American Oversight Sues Trump Administration Over Records on January 6, Pardons, Efforts to Undermine Accountability

Monday, on the eve of the fifth anniversary of the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and attempted insurrection to overturn the results of the 2020 election, we filed suit against the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) after the agencies failed to produce records shedding light on senior officials’ communications about the attack; efforts to undermine certification of the 2020 election; and attempts to erase consequences, including through pardons, for those involved. The suit seeks emails and text messages that are critical to understanding how the federal government has investigated — and attempted to revise and whitewash — one of the gravest assaults on American democracy in the nation’s history.

“Five years after January 6, the public is still being denied basic transparency into how the Trump administration has handled the aftermath of the president’s violent attack on our democracy,” said Chioma Chukwu, executive director of American Oversight. “That secrecy is dangerous.  It may be hiding efforts to turn our justice system into a tool for personal and political payback — using pardons to protect allies who are committed to undermining future elections and settling scores. Secrecy erodes accountability, and ignoring unlawful conduct weakens the very safeguards that protect free and fair elections. Ensuring access to these records is a necessary step toward restoring trust, confronting the truth, and preventing future abuses.”

In the years since January 6, we have documented a troubling normalization of election subversion — from denial of legitimate results to systematic efforts to reshape the machinery of democracy, including politicized election oversight, misuse of voter data, and voter registration purges that risk excluding eligible voters. That erosion of accountability has persisted even as former Special Counsel Jack Smith testified under oath that his investigation uncovered “proof beyond a reasonable doubt” of President Trump’s unlawful efforts to overturn the 2020 election. At the same time, the administration has pardoned individuals involved in the January 6 attack — including some who have since gone on to commit additional, at times violent, crimes — raising serious questions about whether consequences are being erased and risks to public safety are being ignored. As accountability for the attack has been distorted and undermined, transparency into how senior officials are handling January 6 and its aftermath has become even more urgent.

We submitted multiple Freedom of Information Act requests seeking communications from senior DOJ and FBI officials regarding January 6, election certification, and the pardons and commutations for those convicted of offenses related to the attack. Despite acknowledging receipt of the requests, the agencies have failed to produce any records, prompting today’s lawsuit. Our complaint asks the court to order the DOJ and the FBI to conduct appropriate searches, release all non-exempt records, and comply with their legal obligations under FOIA.