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President Donald Trump has again pardoned Dan Wilson, a self-described militia member who took part in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and later pleaded guilty to unrelated federal firearms offenses. The new “full and unconditional” pardon, signed Nov. 14, wipes away the Kentucky man’s gun convictions years after Trump’s earlier clemency erased his riot-related felony.
Wilson — who has identified with the Oath Keepers and the Gray Ghost Partisan Rangers militia — had been serving a five-year prison term imposed by U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich, a Trump appointee. Though Trump granted blanket clemency to all Jan. 6 defendants on Inauguration Day, Wilson remained behind bars because of separate charges for illegally possessing guns discovered during an FBI search of his home.
“Dan Wilson is a good man. After more than 7 months of unjustified imprisonment, he is relieved to be home with his loved ones,” his attorneys, George Pallas and Carol Stewart, said in a statement. “This act of mercy not only restores his freedom but also shines a light on the overreach that has divided this nation.”
The new pardon follows a protracted legal battle over whether Trump’s initial Jan. 6 pardon applied to Wilson’s gun case. In February, the administration argued it did not — only to reverse course weeks later and claim the clemency should cover the firearms charges because agents found the weapons during a Jan. 6-related search. Judge Friedrich rejected that shifting stance, saying it “stretched the bounds” of the pardon too far, and an appeals court upheld her decision.
A White House official, speaking anonymously to explain the president’s reasoning, said the firearms would not have been uncovered “without the events of January 6,” adding, “they should have never been there in the first place.”
The Justice Department declined comment on the new pardon. U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro had previously told the court her office would no longer defend Wilson’s continued imprisonment.
The expanded use of Trump’s original pardon has triggered a patchwork of rulings nationwide. A judge in Florida released Oath Keeper Jeremy Brown after ruling his Jan. 6 clemency extended to unrelated classified-information and explosives charges. In Maryland, prosecutors did not oppose the release of Elias Costianes after he appealed a firearms conviction. Meanwhile, courts have refused to apply the same logic to cases involving child pornography discovered during Jan. 6 searches, including those of defendants David Daniel and an unnamed North Carolina man.
Other cases remain unsettled. The Ninth Circuit is weighing whether Jan. 6 defendant Benjamin Martin can use Trump’s pardon to avoid prison on his own gun charges; the court has allowed him to remain free during the appeal. And Edward Kelley, convicted of plotting to kill the officers who investigated his role in the Capitol riot, was sentenced to life in prison after a judge rejected his claim that Trump’s clemency shielded him.
Trump’s latest pardon for Wilson underscores how the far-reaching Inauguration Day clemency continues to fuel novel legal claims — and fresh controversy — nearly five years after the attack.
