Some Jan. 6., 2021, figures pardoned by President Trump bent on retribution

President Donald Trump’s pardons and commutations for nearly 1,600 people after the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol siege sent many hard-right extremists back onto the street. Some of them are looking for retribution.  

Key US attorney is ally to those involved with Capitol siege 

After Trump appointed him as interim U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C., Ed Martin immediately began pardoning people charged in the wake of the events of Jan. 6, 2021, based on the president’s executive order to do so.  

As of March, about 1,600 Americans have been pardoned. Martin followed up the pardons by ordering the end to any supervised release for 14 people who had commuted sentences, including Stewart Rhodes of the Oath Keepers and Enrique Tarrio of the Proud Boys, both of whom were serving prison sentences for seditious conspiracy.  

Some of those who had been pardoned wasted no time spreading their desire for revenge through extremist outlets. Less than 48 hours after Tarrio’s release, he was interviewed by conspiracy propagandist Alex Jones and called for the incarceration of Merrick Garland, who served as attorney general under former President Joe Biden’s administration. On X, Tarrio called for the arrest of an FBI investigator and offered to help fellow Proud Boys target other investigators by sharing their information on his X account.  

Martin called for the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to drop charges against a Jan. 6 defendant affiliated with the Proud Boys, a group for which Martin was still listed as the defense attorney. Legal experts contacted by Reuters about a conflict of interest said Martin “likely violated a swath of ethics rules.” According to The Hill, Martin was listed as the defense attorney for at least three people charged in connection with the events of Jan. 6, 2021. 

Martin’s work assisting those involved with Jan. 6 events goes beyond just representing and pardoning them. He was at the Capitol on Jan. 6, tweeting: “Like Mardi Gras in DC today: love, faith and joy. Ignore #FakeNews.” He served on the board of directors for the Patriot Freedom Project, according to 2023 tax records and the group’s website as of February. The group claims to raise “funds to provide financial assistance and other forms of relief to those arrested and their families, known as the J6 families”; some of the families of those pardoned and some congressional Democrats, however, have raised concerns over how its finances are handled.  

Martin came to the Trump administration with a checkered political history. He got his start in Missouri politics as the chief of staff for then-Gov. Matt Blunt. In 2007, Martin resigned following a controversy over the deletion of emails within the administration. He shifted to electoral politics, running failed campaigns as a candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives in 2010 and for Missouri attorney general in 2012. He was elected chair of the Missouri Republican Party in 2013. Martin also became very close with Phyllis Schlafly, the late founder of the Eagle Forum and a member of the John Birch Society. He became part of a bitter struggle for control of Eagle Forum, which he won despite accusations from some of Schlafly’s longtime friends that he took advantage of her. He was also briefly a CNN contributor. 

Trump nominated Martin to permanently fill the U.S. attorney position in February. Some in Congress called for investigations, alleging Martin had breached legal ethics and illegally infringed on the First Amendment rights of groups he perceived to be political enemies of the Trump administration. In early April, U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff placed a hold on the nomination, which could slow or stall consideration of Martin for days or weeks.

Ivan Raiklin, self-described ‘secretary of retribution’ 

Ivan Raiklin, a U.S. Army veteran and election denier who calls himself the Trump administration’s “secretary of retribution,” met with both Rhodes and Tarrio within hours of their release. Rhodes and Tarrio were originally sentenced to 18 and 22 years in prison, respectively, for seditious conspiracy. According to a post by Raiklin on X, he visited Tarrio at least once while he was incarcerated. 

On Jan. 21, Raiklin attended a vigil outside the Washington, D.C., jail for people charged after the events of Jan. 6, 2021. When Rhodes took questions from the media, Raiklin congratulated Rhodes on his freedom before the two hugged and began answering media questions.   

Raiklin is a former Green Beret, election denier and anti-vaxxer who has flirted with QAnon and made his way onto TV by claiming the U.S. military is “woke.” He took part in the Take Our Border Back Convoy and holds close ties to conspiracy propagandist Michael Flynn.  

Raiklin has developed a “deep state target list” that includes more than 300 lawmakers, members of the media, people in law enforcement (including the FBI and U.S. Capitol Police), and their families. He suggests a livestreamed arrest of those on his target list and their imprisonment for alleged crimes. Those on his list include former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell and former Vice President Mike Pence. 

Raiklin has also courted so-called constitutional sheriffs for his retribution cause. In April 2024, he attended the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association (CSPOA) Convention in Las Vegas. During a press conference, he asked the speakers, including former Sheriff Richard Mack and Michigan Sheriff Dar Leaf, what was the “maximum level” they would pursue to bring government officials to justice. The question received applause from the audience, and multiple speakers supported using their authority for arrests. Washington Sheriff Bob Songer opined, “It’s a fight that needs to be fought.”  

In the month following Rhodes’ release, he and Raiklin have been close. No longer barred from U.S. Capitol grounds, Rhodes was with Raiklin as they attended the congressional nomination hearings for Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Kash Patel and Tulsi Gabbard. In between hearings, Rhodes, wearing a Trump 2020 hat, had multiple interactions with reporters filmed by Raiklin as they toured the Capitol, amplified bogus claims about the 2020 election, downplayed the insurrection and proclaimed his innocence. Rhodes and Raiklin also met with at least one U.S. House member to lobby for the release of Jeremy Brown, who was pardoned of charges stemming from Jan. 6 and was still imprisoned at the time for a separate weapons conviction. He was eventually released in late February.  

Both the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys played central roles in the events of Jan. 6, 2021. Before that, both groups were known for sparking or participating in hostile incidents in communities around the country. Now, leaders of these two extremist groups have been rewarded for their Jan. 6 actions by the president and are working closely with a hard-right figure laser-focused on retribution.  

An uneven welcome at CPAC 

Not everyone has welcomed those who have been pardoned. Numerous people who received pardons were initially barred from attending the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in February, including Rhodes, Tarrio and Jake Lang. In 2024, Lang attempted to start a national militia from jail while awaiting trial for his actions on Jan. 6, 2021. Most of the pardoned people who were initially barred from CPAC were permitted to enter the event the following day, including Rhodes. At the event, Rhodes told reporters that he wanted to work with “Kash Patel to clean the FBI up” or help Tulsi Gabbard “clean up this corruption in government.” 

However, Lang still didn’t make the cut and was escorted from the convention center twice. Richard Barnett, famous for sitting behind Pelosi’s desk on Jan. 6, 2021, recorded Lang’s removal on day two, commenting on X that their treatment was “worse than we get from the left!!!”   

In a series of livestreams posted to X, Lang railed against the organizers of CPAC, which he labeled “Conservative Inc.” The rift, according to Lang, stems from animosity between his faction of those involved with Jan. 6 and another “run by turncoats that tried to leave some Jan6ers behind.” He said Matt Schlapp, Ben Shapiro and Fox News were part of that rival faction and were “not a part of MAGA.”  

The barring of pardoned people outraged many hard-right extremists, especially since CPAC hosted a panel supporting the insurrection called “The J6 Sham.”  While Lang ranted about his mistreatment as a pardoned person outside the event, the panel’s host, Julie Kelly, thanked CPAC and the Schlapps for giving pardoned people a platform “when no one would touch them.” The short, 20-minute panel included former U.S. Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund, who laid the blame for the siege on Pelosi.   

On day two, looking for an alternative to CPAC, Lang started a livestream on X as he walked to the Capitol to attend a press conference announced by Tarrio, who was later arrested at the same event for allegedly assaulting a counterprotester.  

With the U.S. Capitol in the background, Tarrio announced a planned lawsuit against the DOJ for what he estimated to be $150 million. Rhodes also stated at the event that he was planning his own legal action. In December 2024, Lang announced a planned $50 billion lawsuit he would bring against the DOJ. Speaking at the press conference, Raiklin addressed the “credentialed media” as “little bitches” for how they reported on Jan. 6.    

CPAC’s eventual inclusion of Rhodes and Tarrio, who have both been convicted of seditious conspiracy, means that some conservatives are willing to let people convicted of conspiring to “overthrow, put down, or to destroy by force the Government of the United States,” according to federal statute, into their political fold. 

The inside-outside game for retribution 

The specter of retribution is coming from both inside and outside the federal government, and the network of pardoned people pursuing it are moving rapidly toward their goals.  

As Raiklin continues to make connections with vindictive Jan. 6 attackers, there is a complementary effort to build a DOJ motivated to streamline revenge. Raiklin has said his role is facilitating these connections by coordinating the political will and courage within government to enact revenge, “whether they allow me in their office or not.” The DOJ is seeking to disclose a list of thousands of FBI special agents who participated in Jan. 6 investigations, an effort that FBI employees are currently fighting in court. 

Outside the government, some of the people who were pardoned are seeking retribution against those they think have wronged them in the past by pursuing litigation and talking about doxing their perceived enemies. 

Image at top: Among the network of people pardoned for their Jan. 6, 2021, roles pursuing actions against the government are from left: Ivan Raiklin, Ethan Nordean, Enrique Tarrio, Joe Biggs and Stewart Rhodes. (Credit: SPLC)