Jacob Chansley, better known as the Qanon Shaman, has filed a lawsuit in Arizona that seeks $40 trillion in damages and names Donald Trump and a long list of others. The 26-page filing was written as one long paragraph and reads more like a manifesto than a typical lawsuit.
In the complaint, he claims he is the rightful leader of a new government and says the country should only be run by the original Constitution and the Bill of Rights. He listed Trump, the Federal Reserve, the NSA, the IMF, the World Bank, Israel, Elon Musk’s X Corp, T-Mobile, DARPA and Warner Bros as defendants.
The lawsuit divides the damages into three parts, with $38 trillion to wipe out government debt, $1 trillion for rebuilding the nation, and $1 trillion for his own pain and suffering. He wrote that his claim came from “personal, emotional, mental, and spiritual torture and years’ worth of anguish.”
He also suggested that the Federal Reserve mint a single gold coin worth $40 trillion as his first act as “the first president of the ‘New Constitutional Republic of the United States.’” Reporters noted that the exhibits listed in the filing linked to an online folder that could not be opened.
In the complaint, he accuses an elite group of violating constitutional rights and he calls himself the true commander in chief. He claims the NSA tricked him online by posing as actress Michelle Rodriguez and that Trump personally emailed him after the Capitol riot, though those details are presented as his claims and not verified facts.
He did not respond to questions sent to his listed contacts, and none of the defendants offered early comment. Reporters who obtained the papers said the lawsuit mixes state and federal issues and could be moved to federal court, but called the claims “wildly specious.”
Chansley rose to attention during January 6 when he entered the Senate chamber bare-chested and wearing horns while carrying a flag tied to a spear. He was later sentenced to 41 months in prison for obstructing an official proceeding before being released to a halfway house in 2023.
Since then he tried to run for Congress in Arizona as a Libertarian but failed to make the ballot. He later said he would move away from the Qanon label but would stay active in public debates.
His attitude toward Trump has shifted several times. Trump pardoned him in 2025 and he initially celebrated with posts that said things like “I GOT A PARDON BABY!” and “THANK YOU PRESIDENT TRUMP!!! NOW I AM GONNA BUY SOME MOTHA FU*KIN GUNS!!!” But only months later he turned against him and called Trump a fraud in angry online posts.
In July he wrote “F**k this stupid piece of s**t… What a fraud…” and he demanded payment for interviews, telling one outlet “I charge $555 per hour. Minimum of 1 hour.” His anger was tied to Trump refusing to release Epstein files, an issue that caused tension even among some of Trump’s backers.
The new filing continues themes he has repeated for years, including attacks on globalists, claims of government spying and demands for a new system based only on the Bill of Rights. In it he said that radio stations and DJs are part of the intelligence community, that the NSA watched him while he drafted a second Declaration of Independence, and that the government stole over $100,000 in cryptocurrency from him.
How the case moves forward depends on whether the defendants are served and if the court takes jurisdiction. At this point, there are no responses on file, and the only record is the complaint itself, along with what reporters have seen.
The filing shows that Chansley wants to move his story from criminal defendant to civil plaintiff, casting himself as a constitutional crusader even if the court may throw the case out early.
