A Capitol rioter who was pardoned by President Donald Trump for his participation in the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection is asking the court to drop unrelated child pornography charges against him. In a filing with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, David Daniel argued that the pardon “requires dismissal” of his charges related to possession of child pornography and firearms. Daniel—through his attorneys William Terpening and Connor Reid—said authorities “allegedly observed images of a nude minor female, drug paraphernalia, and firearms” when they executed a search warrant linked to his participation in the Capitol riot. The child pornography and firearms charges, the lawyers said, were “based on evidence that the government improperly obtained, because the law is now that the January 6 cases were invalid from the onset.” “Therefore, the operative warrants never should have been issued, and the evidence necessary to sustain this case should never have been seized,” they added. Daniel was arrested in 2023 on accusations of assaulting police officers during the attack on the Capitol. He was among hundreds of rioters pardoned by Trump on his first day back in office.
A Jan. 6 defendant, separately charged with possession of child pornography, says Trump's pardon should cover the porn charges too — since the evidence came from a Jan. 6 related search by the FBI.
