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The Justice Department has removed hundreds of press releases detailing charges against people involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol from its public website, defending the move as part of the Trump administration’s broader effort to reverse what it calls the “weaponization” of the federal government.
The department confirmed the deletions Friday after online observers and media organizations noted that announcements tied to Jan. 6 prosecutions had largely disappeared from the DOJ archive.
“Nothing ‘quiet’ about it,” the DOJ Rapid Response account posted on X in response to criticism over the removals.
“We are proud to reverse the DOJ’s weaponization under the Biden administration,” the post continued. “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.”
A review found that the vast majority of Jan. 6-related press releases were no longer accessible on the Justice Department website by Friday evening.
The decision marks the latest effort by President Donald Trump’s administration to recast the narrative surrounding the Capitol attack and portray many of those charged in connection with the riot as victims of politically motivated prosecutions.
On his first day back in office, Trump issued sweeping pardons for Jan. 6 defendants. In the months that followed, the administration removed Justice Department officials and FBI personnel who had participated in investigations tied to the Capitol attack.
This week, the Justice Department also announced the creation of a nearly $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund intended to compensate people the administration says were harmed by “lawfare” and politically driven investigations.
The proposed fund has triggered bipartisan backlash on Capitol Hill, particularly after acting Attorney General Todd Blanche declined to rule out the possibility that Jan. 6 participants could qualify for compensation.
Sen. Dick Durbin criticized the proposal Wednesday, calling “the notion of the federal government doling out compensation to rioters” both “absurd and offensive” in a letter to Blanche.
Republican lawmakers have also voiced opposition. Sen. Thom Tillis referred to the fund Thursday as a “payout pot for punks.”
The controversy has sparked multiple legal challenges.
A former Jan. 6 prosecutor and a law professor who was acquitted in a federal case brought by the Trump administration filed suit Friday, arguing the fund creates a politically discriminatory compensation system that excludes people allegedly targeted by Republican officials.
Meanwhile, watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a separate lawsuit describing the compensation program as “a jaw-dropping act of presidential corruption.” The group argued that, unlike previous victim compensation programs, the new fund was not authorized by Congress.
Two officers who defended the Capitol during the Jan. 6 attack also filed a lawsuit Wednesday, alleging the program could ultimately finance “the violent operations of rioters, paramilitaries, and their supporters.”
The lawsuits follow comments by former DOJ official Ed Martin, who previously led the department’s “weaponization” working group before leaving the role earlier this year. Martin had publicly predicted that some Jan. 6 defendants could receive millions of dollars in compensation through the new program.
