Trump seeks to erase Jan. 6 convictions, widen clemency campaign

The Trump administration is using pardons, legal filings and official rhetoric to redraw Jan. 6 as a grievance story rather than an attack on the U.S. Capitol. Its latest move asks a federal appeals court to vacate seditious conspiracy convictions for leaders of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, targeting some of the most serious cases left from the riot in Washington, D.C.

Trump launched that effort on his first day back in office, Jan. 20, 2025, when he issued a sweeping clemency proclamation for offenses tied to the events at or near the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. The Justice Department later said the action covered nearly 1,500 people, with 14 sentences commuted rather than fully pardoned. The White House framed the decision as ending a “grave national injustice” and beginning a “process of national reconciliation,” language that turned a criminal case into a political grievance.

The administration also moved to put that interpretation into the machinery of government. The Justice Department’s pardon office set up procedures for recipients to obtain certificates, formalizing the change in status for people convicted in connection with the attack. That paper trail matters: it does more than release individuals from punishment, it helps recast their offenses in the language of restoration.

The new push in April 2026 goes further, asking the U.S. Court of Appeals to erase convictions that grew out of one of the most scrutinized prosecutions stemming from the riot. The Proud Boys and Oath Keepers cases were among the most severe brought after supporters of Trump stormed the Capitol, and the attempt to vacate those judgments would strike at the legal record itself.

Hundreds of Trump supporters have been convicted in Jan. 6-related cases, a scale that reflects how large the criminal aftermath became after the attack on the Capitol. Federal judges and juries have heard months of evidence in Washington, including at the E. Barrett Prettyman federal courthouse, even as Trump’s second administration works publicly to soften the meaning of the day. Supporters of the pardons and clemency have celebrated the moves, while Capitol Police, lawmakers and other critics say the campaign undermines accountability and the rule of law.