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PULSE POINTS:
❓What Happened: President Donald J. Trump’s new pardon attorney, Ed Martin, announced plans to scrutinize pardons issued by former President Joe Biden in his final hours in office.
👥 Who’s Involved: Ed Martin, President Trump, Joe Biden, Liz Cheney, Hunter Biden, Denise Cheung.
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📍 Where & When: Washington, D.C., May 13.
💬 Key Quote: “I do think that the Biden pardons need some scrutiny. And they need scrutiny because we want pardons to matter and to be accepted and to be something that’s used correctly.” — Ed Martin.
⚠️ Impact: Questions raised about the validity and reasoning behind Biden’s pardons, as well as broader investigations into potential misconduct during his tenure.
IN FULL:
President Donald J. Trump’s newly appointed pardon attorney, Ed Martin, announced on May 13 that he will be reviewing pardons issued by former President Joe Biden in his final hours in office. Speaking at a Washington, D.C. press briefing, Martin emphasized the need for scrutiny, stating, “We want pardons to matter and to be accepted and to be something that’s used correctly.”
Martin’s focus includes pardons granted to several individuals, such as former Rep. Liz Cheney and Biden’s son, Hunter Biden. These pardons were reportedly issued for offenses that had not been formally charged. At the time, Biden defended his decisions, claiming the recipients were victims of “unjustified and politically motivated prosecutions.”
President Trump previously declared Biden’s pardons “void,” alleging they were authorized using an autopen, a device for replicating signatures, possibly without his authorization. Martin expressed uncertainty over whether the use of an autopen would invalidate the pardons, though he questioned their overall reasonableness.
At least one U.S. judge has also stated that at least parts of the pardon for Hunter Biden may be unconstitutional, claiming that “nowhere does the Constitution give the President the authority to rewrite history,” in reference to certain statements it included.
Martin, who is stepping down as interim U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia after Republican-in-name-only senators refused to back him, was also recently named director of the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) weaponization working group. This group is tasked with examining alleged misconduct under the Biden government, including the mishandling of January 6 prosecutions.
PULSE POINTS:
❓What Happened: South African President Cyril Ramaphosa criticized white Afrikaner refugees for leaving the country, labeling their departure as “cowardly.”
👥 Who’s Involved: President Cyril Ramaphosa, Afrikaner refugees, U.S. President Donald J. Trump, Afriforum CEO Kallie Kriel.
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📍 Where & When: South Africa; comments made at an agricultural convention following the arrival of 49 Afrikaner refugees in Washington, D.C., on May 13.
💬 Key Quote: “When you run away, you’re a coward, and that’s a real cowardly act, and I expect every South African to stay here, and we work together, and we solve our problems.” — President Cyril Ramaphosa.
⚠️ Impact: The remarks highlight tensions over South Africa’s racist land redistribution policies and the U.S. granting refugee status to Afrikaners.
IN FULL:
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has denounced white Afrikaner refugees who recently emigrated to the United States, describing their departure as an act of cowardice. His comments came after the first group of 49 Afrikaners, granted refugee status by the U.S., landed in Washington, D.C. Reports suggest up to 70,000 additional Afrikaners have applied for refugee status under the policy.
Speaking at a surprise appearance at an agricultural convention on Tuesday, Ramaphosa addressed the issue, stating that those leaving South Africa were unwilling to accept the government’s “transformation” policies. New “expropriation without compensation” laws aim to forcibly redistribute land and wealth along racial lines.
“They may be feeling excited they’ve left the country, they’ve got somebody like President Trump, but in the end, it’s a group of South Africans demonstrating that the changes and transformation that we are embarking upon here, they are not favourably disposed to it, and that’s why they are running away.”
He continued, “When you run away, you’re a coward, and that’s a real cowardly act. I expect every South African to stay here, and we work together, and we solve our problems.”
Afriforum, a group representing Afrikaners, pushed back against Ramaphosa’s statements. CEO Kallie Kriel issued a strong response on social media, accusing the South African government of fostering an unsafe environment for Afrikaners. The group often highlights threats and violence, including deadly violence, targeting white farmers in the country, even before the government’s moves to seize their land.
President Donald J. Trump has accused the South African government of presiding over a “genocide” against Afrikaners. Tensions between the governments of the two countries have been high in recent months over the mistreatment of white Afrikaner people, who have been in southern Africa since the 1600s—which is as long as some of its black African ethnic groups, with roots in tribes that migrated to the territory from further north, at least in some areas.
South Africa is a country where the radical Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) political party, led by extremist Julius Malema regularly sing a song calling for the killing of Afrikaner farmers. Malema himself has not ruled out murdering white South Africans if his extremist party—already the fourth-largest in the South African legislature, out of 18 with representation there—ever comes to power.
“We’ve not called for the killing of white people, at least for now. I can’t guarantee the future,” he said in an interview in 2018.
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