrorists” — to El Salvador’s notorious CECOT mega-prison.
Could American citizens convicted of violent crimes be next?
“If it’s a homegrown criminal, I have no problem,” President Donald Trump told reporters in the Oval Office on Monday during his meeting with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele.
“If we can do that, that’s good. And I’m talking about violent people. I’m talking about really bad people. Really bad people. Every bit as bad as the ones coming in.”
Before reporters entered the room, Trump even suggested to Bukele he should build more prisons because the mega-prison isn’t “big enough” to hold “the homegrowns” he wants to send from the U.S.
“We’re studying the laws right now,” Trump said, after earlier saying they “always have to obey the law.”
He made a similar comment about sending Americans to foreign prisons in February, saying back then as well that the laws would be need to be checked.
Several legal experts told ABC News any such scenario would be unconstitutional.
“I don’t think that any president who understands the rule of law or who respects the constitutional democracy that we live in would even think in these terms,” said David Leopold, an attorney and former president of the American Immigration Lawyers Association.
“The United States is the home of United States citizens. And citizens cannot be deported, period,” Leopold said.
“There are numerous constitutional provisions that bar the president and the attorney general from sending American criminals to prisons in other nations,” said Michael Gerhardt, a constitutional law professor at the University of North Carolina.
Several administration officials have been pressed to elaborate on what legal grounds they believe would allow them to do this. So far, they’ve sidestepped.
“Well, Jesse, these are Americans who he is saying who have committed the most heinous crimes in our country. And crime is going to decrease dramatically because he has given us a directive to make America safe again,” Attorney General Pam Bondi, who Trump specifically said was looking into the issue, told Fox News’ “Jesse Watters Primetime” on Monday night.
“These people need to be locked up as long as they can, as long as the law allows. We’re not going to let them go anywhere. And if we have to build more prisons in our country, we will do it,” Bondi said, notably mentioning sending Americans to prisons in the U.S.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt was asked on Tuesday if deporting American citizens to Central American prisons is legal or if the administration would have to change the law.
“Well, it’s another question that the president has raised,” Leavitt responded. “It’s a legal question that the president is looking into.”
Trump and other officials said they’d deport American criminals who commit “egregious” crimes. Trump on Monday cited criminals who “push people into subways” or “hit elderly ladies on the back of the head.”
“Of course, we have the right as a government to incarcerate people who are a danger to society, even to execute people who are danger to society, but they’re Americans, they remain here. That’s the baseline right of citizenship, and always has been,” said Amanda Frost, a professor at the University of Virginia School of Law.
Any effort to deport an American citizen to a prison in El Salvador (its CECOT prison has been criticized for alleged human rights abuses) or elsewhere would likely be a violation of the Eighth Amendment, which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment, Frost said.
One potential loophole could be for the Trump administration to try to target naturalized U.S. citizens, who can lose their immigration status if they’ve committed treason or falsified information during their naturalization process. But those instances are rare.
“If someone’s a naturalized citizen, there could be an effort to denaturalize that person and deport them,” Frost said. “But then it would have to be that they committed some sort of fraud or error in their naturalization process. An unrelated crime could not be the basis for denaturalizing and deporting somebody.”
Still, experts were alarmed by Trump’s comments on wanting to send American citizens to foreign prisons — especially as the legal battle regarding Kilmar Abrego Garcia continues to play out.
The Supreme Court has ordered the Trump administration to “facilitate” Abrego Garcia’s return to the U.S. and say he was deported illegally. Bondi on Monday said it was “up to El Salvador” to return him, and Salvadoran President Bukele said he wouldn’t do so.
“That is chilling,” Frost said, “because if that’s their view, then assuming they can manage to get people out of the country, they could then throw up their hands and say, ‘We can do nothing about it.'”
ABC News Senior Political Correspondent Rachel Scott on Tuesday asked Trump’s “border czar” Tom Homan if he believed it was illegal for Trump to send Americans to an El Salvador prison. Homan said he hasn’t talked to the president yet.
“The notion is just so absurd,” Leopold, the former president of American Immigration Lawyers Association, said. “If it wasn’t so terrifying that a sitting president of the United States so loosely uses rhetoric about deporting United States citizens, it would be laughable.”
Abrego Garcia is being held at CECOT after being wrongfully deported by the Trump administration last month. Trump and other officials claim he is a MS-13 gang member, though the administration has provided little evidence of that in court.
