President Donald Trump pardoned 11 people on Friday, wiping out sentences for those who violated the Clean Air Act, as well as other convictions.
Trump Frames Emissions Cases as Persecution
A White House official confirmed the pardons, according to a CNN report, following a meeting Trump held with senior aides to review the clemency slate.
President Trump earlier said in a Truth Social post that six people were “persecuted by the Biden Administration” over clean-air violations. “I AM SETTING THEM ALL FREE, RIGHT NOW!” he wrote, calling it Justice Department overreach.
A White House official later gave CNN the full list of 11 names. It showed that nine of them had ties to the Clean Air Act, Joshua Davis, Matt Geouge, Jonathan Achtemeier, Tim Clancy, Ryan Lalone, Wade Lalone, Barry Pierce, Aaron Rudolf and Mackenzie Spurlock.
The remaining two, Adam Kidan and Jack Harvard, had no links to emissions-related cases. Kidan was sentenced in 2006 for his role in a gambling boat purchase connected to the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal. Harvard was convicted of bank fraud in the 1980s.
According to a March report by Newsday, Kidan helped host a fundraiser at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club for a Republican congressional candidate from Long Island, New York.
Part of a Broader Pattern
The pardons come after Trump’s Justice Department ordered earlier this year that pending cases involving defeat devices be dropped. These devices allow drivers to bypass emissions tests by turning off pollution controls once a vehicle leaves the repair shop. Trump also recently signed a memo from the Environmental Protection Agency stating that vehicle owners can freely modify their cars.
CNN reported Trump has taken an increasingly personal role in clemency decisions, aided by aides David Warrington, Ed Martin and Susie Wiles.
Photo courtesy: Joshua Sukoff / Shutterstock
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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