Source : Perth Now news
US President Donald Trump has pardoned nine people who helped bypass emissions control systems on vehicles.
Trump has issued a slew of pardons in his second term, particularly for allies, public figures and those seen as politically aligned.
His use of the presidency’s sweeping ability to unilaterally grant pardons and commute sentences is among the ways the Republican’s return to office has featured an expansive use of executive power.
“It is my Great Honour 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 his Truth Social media network.
“I AM SETTING THEM ALL FREE, RIGHT NOW!” he said.
In a list provided by the White House, Trump pardoned 11 people, including nine who faced charges related to violations of the Clean Air Act by disabling emissions monitoring systems on vehicles or selling devices that enabled emissions systems to be bypassed.
On Monday, Trump signed a memo telling the Environmental Protection Agency that Americans can fix their own vehicles as they see fit. He referenced a diesel mechanic he pardoned last year who disabled emissions monitoring systems.
Trump on Friday also issued a pardon for Adam Kidan, a former business partner of lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
Kidan pleaded guilty in 2005 to fraud and conspiracy related to the purchase of a fleet of gambling boats, and in 2006 he was sentenced to nearly six years in prison.
The case was part of a broader investigation of the early 2000s lobbying scandal involving Abramoff, Capitol Hill, the Interior Department and members of President George W Bush’s administration.
In March, the newspaper Newsday reported that Kidan was among the hosts of a fundraiser at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort for a Long Island Republican congressional candidate.
