Overview
- A federal judge in Washington granted the Justice Department’s unopposed motion on Friday to dismiss with prejudice the convictions of Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl and Dominic Pezzola, closing the case against those four defendants.
- The move followed a D.C. Circuit decision that vacated the 2023 convictions and returned the matter to the district court, leaving Judge Timothy J. Kelly little legal power to deny the Justice Department’s request.
- Judge Kelly said the dismissal was driven by a presidential executive order directing the Attorney General to seek such relief, and he warned that the court’s ruling should not be read as approval of that policy.
- The dismissal with prejudice bars the government from re-filing the same charges, prompting public celebration from the defendants and some Proud Boys leaders while other Jan. 6 prosecutions remain in different legal postures.
- The ruling rewrites one of the most prominent outcomes of the Jan. 6 prosecutions and raises broader questions about separation of powers, how clemency shapes criminal cases, and what accountability will look like for other defendants.