Lawyer says Trump’s failure to pardon accused Capitol rioters is a ‘betrayal’ Germany passes 50,000 coronavirus deaths since pandemic began

ST. LOUIS – A lawyer for one of the men charged with participating in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol said that former President Donald Trump’s refusal to pardon Jacob Chansley and other Trump followers was a “betrayal.”

Clayton lawyer Albert Watkins said in a statement Wednesday that he’d approached Trump’s chief of staff, Mark Meadows directly about the pardon.

“Mr. Chansley, along with many others who were similarly situated, are now compelled to reconcile a betrayal by a man whose back they felt they had for years. In turn, they are compelled to be introspective and evaluate how they got where they are, the role of their former leader in that tragic course, and the vulnerabilities they share,” Watkins’ statement reads, in part.

— St. Louis Post-Dispatch

BERLIN — Germany has counted more than 50,000 deaths since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, figures released on Friday show.

German health authorities recorded 859 new deaths in 24 hours, bringing the total death toll up to 50,642, according to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) for disease prevention.

The RKI counts as coronavirus deaths those who died directly from COVID-19 and those recorded as infected with preexisting illnesses whose deaths cannot be conclusively attributed.

It is at the discretion of the health department whether to note a death as “from” COVID-19 or “with” COVID-19.

The country recorded its highest number of daily deaths — 1,244 — on Jan. 14. The record high in daily infections is 33,777 on Dec. 18.

The Friday figures showed 17,862 new cases of infection in the last recorded 24hour period.

The number of new infections per 100,000 people in a week (known as the sevenday incidence) fell to 115.3 on Friday morning.

The incidence has fallen consistently over the past 10 days. It had reached its highest level so far of 197.6 on December 22.

However, there are substantial regional differences.

The highest incidence is in Thuringia at 218.4, while the lowest is in Bremen at 80.9.

The country is under lockdown with sweeping restrictions in place until Feb. 14. Authorities are seeking to bring the seven-day incidence rate back down to below 50, which will allow overwhelmed health authorities to resume tracing infections.

More than 2 million cases of infection have been recorded in Germany since the pandemic began.