They Just Erased the Convictions. What That Actually Means — And Why It’s Bigger Than January 6th.
They Just Erased the Convictions. What That Actually Means — And Why It’s Bigger Than January 6th.
The Jack Hopkins Now Newsletter #865: Tuesday, April 14th, 2026
Stop what you are doing.
Because what just happened in a federal courthouse today is not a January 6th story.
It is a story about what kind of country this is.
And whether the legal architecture that holds it together still means anything.
What Happened
The Justice Department…under US Attorney for DC Jeanine Pirro…asked a federal appeals court today to throw out the seditious conspiracy convictions of twelve people.
Eight members and associates of the Oath Keepers…including founder Stewart Rhodes.
Four members of the Proud Boys… including Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl and Dominic Pezzola.
These are not minor convictions being cleared on a technicality.
These are the most serious convictions from the largest federal criminal investigation in American history.
Prosecutors across three separate trials argued…successfully…before juries of American citizens…that these individuals orchestrated coordinated violent plots to stop the peaceful transfer of power.
Juries agreed.
Now the Justice Department is asking a court to erase those verdicts entirely. Not the sentences. The convictions themselves.
The Sequence That Got Us Here
Trump issued pardons to over 1,000 January 6th defendants on his first day back in office.
Every convicted defendant except fourteen received a pardon. Those fourteen received commuted sentences.
One was later pardoned in March 2025.
Today…the DOJ said the remaining twelve…the seditious conspiracy defendants… should have their convictions vacated and their indictments permanently dismissed.
The filing was signed by Jeanine Pirro…the former Fox News host who now serves as the US Attorney for the District of Columbia.
A spokesperson for her office declined to comment.
What “Vacate” Actually Means
There is a legal distinction worth understanding.
A pardon says…you are guilty but forgiven.
Vacating a conviction says…the conviction itself never should have happened.
The DOJ is not saying these men were guilty and deserve clemency.
It is asking a court to declare the convictions void. To erase them from the legal record. To say…in the official language of the United States government…that what three separate juries found beyond a reasonable doubt did not constitute seditious conspiracy.
That is not a legal technicality.
That is a rewriting of the official historical and legal record of January 6th.
What The Defense Is Arguing
Stewart Rhodes’ attorney and the attorney for Ethan Nordean both welcomed the move.
Nordean’s lawyer told CNN he was grateful and added…in language worth examining carefully…that sedition charges should not be used for “protests that turn into riots.”
Let that framing land.
Hundreds of video hours document what happened on January 6th. Police officers beaten with flagpoles, batons, wooden clubs and baseball bats. Stun guns deployed. Chemical sprays used against law enforcement. Hand-to-hand combat at the doors of the United States Capitol.
Three separate federal juries…after hearing weeks of evidence…concluded this was not a protest that got out of hand.
It was an organized…coordinated effort to prevent the certification of a presidential election.
The defense is now asking the court to accept a different conclusion.
The Signal
Here is what most coverage of this story is missing.
This is not primarily about the twelve men whose convictions are being sought dismissed.
It is about what the DOJ’s action establishes as precedent going forward.
If the court approves these dismissals…it creates a legal record that says seditious conspiracy cannot be charged against people who stormed the US Capitol in an organized…coordinated effort to prevent the transfer of presidential power.
That precedent does not apply only to January 6th.
It applies to the future.
This is where the story moves from a legal proceeding about the past to something with direct implications for what comes next.
And that…is where this newsletter goes deeper…in the paid expansion below.
Stay close.
#HoldFast
Back soon.
-Jack
Jack Hopkins
P.S. The free article gave you what happened. The paid expansion gives you what it means…the doctrine operating behind this move, the institutional architecture being dismantled in plain sight, the three specific implications that extend far beyond January 6th, and why the timing of this announcement…today, while the world is watching a naval blockade in the Strait of Hormuz…is not coincidental. That analysis comes in just a bit…in the paid subscriber article.
SOURCES
DOJ motion to vacate — core reporting
CNN — Justice Department moves to dismiss Proud Boys and Oath Keepers’ seditious conspiracy convictionshttps://www.cnn.com/2026/04/14/politics/justice-department-vacate-seditious-conspiracy-convictions-proud-boys-oath-keepers
PBS NewsHour — DOJ moves to erase seditious conspiracy convictions of Oath Keepers, Proud Boys in Jan. 6 cases https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/doj-moves-to-erase-seditious-conspiracy-convictions-of-oath-keepers-proud-boys-in-jan-6-cases
AP via Spectrum News — DOJ moves to toss seditious conspiracy convictions of Oath Keepershttps://spectrumlocalnews.com/nc/mountain/politics/2026/04/14/doj-oath-keepers-proud-boys
Jeanine Pirro signing the filing
ABC7 — Justice Department moves to toss seditious conspiracy convictions of Oath Keepers and Proud Boyshttps://abc7.com/post/justice-department-moves-toss-seditious-conspiracy-convictions-oath-keepers-proud-boys/18886980/
Defense attorney statements
CBS News — DOJ moves to dismiss Jan. 6 convictions against former Proud Boys and Oath Keepershttps://www.cbsnews.com/news/doj-moves-dismiss-jan-6-convictions-proud-boys-oath-keepers-seditious-conspiracy/
Trump Day One pardons — over 1,000 defendants
Washington Times — Justice Department moves to toss seditious conspiracy convictions of Oath Keepers and Proud Boys https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2026/apr/14/justice-department-moves-toss-seditious-conspiracy-convictions-oath/
So this means when we the mob storm the White House, Congress and Senate with torches and pitchforks (worked in Frankenstein) we can’t be charged? This is such great news. Sharpening my pitchfork and reinforcing my torch for a long night of fun
Jack, we must HOLDFAST for sure, more than ever. This news tells me, whether or not I am right, that the greatest storm is yet to come and that the current person has no intention of leaving, peacefully or otherwise, while using every believer of his lie, which he knows is a lie yet continues to promote, to do far more than was done on the infamous sixth of January.
No judge, no court, nobody in any capacity should ever let erasure of that horrific event and the crimes committed that day take place, should never allow such a precedent to be set, and it would seem that there must be some strong accountability held for anyone attempting such an erasure. If such a repeat were to happen with the erasure having taken place, legal hands would be tied with no stance of the past court proceeding to be upheld. This scenario cannot and must not take place.
To me this stunt with our court system seems to be one among a number of final steps in an unauthorized takeover of the country, of our Constitution, of our freedoms and rights and the government of, for and by the people. We ARE the people, and these courts are putting us and our government down if they allow such an erasure to pass.
Am I over-reacting or overlooking something? What can we do?
Actually, I just realized that I am reacting as though the erasure has not taken place, but I want any erasure reversed, permanently! I simply cannot believe this could happen in our country. “This is My Country,” and I say No! I was not asked.
#HOLDFAST!