INVESTIGATIONS, ACCOUNTABILITY & COURTS
January 6 produced congressional proceedings, criminal prosecutions, civil litigation, appellate decisions, Supreme Court rulings and presidential clemency. These outcomes are not interchangeable. This page identifies what each institution actually decided—and what it did not decide.
Open the Investigations, Courts & Legal Record →
The structured J6-L record preserves each procedural stage separately and connects entries to the existing J6-E Evidence Ledger where supporting records are already cataloged.
Legal words have different meanings
An accusation is not a conviction. A congressional finding is not a judicial finding. A dismissal may or may not resolve the merits. A pardon or commutation changes legal consequences but is not the same thing as an appellate reversal. The record should preserve those distinctions.
House impeachment — Incitement of Insurrection
Congressional ProceedingThe House impeached President Donald Trump for “incitement of insurrection.” Impeachment is a constitutional political proceeding; it is not a criminal indictment or criminal conviction.
Senate impeachment trial
Acquittal57 Guilty · 43 Not GuiltyThe Senate separately considered whether a former president was subject to an impeachment trial and voted 56–44 that the proceeding could continue. On February 13, 57 senators voted guilty and 43 voted not guilty. Because conviction required two thirds of senators present, the Senate's formal judgment was not guilty.
House Select Committee investigation
Congressional FindingThe House Select Committee gathered testimony, documents and other evidence and issued findings and referrals. Those materials are important government records, but a committee finding or referral is not itself a criminal conviction. Related claims must be compared with court records and primary evidence.
Federal January 6 prosecutions
Criminal CasesFederal prosecutors brought cases involving a wide range of alleged conduct—from unlawful entry and disorderly conduct to assaults, obstruction-related charges and conspiracy offenses. The legal status of each person must be shown individually: charge, plea, verdict, sentence, appeal, dismissal, clemency and current status should not be collapsed into a single category.
Fischer v. United States
Supreme CourtStatutory InterpretationThe Supreme Court narrowed the circumstances in which 18 U.S.C. §1512(c)(2), an obstruction statute, can be applied. The Court held that the government must establish impairment of the availability or integrity of records, documents, objects or other things used in an official proceeding, or an attempt to do so. The decision did not erase every January 6 prosecution; its effect depended on the charges and facts of individual cases.
Trump v. United States
Supreme CourtPresidential ImmunityThe Supreme Court established an immunity framework for criminal prosecution of a former president: absolute immunity for conduct within the President's exclusive constitutional authority, at least presumptive immunity for other official acts, and no immunity for unofficial acts. The Court did not decide whether Donald Trump was guilty of the federal election-related charges.
United States v. Donald J. Trump
IndictmentDismissed Without Trial VerdictThe federal indictment concerning efforts to overturn the 2020 election contained criminal allegations, not findings of guilt. After Trump won the 2024 presidential election, the federal prosecution was dismissed before trial under the Justice Department's position that a sitting president cannot be federally prosecuted. The dismissal therefore did not produce a trial verdict resolving the allegations.
Presidential pardons and commutations
Executive ClemencyPresident Trump issued broad clemency for federal offenses related to January 6. The proclamation commuted the sentences of 14 named individuals to time served, granted pardons to other covered individuals, and directed the Attorney General to seek dismissal with prejudice of pending covered indictments. The historical ledger should preserve both the original case outcome and the later clemency action.
A conviction followed by clemency should be recorded as two events: the judicial outcome and the later exercise of presidential clemency. Likewise, a charge dismissed before trial should not be described as either a conviction or an acquittal unless the actual disposition supports that description.
Preserve the complete procedural history
For every significant case, this project should record: who brought the proceeding; what was alleged; the legal authority invoked; evidence presented; whether the merits were reached; the judgment or disposition; appellate history; later Supreme Court effects; clemency; and current status.
This prevents later developments from silently overwriting earlier events. A conviction followed by a pardon remains part of the historical record. A charge later dismissed remains a charge that was filed and a dismissal that occurred. A Supreme Court ruling narrowing a statute should be connected to the cases it actually affected.
Explore the underlying court record
The independent January 6 Memory Project preserves DOJ releases and linked court filings that can be examined alongside official court and government sources.
Independent External Archive →