Trump DOJ Pushes to Erase Jan. 6 Rioter’s Domestic Violence Gun Conviction — For the Second Time
After a federal appeals court already said no, Justice Department prosecutors are back in court arguing a Trump pardon should wipe out a domestic violence firearms charge
The Trump Department of Justice is making a second attempt to erase a January 6 rioter’s federal gun conviction — this time arguing that a presidential pardon should extend to a domestic violence firearms charge that only surfaced because of the Capitol attack investigation.
In a renewed motion filed Tuesday, DOJ prosecutors asked the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to vacate the conviction of Benjamin John Martin, who was found guilty of illegally possessing firearms despite a prior misdemeanor domestic violence conviction — a separate federal offense from his Capitol riot charges.
What the DOJ Is Arguing
Prosecutors contend that Martin’s guns were discovered only as an “unexpected byproduct” of executing a search warrant tied to his January 6 conduct, and that the connection is close enough to bring the firearms charge within the scope of Trump’s blanket pardon of Capitol rioters.
“The Department has concluded that were it not for Martin’s involvement in ‘the events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021,’ his firearms offenses would not have come to light, let alone been prosecuted,” the filing states. “His convictions are therefore sufficiently ‘related to’ those events to fall within the pardon’s scope.”
Court Already Rejected This Once
The Ninth Circuit rejected the identical request in March 2025. Prosecutors acknowledged the awkwardness of returning with the same argument, writing in their latest filing that the department “absolutely means no disrespect toward this Court’s prior order by seeking relief through this motion.”
The move raises immediate questions about the DOJ’s willingness to relitigate settled rulings in service of Trump’s political agenda — particularly on a case involving a conviction designed to keep firearms out of the hands of domestic abusers.
DOJ Cites Staffing Shortages — Then Lists Immigration Cases
In a notable rhetorical turn, prosecutors also cited “significant staffing shortages” and “uniquely scarce” resources at the relevant U.S. Attorney’s Office to argue the department cannot afford to keep fighting Martin’s appeal.
To illustrate the burden, the filing listed a slate of immigration cases — signaling that the Trump administration’s own enforcement priorities are straining the very office it is asking to pursue this case further.
Critics are likely to note the contradiction: an administration pleading resource constraints while simultaneously pressing courts to nullify a domestic violence gun conviction that its own prosecutors did not originally seek to overturn.