A new report claims that President Donald Trump’s administration has agreed to pay almost $5 million to the family of Ashli Babbitt, who was killed by a U.S. Capitol police officer during the Capitol Hill protest on January 6, 2021.
Two people familiar with the settlement told The Washington Post the Trump administration is expected to pay nearly $5 million to Ashli Babbitt’s estate following a $30 million wrongful-death lawsuit the Babbitt family brought against the federal government under former President Joe Biden’s administration last year.
According to The Washington Post, lawyers for the government and the Babbitt family informed a judge earlier this month that they had agreed to a settlement in principle regarding the wrongful-death lawsuit. The outlet noted that the Justice Department’s agreement to a settlement represented a reversal under the Trump administration, as the Justice Department had previously opposed the case.
While a deal was not filed between the two parties at the hearing on May 2, The Washington Post reported that U.S. District Court Judge Ana Reyes ordered the federal government and the Babbitt family to provide an update to the court on May 22 regarding the settlement agreement.
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The Associated Press reported that Babbitt was fatally shot by a U.S. Capitol Police officer as she attempted to climb into the Speaker’s Lobby of the U.S. Capitol Building through a broken window of a barricaded door.
According to The Associated Press, the Capitol Police officer who fatally shot Babbitt was previously cleared of any wrongdoing in the January 6 incident by both the Capitol Police and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. The attorney’s office determined that the officer had acted in self-defense and in order to protect members of Congress.
Babbitt’s family is currently being represented by Judicial Watch, according to The Daily Wire.
In a Monday post on X, formerly Twitter, Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said, “@JudicialWatch can’t yet comment on the Ashli Babbitt settlement amount that is being reported because the settlement still hasn’t been finalized. But I can say, contrary to initial WPOST report, @JudicialWatch is not getting a third (or any portion) of any settlement. We are representing Ashil’s family pro bono!”
