TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Julia Wilburn on Mar 11, 2025

Knoxville-based U.S. District Judge Thomas A. Varlan on Monday ruled that Edward Kelley's pardon regarding his participation in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol does not cover his conviction for conspiring to kill law enforcement agents investigating him. The Tennessean reports that the Maryville man was separately charged, convicted and then pardoned for his actions related to the riot. Judge Varlan wrote that Trump's pardon does not apply to the conspiracy charge "because this case involved separate offense conduct that was physically, temporally and otherwise unrelated to defendant’s conduct in the D.C. case and/or events at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021." Varlan also separately denied Kelley's motion for a new trial due to insufficient evidence.