Senate Democrats Urge Justice Department To Reject Payouts For January 6 Rioters

Senate Democrats Urge Justice Department To Reject Payouts For January 6 Rioters

Ahead of Todd Blanche's nomination hearing, Durbin, Padilla, Klobuchar, and Whitehouse lead colleagues in demanding answers to previous letters urging DOJ to abandon any efforts to refund or financially reward convicted January 6 insurrectionists

WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee; U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA), Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration; and U.S. Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) led fourteen of their colleagues in urging the Department of Justice (DOJ) to halt any efforts to compensate January 6 rioters and commit to defending taxpayers in any January 6-related lawsuits.

In their letter to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, the Senators expressed concern over the DOJ's ongoing efforts to reimburse January 6 insurrectionists with taxpayer funds and the reported 600 January 6-related claims filed under the Federal Tort Claims Act(FTCA). The Senators' fourth letter to the DOJ comes after Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward agreed with Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) in a now-deleted social media post that the DOJ should create a weaponization fund based on the FTCA. This letter comes ahead of Blanche's confirmation hearing for Attorney General, scheduled for July 15.

The Senators highlighted that since sending their three unanswered letters, the DOJ announced the $1.8 billion slush fund that was intended to pay out alleged victims of DOJ "weaponization," including January 6 insurrectionists. Following bipartisan backlash and a temporary injunction by a federal court, the DOJ disavowed the slush fund and stated they would not move forward with it.

"Although a federal judge has enjoined the slush fund, there are other plans to undermine the American justice system to pay out January 6 rioters, including those convicted of assaulting law enforcement officers," wrote the Senators. "According to reporting, approximately 600 January 6 rioters have filed claims under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), expecting to receive millions of dollars in compensation for alleged injuries they sustained because they were prosecuted for crimes they committed during the attack on the Capitol. Tellingly, one lawyer representing January 6 rioters expressed concern that the $1.8 billion slush fund would result in smaller per-person settlements than settling his clients' FTCA claims out of the Judgment Fund. Another group of plaintiffs bringing FTCA claims, including a member of the Proud Boys who was charged with assault, has filed a class action in federal court, seeking more than $18 million."

The Senators raised concerns over the DOJ's apparent failure to reject these FTCA claims and over additional lawsuits filed by January 6 insurrectionists against the federal government. The Senators reiterated previously raised questions that had gone unanswered by former Attorney General Pam Bondi, requesting information about any FTCA claims related to the January 6 attack and whether the DOJ had addressed those claims.

"The Department of Justice must end this corrupt money grab by publicly committing that it will not pursue any other such compensation fund and that it will vigorously defend taxpayers in any January 6-related lawsuits," concluded the Senators."We request a written response to this letter making these commitments and responding to our questions by no later than July 14, 2026."

In addition to Durbin, Padilla, Klobuchar, and Whitehouse, the letter was signed by Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Chris Coons (D-DE), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Angus King (I-ME), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Gary Peters (D-MI), Adam Schiff (D-CA), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and Peter Welch (D-VT).

Full text of the letter is available here.

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