The Department of Justice has asked a federal appeals court to toss seditious conspiracy convictions against leaders of a pair of far-right groups who were tried and found guilty of planning and carrying out the attempted Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
The motion requests dismissals of the convictions of Oath Keepers militia leaders Kelly Meggs, Kenneth Harrelson and Jessica Watkins, and Proud Boys members Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs, Zachary Rehl and Dominic Pezzola.
“The government’s motion to vacate in this case is consistent with its practice of moving the Supreme Court to vacate convictions in cases where the government has decided in its prosecutorial discretion that dismissal of a criminal case is in the interests of justice — motions that the Supreme Court routinely grants,” the motion, signed by U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro, reads.