The Justice Department has wiped hundreds of press releases documenting charges against Capitol riot participants from its official website, confirming a move that signals a dramatic reversal in how the federal government is treating the January 6 siege.
The deletions came to light Friday when NBC News reviewed the DOJ website and found that the vast majority of press releases related to Jan. 6 defendants had been removed. The Justice Department's own social media account confirmed the action without hesitation. "Nothing 'quiet' about it," the DOJ Rapid Response X account stated. "We are proud to reverse the DOJ's weaponization under the Biden administration. We will do everything in our power to make whole those who were persecuted for political purposes. This includes stripping DOJ's website of partisan propaganda."
The purge represents the latest effort by the Trump administration to reshape the narrative around the riot. Within days of returning to office, President Donald Trump granted mass pardons to the rioters. Justice Department officials and FBI agents involved in the investigation and prosecutions were subsequently terminated. The administration then announced a $1.8 billion fund labeled an "anti-weaponization" initiative, designed to compensate those deemed victims of what officials characterized as political persecution.
The compensation fund has triggered fierce backlash across the political spectrum. Senator Dick Durbin, a Democrat from Illinois, called the idea of federal payouts to rioters "absurd and offensive" in a letter to acting Attorney General Todd Blanche. Senator Thom Tillis, a Republican from North Carolina, was equally blunt, branding the fund a "payout pot for punks."
Multiple legal challenges have already been filed against the compensation initiative. On Friday, a fired Jan. 6 prosecutor and a law professor who was acquitted in a Trump-era federal case sued, arguing the fund creates a discriminatory process that favors certain groups while excluding others who claim mistreatment. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a government watchdog organization, filed suit the same day, calling the fund "a jaw-dropping act of presidential corruption" and pointing out that Congress never approved such a compensation program, unlike previous victim funds.
Capitol police officers who defended the building on January 6 also filed a separate lawsuit Friday, contending that the fund would "directly finance the violent operations of rioters, paramilitaries, and their supporters."
Acting Attorney General Blanche declined to rule out Jan. 6 rioters' eligibility for compensation when questioned, a response that intensified the uproar. Earlier this year, Ed Martin, who headed the Justice Department's "weaponization" working group before being removed, had predicted that millions of dollars would ultimately flow to those charged in connection with January 6.
Author Sarah Mitchell: "The administration is not just rewriting the legal record, it's actively erasing it from the government's own archives, which raises serious questions about transparency and accountability that will likely extend far beyond the courtroom."
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