WASHINGTON – A federal judge has expressed deep concern regarding the efforts to rewrite the history of the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol as he reluctantly dismissed the seditious conspiracy case against members of the far-right Oath Keepers extremist group, following a request from the Trump administration.
This dismissal effectively concludes the January 6 cases that were previously nullified by former President Donald Trump’s sweeping pardons and commutations last year. These actions freed individuals convicted of violent assaults on law enforcement and other serious offenses.
In April, the Department of Justice initiated actions to vacate the convictions of Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and others involved in the seditious conspiracy case. This decision marked a stark reversal from the Biden administration, which had previously celebrated the guilty verdicts in one of the most significant prosecutions stemming from the Capitol attack.
U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, who presided over the Oath Keepers’ trials, criticized the Justice Department’s request in his ruling, stating that the government “asks to absolve these Defendants of crimes against the United States itself.” Despite his reservations, Mehta felt compelled to comply with the administration’s request.
“This is the last of the prosecutions seeking to hold accountable those responsible for the events of January 6. That book is now closed,” Mehta remarked, appointed to the bench by Democratic President Barack Obama.
The judge further stated, “Today’s epilogue diminishes the gravity of that day, denigrates the work of the prosecutors and law enforcement officers who secured these convictions, and excuses criminal acts that caused a centuries-long pillar of our democracy — the peaceful transfer of presidential power — to buckle. The court cannot write a different ending.”
Juries in Washington, D.C., convicted leaders and members of the Oath Keepers, as well as another extremist group, the Proud Boys, for orchestrating violent plots aimed at obstructing the peaceful transfer of power following Trump’s loss to Biden in the 2020 election. Notably, Stewart Rhodes was released from prison in January 2025 after Trump commuted his 18-year sentence.
Rhodes, who did not enter the Capitol on January 6, has consistently denied wrongdoing, describing himself at his 2023 sentencing as a “political prisoner.” James Lee Bright, an attorney who represented Rhodes during the trial, expressed disappointment over Mehta’s opinion, suggesting it was unnecessary to include personal views.
Trump has maintained that the defendants from January 6 were subjected to unfair treatment by the justice system, asserting that the pardons were meant to rectify “a grave national injustice that has been perpetrated upon the American people” and to initiate “a process of national reconciliation.”
In total, over 1,200 individuals across the United States have been convicted of crimes related to January 6, including approximately 200 who pleaded guilty to assaulting law enforcement. Most of these defendants received “full, complete and unconditional” pardons, while Rhodes and others involved in the seditious conspiracy cases only had their sentences commuted. Furthermore, Trump ordered the attorney general to seek the dismissal of around 450 cases that were pending, stemming from the largest investigation in Justice Department history.
