US President Donald Trump on Friday issued pardons for a total of 11 people, including 9 individuals convicted of violating the Clean Air Act by circumventing emission controls on vehicles.
Those pardoned also included a former business partner of disgraced Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
What do we know about Trump’s emissions-related pardons?
According to The Associated Press, the White House provided a list which consisted of 11 pardons. Nine of the people on the list faced charges over disabling emissions monitoring systems on vehicles or selling devices that enabled the bypassing of emissions systems.
In a post on his Truth Social platform earlier in the day, Trump spoke of granting clemency to six of the men without revealing their identities.
Trump said that the men were “persecuted” under President Joe Biden’s Administration for “fixing their car.”
On Monday, Trump signed a memo telling the Environmental Protection Agency that US citizens can fix their vehicles as they see fit.
The President made a reference to a diesel mechanic he pardoned last year who had disabled emissions monitoring systems, as he signed the memo.
In February, the Trump administration eliminated federal tailpipe emissions standards for cars and trucks as it reversed a key scientific finding from former President Barack Obama’s tenure that greenhouse gas emissions endanger human health.
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Trump pardons Abramoff partner
The President’s slew of pardons on Friday also included Adam Kidan, who now serves as president of Empire Workforce Solutions. Kidan was jailed in 2006 with former US millionaire and lobbyist Abramoff for wire fraud.
Kidan had pleaded guilty to fraud and conspiracy related to the purchase of a fleet of gambling boats in 2005.
He was released from prison in 2009.
In March this year, the Newsday daily reported that Kidan was among the people hosting a fundraiser at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort for a Long Island Republican congressional candidate.
Edited by: Rana Taha
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