The administration of American President Donald Trump attempted to eliminate or distort the official documentation of the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, according to an investigation conducted by National Public Radio (NPR).
According to the investigation, the modifications targeted judicial files and official materials related to over 1,500 people involved in the violence that day, including protesters convicted of serious offenses such as subversive conspiracy and assaulting law enforcement officers.
What was allegedly altered in the official documents
NPR indicates that, after Trump’s return to the White House, the Department of Justice would have removed terms such as “riot”, “insurrection”, or “violent disturbances” from documents and reports, replacing them with more neutral phrases. According to the same source, dozens of prosecutors who had worked on these cases were fired or removed from investigations.
The information is attributed to documents analyzed by NPR and statements from several former officials involved in the cases.
Pardons and the changing of the official narrative
On January 20, 2025, on the very first day of his new term, Donald Trump pardoned all those involved in the January 6 attack, effectively nullifying the largest investigation ever conducted by the US Department of Justice.
Simultaneously, the president and members of his administration began to publicly describe the participants in the attack as “patriots”, avoiding terms previously used by the Democratic administration, such as “insurgents” or “attackers of democracy”.
What independent data shows
To counter this narrative, NPR consulted an extensive database, which includes judicial files, video images, and testimonies, documenting hundreds of assaults on officers from the Capitol Police and Washington D.C.
According to the civil rights organization CREW, over 30 people who were later pardoned were re-arrested for other serious offenses, ranging from illegal possession of weapons and violence, to sexual offenses and threats against public officials.
The political context
The attack on the Capitol took place after Donald Trump asked his supporters, at a rally organized in front of the White House, to march towards the Capitol and “fight”. As a result of the violence, five people died in the first 36 hours, and four other police officers committed suicide in the following months.
Trump was subsequently charged in a federal case regarding the attempt to undermine the certification of the 2020 election results, but the case was dismissed after his victory in the 2024 presidential elections.
Why it matters
The NPR investigation suggests not just a change in criminal policy, but an attempt to officially redefine the events of January 6, with direct implications on how the American state preserves its institutional memory.
For critics of the administration, this approach risks creating a dangerous precedent, where political violence is minimized or retrospectively reinterpreted, depending on who is in power.