The Justice Department asked a federal appeals court on Tuesday to throw out the seditious conspiracy convictions of several Proud Boys and Oath Keepers leaders who were previously sentenced to prison for their roles in the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Prosecutors are now seeking to have those convictions formally vacated, which would allow the government to dismiss the cases entirely.
This move follows an earlier decision by President Donald Trump, who in January commuted the sentences of multiple members of the two far-right groups.
That sweeping clemency applied to more than 1,500 people charged in connection with the Capitol attack. The Justice Department’s latest request goes further, aiming not just to shorten or eliminate prison time but to erase the convictions themselves.
Among those affected is Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the Oath Keepers, who had been sentenced to 18 years in prison. Other individuals named in the filing include Oath Keepers members Kelly Meggs, Kenneth Harrelson, and Jessica Watkins, as well as Proud Boys members Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl, and Dominic Pezzola.
In its court filing, the department argued that vacating the convictions aligns with past legal practice. Prosecutors noted that when the government determines it is in the interest of justice to drop a case, it can ask higher courts to clear prior convictions, a step the Supreme Court has routinely approved in similar situations. The filing was signed by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro.
The original convictions came after juries in Washington, D.C. found that leaders of both groups had organized efforts to block the certification of the 2020 presidential election. Prosecutors described their actions as part of a broader attempt to stop the peaceful transfer of power after Trump’s loss to Joe Biden.
At the time, those verdicts were seen as a major milestone for federal prosecutors, who had spent years building cases tied to the Capitol attack. The shift now represents a sharp reversal in how the government is handling some of the most serious charges connected to that day.
Critics argue the move reflects an effort to reshape how January 6 is remembered, particularly by minimizing the scale and severity of the violence. More than 100 law enforcement officers were injured during the attack, and the events disrupted the formal certification of the election.
Some individuals connected to the groups, including former Proud Boys chairman Enrique Tarrio, had already received full pardons earlier. Others, like Rhodes, were accused of preparing for potential armed action, with prosecutors saying weapons were stored nearby in Virginia, though they were never ultimately used.
If the court grants the Justice Department’s request, the legal record for these cases would be significantly altered, effectively wiping away some of the most serious convictions tied to January 6.
