Jan. 6 rioters pursue new path for payments from Trump administration

Geoff Bennett:

Some January 6 rioters are pursuing a new path to seek millions of dollars from the Trump administration after the Justice Department abandoned plans for its controversial anti-weaponization fund.

They're now filing claims for damages against the federal government, claims that could ultimately end up in court.

Our White House correspondent, Liz Landers, is here to explain.

So, Liz, what are these January 6 defendants seeking from the government now?

Liz Landers:

Even before they were pardoned by President Trump, I heard from January 6 defendants who thought that they were owed money or some kind of restitution is what some of them said to me at the time.

And after President Trump pardoned them and been back -- President Trump has been back in office, I have spoken with some of them like Enrique Tarrio who have now filed claims. This is through the Federal Tort Claims Act.

And I spoke with an attorney for one of the defendants, Peter Ticktin, and here is what he's alleging is the wrongdoing from the federal government.

Peter Ticktin, Attorney For January 6 Defendants: These people should be compensated because their lives have been turned upside down. They can't get on -- they couldn't -- for a while, they couldn't get onto an airplane without getting strip-searched. Things were horrible for these people. Their businesses are destroyed. Their lives are ruined.

Liz Landers:

So this is an option now after the anti-weaponization fund has basically been put on ice by the attorney general. We have heard him say that a number of times.

And Ticktin here is alleging wrongdoing against several groups like the Capitol Police, the Metropolitan Police, Department of Justice officials, and FBI personnel.

Geoff Bennett:

And, as we have covered on this program, even though this so-called anti-weaponization fund is no more, these January 6 defendants can still get paid. Remind us how that whole process works.

Liz Landers:

So this is an old process. It was a law established in the '40s, the Federal Tort Claims Act, and it basically allows anyone in the U.S. to sue the federal government for wrongdoing.

One example that experts gave us was, if a post service truck hits a person and they're injured, you can sue the federal government over that injury. And there's a pretty standard process. There's an SF-95 form, and it's two pages' long, and you explain in it the damages, the injury, or even the death that may occur.

And the government has six months to settle this claim. If they don't settle the claim within six months, you then, as a plaintiff, as a defendant, can file a lawsuit in federal court seeking money. But the interesting option here that the government has, the Department of Justice can decide to settle tort claims without even going to court.

So there does not necessarily have to be court involvement. And Ticktin has started to file these lawsuits through the Federal Tort Claims Act. And there was a recent filing that he filed just earlier this week. In it, he's asking for up to a million dollars for each of the January 6 plaintiffs that he's representing.

And he told me that he may file up to 400 of these on behalf of 400 January 6 defendants. He says he has reason to have faith in the attorney general, Blanche, who he says he thinks will be fair to his clients.

Geoff Bennett:

So there's a statute of limitations here, as you mentioned. Is that an issue for some of these claims?

Liz Landers:

Yes, it could be.

And, recently, a federal court in Florida actually had several January 6 defendants come to them and file a tort claim, and the case was dismissed. The judge there said, this is way past the statute of limitations. You're supposed to file for a federal tort claim filing within two years.

They were well past that because January 6, of course, was a number of years ago. I asked Peter Ticktin about whether this is going to be an issue for him and his clients.

The Department of Justice says that these claims are outside the two-year statute of limitations and are therefore invalid. How are you going to get around that?

Peter Ticktin:

We're suing for everything that's gone on since then and in regard to the continuing conspiracy. We're in a continuing conspiracy that continued at least until September of this -- of 2025.

Liz Landers:

You're saying that the harm went through September of 2025?

Peter Ticktin:

At least -- the conspiracy continued at least that long.

Liz Landers:

Ticktin is claiming that there is this ongoing government conspiracy of lies about January 6 that continues to harm his clients. That's why he says he thinks that they will not be subject to this two-year statute of limitations.

He also told us that this tort claim filing was not an attempt to get around the anti-weaponization fund and the collapse of that. And he said, and I have heard this from other January 6 defendants themselves, that they were always planning to file in this tort claim court, even before the anti-weaponization fund was ever announced.

Geoff Bennett:

And, of course, the idea that there's some sort of conspiracy is revisionist history.

Liz Landers:

Yes.

Geoff Bennett:

Liz Landers, thanks as always.

Peter Ticktin:

Of course.