A federal judge has criticized the Justice Department’s evolving position that a presidential pardon for a Kentucky man who stormed the U.S.

Edward Kelley “devised a plan to murder federal, state, and local law enforcement in East Tennessee,” federal prosecutors said.

A Justice Department prosecutor struggled in court on Wednesday to articulate the administration's view of the full intention of President Donald Trump's mass pardon of Jan. 6 rioters, as the government argued that Trump's pardon should apply to separate criminal conduct committed by Capitol rioter Dan Wilson in Kentucky in 2023.

Prosecutors are siding with some defendants who argue the pardon absolves them of additional offenses, some discovered during investigations of the Capitol riot.