(Ken Silva, Headline USA) President Donald Trump may have pardoned the Jan. 6 protestors, but some of them are growing increasingly discontent by a Justice Department that’s still treating them like domestic terrorists. One J6er is even seeking sanctions against Trump’s DOJ.
On Jan. 20, J6er William Pope was in Washington DC when he learned that the DOJ’s charges against him were dropped. According to Pope, he then ran into the DOJ’s new U.S. Attorney for DC, Ed Martin, who told him that he should file a request for his full case file.
So far the only action Trump's DOJ has taken regarding undercover activity on J6 has been for Ed Martin to oppose the production of files related to undercovers and to try to claw back other undercover files, all while accusing me (against Trump's order) of being in a mob on J6.
— 🇺🇸 (@FreeStateWill) March 9, 2025
Pope acted accordingly—filing a request for a slew of records, including footage an FBI informant took of him entering the Capitol, records related to any warrantless FISA surveillance he may have been subjected to, all records of any FBI informant that came within 100 feet of him, and other documents related to undercover agents at the Jan. 6 event.
Some two months later, Pope has yet to receive a single record. And now, Martin has apparently backtracked on his assurances that such records would be made public.
Moreover, the DOJ is still accusing Pope and others of being a “mob of rioters”—even though Pope was entirely peaceful on Jan. 6, by the government’s own admission. Perhaps even worse, Trump’s DOJ has filed a cross-motion for Pope to return all the case records he already has in his possession.
Outside of Pope’s case, the DOJ is denying any wrongdoing in its prosecution of the Proud Boys, despite the fact that an FBI informant was caught spying on the Proud Boys defense team.
The Justice Department continues to deny any misconduct in the seditious conspiracy trial of Enrique Tarrio and four other Proud Boys leaders. https://t.co/YduBRzmUVE pic.twitter.com/tr8pkqiOCL
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) March 21, 2025
On Feb. 12, Pope filed a motion for sanctions over the matter, and he doubled down on March 6—also including Martin in his quest for sanctions.
“Had this simply been a matter of Mr. Martin changing his mind, he should have told me so. But since Mr. Martin, through the government oppositions, has also tried to deny that he gave me permission to keep the discovery (which is irreversibly intertwined in my case notes), and since Mr. Martin has used this as an opportunity to cast allegations against me after they have been dismissed by this Court (when I no longer have an opportunity to confront these allegations in trial), this feels like a great betrayal,” Pope said.
“More than that, since Mr. Martin is the one who raised the issue and directly suggested I file the request, this feels like a setup. This level of treachery is typically only seen outside of Washington D.C. in poker cheats, horse thieves and backshooters,” he added.
“I am also alarmed that Mr. Martin would try to claw back discovery rather than make it public. Why is he now trying to cover up the truth about January 6? Wasn’t this supposed to be the most transparent administration?”
The DOJ hasn’t responded to Pope’s March 6 filing. It’s unclear when the presiding judge might rule over the matter.
Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
