WASHINGTON (AP) — David Johnston was a licensed attorney when he illegally entered the Capitol with a crowd of President Donald Trump supporters in January 6, 2021. More than five years later, the South Carolina man is offering to help fellow “J6ers” apply for payments from almost the Trump administration New fund 1.8 billion dollars for people who claim to be victims of an armed government.
He will do so for a 10% cut of each prize, capped at $5,000 each.
“I think the narrative is changing” about how the story of that day is told, Johnston said in a video he posted on social media. “I think good things are happening for us.”
Hundreds of Trump loyalists pleaded guilty to the attack on the Capitol, admitting under oath that they broke the law. now pardoned by Trumpmany hope to profit from their crimes by tapping into the $1.776 billion settlement fund created to compensate allies of the Republican president who they believe were politically persecuted.
or bipartisan response in the fund and a legal obstacle have not dampened the celebratory response of the January 6 protesters clamoring for a share of the taxpayers’ money. Some are filing claims even though the government has not established an application process and a judge has frozen the fund’s formation, at least temporarily.
Rebels demand compensation
Critics of the fund see it as another tool for Trump and his allies clarify the events of January 6retroactively justify the mob’s attack on a pillar of American democracy and reward some of Trump’s most loyal followers.
Jason RiddleA New Hampshire military veteran who was sentenced to 90 days behind bars after pleading guilty to riot charges publicly rejected a Trump apology. Likewise, he said it would be “ridiculous” for him or any other leader of the January 6 riots to receive compensation from the government.
“I would like the money, but I can’t accept that. It would haunt me for the rest of my life,” he said. “We weren’t innocently persecuted just because of who we are or who we vote for. We were persecuted for engaging in criminal behavior in the United States Capitol.”
Many other “J6ers” do not share Riddle’s reluctance.
A man from Florida who posed for pictures with The podium of then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi argued on social media that he deserves to be compensated for the cost of his disgrace. A New Jersey protester described by prosecutors as a Nazi sympathizer hailed the fund as “good news not just for J6ers, but all gun victims.” A man from Texas who received a seven years in prison for the attack on the Capitol with a metal tomahawk celebrated the fund as “payback” for the “victims of Biden’s tyranny,” referring to Democratic President Joe Biden.
Oregon resident Pamela Hemphill sentenced to 60 days in jail for her convictionrejected an apology from Trump, but has drafted a written request for compensation from the fund. Unlike many protesters who claim they are victims of a government armed by Democrats, Hemphill blames Trump for her legal troubles. Her letter of claim says she is seeking $5 million in damages.
“I wouldn’t have gone through all this if Trump hadn’t lied about stealing the election,” she said in a phone interview. “It is a direct result of his lies that I was there that day.”
The fund faces legal and political challenges
It’s an open question whether someone convicted of a crime related to the Capitol riots could qualify for payments from a fund created to solve the Trump problem. lawsuit against the IRS for leaking his tax returns.
Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche has not ruled out this possibility. Blanche said there are no restrictions on who can apply, but he noted that the fund’s five commissioners — all yet to be appointed — will decide who deserves to be compensated and why, based on factors such as “what the person did, their sentence, how long they were in prison.”
“It’s up to the commissioners,” Blanche told The Associated Press on Thursday when asked his position on whether the Jan. 6 violent defendants should be eligible for payments.
“You have to define something and then stick to it. That’s something I’ve been reluctant to do because it’s so matter-of-fact,” Blanche said. “Me sitting here and talking in hypotheticals is something that I don’t think is fair to the process.”
It is unclear whether Congress will block payments to the Jan. 6 defendants. Senate Republicans, who are angry about the settlement, have said they want to put parameters on the fund as part of a Homeland Security Department spending bill. They left town abruptly earlier this month after a tense meeting with Blanche and will return on Monday with the situation unresolved.
A federal judge in Virginia has frozen the establishment of the fund and temporarily blocked any processing or payment of claims. The judge made that ruling Friday in one of at least three lawsuits challenging the fund.
Brendan Ballou, a former prosecutor who tried several Jan. 6 cases before leaving the Justice Department last year, sued on behalf of two police officers who helped protect the Capitol from the mob. Ballou sees the creation of the fund as part of a broader campaign by Trump to undermine democratic institutions and rewrite history on January 6.
“And if the president is successful in that effort, if he’s able to make people either forget or forgive that day, he knows he can make people accept any attack on democracy,” Ballou said.
Brave rebels from Trump’s January 6 restatement
READY 1600 people were charged with federal crimes related to the Capitol riots. More than 1,200 were convicted and sentenced before Trump issued a mass pardon and ordered the dismissal of all pending cases on January 6. Trump was also released members of the right-wing extremist group who were jailed for plotting to attack the Capitol to keep Trump in office after he lost the 2020 presidential election to Biden.
The self-described “J6” community isn’t the only pro-Trump constituency calling for money cuts.
Meshawn Maddock, who was accused of being a fake voter for Trump in Michigan before a judge dismissed the case last year, said she and her husband, Rep. Matt Maddock, “absolutely” plan to make a claim. She believes the fund’s use of taxpayer money is justified because it “paid for the years of prosecution and investigation that I was being pursued.”
“I want revenge and I want retribution,” Maddock said.
Trump’s campaign to recast January 6 as a peaceful protest appears to have emboldened many doomed rebels.
Johnston’s eagerness to help other Capitol protesters with claims contrasts with his remorse at PENALTY in 2022. He apologized for his “appalling innocence at trial” before a judge sentenced him to three weeks in jail and three months of home detention. He pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor charge.
“It was a dumb, dumb thing to do,” Johnston told the judge. “I am 100% responsible for what I did that day.”
By MICHAEL KUNZELMAN Associated Press
Associated Press writers Jamie Stengle in Dallas and Mary Claire Jalonick and Joey Cappelletti contributed to this report.
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