Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee sent a scathing letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi condemning the Justice Department's position that Jan. 6 defendants whose convictions were wiped out by President Donald Trump are entitled to restitution payments, reports Politico.
"We condemn the Justice Department's position that the federal government should financially reward January 6 insurrectionists who ransacked the Capitol, attacked law enforcement officers, and threatened the lives of those who serve here," the senators wrote in a letter Friday to Attorney General Pam Bondi.
"The roughly $400,000 received in restitution is little justice for the $3 million's worth of damage done to the Capitol, the injuries sustained by Capitol Police and D.C. Metropolitan Police Department officers serving on that day, and the terror inflicted on those trapped inside during the attack," they wrote. "To take the position that January 6 insurrectionists should now receive refunds is unacceptable."
The lawmakers include Sens. Alex Padilla (California), Amy Klobuchar (Minnesota), Dick Durbin (Illinois), Peter Welch (Vermont), Richard Blumenthal (Connecticut), Adam Schiff (California), Mazie Hirono (Hawaii), Sheldon Whitehouse (Rhode Island), and Jeff Merkley (Oregon).
Trump in late March told Newsmax there "was talk about" a compensation fund.
"Well, there's talk about that, we have a lot of people talking about it, a lot of the people that are in government now talk about it, because a lot of people in government really like that group of people," Trump said, referring to the rioters as "patriots" who went to the Capitol "peacefully and patriotically."