New York Times: “The pardon of the executive, Paul Walczak came less than two weeks after he was sentenced to 18 months in prison and ordered to pay nearly $4.4 million in restitution, for tax crimes that prosecutors said were used to finance a lavish lifestyle, including the purchase of a yacht.”

“Mr. Walczak’s mother, Elizabeth Fago, who was also involved in the health care industry in Florida, is a longtime Republican donor and fund-raiser who played a role in a surreptitious effort to help Mr. Trump by undermining Joseph R. Biden Jr. in the 2020 presidential election.”

“Mr. Santos, words have consequences. You got elected with your words, most of which were lies.”

— Federal judge Joanna Seybert, quoted by the Daily Beast, while sentencing former Rep. George Santos (R-NY).

“George Santos, the former Republican congressman from New York whose outlandish fabrications and criminal schemes fueled an unforeseen rise and spectacular fall, was sentenced to 87 months in federal prison on Friday,” the New York Times reports.

“His sentence will bring an end, or at least a pause, to a turbulent period in which Mr. Santos was catapulted from anonymity to political and pop cultural infamy, a national spotlight that, even when negative, he often relished more than rejected.”

Associated Press: “The New York Republican, who served in Congress for barely a year before his House colleagues ousted him in 2023, pleaded guilty last summer to federal wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.”

“President Donald Trump has pardoned former Las Vegas City Councilwoman Michele Fiore, a Republican who was convicted of wire fraud charges last year for using money intended for a fallen police officer’s memorial for her personal use,” the Nevada Independent reports.

“Fiore was set to be sentenced next month on her conviction of six counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Each count would have carried a maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment.”

CNN: “The Secret Service, which provides security for Noem, reviewed security camera footage at the restaurant and saw an unknown white male wearing a medical mask steal her bag and leave the restaurant.”

“The thief got away with Noem’s driver’s license, medication, apartment keys, passport, DHS access badge, makeup bag, blank checks, and about $3,000 in cash.”

New York Times: “Mr. Patel seems to relish his new status as director, cutting a highly visible path while running the most important law enforcement agency in the nation. His embrace of the spotlight appears to be a break from the recent past. Previous directors did the job with little fanfare, deflecting any attention that might detract from the work of the bureau.”

“A member of Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s administration has been repeatedly caught on camera allegedly vandalizing parked Tesla vehicles with his keys while out walking his dog,” the Daily Mail reports.

“Dylan Bryan Adams, 33, a fiscal policy analyst for the State of Minnesota, was captured on vehicle surveillance footage allegedly dragging a key across the exteriors of several Teslas, stripping paint and causing thousands of dollars in damage.”

A former spokesman for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has been arrested and charged with “exposure of sexual organs,” a third-degree felony under Florida law, the Tampa Bay Times reports.

The suspected arsonist who allegedly tried to kill Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro decided to firebomb his official residence because of “what he wants to do to the Palestinian people,” ABC News reports.

Jonathan Last: “Do you believe that anyone from America who goes into CECOT will ever come out?”

“I do not. This is not incarceration; it is liquidation.”

“Incarceration is a penal act. It is controlled by laws. There are well-understood mechanisms governing the length of terms, applications for parole, processes for release.”

“Liquidation is a political act. It is arbitrary, opaque, and unappealable. There are no controlling laws or processes. There is only power.”

“This is why Donald Trump cannot allow Kilmar Abrego Garcia to return to the United States. And it is why the democratic opposition must go to the mattresses to bring him home.”

”What distinguishes a concentration camp from a prison (in the modern sense) is that it functions outside of a judicial system. The prisoners are not indicted or convicted of any crime by judicial process.”

— From the Holocaust Encyclopedia.

“A man who authorities said scaled an iron security fence in the middle of the night, eluded police and broke into the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion where he set a fire had planned to beat Gov. Josh Shapiro with a hammer if he found him,” the AP reports.

“One person is in custody in relation to the fire set to to Gov. Josh Shapiro’s official residence in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, early Sunday,“ NBC News reports.

“Cody Balmer is in custody and will be charged with attempted murder, terrorism, aggravated arson and aggravated assault against an enumerated person.”

“The FBI has suspended an analyst on Kash Patel’s so-called enemies list after Mr. Patel told lawmakers that the bureau under his leadership would stay out of the political fray and not punish employees for partisan reasons,” the New York Times reports.

“Last week, the bureau placed the analyst, Brian Auten, on administrative leave… The reasons for the suspension remain unclear.”

“A violent felon whose sentence was commuted by President Trump was arrested Friday and charged with violating the terms of his supervised release after he was accused of a string of crimes that included assaulting a 3-year-old child,” the New York Times reports.