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. Juries convicted these defendants after lengthy trials with extensive evidence of advance planning and weapons stockpiling.

Seditious conspiracy under 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 was the Hutarete 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 rarity of prosecutions before 2021 made the aggressive use after January 6 historically unprecedented in scale.

UC Davis Law Professor Carlton Larson called the charge "perfectly pitched to the gravity of the offenses." Evidence showed Oath Keepers stockpiled guns in a 🏛️Virginia hotel for "quick reaction force" teams, coordinated movements via encrypted communications, and planned to stop the peaceful transfer of power. This wasn't spontaneous, he argued, but premeditated conspiracy. JAJudge Amit Mehta imposed a on Rhodes's sentence, calling seditious conspiracy "among the most serious crimes an individual American can commit."

The 12 defendants include eight Oath Keepers members and four Proud Boys members. Stewart Rhodes, the and Yale Law School graduate, received 18 years. Enrique Tarrio, the Proud Boys chairman, received 22 years but was pardoned on January 20, 2025. Other defendants include KMKelly Meggs (12 years), ENEthan Nordean (18 years), JBJoseph Biggs (17 years), and ZRZachary Rehl (15 years). Sentences ranged from 10 to 22 years, reflecting judges' views of the severity. Several sued the government in 2025 seeking over $100 million in damages for alleged DOJ abuse.

Vacatur with prejudice permanently erases convictions and prevents retrial. Once the 🏛️DC Circuit grants the motion, these convictions will be treated as if they never happened. Gun rights restore. The defendants can't be charged again on these counts. This differs from Trump's January 20, 2025 commutations, which reduced sentences but left convictions intact. Vacatur goes further—it eliminates the legal finding that these individuals conspired against the government. Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 48(a) gives prosecutors broad discretion to seek dismissal, but courts retain approval authority in practice.

GRGreg Rosen, former chief of DOJ's Capitol Siege Section, resigned in June 2025 protesting Trump's clemency actions. He called the vacatur motion proof that "political violence is acceptable as long as your politics align." Rosen noted the Biden DOJ achieved a rate in jury trials—meaning jurors repeatedly found evidence sufficient beyond reasonable doubt. Over 140 police officers were injured on January 6. The reversal raised concerns about whether jury verdicts could be permanent or whether politics could undo them.

JAJudge Amit Mehta and JTJudge Timothy Kelly both expressed concern about rewriting January 6 history before the April 2026 motion. Mehta warned against attempts to "rewrite" the Capitol attack narrative. Kelly noted the "importance of the peaceful transfer of power" at Tarrio's sentencing. Both judges' statements contrasted sharply with the DOJ's position that prosecution wasn't in the "interests of justice." Their initial sentencing language reflected that the conduct met the statutory definition of seditious conspiracy.

Prosecutorial discretion shapes the entire justice system because most cases never reach trial. U.S. Attorneys decide whom to charge, what crimes to file, and whether to dismiss. When prosecutors seek dismissal, courts rarely interfere. The Senate confirms U.S. Attorneys, but senators can't reverse individual prosecutorial decisions. The check comes through confirmation hearings, funding control, and DOJ oversight. In the January 6 context, the shift from aggressive prosecution to vacatur raises questions about whether political change—not legal merit—drove the reversal.

This case tests whether convictions remain permanent. If prosecutions can be undone years later based on administrations' changing priorities rather than new evidence of innocence, does that make convictions less reliable? If jury verdicts can be vacated through prosecutorial motion rather than appeal or new evidence, what protection does a trial offer? The DOJ doesn't claim juries were wrong or evidence didn't support verdicts. Instead, it asserts prosecutorial discretion to say convictions aren't worth maintaining. This power—invisible when prosecutors win—becomes visible when they reverse course.