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Outgoing President Donald Trump waves farewell as he boards Marine One at the White House in Washington, D.C., on January 20, 2021.

Donald Trump never donated to his own reelection campaign, but he did find plenty of other billionaires willing to write him checks. In total, Forbes identified 133 superrich donors who pitched in for Trumps 2020 campaign.

Trumps tycoons, who collectively make up about 14% of all American billionaires, tend to fall into a few specific categories. Several were longtime Republican mega-donors, like gambling mogul Sheldon Adelson, who died in January, and his wife, Miriam. Others knew Trump from their days in business, including Texas banker Andy Beal and casino king Phil Ruffin. About one quarter of them made their money in finance and investments, more than any other industry. About 10% got rich in real estate, while roughly the same number earned a fortune from the energy sector. Most of them came from three states: New York (19%), Texas (19%) and Florida (13%).

Sources: Federal Election Commission filings; Forbes Real-Time Billionaires list.

Some clearly benefited from having a friend in the White House. Miriam Adelson received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Kelcy Warren, chief executive of Energy Transfer Partners, got clearance for his Dakota Access Pipeline, as well as a seat on the board of trustees at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Harold Hamm, the oil baron, became an informal advisor. Linda McMahon, who is married to WWE Chief Executive Vince McMahon, accepted a role as head of the Small Business Administration, before moving on to chair a pro-Trump super-PAC named America First Action.

On average, the donors contributed about $285,000 to the Trump campaign and its joint-fundraising committees, which split their hauls with the Republican Party. About 9% of Trumps billionaire donors, however, gave less than $5,000. At least 19 also donated to pro-Trump super-PACs. Unlike other types of political committees, super-PACs can accept unlimited amounts of money. The Adelsons, for instance, gave $90 million to a pro-Trump super-PAC called Preserve America. Marvel Entertainment billionaire Isaac Perlmutter and his wife, Laura, gave $21 million to America First. Kelcy Warren donated $10 million to the same group.

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Here Are The Billionaires Who Donated To Donald Trump's 2020 Presidential Campaign - Forbes

WASHINGTON (AP) President Joe Bidens nominee for attorney general says the Justice Department must ensure laws are fairly and faithfully enforced and the rights of all Americans are protected, while reaffirming an adherence to policies to protect the departments political independence.

Judge Merrick Garland, who is set to appear Monday before the Senate Judiciary Committee, plans to tell senators that the attorney general must act as a lawyer for the people of the United States, not for the president. The Justice Department released a copy of Garlands opening statement late Saturday.

If confirmed, Garland would inherit a Justice Department that endured a tumultuous time under President Donald Trump rife with political drama and controversial decisions and abundant criticism from Democrats over what they saw as the politicizing of the nations top law enforcement agencies.

It is a fitting time to reaffirm that the role of the attorney general is to serve the Rule of Law and to ensure equal justice under the law, Garland says in his prepared statement.

The previous attorney general, William Barr, had also sought to paint himself as an independent leader who would not bow to political pressure. But Democrats repeatedly accused Barr of acting more like Trumps personal attorney than the attorney general. They pointed to a number of controversial decisions, including overruling career prosecutors to recommend a lower sentence for Trump ally Roger Stone and moving to dismiss the criminal case against former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn after he had twice pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI.

Barr resigned in late December, weeks after he told The Associated Press that the Justice Department had found no evidence of widespread voter fraud that would change the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, countering Trumps baseless claims of election fraud.

In his prepared remarks Garland, a federal appeals court judge who was snubbed by Republicans in 2016 for a seat on the Supreme Court, lays out his plan to prioritize the departments civil rights work after the nationwide protests last year over the deaths of Black Americans by police. He highlights a key mission for the division: to protect the rights of all Americans and particularly the most vulnerable.

That mission remains urgent because we do not yet have equal justice. Communities of color and other minorities still face discrimination in housing, education, employment and the criminal justice system; and bear the brunt of the harm caused by pandemic, pollution and climate change, Garland says.

Garland also addresses domestic terrorism and rising extremist threats, pointing to his prior work in the Justice Department supervising the prosecution following the 1995 bombing in Oklahoma City.

And as federal prosecutors continue to bring cases following the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, Garland calls the insurrection a heinous attack that sought to distrust a cornerstone of our democracy: the peaceful transfer of power to a newly elected government.

So far, the Justice Department has charged more than 200 people with federal crimes in connection with the riot, including members of extremist groups accused of conspiracy and other offenses.

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Garland says laws must be 'fairly and faithfully enforced' - The Associated Press

New details emerged on Democrats' efforts to prevent Donald Trump from stealing the 2020 election in anew reportby Jane Mayer for The New Yorker.

Mayer reports that former Solicitor General Seth Waxman assembled the team after Trump's comments in March that the only way he could lose the election if there was fraud.

Waxman started brainstorming the "doomsday scenarios" that could occur, finally assembling a "three-and-a-half-page single-spaced list of potential catastrophes."

"Eleven months before the Senate impeachment trial exposed an unprecedented level of political savagery, Waxman quietly prepared for the worst. He reached out to two other former Solicitors General, Walter Dellinger and Donald Verrilli, who served as the Clinton and the Obama Administrations' advocates, respectively, before the Supreme Court. By April, they had formed a smallswatteam to coordinate with the Biden campaign. They called themselves the Three Amigos, but the campaign referred to them as SG3. Their goal: safeguarding the election," Mayer reported.

"Coordinating with the Biden campaign's lawyers, each of the Three Amigos headed up a separate task force. Verrilli rounded up volunteer legal teams to address the ways in which Trump might try to use his executive powers to disrupt voting. Dellinger focussed on what could go wrong after the electors cast their ballots, in December. Waxman handled everything else, including potentially rebellious state legislatures, which they considered the most likely threat. By May, he had twenty legal teams on it," The New Yorker reported.

The Biden campaign created hoodies reading "Team SG3" for the team.

Despite Biden been sworn-in as president, they are still worried about the future.

"The lesson we learned," Waxman said, "is that the state of our democracy is perilouseven more so than we thought. I am very, very worried."

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Biden had a secret elite legal team to stop Trump from stealing the election: report - Salon

Akron Beacon JournalFreedom of speech afterTrump

This is regarding the Jan. 20 commentary "To begin de-Trumpification, start with elite institutions," in which writer David Kaye argues high-profile peoplewho supported President Donald Trump should be shunned as they are obviously "liars," "sycophants" and "cynical enablers."

This shunning and de-Trumpification would mean that Trump supporters would be denied employment or teaching opportunities in universities until the de-Trumpification process was complete, lest students be exposed to ideologies that differ from the progressive viewpoint.

This term reinforces the thinking expressed by liberal members of Congress, most cable news networks, and notables like Nancy Pelosi, Hillary Clinton, Katie Couric, Michelle Obama and Chuck Schumer. These people suggest that Trump supporters are cultists, deplorables, borderline insane, and are brainwashed and must be re-educated, de-programmedand made to understand the correct way of thinking.

It is a slippery slope for our nation when only one thought process is tolerated by a ruling party and its followers and multiplied by a biased media while demonizing all those who don't agree with their narrative.

Re-education camps are found in places like China and North Korea, not in the United States. May our Constitution protect diversity of thought and the sanctity of free speech.

William Connor, Tallmadge

The Biden administration has beenpushing to raise the legal minimum wage to $15 per hour. This, of course, will not change the real (true) minimum wage, which is zero.

And this (zero) is how much people will be able to earn if the Biden government is successful, because no employer is going to pay $15 per hour to anyone whose labor services are not worth that much to him.

Dave Garthoff, Stow

With so many individuals encountering difficulty with scheduling COVID-19 vaccinations elsewhere, Veterans Affairs is to be commended for their handling of the entire process. I received an email inquiry mid-December asking if I wanted the vaccination. I responded and immediately received confirmation that I was registered and would be contacted to schedule the vaccinations. I received a phone call the week of Jan. 25and in minutes I was scheduled for the two vaccinations at the Waterloo Roadfacility. I received my first vaccination Feb.5 and was in and out in about 20 minutes, with 15 of those minutes spent waiting for any adverse reactions. Thank you, VA.

Brian Hoffman, Akron

I just wanted to thank the Beacon Journal from the bottom of my heart for thewonderful, wonderful "Hallowed Sound" special section on Feb. 7. It brought back so many cherished songs and performers that I havestored in my heart for all these years oh, the memories and the tunes that flooded my mind as I went through the entire section. I remembered each group, and the music and the words came flooding in, along with some "happy" tears. "These were the good old days" and the talented artists did shape our history.

Martha Hudson, North Canton

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Letters to the editor: Remember the Constitution and don't silence Donald Trump's advisers - Akron Beacon Journal

(WTRF) According to Newsweek, QAnon followers are posing a new threat and have marked March 4th as a very significant date in their calendar.

QAnon who gained attention during the Capitol Insurrection on January 6th believes this is the day Donald Trump will return to power as president.

Newsweek is also reporting that the FBI is listing this as a domestic terrorist threat.

Experts say QAnon followers latest theory will cause further humiliation for the radical group when their threat fails.

QAnon believes a secret law that was actually passed back in 1871 changed the United States into an actual corporation.

In essence, to these followers, all presidencies after Ulysses S. Grant have been illegitimate.

This would make former President Donald Trump the 19th president instead of the 45th.

The reason behind the March 4th date is that this is when presidential inauguration ceremonies used to take place before it was moved to January 20th in 1933.

Both Capitol Police and Metropolitan Police Departments are continuing to monitor potential threats and are aware of the significance of QAnons March 4th date.

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Report: QAnon believes Donald Trump will be reinstated as president - MyStateline.com