Justice Department deletes press releases on charges against Jan. 6 rioters

Justice DepartmentJustice Department deletes press releases on charges against Jan. 6 riotersThe Justice Department confirmed that it had deleted the press releases as part of “stripping DOJ’s website of partisan propaganda.”Listen to this article with a free account00:0000:00A review by NBC News found the vast majority of news releases pertaining to Jan. 6 defendants have been removed from the DOJ website. Tayfun Coskun / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images fileShareAdd NBC News to GoogleMay 22, 2026, 11:13 PM EDTBy Ryan J. Reilly and Kyla GuilfoilThe Justice Department has removed press releases detailing the charges against hundreds of individuals who participated in the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot from its website, the department confirmed Friday. Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.“Nothing ‘quiet’ about it,” the DOJ Rapid Response X account said in a post replying to allegations that the Justice Department had deleted press releases related to Jan. 6. “We are proud to reverse the DOJ’s weaponization under the Biden administration,” the post continued. “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.” A review by NBC News found that the vast majority of press releases pertaining to Jan. 6 defendants have been removed from the DOJ website as of Friday evening.The move to wipe hundreds of press releases from the official government site is the latest attempt by the Trump administration to reframe the Jan. 6 siege and to paint the rioters who participated in it as victims. On his first day back in office, President Donald Trump mass pardoned the rioters. Soon after, Justice Department officials and FBI agents who were a part of the Jan. 6 investigation and prosecutions were fired. And this week, the Justice Department announced a $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund aimed to compensate those wh...