July 4, 2026
Exhaust fumes and pardon drama
President pardons 9 for Clean Air violations for 'fixing their car'
Trump says they were just fixing cars — commenters say the smoke show isn’t over yet
TLDR: Trump pardoned 11 people, including nine tied to illegal pollution changes on diesel vehicles, calling it just “fixing their car.” Commenters were split between rage at the pardons, broader attacks on presidential pardon power, and blunt jokes reminding everyone this was about pollution, not harmless car tinkering.
The internet did not take this pardon spree quietly. President Donald Trump pardoned 11 people, including nine tied to breaking clean air rules, and framed it as freeing people punished for simply “fixing their car.” But in the comments, people were instantly split between outrage, eye-rolling, and a lot of dark comedy. One furious poster basically said, bookmark this now and arrest them again in 2029, convinced the newly pardoned crowd will be right back at it. That set the tone: less “mercy,” more sequel energy.
A huge fight also broke out over the pardon system itself. One commenter went full scorched-earth, arguing there’s basically no version of pardon power that doesn’t end in injustice. That turned the story from a car case into a bigger political brawl about whether presidents should even get this kind of get-out-of-jail card. Others pushed back on Trump’s spin by dragging the facts back into the room, especially the details around Jonathan Achtemeier, who prosecutors said helped trucks dump far more pollution than legal limits. In other words: commenters were not buying the cute “just fixing cars” label.
And then came the diesel discourse. One user noted that old diesel trucks can live forever, especially in places like Texas, feeding the whole stereotype of immortal smoke-belching machines patched together by mechanics with strong opinions. Another deadpanned, “They weren’t arrested for rolling coal,” which became the thread’s ultimate reality check — and maybe its best accidental punchline. You can read the room here: people aren’t just arguing about cars, they’re arguing about power, pollution, and whether this was justice or pure political theater.
Key Points
- •President Donald Trump pardoned 11 people, including nine tied to Clean Air Act-related emissions cases involving diesel defeat devices.
- •Trump said some of the pardon recipients had been punished for 'fixing their car' and described the prosecutions as persecution under the Biden administration.
- •CBS News reported, based on representatives and a White House official, the identities of the pardon recipients, including Ryan and Wade Lalone, Matt Geouge, Tim Clancy, Mac Spurlock, Joshua Davis, Barry Pierce, Aaron Rudolf, Adam Kidan, Jack Harvard, and Jonathan Achtemeier.
- •The article cites a February 2025 DOJ announcement stating Jonathan Achtemeier remotely tampered with diesel truck pollution controls, causing trucks to emit 30 to 1,200 times the pollutants of legally configured vehicles.
- •The Department of Justice ordered prosecutors in January to drop all cases and investigations related to defeat devices, and Trump had previously granted clemency to Wyoming mechanic Troy Lake in a similar emissions-law case.