Trump signs pardons for six people ‘persecuted’ by Biden administration
President Donald Trump pardoned 11 people on Friday afternoon, declaring that many of them were “persecuted by the Biden Administration.”
“It is my Great Honor to have just signed Pardons for six people who were persecuted by the Biden Administration, and were in, or being sent to, prison, for ‘fixing their car.’ While I know this sounds ridiculous, it is nevertheless a fact, and part of the Weaponization and Stupidity that our Country had to endure during four long years of Sleepy Joe Biden,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
Trump’s announcement did not detail who the six pardoned individuals he mentioned were, but a White House official confirmed to the Washington Examiner the names of 11 individuals whom Trump had pardoned.
Many of the individuals were convicted of Clean Air Act violations, including those who helped trucks and vehicles install and use devices that circumvent emissions controls.
According to the White House official, Trump pardoned the following individuals who were convicted on vehicle emissions-related charges: Joshua Davis, Matt Geouge, Jonathan Achtemeier, Tim Clancy, Ryan and Wade Lalone, Barry Pierce, Aaron Rudolf and Mackenzie Spurlock.
In early January, the Justice Department said it would no longer be criminally prosecuting individuals who install these devices, called “defeat devices,” which allow vehicles to operate while disabling installed emissions-control features.
“DOJ is committed to sound enforcement principles, efficient use of government resources, and avoiding overcriminalization of federal environmental law. In partnership with the @EPA, DOJ will still pursue civil enforcement for these violations when appropriate,” the DOJ said on X in January.
Trump also issued pardons to Adam Kidan and Jack Harvard on Friday. Kidan pleaded guilty to fraud and conspiracy charges in 2005 related to the purchase of gambling boats, according to NBC News, and he was sentenced the following year.
The White House official said that Kidan, by founding a staffing agency, has “secured employment for over 250,000 individuals” since his 2009 release from prison. Harvard was pardoned for “his upstanding record post-conviction,” the official said.
The announcement of the pardons came after reports from outlets such as CBS News that he was considering granting clemency to several high-profile people, including Sean “Diddy” Combs. Combs is serving a 50-month prison sentence for prostitution-related charges in New Jersey.
Trump has granted clemency to thousands of people throughout his second term, including more than 1,500 individuals convicted of charges related to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.