A group of Democratic senators is asking the Justice Department to help prevent convicted U.S. Capitol rioters from being reimbursed by taxpayers for court-ordered fines.
Federal judges ordered hundreds of rioters to pay restitution to offset the estimated $3 million in damages and cleanup costs from the 2021 attack. Only 15% of the costs had been reimbursed by Jan. 6 defendants as of summer 2024, according to a review by CBS News. But hours after returning to office, President Trump pardoned everybody convicted as part of the riot.
In a letter dated Monday and obtained by CBS News, the top Democrats on the Senate Rules and Senate Judiciary committees asked the Justice Department to oppose efforts to seek repayments by those convicted in the Jan. 6, 2021, riots.
"These criminals are apparently demanding taxpayer compensation, not only to refund court-ordered restitution to cover damages they caused to the Capitol Building, but also to compensate them for having to face legal consequences for their actions," the letter reads.
A CBS News review of court filings by some of the more than 1,500 pardoned Capitol riot defendants shows a growing number of formal requests to have federal courts order reimbursements.
In a request submitted to a D.C. federal judge on Monday, riot defendant Richard Barnett cited Mr. Trump's pardon and Barnett's appeal of his conviction as part of a justification for the reimbursement of $2,455 in restitution and court assessment payments. Barnett's argument, in part, cited prior cases of pardon defendants.
It said the Justice Department's decision in February to vacate his case "wipes the slate clean, and restores to the defendant both the presumption of innocence and the right to be paid money based on a now vacated conviction."
Barnett was found guilty by a Washington, D.C., grand jury in 2023, after prosecutors successfully argued he was on the front lines of the mob and was photographed with his feet on a desk in the office of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat.
Last month, U.S. District Judge John Bates ordered the reimbursement of restitution payments to Jan. 6 defendant Yvonne St. Cyr, who was found guilty of obstructing law enforcement and other offenses as part of the Capitol riot.
Bates directed the U.S. Treasury to pay the defendant back $2,270. The judge noted that St. Cyr was in the process of appealing her case when Mr. Trump returned to office, and an appellate court moved to vacate her conviction because she received a pardon from the president, so in "the eyes of the law, no conviction ever existed."
Bates' 15-page order opened , "Sometimes a judge is called upon to do what the law requires, even if it may seem at odds with what justice or one's initial instincts might warrant. This is one such occasion."
According to court filings reviewed by CBS News, the Justice Department supported St. Cyr's request for repayment. A filing submitted by U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro in August said the conviction "was 'invalidated' when the D.C. Circuit vacated it."
But in a separate case, U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss denied a refund request by convicted Capitol riot participant Hector Vargas Santos. The Justice Department had supported his request .
The Democratic senators' letter to the Justice Department, led by Sen. Alex Padilla of California, who is the vice chair of the Senate Rules Committee, said the efforts for repayments are part of a broader effort to rewrite the history of the Capitol insurrection. The letter called it "an attempt to rewrite history and paint themselves as sympathetic victims."
"Misusing taxpayer funds to financially reward those insurrectionists because they were prosecuted and convicted for their violent and destructive acts is unthinkable," the letter reads.
The Justice Department confirmed to CBS News that it received the letter but did not comment.
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一群民主党参议员正要求司法部协助，阻止被判有罪的美国国会大厦骚乱者通过纳税人资金报销法院判处的罚款。
联邦法官下令数百名暴乱者支付赔偿金，以弥补2021年袭击事件造成的约300万美元损失及清理费用。根据哥伦比亚广播公司新闻的审查，截至2024年夏季，1月6日事件的被告仅偿还了15%的费用。但特朗普总统在重返办公室数小时后，便赦免了所有因该暴乱被定罪的人员。
哥伦比亚广播公司新闻获取的一封标注日期为周一的信件显示，参议院规则委员会和参议院司法委员会的民主党高层要求司法部反对向2021年1月6日国会骚乱案定罪者追讨赔偿金的举措。
信中写道："这些罪犯显然在要求纳税人补偿，不仅要退还法院判令的赔偿金以弥补他们对国会大厦造成的破坏，还要求为他们因自身行为面临法律后果而获得补偿。"
哥伦比亚广播公司新闻查阅了1500多名获赦国会骚乱被告的部分法庭文件，发现要求联邦法院下令赔偿的正式请求正日益增多。
周一，骚乱案被告理查德·巴尼特向华盛顿特区联邦法官提交申请，以特朗普总统的特赦令及自己对定罪的上诉为由，要求退还2455美元的赔偿金和法庭评估费。巴尼特在论证中部分援引了既往特赦被告的案例。
声明指出，司法部于二月撤销其案件的决定"彻底清除了过往记录，不仅恢复了被告的无罪推定权，还使其有权获得基于已撤销定罪的经济赔偿。"
2023年，华盛顿特区大陪审团裁定巴尼特（Barnett）有罪。检方成功举证称，他身处暴乱队伍的最前列，并被拍到将双脚搁在时任众议院议长、加利福尼亚州民主党人南希·佩洛西（Nancy Pelosi）办公室的办公桌上。
上月，美国地区法官约翰·贝茨下令向1月6日国会大厦骚乱案被告伊冯娜·圣西尔退还赔偿金。圣西尔此前因妨碍执法及其他相关罪名被定罪。
贝茨法官指示美国财政部向被告退还2270美元。法官指出，当特朗普重新上任时，圣西尔正在对案件提出上诉。由于她获得了总统的特赦，上诉法院随即撤销了她的定罪，因此"从法律角度来看，这一定罪从未存在过"。
贝茨法官长达15页的裁决书开篇写道："有时法官必须依法行事，即便这看似与正义或直觉判断相悖。此刻正是如此情形。"
根据哥伦比亚广播公司新闻查阅的法庭文件，司法部支持圣西尔（St. Cyr）的赔偿请求。华盛顿特区联邦检察官珍妮·皮罗（Jeanine Pirro）于8月提交的文件称，当华盛顿特区巡回法院撤销该定罪时，该判决即被视为"无效"。
但在另一起案件中，美国地区法官兰道夫·莫斯驳回了国会大厦骚乱案定罪参与者赫克托·巴尔加斯·桑托斯提出的退款请求，而司法部此前曾支持其诉求。
由加州民主党参议员、参议院规则委员会副主席亚历克斯·帕迪利亚牵头，多名民主党参议员致信司法部，指出要求赔偿的举动是企图篡改国会大厦暴乱历史的一部分。信中称此举"意在改写历史，将自己塑造成值得同情的受害者"。
信中写道："滥用纳税人资金来经济补偿那些因暴力破坏行为被起诉定罪的叛乱者，简直匪夷所思。"
美国司法部向哥伦比亚广播公司新闻频道证实已收到信函，但未作进一步评论。
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