DOJ moves to erase Jan 6 seditious conspiracy convictions

On April 14, 2026, the Department of Justice filed motions with the 🏛️DC Circuit Court of Appeals asking judges to vacate the seditious conspiracy convictions of 12 Capitol rioters. The filing, signed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Lenerz in U.S. Attorney JPJeanine Pirro's office, said prosecution 'is not in the interests of justice.' The motion cited 28 U.S.C. § 2106 and Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 48(a) as legal authority.

Pirro became U.S. Attorney for 🏛️DC after Senate confirmation on August 2, 2025, by a 50-45 vote. She previously worked as a Fox News host and served as Westchester County District Attorney. Her office had already moved to dismiss charges against Trump adviser Stephen Bannon.

Seditious conspiracy (18 U.S.C. § 2384) is a Civil War-era statute making it illegal for two or more people to agree to oppose the government by force. It carries a maximum 20-year sentence. Before January 6, prosecutors had brought only four seditious conspiracy indictments in 30 years. The most recent before 2021 was the Hutaree militia case in 2010, where a judge dismissed the charges for insufficient evidence.

The statute requires agreement to use force against the government, not just protest or civil disobedience. The January 6 prosecutions revived a charge most legal scholars considered dormant. Juries in Washington 🏛️DC convicted Oath Keepers and Proud Boys leaders after lengthy trials with extensive evidence of advance planning.

The 12 defendants include eight Oath Keepers members and four Proud Boys members. Stewart Rhodes, the Oath Keepers founder and Yale Law School graduate, received an 18-year sentence after JAJudge Amit Mehta called his conduct 'terrorism.' Enrique Tarrio, the Proud Boys chairman, received 22 years but was already pardoned on January 20, 2025.

Other defendants include Kelly Meggs (12 years), ENEthan Nordean (18 years), Joseph Biggs (17 years), Zachary Rehl (15 years), and Dominic Pezzola (10 years, though Pezzola was acquitted on seditious conspiracy and convicted on other felonies). The defendants' sentences ranged from 10 to 22 years, reflecting the severity judges assigned to the Capitol attack.

Vacatur with prejudice permanently erases convictions and prevents retrial. Once the 🏛️DC Circuit grants the motion, these defendants' seditious conspiracy convictions will be treated as if they never happened. Their records clear. Their gun rights restore. They can't be charged again on these counts.

This is different from the commutations Trump issued on January 20, 2025, which released defendants from prison but left convictions on their records. Vacatur goes further. It eliminates the legal finding that these individuals conspired against the government.

GRGreg Rosen, the former chief of DOJ's Capitol Siege Section, resigned in June 2025 in protest of Trump's clemency actions. He called the vacatur motion proof that 'political violence is acceptable as long as your politics align.' Rosen noted the prosecutions achieved a in jury trials under the Biden DOJ.

Senate Minority Leader CSChuck Schumer said on the Senate floor: 'By handing out these pardons to convicted criminals, President Trump is effectively saying: you want to attack our democracy? Be my guest.' Over 140 police officers were injured during the January 6 Capitol riot that these prosecutions addressed.

JAJudge Amit Mehta, who oversaw the Oath Keepers trials, had previously warned against attempts to 'rewrite' the history of the Capitol attack. He imposed a terrorism enhancement on Rhodes's sentence, calling seditious conspiracy 'among the most serious crimes an individual American can commit.' JTJudge Timothy Kelly, who oversaw the Proud Boys trials, sentenced Tarrio to 22 years and noted the 'importance of the peaceful transfer of power.'

Both judges expressed concern about efforts to downplay the violence. Their sentencing statements contrasted sharply with the DOJ's current position that prosecution isn't in the 'interests of justice.'