Trump issues fresh pardons for Jan 6 defendants, including woman accused of threatening FBI on social media
In a significant move, former President Donald Trump has granted pardons to two individuals connected to the January 6 Capitol riot, further fueling the ongoing debate surrounding the events of that day and the subsequent legal repercussions for those involved. Suzanne Kaye, one of the pardoned defendants, had been sentenced to 18 months in prison after making threatening social media posts about FBI agents. Just before a scheduled meeting with the FBI regarding her presence at the Capitol during the riot, Kaye posted videos where she expressed intentions to shoot any agents who approached her home. The FBI arrested her shortly thereafter, highlighting the tension between her actions and the legal consequences that followed. A White House official defended Kaye’s case as an instance of politically motivated prosecution, arguing that her statements fell under the protection of the First Amendment.
The other individual granted clemency, Daniel Wilson, had been serving time for firearms charges related to the Capitol riot. Although he had initially received a pardon for his January 6-related offenses, he remained incarcerated due to the separate firearms charges, which were later contested in court. Trump’s administration initially asserted that the firearm charges were not covered by the pardon, but later reversed that stance. U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich, who presided over Wilson’s case, criticized the administration’s attempt to broaden the scope of the pardon, insisting that the term “related to” should indicate a direct connection to the Capitol events. Wilson’s legal team expressed relief at the pardon, emphasizing the need to address what they viewed as overreach in the judicial treatment of January 6 defendants.
These pardons come amid a broader context of political division and legal scrutiny surrounding the January 6 insurrection, with many viewing Trump’s actions as a continuation of his defense of those involved in the riot. Supporters of the pardons, including U.S. Special Attorney Ed Martin, have framed them as a necessary step to rectify perceived injustices by the Biden administration’s Department of Justice. As the nation grapples with the implications of January 6, these pardons reflect not only the complexities of the legal system but also the ongoing cultural and political debates that continue to shape public opinion.
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President
Donald Trump
has granted fresh pardons to two Jan. 6 defendants facing charges on other issues.Â
Suzanne Kaye, a Jan. 6 defendant, was also sentenced to 18 months in prison for allegedly threatening to shoot FBI agents in social media posts.Â
The Biden administration’s Department of Justice
stated that on Jan. 31, 2021, the day before Kaye was set to meet with FBI agents regarding a tip that she was at the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot, she posted videos on social media in which she said she would “shoot” FBI agents if they came to her house. The FBI learned of Kaye’s social media posts on Feb. 8, 2021, and arrested Kaye at her Florida home on Feb. 17, 2021.
A White House official told Fox News Digital that Kaye is prone to stress-induced seizures and suffered one while the jury read its verdict in 2023. The official said that the case was one of disfavored political speech, which is protected under the
First Amendment
.
TRUMP PARDONS NEARLY ALL JAN. 6 DEFENDANTS ON INAUGURATION DAY
U.S. Special Attorney
Ed Martin
posted about the pardon on Saturday, thanking Trump in a post on X.Â
“The Biden DOJ targeted Suzanne Kaye for social media posts — and she was sentenced to 18 months in federal lock up. President Trump is unwinding the damage done by Biden’s DOJ weaponization, so the healing can begin,” Martin wrote.
Jan. 6 defendant Daniel Wilson remained incarcerated after
Trump pardoned convicted rioters,
because he had pleaded guilty to firearms charges. A White House official told Fox News Digital that the president made the decision to grant Wilson an additional pardon because the firearms were discovered during a search of Wilson’s home related to the Capitol riot.
Despite being included in the sweeping pardon granted to Jan. 6 defendants by Trump on Jan. 20, 2025, Wilson remained incarcerated due to the firearms charge and was set to be released in 2028. Prior to his sentencing on Jan. 6-related charges, for which he received five years in prison, Wilson pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm by a prohibited person and possession of an unregistered firearm.
While the Trump administration
Justice Department
initially said that the firearm charge should not count under the Jan. 6 pardon, it later reversed course, citing “further clarity,” without going into details about what caused the shift.
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In his original pardon, Trump declared that pursuant to his authority under Article II, Section 2, of the U.S. Constitution, he was commuting the sentences of those “convicted of offenses related to events that occurred at or near the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021.” That pardon included Wilson’s Jan. 6 charges, but not the firearms-related ones.
U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich, a Trump appointee involved in
Wilson’s case
, rejected the expanded definition of what exactly Trump was pardoning, saying it stretched the bounds of the order too far. In her opinion, Friedrich criticized the use of the phrase “related to” from Trump’s original pardon to expand its meaning.
“The surrounding text of the pardon makes clear that ‘related to’ denotes a specific factual relationship between the conduct underlying a given offense and what took place at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021,” Friedrich wrote in her opinion.
An appeals court later supported her objections, saying that Wilson had to remain behind bars during the appeal process.
Wilson previously identified himself as a member of the Oath Keepers and the Gray Ghost Partisan Rangers militia,
according to Politico.
“Dan Wilson is a good man. After more than 7 months of unjustified imprisonment, he is relieved to be home with his loved ones,” Wilson’s attorneys, George Pallas and Carol Stewart, told Politico 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.”
Fox News Digital reached out to the Department of Justice and Wilson’s legal team for comment.
