On his first day back in office, January 20, 2025, Donald Trump pardoned everyone convicted over the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol and commuted the sentences of 14 others to time served. This page covers the proclamation, its aftermath and each of the 14 commuted defendants. Last updated October 25, 2026.
How to read this page. A pardon forgives a federal crime; a commutation shortens a sentence but leaves the conviction in place. Grant dates, offenses and sentences come from the Justice Department’s Office of the Pardon Attorney. Descriptions of the cases and of any ties to Mr. Trump come from established news organizations and court records, and are attributed. A donation, friendship or lobbying contract is not proof that a pardon was bought; where someone has made that claim, we name them.
The January 6 pardons
On his first day back in office, January 20, 2025, President Trump signed a proclamation that commuted the sentences of 14 named people to time served and granted “a full, complete and unconditional pardon” to everyone else convicted of offenses related to the Capitol attack. It also directed the attorney general to seek dismissal of all pending Jan. 6 indictments. The 14 people whose sentences were commuted, among them Stewart Rhodes and Ethan Nordean, included leaders of the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys convicted of seditious conspiracy, the Associated Press reported.
The AP described the clemency as covering about 1,500 people charged in the attack, which left more than 100 police officers injured. More than 1,200 people had been convicted, including about 250 for assault. Many Republican senators said they disagreed with the blanket pardons but did not push back, the AP reported; Sen. Thom Tillis cited an “honest disagreement” over pardoning violent offenders, while Sen. Cynthia Lummis said she was “so glad those people are out of jail.” The president of the Cincinnati-area Fraternal Order of Police, which had backed Trump, told WXIX FOX19 it was “very frustrating” to see people convicted of assaulting officers pardoned.
Some recipients have since faced new charges. In October 2025 a man whose Jan. 6 convictions were erased was charged in New York with threatening to kill House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the AP reported; he is presumed innocent. In an August 2026 staff report, House Judiciary Committee Democrats claimed that at least 97 pardoned January 6 defendants had been arrested for or convicted of other crimes. That partisan tally counts some offenses committed before the pardons and has not been independently verified.
In May 2026 the Justice Department created a $1.8 billion “Anti-Weaponization Fund” as part of settling Mr. Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS. Vice President JD Vance would not rule out that people convicted of attacking police on January 6 could be paid from it, CNN reported. After legal challenges, and with his own nomination as attorney general held up over the fund, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche formally rescinded it in August 2026, NPR reported.
Sources (8)
- The White House (proclamation), Jan 20, 2025
- Associated Press (via PBS NewsHour), Jan 20, 2025
- Associated Press (via PBS NewsHour), Jan 21, 2025
- WXIX FOX19 (Cincinnati), Jan 22, 2025
- Associated Press (via PBS NewsHour), Oct 21, 2025
- House Judiciary Committee Democrats (staff report), Aug 17, 2026
- CNN, May 20, 2026
- NPR, Aug 3, 2026
The 14 commuted sentences
David Moerschel
David Moerschel, an Oath Keepers member, was convicted in January 2023 of seditious conspiracy and obstruction over Jan. 6; NBC News reported his lawyer said he and others were “swept up” by Stop the Steal claims. President Trump’s Jan. 20, 2025 proclamation commuted the sentence to time served and left the conviction in place. CBS News reported the Justice Department later moved to vacate 12 of the 14 commuted convictions.
January 6
Since then: In April 2026 the Justice Department asked appeals courts to vacate the convictions of 12 of the 14 commuted defendants, all but Caldwell and Bertino, CBS News reported; no ruling was found.
Note: Federal case only; no state charges were found in reporting. The Justice Department's April 2026 motions to vacate these convictions had no reported ruling in the sources reviewed.
Record and sources
- Commutation, Jan 20, 2025. District of Columbia. Offense: January 6, 2021 Capitol offenses (commuted to time served by proclamation) (proclamation)
Dominic Pezzola
Dominic Pezzola, a Marine Corps veteran and Proud Boys member, was convicted of obstruction, destruction of government property and other felonies for his part in the Jan. 6 breach and sentenced to 10 years, CBS News reported; a jury acquitted him of seditious conspiracy. President Trump commuted the sentence to time served on Jan. 20, 2025.
January 6Police or military
Since then: CBS News reported in April 2026 that the Justice Department asked appeals courts to vacate his conviction.
Note: Federal case only; no state charges were found in reporting. The Justice Department's April 2026 motions to vacate these convictions had no reported ruling in the sources reviewed.
Record and sources
- Commutation, Jan 20, 2025. District of Columbia. Offense: January 6, 2021 Capitol offenses (commuted to time served by proclamation) (proclamation)
Edward Vallejo
Edward Vallejo, an Oath Keepers member, was convicted in January 2023 of seditious conspiracy and obstruction over Jan. 6; prosecutors said he was staged at a Virginia hotel with rifles, NBC News reported. President Trump’s Jan. 20, 2025 proclamation commuted the sentence to time served and left the conviction in place. CBS News reported the Justice Department later moved to vacate 12 of the 14 commuted convictions.
January 6
Since then: In April 2026 the Justice Department asked appeals courts to vacate the convictions of 12 of the 14 commuted defendants, all but Caldwell and Bertino, CBS News reported; no ruling was found.
Note: Federal case only; no state charges were found in reporting. The Justice Department's April 2026 motions to vacate these convictions had no reported ruling in the sources reviewed.
Record and sources
- Commutation, Jan 20, 2025. District of Columbia. Offense: January 6, 2021 Capitol offenses (commuted to time served by proclamation) (proclamation)
Ethan Nordean
Proud Boys leader sentenced to 18 years for seditious conspiracy in the Jan. 6 Capitol attack
Ethan Nordean was one of the leaders of the far-right Proud Boys. A Washington jury convicted him in 2023 of seditious conspiracy and other crimes connected to the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. CBS News reported that his 18-year sentence tied the longest given in any Jan. 6 case. The Justice Department said he and a co-defendant “participated in every consequential breach at the Capitol.” In court, Nordean apologized and said people had been seriously hurt.
On January 20, 2025, Trump’s proclamation commuted his sentence to time served. That freed him but left his conviction in place. In April 2026 the Justice Department asked appeals courts to vacate the convictions of Nordean and other Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, CBS News reported. Greg Rosen, the former head of the department’s Capitol Siege Section, criticized the move.
- Offense of record
- Seditious conspiracy to stop the transfer of presidential power on Jan. 6, 2021
- Ties to Trump
- One of 14 Jan. 6 defendants whose sentences Trump commuted rather than pardoned (CBS News).
- Who pushed for it
- Trump-allied lawyer Peter Ticktin said he had worked on behalf of Nordean and others to seek full pardons (CBS News).
- Response
- Former Capitol Siege Section chief Greg Rosen said the 2026 move to vacate the convictions was "a reminder of what drove the pardons in the first place — that political violence is acceptable as long as your politics align" (CBS News). At sentencing, Nordean said "people were seriously hurt and some people lost their lives."
- Since then
- Released January 2025. April 14, 2026: the Justice Department, in filings signed by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, asked federal appeals panels to vacate his conviction with prejudice; defense lawyers did not oppose (CBS News). No ruling was reported as of that coverage.
Note: Whether the appeals courts granted the 2026 request to vacate his conviction was not verified for this profile.
Clemency record and sources (3)
- Commutation, Jan 20, 2025. District of Columbia. Offense: January 6, 2021 Capitol offenses (commuted to time served by proclamation) (proclamation)
- CBS News, Sep 1, 2023
Nordean apologized for his actions in court Friday, noting that "people were seriously hurt and some people lost their lives."
- White House, Jan 20, 2025
commute the sentences of the following individuals convicted of offenses related to events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, to time served as of January 20, 2025
- CBS News, Apr 14, 2026
Those include Ethan Nordean, one of the far-right group's leaders, who was sentenced to 18 years in prison after being convicted of seditious conspiracy alongside Joseph Biggs and Zachary Rehl.
Jeremy Bertino
Jeremy Bertino, a top lieutenant to Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio, pleaded guilty in October 2022 to seditious conspiracy and a firearms charge and cooperated with the Justice Department, CNN reported; he was not alleged to have been in Washington on Jan. 6. His sentence was commuted on Jan. 20, 2025.
January 6
Since then: CBS News reported in April 2026 that the Justice Department's motions to vacate convictions did not initially include this defendant.
Note: Federal case only. Sentence details were not found in the sources reviewed.
Record and sources
- Commutation, Jan 20, 2025. District of Columbia. Offense: January 6, 2021 Capitol offenses (commuted to time served by proclamation) (proclamation)
Jessica Watkins
Jessica Watkins, an Oath Keepers member, was acquitted of seditious conspiracy but convicted of obstruction and civil disorder over Jan. 6; NBC News reported she admitted on the stand that she helped push against officers. President Trump’s Jan. 20, 2025 proclamation commuted the sentence to time served and left the conviction in place. CBS News reported the Justice Department later moved to vacate 12 of the 14 commuted convictions.
January 6
Since then: In April 2026 the Justice Department asked appeals courts to vacate the convictions of 12 of the 14 commuted defendants, all but Caldwell and Bertino, CBS News reported; no ruling was found.
Note: Federal case only; no state charges were found in reporting. The Justice Department's April 2026 motions to vacate these convictions had no reported ruling in the sources reviewed.
Record and sources
- Commutation, Jan 20, 2025. District of Columbia. Offense: January 6, 2021 Capitol offenses (commuted to time served by proclamation) (proclamation)
Joseph Biggs
Florida Proud Boys leader sentenced to 17 years for seditious conspiracy in the Jan. 6 attack
Joseph Biggs, a Proud Boys organizer from Florida, was convicted by a Washington jury of seditious conspiracy and other charges. CNN reported that the jury found he tried to forcibly stop the transfer of power from Trump to Joe Biden. In August 2023 Judge Timothy Kelly sentenced him to 17 years, applying a terrorism enhancement. Prosecutors had sought 33 years. USA Today reported that this was the second-longest Jan. 6 sentence at the time. Biggs told the court, “I am not a terrorist.”
On January 20, 2025, Trump commuted his sentence to time served, one of 14 commutations among the Jan. 6 grants, the Daytona Beach News-Journal reported. In April 2026 the Justice Department asked appeals courts to vacate the Proud Boys leaders’ convictions, CBS News reported. A lawyer who had sought pardons for Biggs and others welcomed the move.
- Offense of record
- Seditious conspiracy to stop the transfer of presidential power on Jan. 6, 2021
- Ties to Trump
- One of 14 Jan. 6 defendants whose sentences Trump commuted rather than pardoned (Daytona Beach News-Journal, CBS News).
- Who pushed for it
- Trump-allied lawyer Peter Ticktin said he had worked on behalf of Biggs, Nordean and others to seek full pardons (CBS News).
- Response
- At sentencing Biggs said, "I know that I messed up that day, but I am not a terrorist" (CNN). Judge Kelly ruled his crimes should be treated as terrorism (USA Today). Ticktin said in 2026 that "those who were pardoned… were patriots," while former Capitol Siege Section chief Greg Rosen criticized the move to vacate the convictions (CBS News).
- Since then
- Released January 20, 2025. April 14, 2026: the Justice Department asked appeals courts to vacate the Proud Boys' seditious conspiracy convictions with prejudice (CBS News). No ruling was reported as of that coverage.
Note: Whether the appeals courts granted the 2026 request to vacate his conviction was not verified for this profile.
Clemency record and sources (4)
- Commutation, Jan 20, 2025. District of Columbia. Offense: January 6, 2021 Capitol offenses (commuted to time served by proclamation) (proclamation)
- CNN, Aug 31, 2023
Joe Biggs was convicted by a Washington, DC jury of several charges including seditious conspiracy for attempting to forcibly prevent the peaceful transfer of power from then-President Donald Trump to Joe Biden after the 2020 election.
- USA Today, Aug 31, 2023
District Judge Timothy Kelly ruled Biggs' crimes should be recognized as terrorism for trying to influence the government.
- Daytona Beach News-Journal, Jan 21, 2025
President Trump pardoned about 1,500 charged in the Capitol attack and commuted the sentences of 14, including Biggs.
- CBS News, Apr 14, 2026
Ticktin told CBS News last year he had been working on behalf of Rhodes, as well as Biggs, Nordean, Rehl and Pezzola.
Joseph Hackett
Joseph Hackett, an Oath Keepers member, was convicted in January 2023 of seditious conspiracy and obstruction over Jan. 6; prosecutors said he led a group into the Capitol, NBC News reported. President Trump’s Jan. 20, 2025 proclamation commuted the sentence to time served and left the conviction in place. CBS News reported the Justice Department later moved to vacate 12 of the 14 commuted convictions.
January 6
Since then: In April 2026 the Justice Department asked appeals courts to vacate the convictions of 12 of the 14 commuted defendants, all but Caldwell and Bertino, CBS News reported; no ruling was found.
Note: Federal case only; no state charges were found in reporting. The Justice Department's April 2026 motions to vacate these convictions had no reported ruling in the sources reviewed.
Record and sources
- Commutation, Jan 20, 2025. District of Columbia. Offense: January 6, 2021 Capitol offenses (commuted to time served by proclamation) (proclamation)
Kelly Meggs
Kelly Meggs led the Oath Keepers’ Florida chapter and was convicted of seditious conspiracy in November 2022 over the January 6 Capitol attack, NBC News reported. President Trump’s Jan. 20, 2025 proclamation commuted the sentence to time served and left the conviction in place. CBS News reported the Justice Department later moved to vacate 12 of the 14 commuted convictions.
January 6
Since then: In April 2026 the Justice Department asked appeals courts to vacate the convictions of 12 of the 14 commuted defendants, all but Caldwell and Bertino, CBS News reported; no ruling was found.
Note: Federal case only; no state charges were found in reporting. The Justice Department's April 2026 motions to vacate these convictions had no reported ruling in the sources reviewed.
Record and sources
- Commutation, Jan 20, 2025. District of Columbia. Offense: January 6, 2021 Capitol offenses (commuted to time served by proclamation) (proclamation)
Kenneth Harrelson
Kenneth Harrelson, an Oath Keepers member, was acquitted of seditious conspiracy but convicted of other felonies over Jan. 6, including conspiracy to prevent officers from doing their duties, NBC News reported. President Trump’s Jan. 20, 2025 proclamation commuted the sentence to time served and left the conviction in place. CBS News reported the Justice Department later moved to vacate 12 of the 14 commuted convictions.
January 6
Since then: In April 2026 the Justice Department asked appeals courts to vacate the convictions of 12 of the 14 commuted defendants, all but Caldwell and Bertino, CBS News reported; no ruling was found.
Note: Federal case only; no state charges were found in reporting. The Justice Department's April 2026 motions to vacate these convictions had no reported ruling in the sources reviewed.
Record and sources
- Commutation, Jan 20, 2025. District of Columbia. Offense: January 6, 2021 Capitol offenses (commuted to time served by proclamation) (proclamation)
Roberto Minuta
Roberto Minuta, an Oath Keepers member, was convicted in January 2023 of seditious conspiracy and obstruction over Jan. 6; prosecutors said he led a group into the Capitol, NBC News reported. President Trump’s Jan. 20, 2025 proclamation commuted the sentence to time served and left the conviction in place. CBS News reported the Justice Department later moved to vacate 12 of the 14 commuted convictions.
January 6
Since then: In April 2026 the Justice Department asked appeals courts to vacate the convictions of 12 of the 14 commuted defendants, all but Caldwell and Bertino, CBS News reported; no ruling was found.
Note: Federal case only; no state charges were found in reporting. The Justice Department's April 2026 motions to vacate these convictions had no reported ruling in the sources reviewed.
Record and sources
- Commutation, Jan 20, 2025. District of Columbia. Offense: January 6, 2021 Capitol offenses (commuted to time served by proclamation) (proclamation)
Stewart Rhodes
Founder of the far-right Oath Keepers group, convicted of seditious conspiracy over Jan. 6
Rhodes founded the Oath Keepers. A federal jury convicted him of seditious conspiracy over the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. The Associated Press reported that he was found guilty of orchestrating a weekslong plot to keep Trump in power, though he did not enter the building himself. He was serving 18 years, the second-longest Jan. 6 sentence, USA Today reported.
On his first day back in office, Trump commuted Rhodes’s sentence to time served rather than pardoning him. Rhodes was freed and went to Capitol Hill days later. Judge Amit Mehta then barred him from Washington without court permission. Mehta lifted that order on Jan. 27, 2025, after the new U.S. attorney, Ed Martin, argued the commutation ended court supervision, NPR reported. Rhodes told CNN he had no regrets.
- Offense of record
- Plotted to keep Trump in power by force after the 2020 election
- Ties to Trump
- Commuted under Trump's Jan. 20, 2025, proclamation covering Jan. 6 defendants; the AP said Rhodes's plot aimed to keep Trump in power after his 2020 loss.
- Response
- Rhodes defended his actions on Capitol Hill, saying "My guys blundered through doors" (AP). He told CNN he had no regrets. Trump said the Jan. 6 defendants had "already served years in prison" (AP). Judge Mehta, NPR reported, has called Rhodes a threat to the country and to democracy.
- Since then
- Released Jan. 21, 2025, and visited the Capitol on Jan. 22. Judge Mehta barred him from D.C. on Jan. 24, then lifted the order on Jan. 27, 2025, after the Justice Department said the commutation ended his supervision (NPR).
Note: Rhodes received a commutation, not a pardon: his conviction stands.
Clemency record and sources (4)
- Commutation, Jan 20, 2025. District of Columbia. Offense: January 6, 2021 Capitol offenses (commuted to time served by proclamation) (proclamation)
- Associated Press (via PBS), Jan 24, 2025
A federal judge on Friday barred Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes from entering Washington, D.C., without the court's approval after President Donald Trump commuted the far-right extremist group leader's 18-year prison sentence for orchestrating an attack on the U.S. Capitol four years ago.
- NPR, Jan 27, 2025
Rhodes was immediately released from prison upon receiving his commutation, and soon turned up at the U.S.
- USA Today, Jan 21, 2025
That included Stewart Rhodes , the former leader of the Oath Keepers militia, who had received the second-longest sentence of 18 years for his role in the riot.
- CNN, Jan 24, 2025
He told CNN that he had no regrets about his actions that led to his prosecution under the Biden Justice Department.
Thomas Edward Caldwell
Thomas Caldwell was on Capitol grounds on Jan. 6 but did not go inside, NBC News reported; a jury acquitted him of seditious conspiracy but convicted him of obstruction and tampering. His sentence was commuted on Jan. 20, 2025 and, per CBS News, he was separately pardoned in March 2025.
January 6
Since then: CBS News reported that Caldwell was separately pardoned in March 2025, and that he was not in the Justice Department's April 2026 batch of motions to vacate convictions.
Note: Federal case only. Roster also records a March 20, 2025 pardon for the tampering count.
Record and sources
- Commutation, Jan 20, 2025. District of Columbia. Offense: January 6, 2021 Capitol offenses (commuted to time served by proclamation) (proclamation)
- Pardon, Mar 20, 2025. District of Columbia. Offense: Tampering with documents or proceedings. Sentence: Time served (January 10, 2025) (warrant, DOJ record)
Zachary Rehl
Zachary Rehl of Philadelphia, a Proud Boys member, was convicted of seditious conspiracy and other charges over Jan. 6 and sentenced to 15 years, USA Today reported. President Trump’s Jan. 20, 2025 proclamation commuted the sentence to time served, leaving the conviction. CBS News reported the Justice Department later moved to vacate it.
January 6
Since then: In April 2026 the Justice Department asked appeals courts to vacate the convictions of 12 of the 14 commuted defendants, all but Caldwell and Bertino, CBS News reported; no ruling was found.
Note: Federal case only; no state charges were found in reporting. The Justice Department's April 2026 motions to vacate these convictions had no reported ruling in the sources reviewed.
Record and sources
- Commutation, Jan 20, 2025. District of Columbia. Offense: January 6, 2021 Capitol offenses (commuted to time served by proclamation) (proclamation)
How we built this
The list of recipients, dates, offenses and sentences comes from the Justice Department’s Office of the Pardon Attorney (first-term pardons, first-term commutations, second-term grants) and the two mass proclamations. Each profile was then researched from established news organizations, court records and Justice Department case announcements; every quoted passage was checked against the source it is attributed to. Where we found no reporting on a private person beyond the clemency list, we say so instead of guessing. Connection tags appear only when a source reports the tie. We correct errors: tell us through the contact page.