“This is the last of the prosecutions seeking to hold accountable those responsible for the events of January 6. That book is now closed,” U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta wrote in his opinion last week as he “reluctantly” dismissed charges in the last eight criminal cases against Jan. 6 rioters. 

They, along with six others, were the only Capitol rioters or conspirators not fully pardoned by President Donald Trump on the day he retook office. (On that day, Trump commuted their sentences instead.)

Because Trump’s Justice Department filed a motion to dismiss the cases against Stewart Rhodes and his fellow Oath Keepers, Mehta had to oblige. But not before he wrote: “Today’s epilogue diminishes the gravity of that day, denigrates the work of the prosecutors and law enforcement officers who secured these convictions, and excuses criminal acts that caused a centuries-long pillar of our democracy — the peaceful transfer of presidential power — to buckle.”

It’s a remarkable and tragic conclusion. The final chapter of Trump’s Big Lie began with his victory in 2024, and this dismissal almost certainly marks its culmination: The anti-democracy thugs won, decisively. 

Since Trump issued his mass clemency, at least 97 of the roughly 1,500 pardoned rioters (about 1 in 16) have been arrested, prosecuted or convicted for other crimes, according to a June 2026 Lawfare study. At least 14 of those “have been charged with sex crimes or crimes related to child sexual abuse material (CSAM), and at least six have faced domestic violence charges,” Lawfare’s Katherine Pompilio noted.

The MAGA mob that chanted “Hang Mike Pence” and “Where’s Nancy?” was, for a brief moment, almost universally reviled, even by many Republicans. So despicable was the rioters’ brutally violent rampage that MAGA created conspiracy theories claiming they were antifa supersoldier crisis actors. But soon enough, Trump’s supporters simply embraced the people he called “beautiful,” because MAGA is a cult of personality and believes whatever Trump tells it to believe. 

It’s often said by those who’d excuse or downplay Jan. 6 that “the system held,” but far too many people look at the assault as little more than a populist riot that got out of hand. Rather, Jan. 6 was merely the loudest day of Trump’s monthslong self-coup attempt after losing a free and fair election. (I don’t understand what “self-coup” means.)

The Senate had the chance to hold Trump accountable and prevent what should have been an unthinkable political comeback for an unabashed demagogic criminal. But the “World’s Greatest Deliberative Body” — that ultimate of powerful institutions — did not convict him at his second impeachment, weeks after he left office in 2021. Then-Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell gave a bravura speech putting the entire blame for Jan. 6 on Trump and eviscerating his self-coup attempt, which he said would put American democracy into a “death spiral.” Yet McConnell — who could have easily whipped the nine additional votes needed to convict — voted to acquit, saying the courts would handle Trump. Over the next four years, both federal and state court systems failed to hold Trump accountable.

Anthony L. Fisher

Anthony L. Fisher is a senior editor and opinion columnist for MS NOW.