Trump pardons diesel mechanics ‘wrongfully charged’ with Clean Air Act violations under Biden admin

At a Tuesday night campaign rally in Wasilla, Alaska, where he was campaigning for Republican incumbents Senator Dan Sullivan and Representative Nick Begich, Trump officially signed the pardons. The two men, Zachary Czubak and Patrick Fleming, appeared onstage to receive them.

“They wanted to put them in jail for 10 years because they fixed an engine,” Trump said of the two men. “How sick.”

“Well, I heard about it. I read the story about it. Did a little check, and I’m giving each one an unconditional pardon,” he continued. “I don’t know if you’ve ever heard, when you give somebody a pardon they say that means – and I don’t know how this works and why it’s an expression, but it’s well used – that means you’re as clean as a newborn baby’s a**.”

Fleming and Czubak addressed the crowd after Trump invited them onstage to receive their pardons.

“This means the world to me. It’s everything,” Fleming said. “We’re not criminals. We’re not trying to hurt anybody. We want to help Alaskans. We want to help people with diesel trucks, with vehicles, you know, across the world, and President Trump is showing his support in this, and from the bottom of my heart, I can’t thank him enough.”

In 2022, Fleming and Czubak pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act. Prosecutors alleged that the men tampered with federally mandated emissions-monitoring systems and removed pollution-control equipment from at least 37 private and commercial diesel vehicles. The Biden DOJ handed Fleming a $66,000 fine, while Czubak received five years of probation and a $66,000 fine as well.

Trump criticized the prosecution, describing the charges as “crazy.”

“Enjoy your lives, fellas,” Trump told the two men as they left the stage.