Trump DOJ scrubs Jan. 6 prosecution records from website

The Justice Department has scrubbed hundreds of news releases documenting Jan. 6 prosecutions from its website, removing the public record of charges, guilty pleas, convictions and sentencings tied to the Capitol attack and the assaults on law enforcement.

The deleted material included some of the most serious violence of Jan. 6, 2021. Daniel Rodriguez pleaded guilty to driving an electroshock device into former Metropolitan Police Department Officer Michael Fanone’s neck and was sentenced to more than 12 years in prison. Albuquerque Head pleaded guilty to assaulting police, grabbing Fanone by the neck and pulling him into the mob while shouting, “I’ve got one,” and received a sentence of more than seven years. Thomas Webster was convicted of attacking officers with a metal flagpole, tackling an officer and trying to tear off the officer’s gas mask; he was sentenced to 10 years. Christopher Alberts was convicted of assaulting police with a wooden pallet and carrying a loaded handgun on Capitol grounds, and he was sentenced to seven years. Peter Schwartz was convicted of spraying officers with pepper spray and throwing a metal chair at law enforcement; he was sentenced to 14 years.

The removals were not limited to a few isolated pages. Releases that once summarized those prosecutions now lead to “Page not found.” The Justice Department acknowledged taking the material down and defended the move as “stripping DOJ’s website of partisan propaganda.” That explanation has intensified the political fight over who gets to define the official record of the riot and the prosecutions that followed.

The deletions land in a broader effort by Donald Trump to recast the aftermath of the Capitol assault. On his first day back in office in January 2025, Trump pardoned, commuted prison sentences or moved to dismiss the cases of more than 1,500 people charged in connection with Jan. 6, including rioters convicted of attacking officers with flagpoles, a hockey stick and a crutch. The Justice Department has also announced a $1.776 billion “anti-weaponization” fund, prompting bipartisan criticism after acting Attorney General Todd Blanche did not rule out whether convicted Jan. 6 rioters could be eligible for payouts.

The public stakes extend beyond one administration’s messaging. NPR’s Jan. 6 archive tracks 1,575 criminal cases tied to the attack, and reporting has cited roughly 140 injured law enforcement officers. Journalists and researchers have spent years building searchable archives and visual records to preserve what happened at the U.S. Capitol. Removing the DOJ’s prosecution pages does not erase the cases themselves, but it narrows the government’s own memory at the moment historical accountability is most under strain.