Key facts
- President Donald Trump granted pardons to 11 individuals.
- Nine pardons were for Clean Air Act violations related to vehicle emissions controls.
- Adam Kidan, a former business partner of Jack Abramoff convicted of fraud, was among those pardoned.
- Jack Harvard, convicted of bank fraud, was also pardoned.
- Trump issued a memo to the EPA regarding vehicle modifications and the administration repealed emissions standards.
President Donald Trump issued pardons to 11 individuals, including two convicted fraudsters and nine charged with violating the federal Clean Air Act by disabling or modifying trucks’ emissions controls. These executive pardons, issued around the Fourth of July, were described as clemency for those Trump considers aligned with him.
Among the recipients was Adam Kidan, president of a light industrial staffing company, who was sentenced in 2006 in connection with the purchase of a fleet of gambling boats. Kidan was a former business partner of lobbyist Jack Abramoff, and his case was part of a wider investigation into an early 2000s lobbying scandal.
Another pardon recipient was Jack Harvard, convicted of bank fraud charges in the 1980s. Trump cited Harvard’s post-conviction record and his allowing troops to train on his ranch.
The nine individuals pardoned for Clean Air Act violations faced charges under the Biden administration. Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that they were prosecuted for 'fixing their car' and stated, 'I AM SETTING THEM ALL FREE, RIGHT NOW!'
These pardons followed a memo Trump signed to the Environmental Protection Agency asserting that people could fix their vehicles as they wished, referencing a previously pardoned diesel mechanic who disabled emissions-monitoring systems. The Trump administration also repealed a finding that greenhouse gas emissions endanger human health and eliminated federal tailpipe emissions standards for cars and trucks in February.