THE DAILY BS: HOW MUCH CAN YOU HANDLE?
SPARE ME THE BS (I’ve got things to do).
- Trump pardoned two Alaska diesel mechanics in the middle of a campaign rally, signing their clemency documents onstage as supporters cheered.
- Zachary Czubak and Patrick Fleming pleaded guilty in 2022 to a Clean Air Act conspiracy involving diesel emissions controls. Trump said the Biden-era prosecution unfairly targeted Alaskans.
- The president offered an unforgettable explanation of a pardon, joking that it makes someone as clean as a newborn baby’s backside.
LAY IT ON ME (I’ve got time).
President Donald Trump stopped an Alaska campaign rally Tuesday night to do something presidents generally don’t do in front of a cheering crowd: sign two presidential pardons at the podium.
Then he offered an explanation of executive clemency that probably won’t appear in a civics textbook anytime soon.
The recipients were Zachary Czubak and Patrick Fleming, two owners of an Anchorage diesel repair shop called Arm Rippin Toys who pleaded guilty in 2022 to conspiring to violate the Clean Air Act.
Trump brought the men onto the stage in Wasilla and called out to an aide: “Bring me the pardons!”
The president portrayed the mechanics as victims of an overzealous federal government, arguing that they had been punished for helping Alaskans keep their trucks running.
“Think of it: They want to put them in jail for 10 years because they fixed an engine. How sick?” Trump told the audience.
The underlying case involved more than routine engine repairs. Federal prosecutors said the business charged customers to remove or disable emissions-control systems on diesel vehicles, allowing them to operate without equipment required by federal pollution rules.
Czubak, Fleming and a third co-owner, Michael Hanzuk, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act. Their sentences included probation, fines and community service.
Trump’s argument was that the federal response was wildly disproportionate to the conduct, especially in a state where diesel-powered vehicles and severe weather are part of daily life.
He called the two men “wrongly charged” and accused the Biden administration of targeting the Alaskan way of life.
After signing the pardons, Trump decided the moment needed a little explanation.
He invoked an earthy expression about being as clean as a newborn baby’s backside, then wondered aloud why that particular comparison had become popular.
The crowd got a pardon ceremony and a stand-up routine for the price of one rally.
Fleming, however, made clear that the case had been anything but funny for the defendants.
“We’re not criminals. We’re not trying to hurt anybody,” he told supporters. “We want to help Alaskans. We want to help people with diesel trucks, with vehicles, across the world.”
He said the prosecution had devastated the men and their business. Hanzuk, the third co-owner, had already received a pardon in September.
The president’s intervention also fits a broader change in his administration’s approach to environmental enforcement involving vehicle emissions equipment.
Environmental regulators have long argued that disabling diesel emissions controls increases harmful pollution. Trump and supporters of the mechanics see the prosecutions as an example of federal regulation becoming punitive and disconnected from ordinary working Americans.
DBS WIRE SOURCES (I’ve got all day).
- Fox News — Trump signs pardons for Alaska diesel mechanics onstage during rally
- New York Post — Trump pardons diesel mechanics during Alaska rally
- Just the News — Trump issues pardons for Alaskan mechanics targeted by Biden-era enforcement
- CBS News — Trump pardons two auto workers on stage during Alaska rally
- Yahoo News — Trump pardons two Alaska mechanics over Clean Air Act violations
