Overview
- The White House released a list Friday showing 11 pardons, nine of them for convictions tied to violating the Clean Air Act by disabling emissions controls or selling so‑called defeat devices.
- The president signed a separate "Freedom to Fix" memo that instructs the EPA to issue guidance to protect people who repair vehicles, expedite alternative certification routes for aftermarket parts, and reduce reliance on California’s CARB process.
- The Justice Department earlier this year told federal prosecutors to drop pending criminal investigations and cases involving defeat devices, a policy shift the clemencies reinforce.
- Democrats say the rapid, high‑volume clemency grants warrant probes into possible politicized or pay‑to‑play practices while the White House says the pardons correct government overreach.
- Public‑health and enforcement experts note past prosecutions argued tampered diesel trucks released large amounts of pollution—prosecutors cited an estimate of roughly 1,300 tons of excess nitrogen oxides—so the policy change could affect air quality and truck‑maintenance practices.