Welcome to Friday, January 15th, coaches and first-classes...

The president has the ability to pardon the pro-Trump Capitol rioters for any federal crimes they may have committed.

The participants in the riots - which left at least five dead - were some of President Trump's most ardent, vocal supporters. Indeed, during the raid on the Capitol, the president issued these words to the mob:

“We love you. You’re very special. Go home.”

In the past, Trump has issued several pardons to supporters and controversial criminals, including Michael Flynn, Roger Stone, Paul Manafort, and Charles Kushner.

Theoretically, the president could issue a blanket pardon that would cover everyone involved in the raid on the Capitol—"even if he didn’t know their names and they haven’t all been formally charged," according to the Washington Post.

Example: President Jimmy Carter issued a blanket pardon to all draft-dodgers of the Vietnam War, regardless of whether they'd been arrested.

Should the president pardon the Capitol mob?

How Much Does it Cost to Win a Senate Seat?

According to Federal Elections Commission data, from 1996 to 2018 successful Senate campaigns raised a median of $7.6 million, while the number was significantly higher for presidential campaigns at $505 million.

Fundraising during the 2020 election cycle, particularly for high profile Senate seats, far surpassed those figures. This chart from USAFacts shows the highest-raising Senate campaigns from 1996 through 2020, with the six highest-raising campaigns all occurring in 2020:

Check out more charts here, then join the conversation:

Do you think Senate elections are getting too costly?

And, in the End…

Ruin a good cup of iced tea in honor of National Kombucha Day.

And but so, I actually adore kombucha, but I can't afford to have GTs raising the already-exorbitant price (and my SCOBY succumbed to mold) so I'm trying to turn people off of the ambrosia,

—Josh Herman

Talk to us via email at editorial [at] causes.com. And don’t forget to keep in touch @Causes.