Trump’s Justice Department Removes Jan. 6 Defendant News Releases From DOJ Website

The U.S. Department of Justice acknowledged it removed from its website news releases about criminal cases tied to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, calling the information about the prosecutions “partisan propaganda.”

“The Department of Justice is acknowledging it has removed from its website news releases about criminal cases related to the Jan”

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The purge comes as President Donald Trump, on his first day back in office in January 2025, pardoned, commuted the prison sentences of or vowed to dismiss the cases of all of the 1,500-plus people charged with crimes during the Capitol assault.

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Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has not ruled out that rioters convicted of violence will be eligible for payouts, after the Justice Department announced a $1.776 billion fund meant to compensate Trump allies who feel they were unjustly investigated and prosecuted.

NBC News reported that a review found the vast majority of press releases pertaining to Jan. 6 defendants have been removed from the DOJ website as of Friday evening.

In response to allegations on X that the deletions were “quietly” done, the DOJ Rapid Response account said, “Nothing ‘quiet’ about it.”

The DOJ Rapid Response X account defended the deletions by saying, “We are proud to reverse the DOJ’s weaponization under the Biden administration.”

The same post added, “This includes stripping DOJ’s website of partisan propaganda,” as NBC News described the move as an attempt to reframe the Jan. 6 siege and paint rioters as victims.

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In Congress, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., wrote Wednesday that the “notion of the federal government doling out compensation to rioters” was “absurd and offensive,” according to NBC News.

Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., called the fund a “payout pot for punks,” on Thursday, NBC News reported.

NBC News also said a fired Jan. 6 prosecutor and a law professor acquitted in a federal case brought by the Trump administration filed a lawsuit Friday, arguing the fund creates a politically discriminatory process that excludes certain individuals.

Among the releases removed from the DOJ website were those concerning seditious conspiracy cases against members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, according to the Guardian.

“Trump’s Justice Department scrubs its website of news releases about January 6 defendants Among the releases removed from the site were those concerning seditious conspiracy cases against members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers The Department of Justice is acknowledging it has removed from its website news releases about criminal cases related to the January 6, 2021, riot, calling the information about the prosecutions “partisan propaganda””

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The Guardian reported that the Justice Department, in an unopposed motion last month, asked a federal appeals court to vacate those seditious conspiracy convictions, a request that was granted on Thursday.

NBC News said the Justice Department moved on Friday to dismiss the cases against the group members.

NBC News also reported that Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a watchdog organization in D.C., filed suit Friday calling the fund “a jaw-dropping act of presidential corruption.”

NBC News further said two officers who protected the Capitol on Jan. 6 filed a separate suit alleging the fund would “directly finance the violent operations of rioters, paramilitaries, and their supporters.”