A federal judge expressed confusion and surprise at the Department of Justice's defense for a convicted Jan. 6er. The DOJ's decision to dismiss the charges against the eight Oath Keepers wasn't based on a lack of evidence or support for the convictions, according to Mehta's ruling. He described the DOJ as bestowing "unearned grace" on the Jan. 6ers "by wiping their records clean. Mehta also found it "surprising" that the DOJ pointed to voluminous media coverage of the Oath Keepers trial as a way of allaying concerns that the Trump administration was trying to erase history. It was the last criminal prosecution against Jan. 6ers, reporting by Politico noted.