DOJ official told GOP ally that big payouts were coming for Jan. 6 defendants

Source: NBC News

May 19, 2026, 5:43 PM EDT


Earlier this year, not long after Trump administration official Ed Martin was stripped of his role as head of the Justice Department’s “weaponization” working group that targeted the president’s political foes, he sat down for breakfast at an upscale spot near the White House. Inside the Peacock Lounge at the Willard InterContinental in Washington D.C., Martin dined with Republican operative Norm Coleman.

The two touched on the upcoming 2026 midterm elections, D.C. federal grand juries and former special counsel Jack Smith, according to two people with direct knowledge of their conversation. Martin also predicted the Justice Department would dole out millions of dollars to those charged, and then later pardoned, in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol, the people said. Even if it took until the end of President Donald Trump’s term.

Martin estimated it would be something like $40 million, the people said. The pot ended up much, much larger.

This week, the Justice Department announced a $1.776 billion fund using taxpayer dollars to provide payouts for those “who suffered weaponization and lawfare” at the hands of the government. The money comes as part of a settlement with President Donald Trump, who sued the executive branch that he oversees — an unprecedented legal move, experts said.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/doj-official-told-gop-ally-big-payouts-coming-jan-6-defendants-rcna343847