Proud Boys leaders sue Trump administration for $100M

Proud Boys leaders sue Trump administration for $100M
Henry "Enrique" Tarrio, former national chairman of the Proud Boys who was sentenced to 22 years, talks to the media following his release from prison after U.S. President Donald Trump made a sweeping pardon of those charged in the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol, in Miami, Florida, U.S. January 24, 2025. REUTERS/Eva Marie Uzcategui

Five leaders of the far-right paramilitary group the Proud Boys filed a $100 million lawsuit against the federal government on Friday, claiming violations of their civil rights.

Four of those leaders, Enrique Tarrio, Zachary Rehl, Ethan Nordean, and Joe Biggs were convicted of seditious conspiracy for their involvement in the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol to try to block certification of President Donald Trump's 2020 election loss. The fifth, Dominic Pezzola, was acquitted of seditious conspiracy but convicted on other serious felonies.

Trump commuted their sentences the same day he was sworn into the White House, as part of his clemency for almost 1,600 January 6 rioters.

But that clemency isn't enough for the Proud Boys officials, whose so-called "Western Chauvinist" group is infamous for their political street brawls. They want compensation for what they claim to be illegal mistreatment.

"What follows is a parade of horribles: egregious and systemic abuse of the legal system and the United States Constitution to punish and oppress political allies of President Trump, by any and all means necessary, legal, or illegal," stated the lawsuit. "Through the use of evidence tampering, witness intimidation, violations of attorney-client privilege, and placing spies to report on trial strategy, the government got its fondest wish of imprisoning the J6 Defendants, the modern equivalent of placing one’s enemies' heads on a spike outside the town wall as a warning to any who would think to challenge the status quo."

"Now that the Plaintiffs are vindicated, free, and able to once again exercise their rights as American citizens, they bring this action against their tormentors for violations of their Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendment Rights," the suit continued.

It remains unclear what, if any, evidence the Proud Boys could bring in support of these claims. However, it is also possible that Trump or Attorney General Pam Bondi could simply order the Justice Department to reach a settlement and pay out some fraction of that $100 million at taxpayer expense without a judgment being rendered at trial; this same approach was taken with the lawsuit brought by the family of Ashli Babbitt, the January 6 rioter who was fatally shot by Capitol Police while trying to force her way into an area where members of Congress were evacuating.

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A New York Times columnist hit back at President Donald Trump's assertions that violent rhetoric from left-wing political groups contributed to the attempt on his life during the White House Correspondents' Dinner on Saturday in a fiery piece.

Jamelle Bouie argued in a new opinion piece on Wednesday that Trump is nowhere near as concerned about the impact of his own language as he claims to be about the language others use about him. He cited Trump's recent comments about a social media video created by six Democrats that Trump described as "seditious," and called the lawmakers "traitors."

Bouie argued that this showed Trump lives in his own "bubble," where he can isolate himself from the world and not worry about the consequences of his actions.

"This is a president who rarely travels beyond the confines of the White House compound or Mar-a-Lago," Bouie wrote. "He rarely meets people where they are. Trump holds the occasional rally, but he does not move through the world the way most presidents have. More so than most who have held the office, he lives inside a bubble."

"Some of this is vanity. Some of it is laziness. But some of it, I think, is fear," he continued. "Trump is afraid of the world. Which in a way might mean he is afraid of the world he has helped to build."

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A top Trump aide will have to give up working with top advisors dealing with the wars in Ukraine and Iran, according to a new report.

Josh Gruenbaum was a former advisor for Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff. A report by Politico on Wednesday quoted anonymous sources who said that "he fell out of favor" and had a "penchant for self-promotion and an abrasive work style" that "rankled some of Trump's other senior advisers."

Gruenbaum, 40, was exiled to Trump's Board of Peace, where he'll be focused on Gaza. He first worked alongside Kushner and Witkoff on the Gaza ceasefire deal.

According to Politico, "he flooded various administration officials with phone calls and was seen as very focused on how his name appeared in stories and official communications."

One anonymous source said that, "While Kushner and Witkoff remain Gruenbaum’s allies, the pair didn’t stand in the way of paring back his duties."

White House spokesperson Anna Kelly confirmed that Gruenbaum "will continue to advance the President's agenda" on the Board of Peace, Politico reported.

Meanwhile, "Gruenbaum referred questions to the White House."

MAGA hats are disappearing in one deep red county, a telling sign of how President Donald Trump's support is waning in communities that once supported him, according to a new CNN report.

"For eight years, there were Trump signs on every corner, there were flags. You couldn't go to a grocery store without seeing a red MAGA hat," Chris Anderson, the chair of the Mahoning County Democrats in Ohio, told CNN's John King. "I challenge you to find one."

King confirmed, "It's true."

"It's hard to find one," he said, based on his visit to the blue-collar Ohio county, where he set out to "answer the 'is MAGA cracking' question" with his report.

"I've talked to a lot of people whose views are changing," Ohio voter Mark Skonieczny told King. "Even in my own family, so I am hopeful that that is starting to fracture."

"As we head into the midterms, the jobs he promised are not here," King observed. "The revival and American manufacturing he promised is not here."

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