BOISE, Idaho — All four of Idaho’s Congressional Delegation took to social media to praise President Trump for issuing a presidential order on Day 1 which effectively killed Biden’s controversial Lava Ridge Wind Project.
Trump’s order states, “In light of criticism that the Record of Decision (ROD) issued by the Bureau of Land Management on December 5, 2024, with respect to the Lava Ridge Wind Project Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), as approved by the Department of the Interior, is allegedly contrary to the public interest and suffers from legal deficiencies, the Secretary of the Interior shall, as appropriate, place a temporary moratorium on all activities and rights of Magic Valley Energy, LLC, or any other party under the ROD, including, but not limited to, any rights-of-way or rights of development or operation of any projects contemplated in the ROD.”
Idaho Governor Brad Little followed Trump by issuing Executive Order 2025-01 on January 22 titled “Gone with the Lava Ridge Wind Project Act.”
According to a press release from the governor’s office, Little’s executive order “directs all state agencies to fully cooperate with the review process initiated by President Trump’s executive order, providing necessary information and support to ensure a thorough assessment of the Lava Ridge Wind Project’s impacts. It also directs state agencies to participate in public forums to gather input from Idaho residents, ensuring that their concerns and perspectives are adequately represented in the review process.”
However, all five men, who are members of the Republican party, have continued to remain silent concerning J6 defendants, a trend that has persisted over the course of the past four years even though at least six Idahoans were charged in the wake of J6 events.
Not only have the Congressional Delegation and the Governor kept silent over Biden’s persecution of Americans who joined together on January 6, 2021, at the Capitol, but none of them have chosen to use social media to express support for the pardons Trump issued on Day 1.
Reports of serious allegations of civil rights abuses are surfacing following the release of the J6 prisoners. While the accusations coming from J6 prisoners have yet to be substantiated, a press release issued by the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) on November 2, 2021, indicates conditions with the District of Columbia Department of Corrections led to the transfer of 400 prisoners.
“Based on the results of the unannounced inspection, U.S. Marshals Service leadership made the decision to remove from Central Detention Facility all detainees under the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service,” stated the November press release. “Working with the Bureau of Prisons, the U.S. Marshals Service will transfer those detainees to USP Lewisburg in Pennsylvania…The U.S. Marshals Service is committed to ensuring that detainees have adequate access to defense counsel, family support, medical care, and discovery related to their cases while in U.S. Marshals Service custody.”
The Washington Informer published an article on November 17, 2021, citing a letter from the USMS to the D.C. Department of Corrections [DOC] Director Quincy Booth, the inspection noted, “smells of marijuana and body odor throughout the correctional detention facility along with cold food, sewage, decisions by prison officials to shut off water to inmates as punishment and other incidents of mistreatment by staff members.”
Kootenai Journal will continue to monitor the public statements coming from Idaho’s Congressional Delegation and Governor and will provide updates should any of them decide to weigh in on Trump’s pardon of J6 defendants which fulfilled one of his top campaign promises. Trump has long insisted that the Department of Justice prosecuted Americans for J6 events based on political retribution not the rule of law and has frequently called it “the Department of Injustice.”
In his 30-minute inaugural speech on January 20, 2025, Trump stated, “Under my leadership, we will restore fair, equal and impartial justice under the Constitution and the rule of law.”
