Some defendants charged and convicted in connection with the deadly January 6, 2021 siege of the U.S. Capitol are now having their pardons by President Donald Trump extended to unrelated cases.
Politico legal correspondent Kyle Cheney reported Thursday that the Department of Justice (DOJ) is now acting on behalf of January 6 defendants Daniel Ball and Elias Costianes in separate gun possession cases. While the two men were given clemency as a result of Trump's mass pardons, they faced separate charges after illegal weapons were found in their possession. In one defendant's case, the DOJ argued in a recent court filing that because those weapons were found during a search of their property as a result of the January 6 charges, the pardon should also apply.
"After consulting with the Department of Justice’s leadership, the United States has concluded that the President pardoned Mr. Costianes of the offenses in the indictment," assistant U.S. attorney David Bornstein wrote in a filing earlier this week. "He should be immediately released from custody."
READ MORE: January 6 rioter gets arrested on federal gun charges — one day after Trump pardon
Ball's arrest happened just one day after Trump pardoned him. The 39 year-old Homosassa, Florida man was charged with numerous felonies from the January 6 riot including "assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers with a deadly or dangerous weapon; using fire or an explosive to commit any felony; obstruction of law enforcement during a civil disorder; entering or remaining on restricted grounds without lawful authority to do so while carrying or using a deadly or dangerous weapon; knowingly engaging in any act of physical violence while carrying or using a deadly or dangerous weapon; disorderly or disruptive conduct in a restricted building or grounds while carrying or using a deadly or dangerous weapon; and misdemeanor offenses of disorderly conduct in a Capitol building; acts of physical violence in the Capitol grounds or buildings; and stealing government property."
Former Attorney General Merrick Garland's DOJ initially charged Costianes, who is 45 years old, with misdemeanor offenses after he posted videos of himself entering the Capitol building on his Snapchat account. Then in 2023, he was indicted on separate federal charges relating to narcotics and illegal firearms possession. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to two years in federal prison.
Aside from Ball and Costianes, other defendants may also benefit from intervention by Trump's DOJ. Pardoned January 6 defendant Dan Wilson was also facing unrelated federal gun charges, and the DOJ even argued earlier this month that Trump's pardon only applied to actions at the U.S. Capitol on January 6. But Wilson's attorney recently told the judge overseeing his case that the DOJ was going to "take another look" at his client's case, suggesting prosecutors may reverse their previous decision.
Trump's pardon included nearly all of the approximately 1,500 January 6 defendants — including some charged and convicted of serious charges like seditious conspiracy. Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes were each sentenced to 22 years and 18 years, respectively, for their roles in the insurrection, before they were pardoned.
READ MORE: Pardoned Jan. 6 rioter who plotted murder of federal employees wants conviction overturned
Click here to read Politico's full report.