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Trump-pardoned Jan. 6 rioter arrested for allegedly threatening to kill Jeffries

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A man pardoned by President Donald Trump for storming the Capitol on Jan. 6 was arrested last week for allegedly threatening to kill House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

Christopher Moynihan, who was among a small group of Jan. 6 rioters convicted for breaching the Senate floor and rifling through senators’ desks, was arrested by New York State Police after a “thorough investigation,” which authorities say began with an anonymous tip to the FBI.

Court records reflect that the FBI’s tipster told the bureau that on Oct. 17, Moynihan “made statements regarding the assassination of Congressman Hakeem Jeffries” and that he planned to carry out the attack “in a few days,” while the Democratic House leader was in New York. The person told the FBI that Moynihan described the motivation for the plot as “the future” and voiced concern that the man given clemency by Trump had been abusing drugs and expressing increasing “homicidal ideations.”

Investigators also indicated they had reason to believe Moynihan owned or had access to a firearm. Moynihan’s Oct. 19 arrest was first reported by CBS News. He faces a charge of making a terroristic threat against a member of Congress. Jeffries praised state and federal authorities for apprehending Moynihan and lamented Trump’s blanket pardon.

“Unfortunately, our brave men and women in law enforcement are being forced to spend their time keeping our communities safe from these violent individuals who should never have been pardoned,” Jeffries said in a statement.

Moynihan was part of a group of Trump supporters who entered the Capitol early Jan. 6, reaching the Senate chamber just minutes after lawmakers evacuated. Charging documents from that case say Moynihan could be seen on video reviewing papers on senators’ desks and saying, “There’s got to be something we can use against these fucking scumbags.” He then stood on the Senate dais — where then-Vice President Mike Pence had stood just minutes earlier — alongside “QAnon Shaman” Jacob Chansley and others who formed the early vanguard of the Jan. 6 mob.

Moynihan was convicted in 2022 at a bench trial by U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper, who later sentenced him to 21 months in prison for obstructing Congress’ proceedings on Jan. 6, 2021.

Cooper released him from prison a year into his sentence after the Supreme Court agreed to review questions about the way obstruction charges had been applied to those who attacked the Capitol. In reaching the decision,Cooper emphasized that he believed Moynihan “would not present a danger to the community” upon release.

After Trump’s inauguration, Moynihan’s case was dismissed altogether, following Trump’s grant of clemency to those who participated in the Jan. 6 riot.

Moynihan is one of a growing list of Jan. 6 defendants who have been charged with, convicted of, or sentenced for other crimes since Trump ended the nationwide manhunt. One of them, Edward Kelley, was sentenced to life in prison earlier this year for attempting to carry out an assassination plot against law enforcement officials who investigated him over his role in the riot.

Others have faced burglary, possession of child pornography or firearms-related charges. But Moynihan is the first Jan. 6 defendant accused of explicitly targeting a member of Congress for violence after Trump’s pardon.

Moynihan‘s arrest is also notable because it arrives in the midst of a national debate over political violence, particularly in the wake of the assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk. Trump and his allies have repeatedly ascribed political violence exclusively to left-wing extremists, and the president has worked in recent weeks to push conspiracy theories that the Jan. 6 attack was instigated by the FBI or other government actors, rather than supporters who believed that the 2020 election was stolen.

Asked about the threat against Jeffries, Speaker Mike Johnson called it “terrible” but reiterated that “The violence on the left is far more than the violence on the right.”

Meredith Lee Hill contributed reporting.

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Congress

Johnson touts ‘bipartisan’ path for FISA reauthorization, but obstacles remain

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Speaker Mike Johnson is raising the possibility of a “bipartisan” path forward on extending a key spy authority after negotiations among House Republicans blew up late last week.

“We’re confident that we’ll be able to find strong bipartisan consensus that builds off of the really meaningful reforms that we included in the legislation the last time we reauthorized it,” Johnson said during a news conference Tuesday morning.

The emergency short-term reauthorization Congress cleared last week expires April 30, putting pressure on lawmakers to reach a deal quickly.

Among the options GOP leaders are discussing: If the Senate can advance a three-year extension of Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, with policy changes, the House could then pass it with a majority of Republicans and some Democrats, according to three people granted anonymity to share direct knowledge of ongoing conversations.

It’s also possible Johnson could put that measure on the House floor under an expedited procedure that does not require prior adoption of a party-line rule, but would need a two-thirds majority voting in the affirmative to secure passage. House GOP leaders still need to appease hard-liners who have very specific demands for new guardrails on warrentless surveillance practices as part of any reauthorization measure.

House Democratic leaders, meanwhile, aren’t promising cooperation — and they’re skeptical Johnson is as close to a deal as he might suggest.

“His confidence meter was always pretty high, and then he put a bill on the floor that had zero consensus among his caucus, and looked like the disaster that it was after midnight,” House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar of California told reporters Tuesday.

He added that he has not had “any discussions” yet with Republican counterparts on next steps for Section 702, and “absent those conversations, it’s going to be hard to find bipartisan consensus.” Aguilar also said that Democrats would follow the leads of House Intelligence Chair Jim Himes of Connecticut and Jamie Raskin of Maryland.

Johnson is planning to meet Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania and Darin LaHood of Illinois later Tuesday as the pair of Republicans works with Democrats on a bipartisan FISA extension plan, according to two people granted anonymity to share private scheduling.

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Graham releases blueprint for GOP immigration enforcement funding plan

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Senate Budget Chair Lindsey Graham unveiled a fiscal blueprint Tuesday paving the way for the GOP’s party-line immigration enforcement plan.

The budget resolution is the first step in Republicans’ two-step plan to deliver a bill funding Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Border Patrol and other agencies to President Donald Trump’s desk by his self-imposed June 1 deadline.

Senate Republicans are aiming to adopt the budget resolution this week. Senate Majority Leader John Thune can lose as many as three GOP members so long as Vice President JD Vance is available to break ties.

“Republicans are doing something that must be done quickly, and that our Democrat colleagues are trying to prevent us from doing. That something is simple: fully fund Border Patrol and ICE at a time of great threat to the United States,” Graham (R-S.C.) said in a statement.

The budget resolution tasks the Senate Judiciary Committee and Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee with drafting the subsequent immigration enforcement bill.

The resolution gives the committees until May 15 to hand over text. It sets a ceiling of $70 billion for the Judiciary Committee’s portion and $70 billion for the Homeland Security panel’s portion. While the language would allow for a larger bill, a Graham aide said Tuesday that Republicans are aiming to keep the measure to about $70 billion.

Senate Republicans are expected to take an initial vote on the budget resolution as soon as Tuesday afternoon. After that they’ll need to complete a marathon session known as a vote-a-rama before they can approve the fiscal blueprint and send it to the House.

Democrats are expected to force several amendments related to cost-of-living concerns. Senate conservatives could also try to expand the scope of the bill, though GOP leaders hope to avoid making any changes to Graham’s text.

House Republicans could take their own vote next week. They are also waiting to grant approval of a Senate-passed deal to fund the rest of the Department of Homeland Security. Speaker Mike Johnson has delayed action on the measure amid hard-right demands that the Senate move on the immigration enforcement funding bill first.

Some House conservatives want the Senate to complete the entire reconciliation process, which allows ICE funding to bypass a Democratic filibuster, before they take up the larger DHS deal. That could drag the agency’s shutdown deep into May.

Senate Republicans are aiming to put the final immigration enforcement bill on the floor the week of May 11.

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‘Many families are struggling’

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Rep. Lisa McClain of Michigan offered a rare acknowledgment from a GOP leader Tuesday that the U.S. economy might not be in tip-top condition. McClain, the Republican Conference chair, said at a news conference that “even with bigger [tax] refunds, many families are struggling right now, and I get it.”

That’s a departure from the message President Donald Trump sent at a event in Las Vegas last week, where he said “everything’s doing really well” and played down the impact of higher energy prices since he ordered military strikes on Iran.

“But we also owe it to the American people to be honest about how we got here, to make sure we don’t ever go back again,” McClain, the No. 4 party leader added, saying Americans are “digging out of a hole” from former President Joe Biden’s administration.

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