Justice Department moves to dismiss Proud Boys and Oath Keepers’ seditious conspiracy convictions | CNN Politics

The Justice Department moved to dismiss the seditious conspiracy convictions of Proud Boys and Oath Keepers members Tuesday, undoing one of the Biden administration’s most celebrated victories against those who it said inspired the January 6, 2021, attack on American democracy. If a judge approves the dismissals, it would erase the most serious convictions from the sprawling investigation of the US Capitol riot, one of the largest federal investigations in US history. President Donald Trump has long lambasted the January 6 prosecutions as an injustice against his supporters, even referring to those in jail as “hostages.” On his first day in office, Trump issued pardons to over 1,000 people convicted in the attack — every defendant except for 14 people, each of whom had their sentences commuted. One of those people was pardoned in March 2025; a second had his conviction dismissed this year, according to a source familiar; and the department now says the remaining 12 — eight members and associates of the Oath Keepers and four from the Proud Boys — should have their convictions dismissed. Dismissing the convictions would also be a major blow to the Biden Justice Department