On January 6, 2021, a mob broke into the United States Capitol, assaulted more than 140 police officers, smeared feces on the walls, built a gallows outside, and chanted “Hang Mike Pence.” Five people died. The FBI opened the largest criminal investigation in Department of Justice history. More than 1,500 people were arrested. Hundreds were convicted. Sentences ranged from probation to 22 years in federal prison. And now, as of April 14, 2026, the United States government is asking a federal court to pretend it never happened.
What Pirro Filed
Jeanine Pirro — appointed U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia by Donald Trump — filed motions in three separate cases before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit asking the court to vacate the convictions of 12 defendants with prejudice, meaning the charges can never be brought again. The 12 include:
Oath Keepers: Stewart Rhodes (founder, sentenced to 18 years), Kelly Meggs, Roberto Minuta, Eduardo Vallejo, Joseph Hackett, David Moerschel, Kenneth Harrelson, Jessica Watkins
Proud Boys: Ethan Nordean (sentenced to 18 years), Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl, Dominic Pezzola
These were not trespassers who wandered past a barricade. These were the planners. The organizers. The ones a federal jury found guilty of seditious conspiracy — a charge so serious it hadn’t been successfully prosecuted in decades. Rhodes was convicted of coordinating Oath Keepers to march on the Capitol as part of a plan to “oppose by force the lawful transfer of presidential power.” Nordean and Pezzola “participated in every consequential breach at the Capitol” according to the DOJ’s own sentencing memos. Eighteen-year sentences. And now the same DOJ is asking for those convictions to disappear.
The Sequence
On January 20, 2025 — his first day back in office — Trump issued a blanket pardon for more than 1,500 January 6 defendants. But 14 people convicted of seditious conspiracy were excluded from the pardon. Instead, Trump commuted their sentences to time served, freeing them from prison but leaving the felony convictions on their records. That distinction mattered — or it did, until Pirro made it not matter.
Enrique Tarrio, the Proud Boys leader, had his conviction separately vacated and charges dismissed last year at the DOJ’s request. Thomas Caldwell was pardoned in March 2025. That left these 12. On April 14, Pirro moved to clean the slate entirely. Once approved — and prosecutors have broad discretion here, so approval is virtually certain — she will file motions to dismiss all underlying charges in trial court, fully clearing every defendant’s criminal record.
“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.” — DOJ filing signed by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, April 14, 2026
The Language
The DOJ referred to the convictions as “years-long, Biden-era weaponized prosecutions.” On X, the department posted: “President Trump demanded we stop the two-tiered injustice — and we are delivering. No more rigged system.” Peter Ticktin, a Trump-allied lawyer who lobbied for full pardons, said: “Donald Trump knows that those who were pardoned for their involvement in the protests of January 6, 2021, were patriots.”
Patriots. The people convicted by a jury of seditious conspiracy for storming the Capitol to stop the certification of a democratic election are being called patriots by the president’s allies, and the Justice Department is asking the courts to agree.
What This Means
If Pirro’s motions are approved — and there is no indication they won’t be — it will wipe out the last remaining criminal convictions related to the January 6 attack. Every pardon, every commutation, every dismissal will be complete. More than 1,500 people arrested. 140+ officers assaulted. Five dead. Property destroyed. Democracy attacked on live television. And the legal system’s official position, under this administration, will be: nothing happened.
Norm Pattis, attorney for Proud Boy Joseph Biggs, called the decision “long overdue.” Pirro’s office declined to comment. The filing gave no details explaining the decision beyond the boilerplate “interests of justice” language. The most serious domestic attack on American democracy since the Civil War will leave zero convictions standing. That is the DOJ’s position. That is the official record now.
Sources
- CBS News: DOJ moves to dismiss Jan 6 seditious conspiracy convictions for 12 Proud Boys and Oath Keepers; Pirro filing; “Biden-era weaponized prosecutions” language; Ticktin “patriots” quote. April 14, 2026.
- The Daily Record / Washington Post: Full list of 12 defendants; “last remaining convictions”; Pirro intends to file dismissal motions in trial court; “interests of justice” filing language; Norm Pattis “long overdue” quote. April 15, 2026.
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