January 6 defendants seek damages claims via Federal Tort Claims Act, The Guardian reports

Several defendants charged in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol are attempting to pursue damages claims against the federal government for conduct tied to their cases, using the Federal Tort Claims Act, The Guardian reported June 17. The outlet said the effort would effectively run parallel to an earlier approach the Trump administration had used to offer compensation tied to the events, including a roughly $1.8 billion fund that has since been scrapped, according to the report.

The Federal Tort Claims Act is a statute that allows lawsuits for certain harms committed by federal employees acting within the scope of their employment, and it also creates a process for the government to assess and resolve administrative claims. According to The Guardian, the Jan. 6 defendants are attempting to leverage that framework to seek compensation without the same kind of case-specific litigation oversight that would typically accompany civil suits.

The report characterizes the method as an “obscure” federal pathway with what it describes as “minimal oversight,” arguing that it can provide an avenue to compensate people accused of assaulting law enforcement even after an alternative compensation mechanism was removed. The Guardian did not describe all procedural steps in detail, but said the Justice Department has “total discretion” under the process as characterized by the outlet.

In the report, the Justice Department is presented as the central decisionmaker because administrative determinations under the Tort Claims Act fall within federal agency structures and are handled through the Justice Department’s authority over certain aspects of the program. The Guardian said that, as a result, any administrative acceptance or rejection would be controlled by the executive branch rather than by a congressional action or court ruling initiated by the claimants.

The Guardian also said the defendants are seeking “millions” in compensation, tying the amount to the scale of relief described in the report. It did not, in the provided summary, identify all claim amounts, the specific defendants, or which administrative offices would adjudicate the matters in each case, and those details would require confirmation through the underlying administrative filings or Justice Department responses.

The next steps, according to the federal Tort Claims Act framework as described in the report, would center on whether the government accepts the administrative claims and, if it does, what amount it determines is payable and under what terms. If claims are denied, the Act’s procedures and any subsequent review options would govern further action, including the possibility of additional federal litigation.

Because the provided information comes from a single news report and does not include the administrative claim documents, the exact legal theories advanced by the defendants, the identities of all claimants, and the scope of discretion exercised in each matter would need verification from primary records such as administrative claim submissions, agency determinations, or any related court filings.