Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Justice Department are facing blowback over their effort to block a lawsuit from members of the far-right Proud Boys, who are seeking financial reimbursement for their criminal cases and imprisonment for offenses stemming from the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot.

The Proud Boys Jan. 6 rioters, who met in a social media "X spaces" gathering last month, are calling for Bondi's resignation, after the Justice Department filed a motion in federal court in Florida last week, asking a judge to dismiss a civil lawsuit filed by Enrique Tarrio, Zachary Rehl, Domenic Pezzola and other Proud Boys. All the men were imprisoned for their roles in the riot before President Trump pardoned them on the day he was inaugurated for his second term.

The Proud Boys' lawsuit seeks more than $100 million in damages and alleges the men suffered "A parade of horribles: egregious and systemic abuse of the legal system and the United States Constitution to punish and oppress political allies of President Trump, by any and all means necessary, legal, or illegal."

"Through the use of evidence tampering, witness intimidation, violations of attorney-client privilege, and placing spies to report on trial strategy, the government got its fondest wish of imprisoning the J6 Defendants," the lawsuit claims.

In a filing on Aug. 25, the Justice Department responded that the Jan. 6 defendants had not yet exhausted administrative remedies before they filed suit and also argued the U.S. enjoys sovereign immunity from such claims.

An attorney for Jan. 6 defendants sent a statement to CBS News, saying, "Motions to dismiss are a common reaction to a civil complaint, and we anticipated that the attorney the government assigned to the case would make such a motion.  We are confident that the Court will see that the Federal government's outrageous treatment of my clients justifies allowing the suit to continue. "

In their publicly posted X spaces meeting video, Jan. 6 defendants and supporters blistered the Justice Department for opposing the Proud Boys' civil challenge.   

Isaac Thomas, a pardoned Jan. 6 defendant from Michigan who participated in the meeting, said, "Unfortunately, Pam Bondi's DOJ seems to be advocating for the same things that the Biden regime was advocating for. A long time ago, I joined the call of Trump supporters saying that Pam Bondi needs to step down." Thomas said the Jan. 6 defendants "have been dumped out." 

Mark McCloskey, an attorney who said he is seeking financial payments for Capitol riot defendants, said in the video he was "very disappointed" in the Justice Department's challenge to the Proud Boys lawsuit. He said if the Justice Department opposes other legal challenges seeking restitution or financial awards for Jan. 6 defendants, "It's going to make our lives very difficult."

He predicted more legal challenges would be coming, as some of the more than 1,500 Jan. 6 defendants pursue financial compensation, and he referenced "hundreds" of people who could be impacted.

The Justice Department did not have an immediate comment to the recent Jan. 6 defendants' online meeting.

The civil lawsuit filed by Proud Boys members also alleges malicious prosecution and violation of Fourth Amendment protections, claims that the Justice Department rebutted in its response to the suit.   

In their Aug. 25 filing, the Justice Department argued the Proud Boys defendants failed to sufficiently demonstrate the case was "malicious" and that their constitutional rights had been violated. The 17-page filing from the department did not address whether the men had been rightfully or wrongfully convicted by a jury.  

The Proud Boys also allege harsh conditions in jail in their lawsuit, and it referenced the language used in President Trump's pardon order for Capitol insurrection defendants, which said, "This proclamation ends a grave national injustice that has been perpetrated upon the American people over the last four years and is a process of national reconciliation."

An attorney who filed the suit did not immediately respond to requests for comment from CBS News.

A Justice Department attorney who filed the motion to dismiss the Jan. 6 defendants' lawsuit has been harshly criticized by name on social media. In one instance, the attorney was referred to as being one of the "swamp rats." News of the Justice Department court filing also triggered a wave of critical comments about the department in a weekend social media post by a media outlet aligned with Trump supporter Mike Lindell, who made baseless claims about the 2020 election.