Congressional Democrats investigate unpaid January 6 restitution after pardons
The pardons of more than 1,500 rioters who seized the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, are expected to leave taxpayers on the hook for most of the damage, cleanup and costs of the insurrection.
Although federal judges ordered hundreds of the defendants to make restitution to the federal government to offset the costs of the repairs at the U.S. Capitol, only a fraction was paid before President Trump issued blanket pardons on Jan. 20, hours after his inauguration.
Citing recent reporting by CBS News, Democrats on the U.S. House Oversight Committee opened a review Monday into how much of the millions of dollars in costs went unpaid by rioters.
In a letter to the Architect of the Capitol, Rep. Gerry Connolly, a Virginia Democrat who serves as the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, asked for updated estimates on how much of the costs are being covered by federal taxpayers.
"Restitution was one of the most common sentences handed down to January 6th insurrectionists, but offenders were slow to repay their obligations, and taxpayers were far from being made whole," he said in his letter.
Connolly's letter to Architect of the Capitol Thomas Austin also said, "The official numbers from the Architect of the Capitol remain unknown and must be released."
Although the Justice Department and Capitol administrators have estimated the costs of cleanup and repairs were nearly $3,000,000, only 15% of the costs had been reimbursed by Jan. 6 defendants as of summer 2024, according to a review by CBS News.
The estimate of $3 million is also believed to be remarkably conservative for the actual damages incurred by the riotous attack. A February 2023 review by the Government Accountability Office estimated actual costs of nearly $2.7 billion.
"This amount reflects, among other things, damage to the Capitol building and grounds, estimated costs borne by the Capitol Police, the District of Columbia, and federal agencies, and estimated costs to address security needs and investigations as described in budget and funding requests, appropriations, agency estimates, and other publicly available information," the agency's report said.
Even as Congressional Democrats seek information about the reimbursements, there is a legal effort to refund Capitol rioters for the payments they had already made. In a court filing submitted on Feb. 28 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, one convicted rioter argued the pardon and subsequent vacating of his convictions "requires the Clerk of Court to refund all restitution and fees."
The Trump-appointed acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia has not yet opposed or supported the defendant's request. The prosecutor instead asked a judge to allow until April 4 for the office to make a recommendation.
