Pro-life Americans “unjustly imprisoned” by President Joe Biden’s Justice Department are formally appealing to Donald Trump for pardons.  The Daily Wire is first reporting the petitions for pardons of the 21 pro-life advocates, sent Wednesday to Trump by the Thomas More Society, the pro-life law firm that represents the defendants.  “These peaceful pro-life Americans mistreated by Biden include grandparents, pastors, a Holocaust survivor, and a Catholic priest—all are selfless, sincere patriots,” the Thomas More Society lawyers wrote. “Their respective plights and personal information are provided in attachments to this letter. We respectfully urge that all 21 of them detailed here are richly deserving of full and unconditional pardons.”  Trump has criticized the Biden Justice Department for targeting pro-lifers on “outrageous charges,” promising on the campaign trail to “rapidly review the cases of every political prisoner who’s unjustly victimized by the Biden regime…so we can get them out of the gulags and back to their families where they belong.” The Daily Wire has spoken to some of the pro-life prisoners, and many of them have hopefully mentioned this promise in eager anticipation of Trump’s inauguration.  (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images) The pro-lifers requesting pardons are Paul Vaughn, Coleman Boyd, Dennis Green, Eva Edl, James Zastrow, Paul Place, Heather Idoni, Eva Zastrow, Chester Gallagher, Calvin Zastrow, Joel Curry, Justin Philips, Lauren Handy, Paulette Harlow, Jean Marshall, Joan Bell, John Hinshaw, William Goodman, Jonathan Darnel, Fr. Fidelis Moscinski, and Bevelyn Beatty Williams. “These 21 peaceful pro-lifers, many of whom are currently imprisoned for bravely standing up for unborn life, are upstanding citizens and pillars of their communities,” argued Steve Crampton, senior counsel for the Thomas More Society. “Through full and unconditional pardons for these pro-life advocates, President Trump has the chance to remedy the harm done to them and their families, deliver on his campaign promises, and repair trust in our constitutional order.” CELEBRATE #47 WITH 47% OFF DAILYWIRE+ MEMBERSHIPS + A FREE $20 GIFT Since 2022, when the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the Biden Justice Department has aggressively targeted pro-life activists through the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, a law protecting abortion clinics under which pro-life activists can be charged for blocking or inhibiting a woman from getting an abortion. The FACE Act also protects pregnancy centers and Catholic Churches, but Biden’s Justice Department has never used it to prosecute pro-abortion vandals attacking Catholic churches.  The Justice Department only used FACE on a handful of occasions to prosecute pro-abortion vandals attacking pregnancy centers — though more than 95 pregnancy centers and more than 300 churches have been attacked since the May 2022 leak of the draft Supreme Court opinion indicating Roe would soon be overturned.  The Cases Many of those seeking pardons have been convicted multiple times in trials in Washington, D.C., Nashville, and Detroit — trials that The Daily Wire’s Leif Le Mahieu has covered on the ground. While sentencing has not been completed in each case, several pro-lifers are already serving lengthy prison sentences.  In May 2024, Lauren Handy was given 57 months in prison for her participation after she helped stage a sit-in at the D.C.-based Washington Surgi-Clinic late-term abortion facility. She is currently serving her sentence in Tallahassee and won’t be free until July 2027.  One of Handy’s co-defendants, 59-year-old Heather Idoni, is serving a two-year prison sentence over a D.C. protest and eight months over a peaceful protest at a Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, abortion facility.  “I would love to be home with my family,” she said during her sentencing in Nashville in September 2024. “I would love to hold my new grandson.” In Nashville, Idoni joined a group of pro-life Christians who gathered in a hallway outside the Carafem Health Center where they prayed, sang hymns, and urged women not to get abortions in March 2021.  Calvin Zastrow, a 63-year-old pro-lifer from Michigan, is serving a six month sentence in federal prison in Thomson, Illinois, for his conviction over the Mt. Juliet protest.  One of his fellow protesters, 75-year-old Chester Gallagher, was sentenced to 16 months in federal prison for his role in the protest.  During their trial, it was demonstrated that there was no violence or threats of violence during the Mt. Juliet sit-in, which was broken up by local police. While the judge ended up imposing prison sentences for several defendants, they were shorter than what the Biden administration had requested.  One of those yet to be sentenced is Eva Edl, an 89-year-old survivor of a World War II-era Yugoslavian concentration camp. She faces over 10 years in prison for her conviction on FACE and felony conspiracy in Detroit. Throughout the trial, Edl said that it was her faith in Jesus and belief that suffering would strengthen her that kept her going.  Federal Judge Matthew Leitman has paused the case due to Trump’s election, suggesting he believes the incoming administration will pursue a different course on prosecuting FACE.  Repealing the FACE Act Biden’s disproportionate application of FACE against pro-lifers has come under scrutiny from lawmakers, who say it has been unfairly weaponized.  In December, the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on FACE where Paul Vaughn, one of those convicted in Nashville, testified about the armed FBI raid of his home.  “My house was assaulted, my wife and children were terrorized, and I was kidnapped at gunpoint by four armed men,” Vaughn told lawmakers. “I had just sent three of my children to the car so I could take them to school when the house began to shake from a loud banging near the front door. I heard men shouting from my front porch, ‘Open up! FBI!’” Vaughan told The Daily Wire he was “hopeful that President Trump will honor his campaign promises and pardon all the pro-life Christians.” “This is especially important for those who have been in jail for over a year at this point. Not only should they be pardoned, they should be rewarded for their sacrifice and dedication to the ideas and values that once made America the freest nation on Earth.” Republicans like Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) and Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) have consistently proposed repealing the FACE Act, arguing that it has become a one-sided law used to go after conservative Christians.  “Since its passage, the FACE Act has been used approximately 130 times against pro-lifers—but has only been leveled in defense of churches and pregnancy centers five times, even though churches and pro-life centers are 22 times more likely to be attacked than abortion clinics,” wrote Roy and Lee in a joint May 2024 op-ed.  “Just last year, there were 436 incidents of hostility against churches, but the Justice Department failed to investigate the vast majority of them despite repeated requests. The complete data are difficult to ascertain because, to date, Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke has failed to provide Congress with the Justice Department’s FACE Act prosecution numbers—despite multiple congressional requests and promises to do so during a congressional hearing.”  The lawmakers argue that FACE holds “no value other than to allow the Justice Department bureaucrats to carry out a radical pro-abortion agenda,” concluding:  “It’s time to repeal the FACE Act once and for all.”

A French woman has been scammed out of her life savings and even divorced her husband after being duped by AI-generated images of Brad Pitt in the hospital. The woman, identified as Anne in the interview on the French radio program “Seven to Eight” on the TF1 channel, sent the scammers more than $850,000 over the course of one year. The 53-year-old interior designer explained how she was contacted by someone claiming to be Pitt’s mother via social media. “It’s a woman like you that my son needs,” the woman posing as Pitt’s mother said, per People. Anne claimed to be skeptical at first but eventually believed it was true after being contacted by someone posing as Pitt himself. “At first I said to myself that it was fake, that it’s ridiculous,” Anne told TF1. “But I’m not used to social media and I didn’t really understand what was happening to me.” At first, Anne sent around $10,000 to help pay customs tariffs as requested by the scammer so she could receive gifts from the person posing as Pitt. She later handed over about $798,000, the bulk of her divorce settlement, to help the person she believed was Pitt pay medical bills. The scammer claimed his bank accounts were frozen due to ongoing divorce proceedings with his ex, Angelina Jolie. “There are so few men who write you this kind of thing,” Anne said during the interview. “I liked the man I was talking to. He knew how to talk to women, it was always very well done.” The impersonator also sent AI-generated photos of what looked like Pitt in the hospital to convince Anne she was helping him pay for kidney treatment. The woman figured out she was being conned after seeing news reports that Pitt was in a relationship with Ines De Ramon. A french woman was scammed out of over $800K by someone pretending to be Brad Pitt • Scammer DM'd her on Instagram and convinced her with AI-generated videos and edited images • She divorced her husband thinking they would get together • Scammer convinced her his bank… pic.twitter.com/VWD3RtvIO3 — Culture Crave ? (@CultureCrave) January 14, 2025 “I ask myself why they chose me to do such harm like this,” Anne told TF1. “I’ve never harmed anyone. These people deserve hell.” TF1 has taken down the interview after it went viral due to online harassment Anne began receiving from the public for being gullible enough to fall for the scam, The Guardian noted. CELEBRATE #47 WITH 47% OFF DAILYWIRE+ MEMBERSHIPS + A FREE $20 GIFT A rep for Pitt also commented on the story, reiterating that his client does not have social media, making criminals more likely to use his image for scams.  “It’s awful that scammers take advantage of fans’ strong connection with celebrities,” the rep said. “But this is an important reminder to not respond to unsolicited online outreach, especially from actors who have no social media presence.”

A member of the sadistic gang MS-13 pled guilty on Tuesday to seven brutal murders on Long Island, New York, including the murders of two teenage girls. Jairo Saenz, 28, also known as “Funny,” was seen smiling in federal court as he pled guilty to racketeering and other charges related to the spate of killings, the New York Post reported. He faces up to 60 years in prison and will be sentenced on June 13. Saenz admitted to giving the order in 2016 to kill two high school girls who the gang thought disrespected them on social media. Kayla Cuevas, 16, and Nisa Mickens, 15, were beaten to death on September 13, 2016. Their murders made national news and alerted the country to the largely El Salvadoran gang’s violent activities. “I came to this country and worked for two years before joining in 13,” the killer said in a statement read by his attorney. “I knew MS-13 was a gang back in El Salvador. I know that MS-13 had members in Franklin and Central Islip. We agreed to kill a man.” Saenz admitted to ordering the killings of the teen girls as well as a 15-year-old boy who was hacked to death because they believed he was part of a rival gang. He also admitted to killing a man at a deli wearing an “18” jersey, which the gang interpreted as signifying a rival gang, another man they believed was a Bloods gang member, a man suspected of dealing with the rival 18th Street gang, another man they suspected of rival gang activity, and a man they lured into the woods to smoke weed before killing him with knives and machetes. CELEBRATE #47 WITH 47% OFF DAILYWIRE+ MEMBERSHIPS + A FREE $20 GIFT The killer’s brother, Alexi Saenz, known as “Blatsy” and “Plaky,” previously pled guilty in July to eight murders, including the teen girls. However, his plea deal was contingent on his brother taking a plea as well, which did not happen until six months later on Tuesday. He faces up to 70 years in prison at his sentencing later this month. The brothers ordered various killings that were carried out with guns, machetes, and baseball bats to build their gang’s reputation, prosecutors said. “Today, Jairo Saenz pleaded guilty to seven murders that can only be described as barbaric, and multiple acts of senseless gang violence that had turned parts of Long Island into a war zone,” Acting US Attorney Carolyn Pokorny said in a statement. Former President Donald Trump has repeatedly drawn attention to the vicious New York murders, emphasizing the importance of securing the southern border.

California’s sanctuary state laws might prevent Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from gaining custody of an illegal alien who has been named as a “person of interest” in connection with one of the fires that ignited last week in the Los Angeles area. ICE named 33-year-old Mexican national Juan Manuel Sierra as a person of interest in connection with the Kenneth Fire, which burned nearly 1,000 acres near Calabasas but is now fully contained. The federal immigration enforcement agency has placed a detainer on Sierra, but could be prevented from gaining custody of him due to sanctuary policies designed to protect illegal aliens from deportation. Sierra was arrested by the Los Angeles Police Department on January 10 for a felony probation violation while allegedly “attempting to start a fire” and possessing a blowtorch and is currently being held in a Los Angeles County jail. The sheriff’s department has stated that Sierra will be transferred to ICE if it provides an arrest warrant, which is distinct from the detainer that ICE has currently filed. ICE confirmed that Sierra “entered the U.S. unlawfully at an unknown date” and has had “multiple encounters with law enforcement from November 2016 to present for a variety of charges and was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon Oct. 10, 2023.” California officially designated itself as a sanctuary state during President Donald Trump’s first term, passing a law that barred local law enforcement from transferring most illegal aliens into the custody of federal immigration enforcement agents. CELEBRATE #47 WITH 47% OFF DAILYWIRE+ MEMBERSHIPS + A FREE $20 GIFT Senate Bill 54, signed into law in 2017, prevents law enforcement from complying with ICE detainer requests. These requests ask that local or state law enforcement agents hold an illegal alien for up to 48 hours after their initial release date. One anonymous law enforcement source told the New York Post that ICE does not expect its detainer request to be honored due to the sanctuary policy. California state Sen. Melissa Melendez, a Republican, took to X after the illegal alien’s arrest and cited his previous convictions, saying “he’s been protected from the law, and from deportation by Gavin Newsom and the democrat party.” Suspected arsonist in the Los Angeles fires, Juan Manuel Sierra, is an illegal alien with a long rap sheet. But he’s been protected from the law, and from deportation by Gavin Newsom and the democrat party. pic.twitter.com/r3HLVuxfNq — Senator Melissa Melendez (@senatormelendez) January 15, 2025 California Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s press office responded, saying, “Local law enforcement is allowed to cooperate with ICE to take people who pose a threat to public safety into custody when released from jail or prison” and that “SB 54 does not impede criminal investigations or sharing information about an individual’s criminal history.” The arrest of Sierra comes as President-elect Trump and his border czar Tom Homan have indicated that they will take action against jurisdictions that attempt to hinder federal immigration enforcement activities through sanctuary policies, including by slashing federal funding. Trump, who will be inaugurated into office as the 47th president next week, has pledged to carry out the largest mass deportation effort in American history.

Ahead of her departure from the White House, first lady Jill Biden voiced displeasure with Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) over how the prominent House Democrat fueled a revolt against President Joe Biden during the 2024 election. The Washington Post published a report on Wednesday about its “exit interview” with Jill Biden, noting that the first lady has become the “keeper of the family grudges” — a nod to what she wrote in her 2019 memoir about recalling “every slight committed” against the people that she loves. “Which brings us to Nancy Pelosi, whom Jill has known nearly as long as Joe,” the report said. “Who had been a close friend to Joe as they ascended to the highest tier of American politics. Whom Jill couldn’t wait to invite to the White House once coronavirus restrictions allowed the Bidens to entertain. And who went on MSNBC’s ‘Morning Joe’ in July with a shiv.” Though he won the Democratic Party’s 2024 nomination with the support of more than 14 million primary voters, then-81-year-old Joe Biden bowed out of the White House race in July following a fumbling debate performance against former President Donald Trump under pressure from allies who raised concerns about his age, mental acuity, and electability. Vice President Kamala Harris, with Biden’s endorsement, quickly garnered support and became the Democrats’ presidential nominee. Harris ended up losing to Trump. During this time, CNN reported Pelosi privately told Biden that polls showed he could not defeat Trump like he did in 2020 and that he could hurt other members of his party in down-ticket races if he did not bow out. And, in what is widely viewed as a key tipping point — the MSNBC interview — Pelosi emphasized that she would support whatever decision Biden made about his political future at a time when the president was already insisting he would not leave the race. “It’s up to the president to decide if he is going to run,” she said. Her remarks on MSNBC reportedly emboldened more Democrats to turn on Biden. CELEBRATE #47 WITH 47% OFF DAILYWIRE+ MEMBERSHIPS + A FREE $20 GIFT According to The Washington Post, this is how the exchange with Jill Biden when it came to Pelosi went down: “‘Like I said,’ Jill says now, seated in the Green Room of the White House on the first Sunday of January, ‘I’ve been thinking a lot about relationships.’ Her face, nearly pearlescent with lustrous foundation, betrays no particular emotion. She’s holding a china cup. Tea. With honey and lemon. ‘It’s been on my mind a lot lately, and — ‘ Jill pauses. ‘We were friends for 50 years.’ She is using her teacher’s voice now. ‘It was disappointing.'” After Harris lost the presidential election to Trump, Pelosi appeared to blame the outcome on Joe Biden during an interview with The New York Times. “Had the president gotten out sooner, there may have been other candidates in the race,” Pelosi said, adding, “The anticipation was that, if the president were to step aside, that there would be an open primary.” Pelosi also said: “And as I say, Kamala may have, I think she would have done well in that and been stronger going forward. But we don’t know that. That didn’t happen. We live with what happened. And because the president endorsed Kamala Harris immediately, that really made it almost impossible to have a primary at that time. If it had been much earlier, it would have been different.” There had been reports that Joe Biden was frustrated at Pelosi, among others, for pressing him to step aside. However, Biden insisted during an interview on ABC’s “The View” in September that his relationship with Pelosi was “fine.” Joe Biden also claimed — as he has done multiple times now — that he was “confident” that he would have beaten Trump in a rematch.

A New York Times reporter who, without evidence, implicated a friend of Brett Kavanaugh’s in the salacious and unsubstantiated allegations against the Supreme Court justice now says he would have done “things differently.” New York Times investigative reporter David Enrich reportedly told Mark Judge – a childhood friend of Kavanaugh’s whom Enrich implicated in wrongdoing – that he had “learned some lessons” from reporting the Kavanaugh allegations. “I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about my role in the Kavanaugh coverage, and I would be happy to talk to you about it at some point. For now, I will just say that I have learned some lessons and would probably do certain things differently next time,” Enrich reportedly told Judge, who wrote about the exchange in an article for Chronicles Magazine. Judge told Fox News Digital that he “got the most unexpected response I ever could’ve imagined, which was the New York Times reporter who tried to ruin my life, sounded contrite.” Judge told the outlet that he believes The New York Times was given “totally bogus” allegations from disgraced attorney Michael Avenatti, who represented one of Kavanaugh’s false accusers, and other people. One of the most salacious and unbelievable claims during the Kavanaugh accusations was that he and Judge drugged and gang-raped high school girls, a claim that has no evidence to support it whatsoever. Christine Blasey Ford, who jumpstarted the smear against Kavanaugh by claiming, without evidence, that he sexually assaulted her when they were teenagers, also claimed Judge was at the party where the alleged assault happened. Judge – and every other person Ford claimed could back her claims – said they either don’t remember or never witnessed anything that would suggest Ford was telling the truth. CELEBRATE #47 WITH 47% OFF DAILYWIRE+ MEMBERSHIPS + A FREE $20 GIFT Judge told Fox News that Enrich and reporter Kate Kelly attempted to prove the outrageous claims by digging up dirt from his high school years. Judge also told the outlet that the false allegations against him by reporters had damaged his mental health and that he even contemplated suicide. He said he told Enrich about this, saying the reporting had caused a “terrible amount of damage and distress to my family” and “blew apart decades-long friendships.” Judge said that Enrich seemed to offer sympathy, telling Judge: “I can’t imagine what it was like for you to go through that.” “For years, my friends at Georgetown and I have been saying, ‘if only there was somebody with a conscience at the New York Times or Washington Post, if only one of them would come forward and admit what they did here, and I think we’ve just gotten it. I think we might’ve found that one person with a conscience in David Enrich. I don’t want people to badmouth him, I want to encourage him,” Judge told Fox News.

'We were friends for 50 years'

'Have you ever made unwanted requests for sexual favors'

'I had to lick my own shit'

'I am so disappointed'