January 6 defendants pursue millions in claims through obscure federal process

[A Badger]

7. Not necessarily.

From Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burdick_v._United_States:

...Although the Supreme Court's opinion stated that a pardon carries "an imputation of guilt and acceptance of a confession of it,"[2] this was part of the Court's dictum for the case.[4] Whether the acceptance of a pardon constitutes an admission of guilt by the recipient is disputed. ...