I can just imagine the white-nationalist outrage from Attorney General Pam Bondi and Trump World if President Joe Biden had pardoned Black Lives Matter protesters (who did not try to overthrow the U.S. government) and then advocated reimbursement for any fines they paid. But here we are.
From Politico:
Jan. 6 defendants whose convictions were wiped out by President Donald Trump are entitled to a refund of restitution payments they made to cover damage to the Capitol, the Justice Department said Tuesday.
The department’s determination could result in hundreds of payouts from the federal government intended to cover the cost of repairing about $3 million in damage to the Capitol from the riot on Jan. 6, 2021.
The administration revealed its position in a filing to U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is weighing one defendant’s request to be repaid the $500 in restitution he sent to the Architect of the Capitol after his conviction on misdemeanor charges.
According to Politico, most of the convicted insurrectionists were required to pay restitution to the Architect of the Capitol, typically $500 for misdemeanor convictions and $2,000 for felonies.
But election-denying, former J6 defense lawyer Ed Martin, now Trump’s U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C., has advocated for reimbursing the insurrectionists. Politico noted that in January, 2024, he said, “We should have reparations for them.” He claimed they deserve “a big pot of money.”
So while Co-President Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency sabotages Social Security, Medicaid, and just about every other government service in the name of saving money (when it’s really about funding bigger tax cuts for billionaires), the federal government is spending money to take money away from Capitol repairs and give it to the insurrectionists.
Got it.