All defendants belonged to the Oath Keepers charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol.
A judge on Friday deferred ruling on the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) motion to vacate convictions of unpardoned defendants charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol breach, citing the need for more information.
This stemmed from the DOJ’s May 22 motion to dismiss with prejudice the indictment on Oath Keepers members Elmer Stewart Rhodes III, Kelly Meggs, Kenneth Harrelson, Jessica Watkins, Roberto Minuta, Edward Vallejo, David Moerschel, and Joseph Hackett. If granted, the dismissal would bar prosecutors from refiling the charges.
U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta of the District of Columbia said the DOJ’s motion was “insufficiently detailed” and offered only a conclusory statement that dismissing the convictions would be in the public interest.
“The court defers ruling on the government’s request until it receives additional information,” the judge wrote in a two-page order on May 29.
Mehta said the DOJ had not provided “a statement of reasons” or the “underlying factual basis” for the request to vacate the convictions.
“As a result, the court lacks the information necessary both to determine whether ‘the reasons advanced for the proposed dismissal are substantial’ and to guard against ‘abuse of prosecutorial discretion,’” the judge said.
The Epoch Times has reached out to the DOJ for comment.
In a 2022 press release, the DOJ under the Biden administration described the Oath Keepers as “a large but loosely organized collection of individuals, some of whom are associated with militias.” According to the department, the group accepts anyone as members but focuses on recruiting current and former military, law enforcement, and first-responder personnel.
The defendants were charged with seditious conspiracy and other offenses related to the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol. Rhodes, the founder and leader of the Oath Keepers, was sentenced to 18 years in prison after being convicted of seditious conspiracy and other charges.
After taking office for a second term in January 2025, President Donald Trump granted full pardons to about 1,500 people charged in connection with the Jan. 6 breach. Trump told Time Magazine in December 2024 that he believed the defendants had already served their punishment.
“If they were non-violent, I think they’ve been greatly punished,” he told the news outlet. “They’ve suffered greatly, and in many cases, they should not have suffered.”
Trump, however, stopped short of pardoning 14 members of the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys. He instead commuted their sentences, leaving their convictions still standing.
The DOJ filed a motion last month asking an appeals court to throw out the convictions of unpardoned defendants, saying that dismissal of the criminal case was “in the interests of justice.”
Janice Hisle contributed to this report.
