Trump pardoned roughly 1,500 individuals charged in the Jan. 6 events at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
The new decision, he said, is the result of an appeals court decision, as well as the timing of Trump's pardon, which came at the same time as their case had been pending appeal before the D.C. Circuit.
"Having viewed the question afresh, the court now agrees with the defendants," Boasberg said.
Both defendants, Ballenger and Price, had been in the process of appealing their convictions when Trump took office for a second time this year and issued a sweeping pardon for the roughly 1,500 Jan. 6 defendants.
In July, Boasberg rejected their request to be refunded the $570 each in restitution payments and other fees paid as a part of their convictions.
They later asked the court to reconsider, clearing the way for Wednesday's new ruling.
The E. Barrett Prettyman United States Courthouse Dec. 10, 2024, in Washington, D.C. (David Ake/Getty Images)
"So even if defendants’ pardon does not entitle them to refunds, the resulting vacatur of their convictions might," Boasberg wrote, adding that it is true regardless of the reason for the vacatur. "In plain English, vacatur — unlike a pardon — ‘wholly nullifie[s]’ the vacated order and ‘wipes the slate clean.'"
The memo order goes one step further, however, as Boasberg considers not only whether a court can theoretically order repayments in the cases of vacated convictions, but if doing so is legally sound under the appropriations clause and with respect to issues of sovereign immunity, which protects the government from being sued without its consent.
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Boasberg concluded that the court has the power to order such repayment.
"Because the court could order defendants to pay assessments and restitution, it can order those payments reversed," he said. "Those are two sides of the same action, and sovereign immunity does not stand in the way."
The new memo order is likely to be seen as a win by some Trump allies, who have sought to cast Boasberg and other judges who have blocked or paused some of Trump's most sweeping actions as rogue or "activist" judges.
"Having viewed the question afresh, the Court now agrees with defendants," Boasberg said Wednesday.
"When a conviction is vacated, the government must return any payments exacted because of it."
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Some Democrats in Congress sharply criticized Trump's pardons earlier this year, with the late ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, Rep. Gerald Connolly, arguing in a letter that the pardons let Jan. 6 participants "off the hook" for an estimated $2.7 billion in estimated damages to the U.S. Capitol.
Breanne Deppisch is a national politics reporter for Fox News Digital covering the Trump administration, with a focus on the Justice Department, FBI and other national news. She previously covered national politics at the Washington Examiner and The Washington Post, with additional bylines in Politico Magazine, the Colorado Gazette and others. You can send tips to Breanne at Breanne.Deppisch@fox.com, or follow her on X at @breanne_dep.
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