This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
A $30 million lawsuit against the federal government over the death of Ashli Babbitt, who was summarily shot and killed by a police officer during the protest at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2001, apparently is in settlement talks.
That's because the defendants and plaintiffs, the estate of Babbitt and her husband, Aaron Babbitt, jointly have asked a court to delay a hearing on a motion to dismiss part of the case, as well as a motion for discovery.
Columnist Paul Bedard at the Washington Examiner posted online a copy of the details in a joint status report by the parties to the U.S. District Court in Washington.
The report described it as "the latest indication that the Trump Department of Justice wants a truce in former President Joe Biden's war on those involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot."
That is that federal lawyers "for the first time have signaled support for settlement talks" in the wrongful death case.
Babbitt was shot and killed by officer Michael Byrd, who had a reputation for misbehavior including once leaving his loaded service firearm unattended in a public restroom.
Byrd shot Babbitt as she was entering the House Speaker's lobby off the House floor amid the protest, and some rioting that day, by those who held doubts about the legitimacy of the 2000 presidential election.
In fact, the course of that election was altered by several undue influences, including Mark Zuckerberg's decision to hand out $400 million plus to leftist local elections officials who often used it to recruit Democrat voters, and the FBI's decision to interfere in the vote by falsely claiming that details of Biden family scandals contained in Hunter Biden's abandoned laptop were Russian disinformation.
"The parties have agreed to work in good faith to narrow or resolve issues in this case," the new filing states. It was submitted jointly by federal lawyers as well as lawyers for Judicial Watch, which brought the case on behalf of Babbitt.
The reversal by the DOJ in the case follows President Donald Trump's actions to pardon hundreds of individuals who were pursued, arrested, charged and convicted by the federal government sometimes for no more than walking through an open doorway into the Capitol that day.
Judicial Watch spokesman Tom Fitton told the Examiner, "All we want is justice and we hope the Justice Department under President Trump would share that goal ultimately."
Police actually tried after the shooting to conceal Byrd, who later was promoted by Capitol Police.
The damage lawsuit charges, "Ashli remained conscious for minutes or longer after being shot by Lt. Byrd. Ashli experienced extreme pain, suffering, mental anguish, and intense fear before slipping into pre-terminal unconsciousness. The autopsy report identified the cause of death as a 'gunshot wound to left anterior shoulder' with an onset interval of 'minutes.' The fact that Ashli was alive and conscious in extreme pain and suffering is documented in videos of the shooting. Furthermore, nothing about the wound track described in the autopsy report would be expected to result in immediate death or instantaneous loss of consciousness, and Ashli's lungs contained blood, further confirming that she was alive and breathing after being shot. Ashli was pronounced dead at Washington Hospital Center at 3:15 p.m. The medical examiner determined that the manner of death was homicide."
Earlier, the court scheduled a trial for the case on July 20, 2026.
Further, court documents show, "Byrd later confessed that he shot Ashli before seeing her hands or assessing her intentions or even identifying her as female. Ashli was unarmed. Her hands were up in the air, empty, and in plain view of Lt. Byrd and other officers in the lobby."
