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MaddowBlog-Despite his alleged 'war on fraud,' Trump keeps pardoning convicted fraudsters
JD Vance recently boasted that the U.S. has “a president who takes fraud seriously.” Trump’s pardon record suggests otherwise.
Donald Trump can claim he’s waging a “war on fraud,†or he can keep pardoning convicted fraudsters.
— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2026-07-06T12:03:09.366Z
To do both at the same time is ridiculous.
www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...
https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/despite-his-alleged-war-on-fraud-trump-keeps-pardoning-convicted-fraudsters
Ahead of the July Fourth holiday, there were some reports that Donald Trump might help celebrate the nation’s semiquincentennial by issuing 250 pardons. That hasn’t yet happened, though the day before Independence Day, the president did sign a new batch of pardons that were controversial in their own right. The New York Times reported:
.....None of this reflected reality. The men the president referred to weren’t convicted of auto repairs; they were convicted of selling or installing truck devices designed to help them pollute more and circumvent the Clean Air Act. What Trump described as “a fact” wasn’t factual in the slightest.
For that matter, the Republican characterizing enforcement of environmental laws as “weaponization” suggests that he’s effectively rewritten the definition of the word. It now means “punishing people for committing crimes I like.”
Margo Oge, a former director of the Office of Transportation and Air Quality at the Environmental Protection Agency, told The Washington Post, “These pardons don’t just forgive a paperwork violation — they reward people who ran businesses stripping pollution controls off diesel trucks for profit. She added that the devices “released far more nitrogen oxides, which worsen asthma and drive up heart attacks and hospitalizations. … That’s the protection these individuals were undermining — clean air we breathe.”.....
The pardons are notable in their own right, but they’re especially jarring given the White House’s “war on fraud,” which appears to coincide with Trump issuing pardons for people who have been convicted of fraud, while his administration abandons cases against those accused of fraud.
The White House announced on Friday that President Trump had issued pardons to 11 men, most of whom had been convicted of crimes related to the Clean Air Act, a bedrock environmental law.
The president also pardoned Adam Kidan, a major donor to Republicans, including Mr. Trump. He had served about two and a half years in prison for his role in a fraud scheme involving the disgraced former lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
.....None of this reflected reality. The men the president referred to weren’t convicted of auto repairs; they were convicted of selling or installing truck devices designed to help them pollute more and circumvent the Clean Air Act. What Trump described as “a fact” wasn’t factual in the slightest.
For that matter, the Republican characterizing enforcement of environmental laws as “weaponization” suggests that he’s effectively rewritten the definition of the word. It now means “punishing people for committing crimes I like.”
Margo Oge, a former director of the Office of Transportation and Air Quality at the Environmental Protection Agency, told The Washington Post, “These pardons don’t just forgive a paperwork violation — they reward people who ran businesses stripping pollution controls off diesel trucks for profit. She added that the devices “released far more nitrogen oxides, which worsen asthma and drive up heart attacks and hospitalizations. … That’s the protection these individuals were undermining — clean air we breathe.”.....
The pardons are notable in their own right, but they’re especially jarring given the White House’s “war on fraud,” which appears to coincide with Trump issuing pardons for people who have been convicted of fraud, while his administration abandons cases against those accused of fraud.