
Trump Announces Pardons for Pollution Violators Prosecuted for “Fixing Their Car”
President Donald Trump announced Friday that he has granted pardons to six individuals convicted in federal cases involving vehicle emissions equipment, arguing they were unfairly targeted by prosecutors for simply modifying their vehicles. Trump blasted the prosecutions as an example of government overreach and declared that the men were being immediately freed.
“I AM SETTING THEM ALL FREE, RIGHT NOW!,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
The White House did not immediately release the identities of those receiving pardons. However, attorney Stewart Cables and lobbyist Jeff Daugherty, who represent five of the six men, identified them as Ryan Lalone, Wade Lalone, Matt Geouge, Tim Clancy, and Mac Spurlock, according to CBS News.
Daugherty welcomed the decision, crediting both divine intervention and the president for the outcome.
“Thanks to God for putting it on Trump’s heart to approve these pardons, and thank God for Donald Trump.”
He added that Trump was uniquely positioned to understand their situation because of his own experiences.
“Is the only president who would have taken an interest in these parties, and the reason is he’s the only president to face such ferocious weaponization himself.”
According to Daugherty and Cables, the White House notified them Friday that the pardons had been approved.
Earlier in the day, CBS News reported that Trump intended to pardon defendants who had been prosecuted for altering or disabling vehicle air pollution control systems, conduct that federal authorities had charged as violations of the Clean Air Act.
The latest clemency actions follow Trump’s pardon last year of Wyoming mechanic Troy Lake, who served seven months in federal prison after being convicted of disabling emissions-control equipment on diesel engines.
The pardons also come after the Justice Department directed federal prosecutors earlier this year to end all pending criminal cases and investigations involving so-called aftermarket defeat devices, which are designed to disable vehicle emissions-control systems.