Judge criticizes the broad reading of the Department of Justice of the Riot Indians of Capitol of Trump.

By Michael Kunzelman

Washington (AP) – A federal judge criticized on Wednesday the evolving position of the Department of Justice that a presidential forgiveness for a Kentucky man who The Capitol assaulted It also covers his conviction for possessing weapons illegally at home.

The American District Judge Dabney Friedrich pressed a prosecutor to explain why the department left his initial conclusion that Daniel Edwin Wilson You must inform the prison because he did not believe that his pardon By January 6, 2021, Riot extended to his sentences of firearms.

“The meaning of forgiveness cannot change day by day,” said the judge.

Friedrich said it was “extraordinary” that the Department of Justice declared that the general pardons of President Donald Trump for the cappolium’s uprooters apply to crimes related to the illegal “smuggling” found by the investigators during searches related to the cases of January 6.

The United States assistant prosecutor Jennifer Blackwell said that officials of the Justice Department recently provided “greater clarity” that Trump intended that Wilson’s forgiveness cover his sentences for firearms.

“I think it is fair to say that our understanding of intention has evolved over time,” said Blackwell.

Researchers He seized six weapons and approximately 4,800 rounds of ammunition when they registered Wilson’s house in June 2022. He had previous sentences of serious crimes that made illegal that owned firearms.

Friedrich sentenced Wilson last August to five years in prison after he declared himself guilty of conspiracy to prevent or hurt police officers in the Capitol and illegally possess an unregistered firearm.

The Federal Prison Office erroneously released Wilson from custody after Trump issued the forgives on January 20, his first day back at the White House.

Wilson is expected to be reported to prison on Thursday, but the judge pointed out that his report date would be delayed while weighing a ruling.

Wilson’s lawyer, George Pallas, argued that the judge does not have the authority to interpret the scope of the pardons. He said Blackwell essentially spoke for Trump at the audience.

“She is telling you what the president means with this forgiveness.” Pallas told the judge. “It is not subject to interpretation.”

Friedrich said it is not questioned that Trump had the authority to forgive Wilson and approximately 1,400 accused of disturbances of the Capitol.

“I am accepting the language of forgiveness,” he said. “The question is: to what extent can I go in the language?”

The judge asked why Trump has not issued a forgiveness of “clarification.” It cannot be an “open forgiveness” that is subject to reinterpretation over time, he added.

“You can’t completely divorce the text,” Friedrich said. “It can’t be, ‘we know when we see it.'”

The Department of Justice concluded that Trump’s forgiveness by another accused of disturbances of the Capitol, Jeremy BrownIt also applies to their separated sentences for illegally stolen grenades and classified information. Brown was sentenced in April 2023 to seven years and three months in prison after a federal jury in Florida condemned him.

But the department decided that the pardons do not cover all the charges against at least two other defendants of January 6.

Prosecutors moved to dismiss the case of January 6 against Taylor Tarantobut they have continued to prosecute it for positions derived from their Arrest in June 2023 near the house of former President Barack Obama in Washington.

The department also concluded that forgiveness does not apply in the case of a man who was waiting for the trial on January 6 when prosecutors say he He developed a plan to kill the police. Edward Kelley was sentenced in November for charges, including conspiracy to kill federal employees and is sentenced to be scheduled in May.

Originally published: February 26, 2025 at 1:15 pm mst