CREW files records lawsuit on FTCA claims, including from Jan 6ers

The federal government must respond to CREW’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests seeking records about Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) claims filed by individuals who received a pardon or commutation from President Donald Trump, including January 6 defendants. CREW filed a FOIA lawsuit against the Department of Justice (DOJ), in response to the DOJ’s failure to respond to CREW’s request.

Within hours of his second inauguration, President Trump granted clemency to over 1,500 people who were charged or convicted for their role in the violent January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Since then, hundreds of January 6 defendants have filed FTCA administrative claims with the DOJ, seeking millions of dollars in restitution for alleged wrongdoings related to their prosecution, and at least ten have sued the government for damages. According to Mark McCloskey, an attorney representing many January 6 defendants, most of his clients are seeking “$1 million to $10 million” for their alleged injuries.

Trump has long expressed his interest in compensating January 6 defendants. In May 2026, he attempted to do so by executing a collusive “settlement” in Trump v. IRS that created a slush fund to funnel $1.776 billion in taxpayer dollars from the Treasury Department’s Judgment Fund to purported victims of government “weaponization,” which they otherwise would have had to pursue through pending or future litigation. 

A federal judge has since paused the fund. But January 6 defendants are still seeking to collect monetary damages from the federal government, including through the FTCA process. The Trump administration and attorneys representing January 6 defendants have also continued to assure allies that plans for payouts remain on track. Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward responded to a post from the late-Senator Lindsay Graham about compensating January 6 defendants through the FTCA, writing, “We’re on it,” and Peter Ticktin, an attorney representing more than 400 January 6 defendants, said he was “very optimistic” that the Trump administration would be receptive to his claims.

Trump oversees the DOJ and has appointed its senior leadership, including the individuals charged with reviewing and potentially approving FTCA claims submitted by January 6 defendants. Given Trump’s influence on the DOJ, this calls into question the agency’s ability to impartially evaluate these claims.

In November 2025, CREW submitted a FOIA request to the DOJ’s Civil Division seeking records on the agency’s processing of FTCA claims filed by January 6 defendants. In June 2026, CREW submitted supplemental FOIA requests to the division, as well as the Office of the Associate Attorney General (OASG), seeking records about DOJ communications with January 6 defendants or their representatives. To date, CREW has not received a timely determination from the Civil Division or OASG on its requests.

The court should order the DOJ to process CREW’s FOIA request expeditiously, preserve all records potentially responsive to CREW’s requests and disclose all non-exempt responsive records. The American people deserve transparency into how the DOJ is handling these claims and whether taxpayer dollars could be used to compensate January 6 defendants.