The Preamble

The Preamble

Turning Insurrectionists Into Victims

Trump’s anti-weaponization fund may be dead, but the message lives

Elise Labott's avatar
Elise Labott
Jun 03, 2026
∙ Paid

On his first day back in office, President Donald Trump pardoned nearly everyone charged in connection with the January 6 attack on the Capitol. That accomplished the legal objective — freedom, erasure of consequences, the end of prison sentences for the rioters. But that wasn’t enough.

Last month, the Justice Department announced a $1.776 billion “anti-…

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Elise Labott's avatar
A guest post by
Elise Labott
Global affairs journalist. I write Cosmopolitics on Substack.
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