Donald Trump’s Department of Justice wants to throw out the cases against members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers who were convicted of treason-related charges and other crimes for their roles in the January 6 attack on the Capitol.
On his first day in office, the president issued “full pardons” for hundreds of people criminally charged in connection with the mob’s assault, and he commuted the sentences of several members of the two far-right groups to time served.
On Tuesday, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro filed motions in Washington, D.C. to vacate the remaining convictions, effectively finishing off what the president started with his “blanket pardons and commutations” last January, and escalating the Trump administration’s attempt to rewrite the history of the attacks and downplay mob violence that threatened to upend the results of an American election.
The Justice Department is asking to throw out convictions against former Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes, as well as militia members Kelly Meggs, Kenneth Harrelson and Jessica Watkins and Proud Boys members Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl and Dominic Pezzola.
More than 1,500 people were criminally charged in connection with the Capitol riots, fueled by Trump’s bogus narrative that the 2020 presidential election was rigged and stolen from him.
Hundreds of defendants pleaded guilty to charges in connection with the attack, and more than 200 others were found guilty at trial.
In court filings, Pirro and federal prosecutors asked the U.S. Court of Appeals in D.C. to erase the remaining convictions so the Justice Department can formally dismiss the indictments against them.
“In the Executive Branch’s view, it is not in the interests of justice to continue to prosecute this case or the cases of other, similarly situated defendants,” according to the motions.
Rhodes founded his far-right anti-government militia group in 2009 and claimed thousands of members across the country were prepared for armed civil war in defense of what they perceived as threats to the Constitution. Rhodes and his allies spent weeks discussing a violent response to the 2020 election on encrypted messaging apps, then organized a weapons and supply cache at a nearby hotel before joining the mob.
Juries in the nation’s capital convicted Rhodes and members of the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys after evidence showed them orchestrating a violent plot to stop the peaceful transfer of power during a joint session of Congress convening to affirm Trump’s loss to Joe Biden.
Rhodes, among the first Americans convicted of seditious conspiracy in decades, was sentenced to 18 years in prison after federal prosecutors argued that he committed an act of terrorism by conspiring to commit treason in what became a violent attempt to overturn the election.
Former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio was convicted of seditious conspiracy and sentenced to 22 years in prison before he was pardoned by Trump on his first day in office last year. But convictions remained for four ringleaders of the far-right gang who were tried alongside him.
Nordean and Biggs, prominent members convicted of seditious conspiracy, were sentenced to 18 years and 17 years in prison, respectively.
Rehl, a Proud Boys member who used pepper spray against officers outside the Capitol and called for “firing squads” for “traitors” who wanted to “steal” the election, was sentenced to 15 years in prison after he was found guilty of seditious conspiracy. Pezzola, a member of the Proud Boys who was filmed using a stolen riot shield to break a window into the Capitol, was convicted of assaulting an officer, among other crimes, and sentenced to 10 years in prison.
Trump commuted all of their sentences to time served.
“Our lives are now closer to being whole,” Tarrio wrote on X after the motions were filed. “This is my happiest day since the pardon that released us from the jaws of injustice!”
“Persistently fighting for truth and justice pays off!” Rehl posted on X. “I am beyond thrilled right now, I cant even begin to describe my feelings.
“Since we were all innocent this nightmare may finally be coming to an end,” wrote Meggs.
Members of the Proud Boys and dozens of people who were convicted or accused of a range of crimes in connection with the riots are now suing the federal government, alleging law enforcement officers used excessive force while fighting back against rioters who stormed the Capitol.
The Justice Department has already settled with the family of Ashli Babbitt, who was fatally shot by a Capitol police officer after trying to break into the House of Representatives. Trump has also pledged he would “look at” the government’s decision to drop a potential case against the officer who shot her.
At least one rioter — a man who called on the mob to “kill” police — is now working for the Trump administration.
The administration has also targeted federal prosecutors involved with January 6 cases and moved to identify FBI agents involved in investigations while scrubbing evidence and public statements about the attack from government websites.
A newly launched White House website blames law enforcement officers for “deliberately escalating tensions” while hundreds of Trump’s supporters swarmed the area.
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