An emergency motion preempted reports that the Department of Justice had come to a settlement agreement in the $30 million lawsuit with the family of Ashli Babbitt.
Upon President Donald Trump’s return to the White House, little time was wasted in securing the release and pardons for Jan. 6 defendants. Friday, mere weeks after the president was made aware of a wrongful death suit brought by the U.S. Air Force veteran’s family, the Justice Department reportedly reached an agreement in principle.
According to ABC News, the Babbitt family’s attorney, Robert Sticht, filed an emergency motion in an effort to secure payment for his work on their behalf, prompting U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes to hold a hearing Friday.
“Ashli loved her country and wanted to show her support for President Trump’s America First policies and to see and hear the president speak live while he remained in office,” the suit brought by Judicial Watch in January 2024 read in part. “Ashli did not go to Washington as part of a group or for any unlawful or nefarious purpose. She was there to exercise what she believed were her God-given, American liberties and freedoms.”
Babbitt was fatally shot by U.S. Capitol Police Lt. Michael Byrd, whom the suit accused of excessive force and lies, as radio calls cited in the court filing quote him claiming shots had been fired “and we’re prepared to fire back at them,” when his fatal shot at Babbitt was the only gunshot.
That same cop reportedly lied in 2001 about abandoning his post to play cards.
Cop who gunned down Ashli Babbitt was not supposed to be employed at the time of J6, report says https://t.co/WtTNvUTZnD
— BPR (@BIZPACReview) December 13, 2024
Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton stated Friday, “I can confirm for @JudicialWatch that a settlement has been agreed to in principle in the $30 million … wrongful death lawsuit we filed against the US Government filed on behalf of Ashli’s family. The settlement should be finalized within a few weeks, and we will have more details for you soon. God bless America!”
The news came mere weeks after Trump told Newsmax’s Greg Kelly during an interview, “I’m a big fan of Ashli Babbitt, okay, and Ashli Babbitt was a really good person who was a big MAGA fan, Trump fan, and she was innocently standing there — they even say trying to sort of hold back the crowd. And a man did something to her that was unthinkable when he shot her, and I think it’s a disgrace.”
“I’m going to look into that,” he added of the suit brought by the family during his predecessor’s administration. “I did not know that.”
Additionally, Trump previously blamed California Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D), then-speaker of the House, for Babbitt’s death while speaking with reporters at a Feb. 2024 press conference where he said, “I think it was an insurrection caused by Nancy Pelosi.”
“This was an insurrection, if it was an insurrection, which, there were no guns, there were no anything,” he added, “except for the fact that they shot Ashli Babbitt.”
Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn't researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.
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