Overview
- Daniel Edwin Wilson was released Friday evening after President Trump granted a full pardon that erased his Kentucky firearms convictions.
- Wilson had been included in Trump’s Jan. 20 clemency for about 1,500 Jan. 6 defendants, but he remained imprisoned on separate gun counts until the new pardon.
- Agents searching Wilson’s home in June 2022 found six firearms and roughly 4,800 rounds of ammunition, leading to convictions that extended his sentence to 2028.
- U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich and a D.C. appeals panel concluded the original mass pardon did not cover the gun offenses, as the Justice Department shifted positions before Trump issued the specific pardon.
- The White House said the search flowed from the Jan. 6 probe, and Trump also issued a new pardon to Suzanne Kaye, while prosecutors have highlighted Wilson’s militia ties and pre‑Jan. 6 messages about potential violence.