The US Justice Department has asked a federal appeals court to vacate the last remaining convictions tied to the 6 January 2021 Capitol riot, targeting 12 members of the far-right groups Proud Boys and Oath Keepers who were found guilty of seditious conspiracy. Among them is Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, who received one of the heaviest sentences — 18 years — for orchestrating the assault, despite not physically entering the building himself. The move appears driven in part by a desire to avoid an embarrassing legal situation in which Trump administration prosecutors would have been required to defend charges filed under the previous Biden-era Justice Department, potentially arguing in court that the defendants acted at President Trump's direction.