WASHINGTON, D.C. — On the fifth anniversary of the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) introduced a pair of bills to prevent Jan. 6 rioters from receiving payouts from the federal government.
Roughly 400 people who the Trump Administration pardoned or granted clemency to after their involvement in the January 6 attacks are currently seeking millions of dollars in taxpayer funds because they were prosecuted for their criminal actions. Most claimants are seeking $1 million to $10 million from the U.S. government. Leaders of the “Proud Boys” far-right militant organization alone are suing for $100 million, and senior Department of Justice official Ed Martin reportedly supports compensating violent Jan. 6 insurrectionists.
The No Rewards for January 6 Rioters Act would broadly prohibit the use of federal funds to compensate any Jan. 6 rioters who were prosecuted for their involvement in the attack on the Capitol and stop the ongoing refunds of fines that were paid as part of their convictions, while the No Settlements for January 6 Law Enforcement Assaulters Act would forbid the federal government from paying out any legal settlements to any January 6 rioters who were convicted of assaulting law enforcement officers during the Capitol insurrection.
“Five years after a violent swarm of insurrectionists stormed our nation’s Capitol, assaulted law enforcement officers, and attacked our very democracy, issuing cash payouts to these rioters is unthinkable,” said Senator Padilla. “These insurrectionists should still be serving their sentences and paying fines for damages they caused to the Capitol — not receiving refunds or cash rewards from the Trump Administration. Our bills would hold these rioters accountable and protect taxpayers by putting an end to Donald Trump’s callous attempt to rewrite history with these illegal cash payouts.”
“Members of both parties who were here on January 6, 2021 remember the chaos and violence of that day, which resulted in police officers’ deaths and injuries. No matter how Trump’s MAGA goons now try to twist it, the January 6 attack on our Capitol was an assault on our democracy. Trump’s blanket day-one pardons for members of the January 6 mob were a slap in the face to the brave law enforcement officers who put their lives on the line to protect the country. Our bills make clear that no one who stormed the Capitol should get a taxpayer-funded cash giveaway, especially not those who violently assaulted police officers,” said Senator Whitehouse.
The violent mob that stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, attempting to prevent the certification of the 2020 election results, caused roughly $3 million in damages to the Capitol building, injured more than 100 law enforcement officers, and threatened members and their staff. Damage to the building included widespread vandalism, ruined furniture, shattered glass, broken doors, defaced artwork, and the desecration of the halls of Congress. Convicted January 6 insurrectionists paid about $400,000 in court-ordered restitution to cover the damages they caused, which has since been transferred to the Treasury Department, from where the funds can only be withdrawn by Congress.
Last year, the Department of Justice (DOJ) took a meeting with a lawyer for January 6 insurrectionists where DOJ was asked to create a victims compensation fund, similar to that used to compensate September 11, 2001 victims, to issue cash rewards for alleged “harms” these rioters faced. Their attorney stated that DOJ official Ed Martin is “100 percent on our side.” Any such fund would be both deeply corrupt and unlawful, as the establishment of a separate fund requires Congressional action, but rioters could seek to “sue and settle” claims and raid the federal Judgment Fund instead, similar to claims that President Trump himself has made for $230 million in compensation.
The No Rewards for January 6 Rioters Act would:
- Prohibit the use of federal funds to compensate prosecuted January 6 rioters, including by barring the establishment of a victim compensation fund and by prohibiting the Justice Department from entering into settlement agreements;
- Prohibit further refunds of restitution payments; and
- Authorize the Secretary of the Treasury to transfer the remaining restitution funds to the Architect of the Capitol.
The No Settlements for January 6 Law Enforcement Assaulters Act would:
- Apply only to January 6 rioters who were convicted of assaulting a law enforcement officer pursuant to 18 USC 111 or D.C. Code 22-405 on January 6; and
- Bar any federal funds being used to pay any legal settlement to any such individuals, if they sue for any claims relating to January 6.
Both bills are endorsed by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW); Democracy Defenders Action; Protect Democracy; Sgt. Aquilino A. Gonell, Fr. United States Capitol Police; Officer Harry Dunn, Fr. United States Capitol Police; and Officer Daniel Hodges, D.C. Metropolitan Police Department (endorsement in his personal capacity).
Last year, Senator Padilla, Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), and Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) led seven of their Senate colleagues in demanding that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) abandon any efforts to refund or financially reward convicted January 6 insurrectionists. Padilla, Durbin, and Klobuchar previously led their colleagues in denouncing DOJ’s court arguments that the federal government should refund insurrectionists for the restitution payments they made for damage they caused to the Capitol building. Since then, restitution refund requests have almost all been denied, but in August, a judge ordered the government to refund the restitution a January 6 insurrectionist paid before they were pardoned and their case was vacated.
Full text of the bill is available here.