A review conducted by NBC News discovered that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has removed the vast majority of press releases regarding January 6 defendants.
In response to allegations that the DOJ had deleted the press releases, the DOJ responded:
Nothing "quiet" about it.
We are proud to reverse the DOJ's weaponization under the Biden administration. 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.
The NBC News article that reported the deletions also noted three other actions taken by the Trump administration related to attempts to "reframe" the events of January 6:
- On Nov 23, 2025, Trump pardoned 77 people including Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, John Eastman, Kenneth Chesebro, and Mark Meadows.
- On Jan 27, 2025, the DOJ fired several career lawyers involved in prosecuting Donald Trump's handling of classified documents and his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss in the lead-up to January 6.
- On Mon, May 18, 2026, the DOJ announced the creation of a $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization" fund out of which January 6 defendants will be financially compensated.
Source:
Reilly, Ryan J.; Guilfoil, Kyla. (May 22, 2026). "Justice Department deletes press releases on charges against Jan. 6 rioters". NBC News. Retrieved 2026-05-24.
Note that on January 20, 2025 (the first day of Trump's second term), he pardoned over 1,200 people convicted in connection with January 6, and he commuted the sentences of 14 others. Oath Keeper founder Stewart Rhodes, and Enrique Tarrio, the former head of the Proud Boys, were among the 14 sentences commuted.
Source:
Parloff, Roger. (January 20, 2025). "Trump Pardons or Commutes Terms of All Jan. 6 Rioters". Lawfare. Retrieved 2026-05-24.
Commentary:
Once again, Trump and his sycophants are attempting to rewrite history, this time by deleting official DOJ press release that the DOJ calls "partisan propaganda."
By deleting the press releases, the DOJ is itself engaging in "partisan propaganda" because by doing so they are taking sides and trying to influence public opinion.
Once again, all of this comes back to Trump's massive ego. Only a self-absorbed egomaniac like Trump (and his sycophants) would spend so much time and energy in trying to make people believe (gaslight) that all of the things he doesn't approve of never really happened.
The $1.8 billion "anti-weaponization" fund reeks of corruption. This is the kind of thing that happens in third world countries, not the United States.
Speaking with Brian Tyler Cohen, when asked about a possible reason for deleting the press releases, Glenn Kirschner said:
Where is the evidence that would undercut their attempt to get paid from that slush fund by our tax dollars, mind you? And so DOJ's approach to that, let's call it an incongruity and inconsistency when DOJ has on its website, here's the horrible things these January 6 insurrectionists did right on our website, and now they're asking to be paid because they're victims, I know what we'll do. We'll just take down the truthful, accurate information from our website. You know what this looks like to me, Brian? Now, yes, when you're a hammer, everything looks like a nail. When you're a prosecutor, maybe everything looks like a crime, but that doesn't mean it's not. This to me looks like Todd Blanch and Donald Trump's other dirty DOJ officials in a conspiracy, at least practically speaking, with the January 6th rioters, attackers, insurrectionists, in a conspiracy to get them paid with our tax dollars. because what they're doing is taking from public view the evidence that would make clear they're not entitled to be paid with our tax dollars.