What We Sought
In response to troubling reports of potentially inappropriate uses of U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in the early days of the Trump-Vance administration, which included DOGE invoking threats to engage USMS when seeking access to agency buildings under questionable circumstances, Elon Musk’s private security guards being deputized by USMS, and USMS inappropriately communicating with federal judges on pending cases related to January 6th, DFF submitted multiple FOIA requests to shed light on the matter.
What We Received
After filing a FOIA lawsuit against USMS for failing to answer our requests within the time period required by law, we began receiving court-mandated productions in August 2025. The productions contained communications relating to the release of January 6 defendants prior to and following the official pardoning announcement, a Summary Pardon Report of such planning efforts, and communications relating to the deputization of Elon Musk’s private security team to the USMS in order to protect Elon Musk as the “head” of DOGE.
The FOIA productions we received so far show:
- The USMS was in contact with judges within 24 hours of President Trump’s inauguration. They show that USMS met with and emailed the Chief Judge to request that the judges’ orders include a provision that would allow USMS to pay for the pardoned Jan. 6th perpetrators’ travel. The documents also show that Christopher Stanley, detailed to the Office of the Deputy Attorney General from DOGE, managed this for DOJ leadership.
- USMS moved rapidly after Trump was inaugurated at the direction of senior political appointees, while other USMS staff were learning about updates on the Jan. 6th matter via the press and leadership. Staff scrambled with a list of pardoned individuals that grew rapidly. In one email from January 2025, the Associate Director for Operations at USMS states, “Hopefully we’ll begin to get information directly from the department tomorrow instead of the press.”
- The administration used an irregular and unprecedented process to grant federal law enforcement status to the private bodyguards for Musk. This process included:
- that USMS made an exception to its special deputation eligibility requirements by waiving the requirement of completing a basic law enforcement training program and that they “possess at least 1 year of law enforcement experience with an agency that has general arrest authority.”
- that while it appears they did not complete a basic law enforcement training program, they were “expected to carry firearms and provide personal protection” during “domestic and international travel.”
- that they recommended this deputization last two years, even though they typically last for only one year.
