Supporters of President Donald Trump who tried to overturn the 2020 election are amongst these wanting to doubtlessly money in from the $1.8 billion compensation fund for individuals the Trump administration believes had been victims of presidency “weaponization and lawfare.”
In interviews with NCS, convicted US Capitol rioters from January 6, 2021, fake electors and outstanding election deniers mentioned they’re hoping to faucet the large fund, which they assume is lengthy overdue.
“I can’t even find a job answering the phone at a motorcycle dealership,” mentioned convicted January 6 rioter Dominic Box, who spent 1.5 years in jail awaiting trial and was later pardoned by Trump. “I can’t find a way to support myself right now. I lost my career. I look forward to financial compensation. I need it. This will be a welcome relief.”
MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell instructed NCS he believes his firm misplaced $400 million because of what he views as authorities weaponization within the aftermath of the 2020 election. He was maybe the loudest promoter of baseless voter-fraud claims – drawing boycotts from companies, defamation lawsuits and even FBI scrutiny.
“I would say we were the number-one company in the world hurt by our own government,” mentioned Lindell.
A lawyer for One America News, the pro-Trump channel that promoted false 2020 vote-rigging claims, additionally confirmed to NCS that the corporate is “seriously considering pursuing rights under this fund.” OAN was later dropped by most massive cable suppliers and additionally settled a number of 2020-related defamation lawsuits.
Top Trump administration officers, together with Vice President JD Vance and appearing Attorney General Todd Blanche, have dodged questions over whether or not individuals convicted of January 6-related crimes, together with individuals who assaulted police, ought to be awarded any of the funds.
“Anybody can apply,” Blanche instructed lawmakers throughout a budget hearing Tuesday, noting that even individuals who stormed the Capitol can submit claims that will probably be reviewed by a five-member fee that he’ll appoint.
The fund is open to a wider swath of Trump allies, far past the 2020 election. Potential recipients may embrace individuals who had been scrutinized throughout particular counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian meddling within the 2016 election, Trump administration officers who had been entangled in Trump-Ukraine impeachment in 2019, and others.
The first known potential claimant, Trump adviser Michael Caputo, was investigated by Mueller partly due to his connections to Russian officers. He was by no means charged and is in search of $2.7 million in restitution as a result of, he mentioned, the probes price him and his household, financially and past.
Former FBI Director James Comey joked on NCS that he may additionally have a declare to file, provided that the Trump administration tried and failed in prosecuting him for allegedly mendacity to Congress and now filed new charges alleging {that a} image of seashells on the seashore spelling out “86 47” constituted a risk towards Trump.
“It’s to compensate people who’ve been targeted by the Justice Department for, they say personal, political, or ideological reasons,” Comey instructed NCS’s Jake Tapper. “So, I’m guessing I’ll be in line. I hope I’ll be ahead of those who savagely beat police officers and sacked the Capitol.”
The largest group of potential “victims” are the nearly 1,600 people charged in reference to the January 6 riot on the US Capitol.
They all already received clemency from Trump, within the type of mass pardons and commutations, which freed lots of of convicts from jail and ended pending prosecutions. But the brand new Trump fund delivers on a key aim that many within the January 6 neighborhood have clamored for: Restitution.
“This is long overdue,” Box mentioned. “It’s not okay for hardworking, average Americans to be chewed up and destroyed as a collective boogeyman.”
Box was convicted in 2024 on all expenses, together with felonies, however he wasn’t accused of violence on the Capitol. After Trump granted mass pardons in 2025, the Justice Department dismissed Box’s case, earlier than sentencing.
Box, a school graduate who lives in Georgia, mentioned he labored as a automotive salesman earlier than January 6 however struggled to search out work after the riot.
“The car market exploded during Covid,” Box mentioned. “Because of my inability to work in a forward-facing role, I wasn’t able to acquire any of that income. I knew guys who typically made $40,000 a year, and then got $150,000 to $200,000.”
One of essentially the most recognizable faces from January 6 says he isn’t planning on tapping the fund.
Jacob Chansley, higher often called the “QAnon Shaman,” instructed NCS this week he hopes to be compensated by means of a $40 trillion lawsuit he introduced towards Trump, alleging all types of presidency conspiracies. A choose dismissed the case final yr. But Chansley, who’s representing himself, re-filed the longshot case.
Chansley told NCS last year that he had damaged with Trump over the president’s dealing with of the scandal surrounding intercourse offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Two attorneys who represented members of the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers who had been charged and convicted of conspiring to alter the 2020 election outcomes instructed NCS they might look into whether or not their shoppers would possibly apply for the funds.
One lawyer instructed NCS their consumer, a member of the Oath Keepers who infamously moved into the Capitol in a “stack formation” whereas wearing camo and paramilitary garb, was “never the same” after the January 6 investigations and instances, struggling to search out work and rebuild their life.
The pro-Trump “fake electors” from 2020 additionally stand to learn from the fund, particularly as a result of most of them turned entangled in authorized instances.
These had been 84 Republicans who signed certificates in seven key states like Georgia and Michigan, falsely proclaiming Trump received their state. This was a part of a larger plot, overseen by the Trump marketing campaign, to overturn Joe Biden’s victory whereas Congress licensed the outcomes on January 6, 2021.
Democratic prosecutors in Michigan, Georgia, Wisconsin, Arizona and Nevada ended up charging some or all the faux electors from their states. Most of these instances had been in the end dismissed or had been stalled by appeals.
“Reading the announcement was an emotional relief,” Meshawn Maddolck, one of many Republican electors from Michigan, instructed NCS. “I was debanked. I faced the real possibility of prison time. The trauma to my three kids and the thought of being separated from my grandchildren – it took a lot out of us.”
A choose dropped the fees towards Maddock and the opposite Michigan faux electors final yr, because of inadequate proof of intent to interrupt the legislation.
But a civil case towards the GOP slate is ongoing, and authorized charges are piling up. Kevin Kijewski, an lawyer for faux elector Clifford Frost, mentioned among the 16 defendants have spent as much as $300,000, and they deserve compensation.
“This commission is a good idea,” Kijewski mentioned. “Cliff paid a price personally, professionally and financially. His realtor business still hasn’t recovered since all this happened. Personal relationships were destroyed. The dismissal of criminal charges doesn’t pay back the legal fees and undo the damage.”
Another Michigan elector, John Haggard, 84, was within the hospital for coronary heart surgical procedure on the day the fees had been dropped in September. He attended the courtroom listening to over Zoom, from his hospital mattress, linked to machines, Kijewski mentioned. Haggard died hours later.
“This cost him his peace of mind, his money, and to some extent, his life,” Kijewski mentioned.
Other outstanding 2020 election deniers may qualify for funds.
Lindell, the beleaguered MyPillow CEO, mentioned the fund was Trump’s means of “looking out for these people that were attacked.”
After Trump misplaced the 2020 election, Lindell was one of many loudest voices selling false claims about voting machines rigging the outcomes. This led to a number of defamation lawsuits, together with one the place Lindell was ordered to pay $2.3 million in damages to an ex-Dominion Voting Systems govt. Lawsuits filed by Dominion and one other firm, Smartmatic, are ongoing.
Lindell’s pursuit of election conspiracy theories after 2020 additionally led main retailers to pull his pillows from their shelves, it additionally prompted scrutiny from legislation enforcement – in 2022, Lindell’s cellphone was seized by the FBI.
Former Colorado clerk Tina Peters may additionally profit from the brand new DOJ fund, and her plight even obtained a shout-out from the Whtie House.
Peters, 70, is in state jail for her function in a felony conspiracy with a few of Lindell’s associates to breach her county’s voting methods in 2021, in hopes of proving that the 2020 election was rigged. But she’ll be launched early subsequent month, after receiving a controversial commutation final week from Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, which swiftly drew bipartisan condemnation.
Vice President JD Vance said Tuesday at a press convention that he thinks Peters is an “innocent grandmother” who received a “completely disproportionate” sentence, and due to this fact, it’s “reasonable for her to get some compensation.”
One of Peters’ legal professionals, John Case, instructed NCS the DOJ fund was “great news” nevertheless it’s nonetheless unclear how claims will probably be processed.
Her workforce has argued for years that she was victimized by overzealous prosecutors and biased judges. Case famous that one among her felony convictions, in a separate contempt case, was already overturned by an appeals courtroom in 2024.
A state appeals court lately upheld Peters’ felony convictions within the election-breach case. But the panel threw out her sentence and ordered a re-hearing, discovering that the trial choose improperly based mostly a part of Peters’ punishment on her protected speech selling 2020 election conspiracies.
To those that oppose clemency and potential compensation for Peters, Case requested, “If a judge said you were going to prison for nine years, because of words you used to criticize the government, would you think that’s fair?”
It’s potential that pro-Trump information retailers that paid tens of millions of {dollars} in 2020-related authorized settlements may now search reimbursement from the DOJ.
Chris Babcock, a lawyer for OAN, instructed NCS the corporate “is seriously considering pursuing rights under this fund and will make a decision shortly about whether to file a claim.”
OAN settled lawsuits with Dominion and Smartmatic for unclosed quantities. The instances stemmed from OAN selling egregious lies about voting machines flipping tens of millions of ballots from Trump to Biden in 2020.
Spokespeople for Fox News and Newsmax didn’t reply NCS’s questions on whether or not they would make the most of the DOJ fund.
Fox News paid $787 million to settle a 2020-related defamation lawsuit from Dominion. Newsmax paid about $107 million to settle lawsuits from Dominion and Smartmatic.