It's Monday, January 13th. I'm Jane Koston, and this is Wadaday, the show that has become a massive fan of helicopter water drops.

Did you know that helicopter water drops are low-key, the coolest possible thing?

Especially when big swaths of your city are on fire?

And then someone in a helicopter manages to drop water on a fire at just the right time and in just the right place, that's cinema.

On today's show, Jack Smith steps down a special counsel, and Vice President-elect J.D. Vance says that maybe not all January 6th rioters deserve a pardon.

Hmm.

Let's start with the latest news from President-elect Donald Trump's conviction.

After months of delays and proceedings, New York State Supreme Court Justice Juan Mershoun finally sentenced Trump in his criminal hush money case on Friday.

Mershahn ruled that Trump's conviction on 34 counts of falsifying documents must be upheld.

But he didn't order the president-elect to serve any jail time on account of him being, well,

the president-elect. Here he is explaining his decision in court on Friday.

This court has determined that the only lawful sentence that permits entry of a judgment of conviction without encroaching

upon the highest office in the land is an unconditional discharge.

Mershahn also underscored just how historic this case was.

This has been a truly extraordinary case.

There was unprecedented media attention, public interest, and heightened security involving

various agencies.

And yet, the trial was a bit of a paradox because once the courtroom doors were closed, the

trial itself was no more special, unique, or extraordinary than the other

32 criminal trials that took place in this courthouse at the same exact time.

Another high-profile case was right on Friday. The Supreme Court heard arguments over whether

or not the U.S. can ban TikTok. This is the social media company's last-ditch effort to keep its market of

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