Trump pardons Navy veteran convicted in Capitol riot

Thomas Caldwell departs the Federal Courthouse following a verdict in the Oath Keepers trial in Washington, Nov. 29, 2022. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

WASHINGTON — U.S. President Donald Trump has pardoned a Virginia man whose sentence already was commuted for his convictions stemming from the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Thomas Caldwell, a retired Navy intelligence officer, was tried alongside Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes but acquitted of seditious conspiracy — the most serious charge brought in the Jan. 6 attack.

Caldwell’s pardon is dated March 20. Defense attorney David Fischer said he informed Caldwell of the pardon on Monday after learning about it from news reports.

“And he’s elated,” Fischer added.

A jury convicted Caldwell of obstructing Congress and of obstructing justice for tampering with documents after the riot. One of those convictions was dismissed in light of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year.

On Jan. 10, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta sentenced Caldwell to time served with no supervised release. Prosecutors had recommended four years in prison for Caldwell.

Ten days later, on his first day back in the White House, Trump issued a sweeping grant of clemency to all 1,500-plus people charged in the Capitol riot. Trump commuted the sentences of several defendants who were leaders and members of the Oath Keepers or Proud Boys extremist groups.

More than a dozen defendants were convicted of seditious conspiracy for what prosecutors said were violent plots to keep Trump in power.

Prosecutors had alleged at trial that Caldwell helped coordinate “quick reaction force” teams prosecutors said the Oath Keepers stationed outside the capital city to get weapons into the hands of extremists if they were needed. The weapons were never deployed, and lawyers for the Oath Keepers said they were only there for defensive purposes in case of attacks from left-wing activists.

But Caldwell, who didn’t enter the Capitol, took the witness stand and down played messages he sent leading up to Jan. 6, including one floating the idea about getting a boat to ferry “heavy weapons” across the Potomac River. Caldwell said he was never serious about it, calling it “creative writing.”

Fischer said his client was “first among equals for a pardon.”

“When a progressive D.C. jury acquits him of most of the charges and an Obama-appointed judge sentences him to basically time served and a fine, I think it’s safe to say the government got it wrong,” the attorney said.

Michael Kunzelman, The Associated Press

Associated Press writer Alanna Durkin Richer contributed to this report.