Mr. Trump pardoned 6 people prosecuted for driving cars

“I am extremely honored to have just signed an amnesty for 6 people who were persecuted by the Joe Biden administration and are in prison or about to be imprisoned for ‘car modification’,” US President Donald Trump posted on the social network Truth Social on July 3.

He said that these people were victims of the “abuse of the judiciary” under the previous administration and that their case was part of Mr. Biden’s plan to “weaponize” the state apparatus for political purposes. “I will release them all, right now,” Mr. Trump added.

The US President did not identify those pardoned. This group of six people violated the Clean Air Act by disabling or installing a device to disable the vehicle’s emissions control system. This act aims to reduce emissions and improve air quality.

The Trump administration’s Justice Department earlier this year ordered federal prosecutors to stop criminal investigations and drop pending cases involving “cheating devices,” tools for circumventing emissions controls.

In a memorandum issued on June 29, Mr. Trump directed the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to consider measures to reduce legal risks for Americans when modifying their own cars.

Since the first day of his second term, Mr. Trump has widely used pardon power to erase criminal records and end prison sentences, with more than 1,600 clemency decisions issued to date. The move prompted a wave of amnesty applications from former criminals and defendants.

The majority of the pardon decisions during Mr. Trump’s second term were for more than 1,500 people prosecuted in connection with the Capitol Hill riot on January 6, 2021.