The investigation of the participants who attacked the U.S. Capitol building was the largest criminal probe in U.S. history. Over 5,000 FBI employees worked on the investigation. Four years after the attack, everyone who had been federally charged related to the riot received clemency from President Donald Trump. On January 6, 2021, Trump supporters attacked the Capitol, disrupting the joint session of Congress assembled to count electoral votes to formalize Biden's victory in the 2020 United States presidential election.
By the end of 2021, 725 people had been charged with federal crimes. That number rose to 1,000 by the second anniversary of the attack, to 1,200 by the third anniversary (three-quarters of whom had by then been found guilty) and to 1,500 before the fourth anniversary. These federal cases were handled by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia (D.C.). State cases, of which there were fewer, were handled in the D.C. Superior Court.
Early on, the majority of charges filed against the rioters were for disorderly conduct and unlawful entry. Ultimately, about one-third of the defendants were charged with assault on or interference with law enforcement officers. Other charges included trespassing; disrupting Congress; theft or other property crimes; weapons offenses; making threats; and conspiracy, including seditious conspiracy.
On March 1, 2024, a federal appeals court forbid the use of a sentencing enhancement. This decision was expected to require the resentencing of over 100 rioters who had received it.
On June 28, 2024, in Fischer v. United States, the Supreme Court limited how the Justice Department could use the obstruction charge statute against the rioters. Hundreds of participants already charged with obstruction were expected to have the charge dismissed (though other charges would continue to apply).
Trump had been indicted in August 2023 for his actions related to the Capitol attack, but the indictment was dismissed after his November 2024 election to the presidency. Upon his inauguration on January 20, 2025, he pardoned the rioters, as he had repeatedly vowed to do during his campaign, erasing the convictions of all but 14 of about 1,270 people. The remaining 14 people, though their convictions stood, were eligible for immediate release from prison, as he commuted their sentences to "time served." The final indictment was dismissed by a judge on August 4, 2026 at the Justice Department's request.
The U.S. Department of Justice, in its role as prosecutor, moved on May 22, 2026, to dismiss the indictment. On August 4, Judge Amit P. Mehta ruled that, while he "strongly disagree[d]" with the government's opinion that "surrendering convictions for crimes against the country" served the public interest, he had no authority to deny the prosecutors' request. He dismissed the indictment, noting that the Oath Keepers' case had been "the last of the prosecutions seeking to hold accountable those responsible for the events of January 6."
Personal life On February 4, 2025, responding to a Justice Department order to identify which of its 38,000 employees had worked on these investigations, the FBI identified over 5,000 people by their employee IDs. The FBI Agents Association had filed a restraining order to attempt to prevent the release of information; after the FBI provided the employee IDs to the Department of Justice, it sued. On February 6, the corresponding employee names were provided by the FBI to the Department of Justice through a system for handling classified information. On July 17, U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb dismissed the lawsuit, saying the agents had not "plausibly allege[d]" that Trump would injure them. Brian Driscoll, a senior FBI official who had been acting director and had resisted turning over the agents' names, was forced out of the FBI in August.
Criminal investigations Days after the attack, D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine said he was looking at whether to charge Donald Trump Jr., Rudy Giuliani and Mo Brooks with inciting the attack on the Capitol and indicated that he might consider charging Donald Trump too once he left office. Others called for Trump to be prosecuted for inciting the crowd. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said, "We saw an unprecedented attack on our American democracy incited by the United States president. He must be held accountable. His constant and divisive rhetoric led to the abhorrent actions we saw today."
On January7, 2021, Michael R. Sherwin, the interim U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, said rioters could be charged with seditious conspiracy or insurrection. He further suggested that Trump could be investigated for comments he made to his supporters before they stormed the Capitol and that others who "assisted or facilitated or played some ancillary role" in the events could also be investigated. Former acting FBI director Andrew McCabe and inspector general David C. Williams stated Trump could face criminal charges for inciting the riot.
However, at first, according to The Washington Post,"Capitol Police had for the most part let the rioters walk away. The task of identifying the thousands of attackers — let alone building cases against them — fell to a Justice Department whose leadership was in transition.
William P. Barr had left his post as attorney general two weeks before the attack amid a growing rift with Trump. His successor, Jeffrey Rosen, held the office for less than a month, and Garland would not be sworn in until March 11. Biden’s pick to replace Sherwin as the U.S. attorney in D.C. would not take office for another 10 months."Legal experts have stated that charging Trump with incitement would be difficult under Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969), the Supreme Court ruling which established that for speech to be considered criminally inciting, it must have been intended to incite "imminent lawless action" and "likely to incite or produce such action".
On January7, 2021, Michael Sherwin, interim U.S attorney for the District of Columbia, expressed willingness to charge any Capitol Police officer found to have assisted the rioters.
On January8, 2021, the Justice Department announced charges against 13 people in connection with the Capitol riot in federal district court, while more had been charged in the D.C. Superior Court. Three days later, the FBI and the Department of Justice were working to track down over 150 suspects. Acting Attorney General Jeffrey A. Rosen instructed federal prosecutors to send all cases back to D.C. for prosecution.
On January 12, 2021, Steven D'Antuono from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced the agency's expectation to arrest hundreds of people as it sorted through the vast amount of evidence submitted by the public. Charges of sedition and conspiracy were expected to be common. By the end of the month, the FBI had opened more than 400 case files and issued more than 500 subpoenas and search warrants related to the riot. The FBI also created a website to solicit tips from the public specifically related to the riot, and were especially assisted by the crowdsourced sleuthing group Sedition Hunters.
On February 10, 2021, CNN reported that the FBI, investigating the death of U.S. Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, was in the process of narrowing down a list of potential suspects. On February 26, the agency reportedly identified one suspect of focus, according to sources.
By March 11, 2021, when Merrick Garland was sworn in as U.S. Attorney General, investigators had identified 885 likely suspects and charged 278 rioters. At the time, Sherwin said "almost all" of the cases charged in federal court involved "significant federal felonies" with potential sentences between five and twenty years.
In March 2021, The New York Times reported that the FBI was investigating communications between an unnamed associate of the White House and an unnamed member of Proud Boys during the days prior to the incursion. The communications had been detected by examining cellphone metadata and were separate from previously known contacts between Roger Stone and Proud Boys.
In April 2021, dozens of defendants "deemed to be dangerous, flight risks or at high risk of obstructing justice were ordered held without bond. D.C. jail officials later determined that all Capitol detainees would be placed in so-called restrictive housing." Senator Elizabeth Warren criticized this decision, referring to it as solitary confinement, which she argued "is a form of punishment that is cruel and psychologically damaging."
On March 2, 2022, the congressional committee investigating the January 6 attack stated in a court filing that they had enough evidence for "a good-faith basis for concluding that the president and members of his campaign engaged in a criminal conspiracy". In December 2022, the committee recommended President Trump, John Eastman, and potentially others be charged with four types of criminal acts. The congressional committee cannot open criminal investigations, but the Justice Department began investigating Trump and his allies for criminal attempts to overturn the election in early 2021.
On November 18, 2022, Garland named Jack Smith as special counsel to investigate the January 6 attack and Trump's handling of government documents. In August 2023, Trump was indicted for his actions on and around January6.
On November 25, 2024, Special Counsel Jack Smith filed to dismiss the charges against Trump, and his motion was approved. He had been reevaluating the charges after the Supreme Court ruled against many of them. In his dismissal request, he cited the Justice Department's internal policy not to prosecute a sitting president.
Investigations into alleged foreign involvement and payments On December 8, 2020, French programmer Laurent Bachelier gave around US$500,000 ($ in current dollar terms) in bitcoin payments to alt-right figures and groups. About half of these funds went to Nick Fuentes, the leader of the online Groyper Army, who denied breaching the building. The day after the transfer, Bachelier killed himself. , the FBI is investigating whether any of this money financed illegal acts.
, the FBI was also investigating whether foreign adversaries of the U.S.governments, organizations or individualsprovided financial support to people who attacked the Capitol.
Separately, a joint threat assessment issued by the FBI, Department of Homeland Security, and other agencies said that "Russian, Iranian, and Chinese influence actors have seized the opportunity to amplify narratives in furtherance of their policy interest amid the presidential transition" and that these governments, through state actors, state media, and their proxies, used the riots to promote violence and extremism in the United States, denigrate American democracy, and in some instance promote conspiratorial claims.
Evidence In 2021, 14 media organizations calling themselves the Press Coalition sought trial records. Judge Beryl Howell issued a standing order for the Justice Department to preserve video exhibits in all Capitol riot cases. The online storage system is called USAfx. In February 2025, the Press Coalition noticed that all nine video exhibits in the case of Glen Mitchell Simon were missing.
Numbers of people involved In February 2021, federal officials estimated that about ten thousand rioters entered the Capitol grounds; in December, the Secret Service and FBI estimated that about 1,200 entered the building.
By October 2021, about 250 people were still wanted for assaulting police officers.
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