Morning Wire - January 6th Certification & Trump Sentencing | 1.6.25

Episode Date: January 6, 2025

Congress votes to certify Donald Trump’s electoral victory as the president-elect vows leniency to J6 defendants; Trump is set for sentencing this week after Judge Juan Merchan refuses to dismiss his case; and new evidence emerges in New Year’s attacks. Get the facts first with Morning Wire. Shopify: Shopify: "Get a $1 per month trial at https://www.shopify.com/morningwire" Black Rifle Coffee: Get 20% off your first order or Coffee Club subscription with code DAILYWIRE: https://www.blackriflecoffee.com https://www.blackriflecoffee.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Congress is set to certify Donald Trump's presidential victory today as the country reexamines the legacy and aftermath of January 6th. How is public sentiment about that day shifted and will Trump pardon those charged in the riots? They've been in there for years and they're in a filthy, disgusting place that shouldn't even be allowed to be open. I'm Daily Wire editor-in-chief John Bickley with Georgia Howe. It's Monday, January 6th, and this is morning. Trump is scheduled to be sentenced in the controversial hush money case this week after Judge Mershahn denies his motion to dismiss. This would be a case where you would not even normally see a sentence for incarceration.

So I've always doubted that that would be coming out of this case. And new details have come to light regarding last week's deadly terror attack in New Orleans. Why are some casting doubt on the lone wolf theory? Thanks for waking up with Morning Wire. Stay tuned. We have the news you need to know. What's the secret sauce behind wildly successful businesses? It's not great products or brilliant marketing.

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Here to discuss today's vote and what it means for those still in prison for their role in the 2021 Capitol riot is Daily Wire Deputy Managing Editor Tim Rice-A-Tem. So let's start with today. What are we expecting? Well, John, there's a storm brewing in Washington, literally. D.C. is expecting 10 or more inches of snow threat. the day, which is enough to send the town into a tizzy and would ordinarily keep a lot of congressmen from making the trek to Capitol Hill. But in an appearance on Fox News yesterday, House Speaker Mike Johnson, fresh off his reelection, said he doesn't expect the blizzard to interfere with the vote. Well, I hope we have full attendance. We've got a big snowstorm coming to D.C. And we encourage all of our colleagues, do not leave town, stay here. Because, as you know,

the Electoral Count Act requires this on January 6th at 1 p.m. So whether we're in a blizzard or not, We are going to be in that chamber making sure this is done. Now, the House needs a simple majority of 218 members present to reach a quorum, and it seems like most members have stayed in town over the weekend. Marjorie Taylor Green even said she would walk to the Capitol if need be. So it seems like Johnson has every reason to be confident that, come 1 p.m., Vice President Kamala Harris, acting as president of the Senate, will convene a joint session of Congress, at which point lawmakers will vote to certify Donald Trump's landslide victory.

Right, a very momentous occasion. and now this calls to mine maybe forever, the last presidential certification vote on January 6th. We have Trump coming into office now, and he's been vowing to take action related to that. Tell us about that. Absolutely. Some 1,600 of the president's supporters

have been charged for their role in the 2021 riot, and hundreds have been sent to prison. Trump has said repeatedly that he's open to pardoning many of those charged and has frequently spoken out against what he says is very unfair treatment of mostly peaceful protesters. Here's what he said during an appearance on Meet the Press. in December. They arrested an old woman because she, I don't think she did anything. They don't even know what she did. These people have suffered. Their lives have been destroyed. And yet in Portland,

where they burn down half the city, they burn it down all the time. It's like a routine occurrence. They don't do anything. Trump has indicated that he's not considering a blanket pardon, saying that there would be some exceptions for those found to have done something really criminal. But by and large, I wouldn't be surprised if pardoning January 6th defendants is one of the first big things Trump does in his second term. Truly a remarkable prospect and a remarkable turn of fortune for potentially many of the defendants. Oh, absolutely. I mean, from January 6th, basically through election day, you had Democrats in the legacy media calling these people domestic terrorists and saying it was an attack on the country. People really thought Trump would wind up in jail because of January 6th, or at the very least that his political career would be over. And none of that happened.

Trump, of course, won in a landslide, despite Democrats' efforts to paint him as a threat to democracy. And Matthew Graves, the D.C. Attorney General, who prosecuted the January 6th defendants, just announced that he's stepping down before Trump returns to the White House. And public opinion has really come around to January 6th, too. Fewer and fewer people think that Trump did anything wrong or that the day was a real threat to democracy. Well, as we've seen, a lot can happen in four years. Tim, thanks for reporting. Anytime.

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training, and equipment to our nation's military and first responders. Head over to their site now for 20% off your purchase with code Daily Wire. Judge Juan Mershahn has denied Trump's motion to dismiss his conviction in a controversial hush money case. Mershaw has scheduled sentencing for Trump this Friday just 10 days before inauguration day. Here to discuss the ruling and what it means for Trump is Daily Wire reporter Amanda Presta Jocamo. So Amanda, let's get into this ruling. What was Trump convicted of here and what did Mershant say in his ruling? Yeah, so Trump was convicted on 34 felony counts on charges relating to falsifying business records.

This all stems from a payment Trump's former lawyer made to Stormy Daniels in 2016 without Trump's knowledge. From the start, the case has been pretty controversial, and some legal scholars have even argued that, at most, you could maybe squeeze out a trivial misdemeanor offense on some record keeping, but certainly not 34 felonies. Trump and his supporters believe the case is clear political targeting, starting with DA Alvin Bragg and including Judge Mershon. He's a Democrat who donated to Joe Biden, and he's been pretty hostile to Trump throughout the. this whole process. And that leads up to Mershahn's latest ruling. He's denied Trump's bid to have this case tossed in light of the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision on presidential immunity. The denial was expected from Mershahn, though pretty questionable, and it's still an avenue that Trump will continue to pursue in this case. So instead of tossing the case or potentially

putting it on hold until Trump serves out his term as president, Mershont said in his ruling that it's in the public interest that Trump be sentenced as soon as possible. Right. Now, Mershahn signaled that he'd impose something called an unconditional discharge at this sentencing. What would that entail and what can we expect from Trump? Yeah, an unconditional discharge would mean that Trump wouldn't serve any jail time or any probation. It would officially end the trial and Trump could move to appeal the 34 felony convictions. But it also would formally brand Trump as a convicted felon heading into the inauguration. It's unclear what Trump's next move will be, but he could possibly seek an immediate.

appeal on the immunity claims that Mershahn just rejected in this latest decision, or he could show up virtually or in person on the 10th and, as I mentioned, go on to appeal those convictions. There's been a lot of reaction to Mershahn's ruling. First, how has Trump responded? Trump swiftly condemned Mershahn. He said online that Mershahn effectively made up these charges and he called him the most conflicted judge in New York state history. Trump also denounced New York's court system as corrupt, and he said it's one of the reasons so many of the reasons so many people and companies are fleeing the state. Some prominent legal scholars, honestly, weren't that far off in their criticisms of Mershon.

George Washington University Law Professor Jonathan Turley, for example, he called Mershant's recent decisions the, quote, final cathartic act for lawfare warriors. Turley said the sentencing date effectively provides the media with the inauguration day talking point that Trump will be the first person sworn into presidential office as a convicted felon. Legal scholar Andy McCarthy, who formerly served as the assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, he made a similar argument. McCarthy said that the pre-annoguration day sentencing appears to be a bid by Mershahn to ensure that Trump enters office as a formally convicted felon. Now, before you go, this isn't the only case that Trump is dealing with. What's the status of the

others? Yes, the two federal prosecutions against Trump, one concerning J6 matters and the other classified documents. They've both been dropped, and special counsel, Jack Smith, has quickly closed up shop. As for the Georgia election-related case, Fulton County DA Fawney Willis and her office have been disqualified from prosecuting Trump. Willis is now in the process of appealing that decision. If she were to win that, she could go after Trump, but she couldn't do that until after he's out of office. And if she loses her bid, the case would be kicked to somebody else. They could continue to go after Trump, or they could drop some or all of those charges. Trump is also in the process of appealing a civil fraud judgment that totals nearly half a billion dollars.

That case, which notably involves no victims, no injuries, and no losses was brought by E.G. Lettisha James. And finally, Trump is also appealing a civil verdict in the likewise highly controversial E. Jean Carroll case. So still a lot of irons in the fire. Meanwhile, Mershant's sentencing is just a few days away. Amanda, thanks for reporting. You're welcome. Nearly a week after a pair of a test, attacks rocked New Orleans and Las Vegas. New details are coming to light regarding the suspects and their motives.

Here are the latest, including some Daily Wire exclusive information as senior editor Cabot Phillips A Cabot. So let's start in New Orleans, where the death toll now sits at 14. What more have we learned in recent days? Well, first, investigators say the man responsible, Shamsu Dinjabar, was wearing a pair of meta-glasses equipped with a camera that could have allowed him to film a first-hand account of his attack. He also wore those glasses on a number of earlier visits to the French quarter. It's believed he used footage gathered then to help plan out his attack.

We're also learning more about Jabar's background. According to investigators, the 42-year-old from Houston originally contemplated attacking an ex-wife and other family members, but ultimately decided on a terror attack to focus on, quote, the war between the believers and disbelievers of Islam, that is. Yeah. Bar's brothers say he was raised Muslim but left the religion as an adult. However, investigators say he returned to Islam in recent years, but it's not yet clear how or when he became radicalized. To that point, investigators are taking a very close look at a month-long trip he took to Egypt in 2023.

Yeah, now, as we've reported, he appears to have been an ISIS supporter. What have we learned about any ties he might have had to that group? Yeah, in the hours before the attack, Jabbar posted videos online proclaiming his support for the terror group, which he says he had joined, quote, before this summer, according to the FBI. So there's no doubt he pledged allegiance to and at least took inspiration from the group. But the big question now for investigators is whether Jabbar had ever communicated directly with ISIS or received any sort of help in planning. Remember, initially the FBI indicated there were as many as four other suspects

who may have planted explosives around the city that understandably set off a frenzy in New Orleans, but those claims were eventually walked back after investigators determined those individuals were not involved. But investigators still say just because no. one was present with him, you know, during the attack, it doesn't mean he was a true lone wolf attacker. Here's Republican rep Michael McCall, former chair of the Homeland Security Committee on ABC Sunday. He was involved with a rare bomb-making material that was not available in the United States. So I know that they're saying this is, you know, kind of a lone wolf type situation, but there are some, it seemed to be some real ISIS connections here that need to be followed up.

Now, this all comes amid renewed concerns over an ISIS expansion and resurgence. Talk to us about that. Right. While ISIS was largely eradicated under President Trump's first term, the group has slowly rebuilt in recent years, claiming responsibility for numerous terror attacks around the globe in 2024. And national security experts have been warning in recent months that the turmoil in Syria could well open up a dangerous power vacuum that allows ISIS to regain an even larger foothold. So as President Trump prepares to take office, he'll be faced with a seemingly resurgent ISIS.

Now, the big question will be how aggressive of an approach he takes. As I mentioned, he's certainly shown a willingness to go after these groups hard, but he did campaign largely on staying out of the Middle East in his second term. So some very big consequential decisions on him. Sure. Now, before we go, let's get to the latest from that separate bombing incident in Las Vegas. What do we know there? So investigators are working to piece together what exactly drove Matthew Livelsberger, a 37-year-old Army Green Beret, to set off that car bomb outside Trump Hotel in Vegas, which ended up killing himself and injuring seven others. Police say one of Livelsberger's devices contained a journal entry urging veterans and all

Americans to, quote, wake up regarding our government, which he said was, quote, weak and only serves to enrich themselves. He later allegedly added, quote, this was not a terrorist attack. It was a wake-up call. Now, the Daily Wire also got some additional details about what happened before the incident. Tell us about that. Right. So as the FBI works on the timeline leading up to the incident, the Daily Wire spoke exclusively with the owner of the Tesla cyber truck that he used. He told us, Livelsberger initially claimed to be visiting the Grand Canyon, but set the car to navigate to Trump Hotel from the very beginning.

He also says the suspect asked him how to operate the power outlets in the trunk. That's where the bomb was set, and whether they could be turned on from outside the vehicle. And importantly, he says cameras in the truck showed the suspect making a stop at a sport. good store before the incident, coming back to the car with loads of bags, potentially picking up materials used for bomb making. No doubt investigators will be looking into all those details as they get to the bottom of this very strange, tragic event. Yeah, still more questions to be answered there for sure. Kappa, thanks for reporting. Anytime. Thanks for waking up with us. We'll be back later this afternoon with more news you need to know.