Trump’s Jan. 6 pardons spark several surprises

President Trump’s sweeping clemency for Jan. 6 defendants have taken a number of surprising twists and turns nearly three months after the Capitol attack prosecution was abruptly upended. 

On his first day back in the White House, Trump made good on his campaign pledge to absolve those who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, granting full pardons to more than 1,500 rioters and commuting the sentences of extremist group leaders accused of spearheading the attack. 

Since then, the president's order has spurred a series of unforeseen ramifications, including a backlash by some defendants against Attorney General Pam Bondi and other Trump administration officials, pushback from judges and calls for money to be returned for some of those convicted on rioting charges.

In court filings this week, the Justice Department (DOJ) suggested that some Jan. 6 defendants might be entitled to a refund of the restitution they paid for Capitol repairs.  

The Capitol riot inflicted an estimated $3 million in damage to the building. Rioters have typically been ordered to pay $500 if found guilty of a misdemeanor or $2,000 if convicted of a felony to the Architect of the Capitol to recompense for the damage. 

In response to a Jan. 6 defendant's February request for reimbursement, Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Dreher said Tuesday that the government agrees the rioter “is entitled to the return of those funds.” 

The refunds wouldn’t apply to all rioters, Dreher said. But for rioters whose cases were actively being appealed when Trump issued the pardons — resulting in appeals courts wiping out those convictions — a reimbursement is warranted.  

The government’s new position, which could prompt financial returns for hundreds of defendants, comes as Trump has signaled support for compensating the pardoned rioters, suggesting in an interview last month there’s been “talk” about a compensation fund. 

Meanwhile, Jan. 6 defendants facing charges unrelated to the riot, who have mounted efforts to drop the counts under the guise that Trump’s pardons covered them, have received continued support from the Justice Department.  

At least four rioters facing gun charges received backing from the Justice Department in their bids to toss the counts, citing further consultation with DOJ leadership. 

One of those bids was successful: Jeremy Brown, who was convicted of weapons charges after law enforcement found stolen grenades and classified information in his home while investigating his role in the Capitol attack, saw those counts dismissed.  

But judges have otherwise pushed back. A federal judge in Maryland said Thursday he could not “act as a rubber stamp” by dismissing a rioter’s unrelated gun charge as consistent with Trump’s pardon, and last month, a different federal judge in Tennessee questioned the DOJ’s “change in position” on such matters. 

An appeals court weighed in on the matter earlier this month, finding in the gun case of a Kentucky Jan. 6 defendant that Trump’s pardon “plainly applies to related offenses,” not those uncovered by “happenstance” while investigating Jan. 6 offenses.  

Since Trump returned to office, the Justice Department has also indicated changing positions in various lawsuits and criminal cases that stemmed from the riot.  

It signaled in court filings Thursday that settlement negotiations are underway in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of Jan. 6 rioter Ashli Babbitt, who was shot and killed as she attempted to climb through a barricaded door to the Speaker’s lobby.   

The government is reviewing its position in Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro’s appeal of his contempt of Congress conviction, which stemmed from his efforts to evade a House Jan. 6 committee subpoena, and is seeking to take over as Trump’s lawyer in a civil case over his role in the riot, as well. 

But Trump’s pardons and overall reframing of the Capitol attack have also spurred unexpected drawbacks.  

The Chicago City Council on Tuesday advanced a measure that would bar Jan. 6 defendants from working in city jobs. Alderman Gilbert Villegas, an author of the measure, said “you should not be allowed to work for the government you tried to overthrow.” 

And some rioters have started to bite the hand that fed them.  

After Trump’s exhaustive pardons, Jan. 6 defendants celebrated the new administration's efforts to clear their names. But the honeymoon period seems to have ended. 

Several Jan. 6 defendants angrily took to social media this week after FBI Director Kash Patel promoted agency veteran Steven Jensen to oversee the agency’s Washington, D.C., field office, despite his participation in the Jan. 6 probe.  

Richard “Bigo” Barnett, a rioter who lounged in then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) office during the riot, wrote on social platform X that Patel and FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino “stabbed us in the back” with the promotion.  

William Pope, a Kansas Jan. 6 defendant who’s influential on X, cast skepticism on Patel and Bongino, implying their support for the rioters might not be so legitimate. 

And Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio, who was convicted of seditious conspiracy but was then granted a full pardon by Trump, suggested protesting outside the Washington Field Office until Jensen was fired or Patel and Bongino took a meeting to discuss the issue. 

Tarrio has also taken aim at Bondi for failing to terminate specific Jan. 6 prosecutors or drop fellow Proud Boys members’ charges. He at one point called for her firing. 

“I am loyal to the President because he has given me my life back and I support his policies,” Tarrio wrote Monday in a post to X. “This loyalty does not extend to his appointees or endorsements.  

“If they f‑‑‑ up … I WILL call them out,” he said.