The Department of Justice (DOJ) under President Donald Trump has responded to accusations that it is “quietly deleting” press releases from its website relating to the criminal charges against Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol rioters. Defending the allegation, the DOJ stated that it is “proud” to do so and justified its changes as a push to strip the Department of “partisan propaganda” and a way to “reverse the weaponization” in the Biden era.

The DOJ’s statements came after Washington Post journalist Meryl Kornfield sounded alarms online about the aforementioned deletion. On Saturday, May 23, Kornfield took to X (formerly Twitter) and shared two screenshots from the DOJ’s website, showcasing that a Biden-era press release about the sentencing of one Jan. 6. rioter, Andrew Taake, was now missing at the original URL address.

Taake, 36, from Houston, violently attacked Capitol police with bear spray and a metal whip on Jan 6. After his Capitol riot sentencing, he was arrested for the online solicitation of a minor in Harris County, Texas. The original June 2024 press release had mentioned both his Capitol assault and the pending child s*x charge.

After assuming office in January 2025, Trump pardoned, commuted the prison sentences of, or promised to drop the cases against more than 1,500 people charged in connection with the Capitol attack, including those convicted of assaulting police officers. Although Trump pardoned Taake in the Jan. 6 case, he still had a pending child solicitation charge in Texas, reports the Texas Tribune.

“The Trump admin is quietly deleting info about the Capitol attack from the DOJ website as it prepares to give funds to J6ers,” Kornfield wrote on X. “This week, DOJ deleted a press release about one man with an ongoing child solicitation case who came to the Capitol with bear spray,” she added.

On Monday, May 18, the Justice Department announced the controversial $1.776 billion fund as a settlement in Trump’s IRS lawsuit. The fund is intended to pay individuals who feel they were wrongly targeted and prosecuted by the Biden administration. Hundreds of Jan. 6 rioters convicted of violence may also qualify for the payouts, sparking bipartisan criticism online and offline.

Meanwhile, the DOJ’s “rapid response” account on X responded to Kornfield’s viral post. It claimed that by deleting these news releases, it was attempting to reverse what it saw as “weaponization” under former President Joe Biden‘s administration.

“Nothing ‘quiet’ about it,” the “DOJ Rapid Response” account wrote. “We are proud to reverse the DOJ’s weaponization under the Biden administration. We will do everything in our power to make whole those who were persecuted for political purposes. This includes stripping DOJ’s website of partisan propaganda.”

Trump ordered the DOJ to purge press releases about Jan. 6 offenders in January 2025, leading critics to slam this decision as an attempt to rewrite history.