On 4th anniversary of Capitol riot, Jan. 6 defendants hopeful for pardons from Trump

William Pope has a bold prediction regarding his upcoming trial on charges that he was part of the mob that breached the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

The Kansas man doesn’t believe his scheduled June 2025 trial will take place. Indeed, he expects to be exonerated of the felony and four misdemeanor counts he now stands accused of once President-elect Donald Trump takes office this month.

“I don’t think I’m going to have a trial,” said Pope, 38, who is representing himself in his criminal case and has become a folk hero of sorts among Jan. 6 defendants over his outspokenness and sometimes unorthodox court filings.

“You can never eliminate the possibility completely,” he told The Star. “But in this environment, I don’t think it’s going to happen, and I don’t think my judge thinks it’s going to happen. I think relief is coming for defendants, and I think my case is going to end in the near future.”

—The Kansas City Star

A part-time actor claimed he created a COVID-19 cure. Now he'll spend more than 8 years in prison

LOS ANGELES — A part-time actor was sentenced to more than eight years in federal prison Monday for soliciting investors in companies that prosecutors said marketed a bogus cure and treatment for COVID-19.

Keith Lawrence Middlebrook, 57, was convicted in May of 11 counts of wire fraud. Ahead of sentencing Monday morning, Middlebrook told the L.A. Times that he was "innocent completely" and that "this is going to be appealed."

Middlebrook made similar comments to the judge during the hearing in federal court in Los Angeles, stating that he had consulted with seven attorneys and eight doctors "from the very beginning, for a product of this magnitude."

"It is clear that Mr. Middlebrook still denies that he has committed any crime, which causes significant concern that he will continue to commit similar crimes in the future," U.S. District Judge Dale S. Fischer said before handing down her sentence.

—Los Angeles Times

What a new study does — and doesn't — say about fluoride and its link to IQ

A new report linking fluoridated drinking water to lower IQ scores in children is sure to ratchet up the debate over a practice that's considered one of the greatest public health achievements of the 20th century.

The report published Monday in JAMA Pediatrics synthesizes the results of dozens of research studies that have been released since 1989. Its overall conclusion is that the more fluoride a child is exposed to, the lower he or she tends to score on intelligence tests.

The analysis was conducted for the U.S. National Toxicology Program, and it has attracted a good deal of criticism over the many years of its development. Among the biggest critiques is that it's based on data from places where fluoride levels are far higher than the concentration recommended by the U.S. Public Health Service.

Adding fluoride to community drinking water is credited with reducing the average number of teeth with cavities by 44% in adults and 58% in adolescents since the 1960s, the health service says.

—Los Angeles Times

Sarkozy tried for criminal conspiracy tied to Qaddafi cash

Ex-French President Nicolas Sarkozy is at the center of a trial over allegations his 2007 winning campaign was covertly funded by about €5 million ($5.2 million) in cash and offshore transfers paid by aides to Libya’s late leader, Moammar Qaddafi.

Sarkozy is accused at a Paris trial starting Monday of taking part in a criminal conspiracy to use money embezzled from Libya. Investigators also suspect him of corruption and accuse him of favoring the interests of Qaddafi’s regime in exchange for money, before and after he became France’s head of state. He denies any wrongdoing.

After scaling the heights of French politics to win the presidency in 2007, Sarkozy has battled a variety of accusations since his failed 2012 re-election bid. This latest trial is the third separate criminal case that has brought him to court and comes after the 69-year-old lost in December a final appeal to overturn a historic corruption conviction.

In the Libya case, the prosecution points to Sarkozy’s role in improving the international standing of Qaddafi, who was invited to France for an official state visit just months after the Frenchman’s presidential win.

—Bloomberg News