Donald Trump's stake is still worth nearly $2 billion, but fears he might follow CEO Devin Nunes and sell stock while it's still worth something is weighing on sentiment. (Kevin Dietsch—Getty Images)
A newly filed $100 million lawsuit by members of the Proud Boys could create a legal and political firestorm — one that might pit the Trump administration against itself, according to legal analyst and former federal prosecutor Shan Wu.
Writing for MSNBC, Wu described the lawsuit as “legally unsound but it has an excellent chance of success.” Filed by Jan. 6 rioters, including members of the Proud Boys, the suit claims the Justice Department and FBI violated their constitutional rights by arresting and imprisoning them for trying to prevent the certification of the 2020 election results.
Although President Donald Trump has already pardoned or commuted the sentences of several Jan. 6 participants including key Proud Boys leaders convicted of seditious conspiracy this lawsuit seeks further compensation.
Wu argued that the lawsuit, if successful, could function as a kind of financial “reparations” for those convicted in connection to the Capitol attack.
“Both the language in the pardon and commutations and Trump’s characterizations and apologies make a settlement nearly the only outcome,” Wu said.
One of the more unusual and controversial aspects of the case, Wu noted, is the potential for Trump officials to be forced to testify not against others, but effectively against themselves.
“The absurdity of Trump and other Trump administration officials testifying against DOJ’s defense of its actions — in essence, the administration testifying against itself,” Wu said, adds to the legal tension. Yet, he noted, the chance of that actually happening is “non-existent.”
Beyond the lawsuit, the financial toll of the Jan. 6 riot has already been staggering. Wu pointed to a congressional audit estimating $2.7 billion in damages, with only $3 million ordered in restitution most of which has now been nullified by Trump’s pardons.
“Whatever restitution was owed is wiped clean by the pardons and commutations, and the DOJ has already supported giving a refund to the defendants of any money already paid,” Wu explained.
If the Proud Boys receive a settlement, it may pave the way for what Trump once floated a “compensation fund” for pardoned rioters. Wu wrote, “Essentially, the Trump administration could be creating reparations packages for Jan. 6 rioters.”
That idea, historians warn, would send a chilling message. As Professor Allan J. Lichtman put it, such compensation would legitimize “violent insurrections.”
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