Proud Boys leaders sue DOJ over Jan. 6 prosecutions

Five leaders of the Proud Boys convicted of spearheading the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack are accusing the government and FBI employees of violating their constitutional rights, according to a lawsuit filed Friday.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Florida, seeks $100 million in restitution and comes after President Trump pardoned nearly all Jan. 6 defendants on his first day back in the White House.

The five Proud Boys — Enrique Tarrio, Ethan Nordean, Zachary Rehl, Joe Biggs and Dominic Pezzola — stood trial together in 2023, accused of plotting to stop the certification of the 2020 presidential election so Trump could stay in power after he lost the election.

Four of the men were found guilty of seditious conspiracy. Pezzola was acquitted of that charge but convicted of other serious felonies.

Now, they claim the "political prosecution" violated their rights.

"What follows is a parade of horribles: egregious and systemic abuse of the legal system and the United States Constitution to punish and oppress political allies of President Trump, by any and all means necessary, legal, or illegal," the 28-page complaint reads.

The lawsuit could force Trump's Justice Department to defend the sweeping Jan. 6 prosecution undertaken by the DOJ of his predecessor, former President Biden, or pay damages to the right-wing extremist group leaders at the expense of American taxpayers.

Former U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland once described the Jan. 6 probe as one of the “largest, most complex, and most resource-intensive investigations” in the Justice Department’s history.

Its crown jewel was the sedition convictions of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, another right-wing extremist group whose members were found guilty of plotting ahead of the Capitol attack. 

Tarrio was sentenced to 22 years in prison — the longest term of incarceration for any Jan. 6 defendant. But that sentence was wiped away when Trump pardoned him on Jan. 20.

Trump commuted the sentences of 14 other Proud Boys and Oath Keepers. An affiliate of the Oath Keepers whose sentence was commuted, Thomas Caldwell, has since been pardoned. 

The lawsuit cites Trump’s pardon proclamation, which claimed to “end a grave national injustice that has been perpetrated upon the American people over the last four years.” 

Speaking to reporters Friday alongside Stewart Rhodes, founder of the Oath Keepers, Tarrio called on Trump to pardon the remaining Proud Boys and Oath Keepers. The complaint says that Biggs, Nordean, Pezzola and Rehl applied for pardons in May. 

“You’ve seen what the president has said about Jan. 6ers, and I believe that he did the right thing when he pardoned us on day one,” Tarrio said Friday. “And, I think there’s a lot of work to be done.”

Updated at 3:14 p.m. EDT