President Donald Trump's administration is pulling back on specifics for its pardons for Jan. 6 defendants after attacks of overly broad pardons that could include crimes like conspiracy to commit murder, child exploitation, and more.
Politico's Kyle Cheney noted Wednesday that the Justice Department said three weeks ago that Jan. 6 defendant Dan Wilson was pardoned for the Jan. 6 crimes, but it didn't include charges of him illegally storing firearms at his home.
But on Tuesday, the Washington, D.C., U.S. attorney's office backed down, saying it had “received further clarity” about Trump's intent, which should include Wilson's guns case.
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"Jan. 6 defendants have repeatedly argued that the language is so broad it covers other crimes that have nothing to do with Jan. 6 but were discovered during the vast criminal probe stemming from the Capitol attack," said Cheney. "But Trump himself did not speak to that issue when he signed the executive proclamation issuing the pardons, and it has left his own administration and the courts struggling to divine what was in his head the moment his pen touched the order on Jan. 20."
One Jan. 6 defendant, David Daniel, was charged with possession of child pornography. The pardons would not include that.
It has caused some problems for DOJ lawyers in court. As they faced off with U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich, a prosecutor was probed over the administration's stance. Cheney wrote the hearing "appeared to leave with more questions than answers."
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Blackwell said the DOJ's "understanding of Trump’s pardon had evolved in recent weeks."
Recently, the DOJ dismissed charges for Jan. 6 defendants who committed other crimes. Cheney cited Jeremy Brown, a Florida man who is already in prison for possession of grenades and classified information. Elias Costianes had illegal guns and drugs. Daniel Ball is a frequent offender of firearms restrictions in the state.
Blackwell said that those convictions were the result of FBI searches that were part of the Jan. 6 investigation. Thus, they're "related to" the insurrection.
Judge Friedrich ultimately found that Brown's possession of classified information happened "long before Jan. 6." Still, the DOJ says Brown gets a pardon while David Daniel's child exploitation charges do not.
Judge "Friedrich pressed further with a hypothetical: If evidence emerged later that connected a Jan. 6 defendant to a murder, would the defendant be pardoned of that crime under DOJ’s interpretation? Blackwell couldn’t answer," said Cheney.
It didn't go over well. Friedrich called it a forever-shifting target.
“It can’t be the case that a pardon can be issued in vague terms and months later, the president can make a determination of what it means,” Friedrich said. “It’s not my job to craft the pardon language.”
Cheney described the Judge as "exasperated."