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Trump Pardons Alaska Diesel Mechanics During Rally
Confirmed
In Short: President Donald Trump pardoned two Alaska diesel mechanics for conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act during a midterm rally in Wasilla.
President Donald Trump pardoned two Alaska diesel mechanics for conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act during a midterm rally in Wasilla Tuesday night. The pardons were for Zachary Czubak and Patrick Fleming, co-owners of an Anchorage diesel repair shop who pleaded guilty to tampering with emissions-control equipment on at least 37 diesel vehicles between July 2019 and September 2020.
Trump signed the pardons onstage, bringing the men up to the podium to sign the documents in front of a cheering crowd. He joked that the pardons left the recipients 'as clean as a newborn baby’s ass,' and took a jab at former President Joe Biden's use of an autopen.
The pardons were part of a larger rally where Trump made several major announcements about Alaska's energy future, including the securing of every necessary federal permit for an 800-mile natural gas pipeline.
Czubak and Fleming thanked Trump from the stage, describing the personal impact of the prosecution. Czubak 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.'
Fleming added, 'This means the world to me. It’s everything.'
Trump argued that the prosecution was disproportionate and politically motivated, presenting the mechanics as workers who had been punished for repairing diesel engines. He maintained that emissions-control systems can make diesel engines more expensive to maintain and less reliable in Alaska’s extremely cold conditions.
The rally was organized to support Republican candidates ahead of the November midterm elections, including Sen. Dan Sullivan and Rep. Nick Begich, the GOP incumbents in their respective Senate and House races.
White House aide Natalie Harp brought the pardons up to the podium for the president to sign, and supporters cheered as the men left the stage.
Trump also joked that an unconditional pardon left the recipients 'as clean as a newborn baby’s ass' and took aim at former President Joe Biden over reports concerning his use of an autopen to sign documents.
What this adds
The pardons were part of a larger rally where Trump made several major announcements about Alaska's energy future, including the securing of every necessary federal permit for an 800-mile natural gas pipeline.
Background
President Donald Trump announced pardons for two Alaska diesel mechanics during a midterm rally Tuesday night in Wasilla, bringing them onstage to sign clemency documents as he highlighted major energy investments and infrastructure projects in the state.
What's confirmed
- Trump identified Zachary Czubak and Patrick Fleming, two co-owners of an Anchorage diesel repair shop who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act in 2022.
- Trump signed the pardons for Zachary Czubak and Patrick Fleming midway through his midterm election rally in Wasilla for Sen. Dan Sullivan and Rep. Nick Begich, the GOP incumbents in their respective Senate and House races.
- President Trump pardoned two diesel truck mechanics at an Alaska rally Tuesday night, arguing they were “wrongfully charged” during the Biden administration.
- “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 ass,” he quipped.
- “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,” he added.
- “This means the world to me. It’s everything,” Fleming said.
- Home » News » Trump Signs Clean Air Act Pardons for Anchorage Diesel Shop Owners Live on Stage in Wasilla President Donald Trump turned a midterm campaign rally in Wasilla, Alaska, into an impromptu clemency ceremony on Tuesday night, calling two Anchorage diesel mechanics onto the stage and signing pardons for federal Clean Air Act convictions in front of a cheering crowd at the Curtis D.
- They allegedly tampered with federally mandated monitoring devices on private and commercial diesel vehicles and removed required air pollution control equipment on at least 37 vehicles between July 2019 and September 2020, according to the Biden Justice Department.
- “They wanted to put them in jail for 10 years because they fixed an engine,” Trump said.
What's still developing
- "So I'm going to sign this now, something that Joe Biden would be unable to do because he was unable to sign his signature," Trump said.
- The president invited the two men up on stage to receive the freshly inked pardons and address the crowd.
- “It’s just cheating. It’s terrible … They found a guy named Dan Sullivan and they put him up to get people a little confused,” he continued, noting that the 2.4% the other Sullivan received in the ranked-choice Senate primary – allowing him to qualify for the general election – “could be the difference” in November.
- “The case really did destroy us. It destroyed friendships. It destroyed families,” he said.
- The public presentation turned the exercise of presidential clemency into a central moment of the rally, which was organised to support Republican candidates ahead of the November midterm elections.
- “Every single permit that you need, you can start tonight,” Trump told the audience.
- He maintained that the business owners did not intend to harm anyone and said they wanted to help customers who depended on diesel-powered vehicles.