Trump’s justice department scrubs its website of news releases about January 6 defendants | US Capitol attack
The Justice Department acknowledged that it had removed news releases about criminal cases related to the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol attack from its website, calling information about the investigations “partisan propaganda.”
The purge of newsletters documenting criminal charges, convictions and sentences is the Trump administration’s latest step to dramatically rewrite the history of the attack on the US Capitol, when hundreds of Donald Trump supporters stormed the building in an attempt to stop congressional certification of his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden.
On his first day back in office in January 2025, Trump pardoned, commuted prison sentences or promised to dismiss the cases of all more than 1,500 people charged during the Capitol attack, including those convicted of attacking officers with makeshift weapons such as flagpoles, hockey sticks and crutches.
On Monday, the justice department announced the creation of a $1.776 billion fund to compensate Trump allies who feel they were unfairly investigated and prosecuted. Acting attorney general Todd Blanche did not rule out that rioters convicted of violence would be eligible for payments, sparking bipartisan outrage in Congress.
After a journalist observed Friday on social media platform
“We are proud to reverse this situation” [justice department’s] Armament under the Biden administration. “We will do everything we can to heal those who have been persecuted for political purposes,” the post said. “This includes being robbed.” [the justice department’s] website of partisan propaganda.
Among the posts removed from the site were those related to seditious conspiracy cases against members of the far-right groups Proud Boys and Oath Keepers. The justice department asked the federal appeals court to vacate these seditious conspiracy convictions in an unopposed motion last month, and the request was granted Thursday. The department moved to dismiss the lawsuits against group members on Friday.
