Trump’s Next January 6 Move Is Far More Sinister Than Mass Pardons

Trump is using the Justice Department to make key information regarding January 6 insurrectionists inaccessible to the public. 

CNN reported on Sunday that a database containing the names, charges, and convictions of Jan 6ers has been removed from the DOJ’s website—just as Trump allowed more than 1,500 of them to return to society via his mass pardons. The FBI also removed its page on “US Capitol Violence—Most Wanted,” seeking information on rioters who were fugitives or not yet identified.

“This has been a personal crusade I have worked on for many months.… This is a huge victory for J6ers,” wrote Brandon Straka, who was sentenced to three years in prison for his actions around January 6, which included giving an incendiary speech the day before and directing the mob to “go, go, go” on the steps of the Capitol building on that day.  

“This site was one of countless weapons of harassment used by the federal government to make life impossible for its targets from J6,” Stranka continued. “Every time a potential employer, landlord, new social or business contact, etc, would search somebody targeted for J6 they would read a dossier on each person filled with FBI and FOJ accusations and narratives that were never proven, along with links to documents with even more damaging allegations.… Thank you, Troy Nehls, Ed Martin, and all who worked to get this taken down!”

Ed Martin is Trump’s newly appointed U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C., and played a prominent role in the fraudulent “Stop the Steal” movement in 2021.

Some parts of the Justice Department database are still viewable on the Internet Archive.

Donald Trump plans to sign a new set of executive orders Monday aimed at changing the makeup of the U.S. military.

CNN reports that the president plans to sign three executive orders that would ban transgender people from serving in the military; end the military’s diversity, equity, and inclusion programs; and reinstate any service members, with backpay, who were discharged for refusing to get the Covid-19 vaccine. As of 2023, only 43 of the 8,000 service members who were discharged over refusal to get the vaccine have returned to the military.

One of Trump’s executive orders last week revoked a 2021 order from President Biden allowing transgender service members to openly serve in the military. That order in turn revoked a 2017 ban on transgender service members implemented in Trump’s first term. However, until Trump orders an outright ban, the estimated 9,000 to 14,000 transgender individuals currently serving the military are not affected.

Trump’s new executive order will go even further than his 2017 ban, according to two unnamed White House officials who spoke to CNN. It will create new military standards on gender pronouns and make a case against transgender service members based on mental and physical readiness.

“It can take a minimum of 12 months for an individual to complete treatments after transition surgery, which often involves the use of heavy narcotics. During this period, they are not physically capable of meeting military readiness requirements and require ongoing medical care. This is not conducive for deployment or other readiness requirements,” said one official, in attempts to justify the ban.

While the executive order on Covid-19 isn’t a big change, as Biden already rescinded the military’s Covid vaccine mandate in 2023, the other executive orders could hurt military recruitment numbers at a time when all three service branches are worried about future numbers. But that is of little concern to Trump and his new secretary of defense, Pete Hegseth, who has made negative remarks about even women serving in the military. It seems that Trump and conservatives are more concerned with how the military looks rather than its size and strength.

After investing weeks at Mar-a-Lago to catch Donald Trump’s ear, Elon Musk has been relegated to the outskirts of Trump’s inner circle.

That separation was forced by chief of staff Susie Wiles—Trump’s so-called “ice maiden” and his 2024 campaign co-manager—who denied Musk a coveted permanent office in the White House.

Wiles is singularly focused on advancing Trump’s mission: That means reining in his chaotic Cabinet, managing staff, and limiting access to the president in order to streamline his operation.

“I don’t welcome people who want to work solo or be a star,” Wiles told Axios by email in early January. “My team and I will not tolerate backbiting, second-guessing inappropriately, or drama. These are counterproductive to the mission.”

That philosophy turned into a concrete win for Wiles hours after the forty-seventh president was inaugurated. While signing executive orders in the Oval Office, Trump told reporters that Musk would not be receiving a space in the West Wing to work on the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, despite growing attention to his influence in Trump’s administration. (DOGE is not an official department but rather a team tasked with slashing up to $2 trillion in federal spending, if Musk’s own metrics are to be believed.)

“He’s getting an office for about 20 people that we’re hiring to make sure that these [executive orders] get implemented,” Trump said last week.

Instead of a spot beside Trump, Musk and his team will be based in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building. That’s still inside the White House compound, but a walk from the main complex.

It’s an essential feat for Wiles, who sought to squash rumors that the world’s richest man was morphing into a “co-president” for Trump, or the “real vice-president,” instead of JD Vance. Last week, Musk appeared to overstep after Trump announced a public-private tech initiative—Stargate—to advance the development of artificial intelligence in the U.S. Moments later, Musk wrote on X that he believed the effort was a dud from the jump, claiming that he had it on “good authority” that the finances weren’t there to back Trump’s first major achievement.

“I cannot stress teamwork and mutual support enough,” Wiles, the first woman to hold what’s commonly referred to as the world’s toughest job, told Axios. “It’s not magic: set goals and timelines for me and the team and then work to exceed them. Simple, yes, but this worked quite nicely on the campaign.”

Every single Democratic senator signed a resolution Monday condemning Trump’s mass pardon of the January 6 insurrectionists.

“The Senate disapproves of any pardons for individuals who were found guilty of assaulting Capitol Police officers,” the one-line resolution reads.

Trump pardoned Proud Boys, Oath Keepers, and multiple people who beat, tasered, and choked Capitol Police Officers that day, leading even the Fraternal Order of Police—a staunchly pro-Trump union—to condemn his decision. At least a handful of Republicans, too, were shocked by his decision.

Fetterman, who has made a habit of playing devil’s advocate for the Republican Party, was the last to sign onto the resolution, seemingly only after public confusion and pressure.

“Some people are very deserving of a second chance and get a pardon,” Fetterman told ABC News last week. “What I’m saying, though, that, that, pardons I can agree with, some that I don’t. And I think that’s really what it comes down to.” It now seems like he agrees with all of them.

This piece has been updated to note Fetterman’s late addition signing onto the resolution.

Donald Trump is apparently disappointed with how his mass deportation effort is going, and as a result, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is ramping up their daily arrest goal.

The Washington Post reports that ICE is boosting its daily arrests from a few hundred to between 1,200 and 1,500 each day. A high number of arrests by the agency means that more abuses are to be expected, and that legal immigrants and U.S. citizens are likely to get caught up in the dragnet.

The Trump administration reportedly held a phone call with senior ICE officials and told them that each of the agency’s field offices should make 75 arrests per day, with managers being held accountable for any shortfalls. This is an escalation from what “border czar” Tom Homan has told the media in recent weeks, claiming that ICE would prioritize detaining gang members and people with criminal records instead of mass detentions.

In a statement Sunday, ICE said that they had begun targeted operations in Chicago and cities across the country, claiming that 950 people were arrested across the country.

Last week, Congress passed the Laken Riley Act, which allows undocumented immigrants to be detained merely if they are suspected of committing a crime. As soon as Trump signs the bill, ICE will have expanded powers to detain undocumented immigrants and begin deportation proceedings. But the sweeps and mass arrests are already in full swing.

Meanwhile, military flights full of deportees have started going out to various countries, creating standoffs and tariff threats between Trump and foreign leaders in some cases. While Trump’s promised deportations haven’t gotten off to the start he would have liked, officials at all levels of government will be stepping up their efforts to make him and hardline conservatives happy.