DOJ Seeks to Vacate Jan. 6 Sedition Convictions as Scanlon Proposes Curb on Politicized Dismissals

The Justice Department has asked a federal appeals court to erase the seditious conspiracy convictions of leaders of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers. The Proud Boys and Oath Keepers are far-right groups whose members have repeatedly engaged in political violence.

Federal juries convicted key members of both groups of felonies, including seditious conspiracy. In 2025, President Donald Trump granted clemency (pardons or commutations) to most Jan 6 defendants, including many Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, but the convictions remained on some leaders’ records.

During the first 2020 presidential debate, Trump was asked to condemn white supremacists and militia groups and tell them to stop contributing to violence at protests. When Joe Biden mentioned the Proud Boys by name, Trump responded: “Proud Boys, stand back and stand by.”

In motions filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, federal prosecutors requested that judges vacate the convictions of Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and several fellow members, as well as leaders of the Proud Boys, who were found guilty of plotting to block the transfer of presidential power after Donald Trump’s 2020 election defeat.

The government is asking the court to wipe away the trial judgments and send the cases back to the district court so prosecutors can move to dismiss the indictments with prejudice, permanently ending the prosecutions.

On April 19, Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon (D‑Pa.) announced the “No Free Passes for Cronies Act,” tying the bill to what she calls the Trump Justice Department’s move to erase the convictions of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers who planned and led the violent insurrection.

Scanlon’s legislation would amend Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 48(a) to tighten judicial oversight of government motions to dismiss charges. Under current practice, prosecutors rely on Rule 48(a) to drop cases “in the public interest,” with judges generally deferring to those decisions.

“This administration has repeatedly abused the DOJ’s prosecutorial power to deliver “get out of jail free” cards to the President’s friends. During the first Trump Administration, the White House moved to dismiss criminal charges against Michael Flynn, after he pled guilty to making false statements to the FBI during Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election,” Scanlon wrote in a press release. “More recently, Trump’s Justice Department has moved to dismiss criminal cases against well-connected individuals and associates, including former New York City mayor Eric Adams and Trump’s long-time ally Steve Bannon, in exchange for political favors.

After Trump’s DOJ dropped the charges against Flynn, he sued the federal government for damages, and the DOJ gave him a $1.25 million payoff. The DOJ’s dismissal of charges against the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers could clear the way for them to pocket similar payoffs at taxpayer expense.”