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Trump issues 11 pardons on eve of country's Fourth of July celebrations

The Guardian · back to the audit

By Ramon Antonio Vargas. Donald Trump on Friday issued pardons to 11 men – two convicted fraudsters and nine charged with having violated the federal Clean Air Act by disabling or otherwise modifying trucks’ emissions controls. Those executive pardons – coming amid US semiquincentennial celebrations blanketed in extreme heat exacerbated by greenhouse gas emissions – were among a broader wave of acts of clemency from Trump during his second presidency, chiefly for those he considers to be aligned with him. Among the pardon recipients was Adam Kidan, the president of a light industrial staffing company who had been sentenced to nearly six years in prison in 2006 in connection with the purchase of a fleet of gambling boats. Meanwhile, another pardon recipient was Jack Harvard, who legal filings show was convicted of bank fraud charges in the 1980s. The other nine who were pardoned on Friday had been faced with Clean Air Act violations under the Biden administration between Trump’s nonconsecutive White House terms. Citing a Trump administration official, CBS News identified them as Ryan Lalone, Wade Lalone, Matt Geouge, Tim Clancy, Mac Spurlock, Joshua Davis, Barry Pierce and Aaron Rudolf. Trump posted on his Truth Social platform about some of those nine, arguing that – as he saw it – they were “in, or being sent to, prison for ‘fixing their car’”. “I AM SETTING THEM ALL FREE, RIGHT NOW!” Trump added.