DOJ official told GOP ally that big payouts were coming for Jan. 6 defendants

Ed Martin has been one of the biggest supporters of the January 6 defendants in the Trump administration. The conservative activist called on “real, die-hard Americans” to work until their “last breath” to “stop the steal” of the 2020 presidential election in a speech at the Capitol on the eve of January 6, 2021.

Martin got to know Trump when he hosted fundraisers for those charged in the Capitol siege on Trump properties. Martin was then named acting federal prosecutor in the District of Columbia, where he oversaw the dismissal of hundreds of Jan. 6 cases and the firing or demotion of dozens of prosecutors who worked on the case.

It was his support for the “J6ers” that cost him the support of Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., who blocked Martin’s confirmation to serve in the role permanently.

He told a conservative podcaster that Tillis asked him if he supported “reparations” for the Jan. 6 rioters. “We should do it, we shouldn’t be afraid,” Martin said in the May 2025 interview. “You’re absolutely right, I want to pay the J6ers. If the government has wronged you, then you should be right. This is America.”

After the fund was announced Monday, Martin praised the decision in an online post.

“To the survivors of political militarization: the lesson of these last days is to never stop fighting. Never withdraw, never disarm and follow the example of President Trump who never stops fighting,” he posted on X.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, testifying Tuesday before the Senate Appropriations Committee, said anyone can apply to receive a payment, although decisions on who or how much they receive will be made by a five-member committee; four chosen by Blanche and one chosen by Blanche in consultation with Congress. Trump can remove anyone he wants. Justice officials have not said whether Martin would be one of them.

Blanche said there is a wide road ahead for anyone who feels victimized by an armed government.

“So whether you’re Hunter Biden, or you’re another person who thought they were a victim of weaponization, they can all apply,” he said, referring to former President Joe Biden’s son who was convicted of gun charges in a case he called politically motivated.

Applying does not mean a guarantee of money, and Blanche insisted that the January 6 rioters were not automatically going to be paid.

“Does that mean they’re going to get money? No,” he said. “It just means they are allowed to apply.”

This is not how the rioters see things.

Thousands of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021, in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent the certification of Biden’s victory. More than 140 police officers were injured in the melee and the damage cost millions of dollars. Five people died, including Jan. 6 rioter Ashli ​​Babbitt, who was shot and killed as she jumped out of a broken window leading to the House Speaker’s Lobby. The Trump administration settled his estate last year.

Vice President JD Vance said Tuesday that requests would be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, possibly including those accused of harming police.

“We’re trying to compensate people who received the book and were mistreated by the justice system,” Vance said.

The president described the rioters as peaceful protesters. During his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump began suggesting he would pardon some of the 1,500 people indicted by the Justice Department in the largest prosecution in the department’s history.

On his first day in office, Trump pardoned the majority, while removing sanctions on a handful of others.

There was already a growing legal effort to obtain civil settlements, but until news of the fund became public, the Justice Department had defended January 6-related lawsuits. It is unclear whether these lawsuits will still be defended.

Maybe it doesn’t matter. Two attorneys who participated in the legal effort and say they represent more than 400 Jan. 6 participants said Tuesday they expected their clients to apply through the fund, rather than pursue litigation.

Martin played a vital role in that effort, they said. Even after being ousted as head of the “arms task force,” Martin maintained his influence within the Trump administration. He is frequently seen at the White House and continues to serve as the U.S. clemency attorney, advising the president on clemency measures.

“Ed is a real trooper for us,” said one of the Jan. 6 attorneys, Mark McCloskey, a St. Louis-based attorney who initiated one of the legal efforts. McCloskey and another lawyer, Peter Ticktin, who attended the New York Military Academy with the president, said they lobbied the White House for payments on behalf of their clients.

In an interview after Monday’s announcement, McCloskey said he was “really excited” about the fund, calling it “very similar” to what they had suggested.

“This is a program that we’ve been pushing for for 13 or 14 months, and I couldn’t be happier that it’s finally coming to fruition,” McCloskey said.

“It was a little shocking to me … with all the other things that were going on, that he would do this now,” McCloskey said. “I thought his mind would be occupied elsewhere, but I’m very glad he paid attention.”

Ticktin, who had criticized Blanche for not acting sooner on behalf of the Jan. 6 defendants, credited Trump with moving the fund forward.

“We are moving in the direction that the president initially wanted to go,” Ticktin said. “For some reason it wasn’t happening at the DOJ under Todd Blanche, and now it’s happening under Todd Blanche, I think because he’s seeking the attorney general job, so now he has to show he can perform.”

Blanche repeatedly denied auditioning for the position, but said it would be an honor to be nominated.

News of the fund, which is expected to be challenged in court, immediately caught the attention of Democrats, who described it as a slush fund for Trump’s allies, and some Republicans.

“I’m not a big fan,” Senate Majority Leader John Thune said Tuesday. “I don’t know exactly how they would use it… But yeah, I don’t see the point of it.”

Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, a national legal group formed in the wake of the 2016 presidential election, said there is no legal authority for this. The group asked Trump administration officials to preserve their internal communications about the decision, a sign of a legal challenge to come.

Unlike a civil trial, where a federal judge rules on claims, evidence is gathered and legal arguments are presented in open court, the Justice Department fund will have no oversight other than that of the commissioners and the Justice Department. There will be little opportunity to control how taxpayers’ money is spent or to whom that money is allocated.

Last year, a January 6 defendant, Andrew Paul Johnson, posted online that he was expecting “restitution” for the January 6 defendants. Months later, after being arrested on child molestation charges, law enforcement officials said Johnson tried to bribe a victim with money he hoped to get from the Trump administration.

At Tuesday’s Senate hearing, Blanche tried to hide any information that the Jan. 6 rioters were seeking what they called reparations, and said the fund would be distributed “on a case-by-case basis.” But he did not say whether rioters would not be allowed to participate.

“You’re asking me to speculate on the possibility of something,” he told lawmakers.

An exasperated Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Democrat, asked if Blanche could say that Johnson, who was convicted and sentenced to life in prison earlier this year, would not be entitled to receive money from the fund.

Blanche said he found the details of the case “disgusting.”

But he would not say whether Johnson was entitled to any money.