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President Donald Trump pardoned 11 people on Friday, including nine people who were convicted of violating a federal air pollution law, a White House official confirmed.
It’s the latest acts of clemency granted by Trump in his second term, following a slate of pardons granted specifically to allies and high-profile figures Trump deemed were unfairly targeted by previous administrations.
Here’s what to know about the president’s latest pardons.
Most of the recipients were convicted in emissions cases
Joshua Davis, Matt Geouge, Jonathan Achtemeier, Tim Clancy, Ryan and Wade Lalone, Barry Pierce, Aaron Rudolf and Mackenzie Spurlock were granted clemency after being convicted of crimes tied to the federal Clean Air Act — a landmark environmental law passed in 1963.
They were found to have either tampered with equipment in trucks used for emissions control, or sold aftermarket parts disabling those controls and bypass the mandatory parts. Federal law prohibits removing or modifying emissions control devices in vehicles.
A White House official said the acts of clemency “relieved consumers from these regulatory burdens,” particularly for individuals who modified their vehicles “in good faith.”
The official characterized the group as victims of “the previous administration’s wrongful and unnecessary regulations on emissions controls.”
The administration said several of the recipients lost their businesses or faced prison time for modifying their trucks with the intention of helping consumers avoid costly emissions-related repairs.
For Ryan and Wade Lalone of Michigan, who pleaded guilty after being accused of operating aftermarket modifications on semi-truck emissions control systems, the White House said they did so “to combat the monopoly on emissions-related repairs and increased costs allowed under the Biden Administration,” and were “persecuted for it.”
“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,’” Trump wrote on social media. “I AM SETTING THEM ALL FREE, RIGHT NOW!”
Allies were also pardoned
Trump granted clemency to Adam Kidan, a former business partner of disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
In 2006, Kidan pleaded guilty to fraud and conspiracy charges and was sentenced to nearly six years in prison. That same year, Abramoff also went to prison after pleading guilty to tax evasion, conspiracy to bribe public officials and mail fraud.
Since his release from prison in 2009, campaign finance records show Kidan has donated millions of dollars to Republican candidates and committees in the last decade, and even hosted a fundraiser at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort.
The White House said Kidan has rebuilt his life since leaving prison, helping found the major staffing company Chartwell Staffing Solutions and later serving as president of Empire Workforce Solutions.
Trump also granted clemency to Jack Harvard, the former mayor of Plano, Texas, who was convicted of bank fraud in the 1990s.
According to the White House, Harvard earned his pardon because of his “upstanding record” following his conviction, citing efforts to protect endangered animals on his ranch and allowing U.S. and NATO troops to train on his property, free of charge.
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