Trump signs pardons for Alaska diesel mechanics onstage during rally touting major energy deals

Trump signs pardons for Alaska diesel mechanics onstage during rally touting major energy deals

President Donald Trump announced pardons for two Alaska diesel mechanics during a midterm rally Tuesday night in Wasilla, bringing the men onstage to sign clemency documents as he highlighted major energy investments and infrastructure projects in the Last Frontier.

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.

“I’m giving each one of the three an unconditional pardon,” Trump told supporters, also referring to an earlier pardon for Mackenzie “Mac” Spurlock, a Wasilla diesel shop owner.

The president defended the men, saying their work helped keep trucks operating in Alaska’s extreme cold and arguing that their Biden-era prosecutions were unfair.

According to the Biden Justice Department, Czubak and Fleming were among three co-owners of “Arm Rippin Toys” who admitted removing federally required emissions-control equipment and tampering with monitoring devices on at least 37 diesel vehicles between July 2019 and September 2020.