Latest news with #ScottJenkins
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Miyares breaks with Trump over pardon of convicted ex-Culpeper sheriff
Culpeper Sheriff Scott Jenkins speaks to the crowd at the pro-gun rally in 2020. (Ryan M. Kelly for the Virginia Mercury) Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares is pushing back against President Donald Trump's decision to pardon former Culpeper County Sheriff Scott Jenkins, saying the ex-lawman's federal bribery conviction was well-founded and the pardon misguided. 'I have to authorize any state investigation into any elected official. And so I was aware of a lot of the facts at that time,' Miyares told The Mercury in an interview Tuesday. 'Given what I know, I would not have pardoned him.' The rare public break from Miyares, a Republican and rising star in Virginia politics who is seeking a second term this year, comes just weeks after Trump issued the controversial pardon in late May. The president portrayed Jenkins — a longtime supporter who campaigned for Trump in both 2016 and 2020 — as the victim of political persecution. 'Sheriff Scott Jenkins, his wife Patricia, and their family have been dragged through HELL,' Trump wrote in a Truth Social post announcing the pardon. He blamed the case on 'an overzealous Biden Department of Justice' and claimed Jenkins had been 'left for dead' by 'Radical Left monsters.' But prosecutors, a jury and residents in Jenkins's own hometown paint a far different picture. In March, Jenkins was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison after a jury found him guilty of accepting over $75,000 in bribes in exchange for issuing auxiliary deputy sheriff appointments and law enforcement credentials to wealthy businessmen and undercover agents. None of the recipients were trained, vetted, or expected to perform any actual law enforcement duties. They offered Jenkins cash and campaign contributions. The appointments came with official Culpeper County Sheriff's Office badges, identification cards, and in some cases, the ability to carry concealed weapons in jurisdictions where they otherwise may not have had permission to do so. Jenkins, 53, was convicted in December 2024 on 12 federal counts — including conspiracy, four counts of honest services wire fraud, and seven counts of bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds. 'Scott Jenkins violated his oath of office and the faith the citizens of Culpeper County placed in him when he engaged in a cash-for-badges scheme,' said Acting U.S. Attorney Zachary T. Lee in a statement after sentencing. 'We hold our elected law enforcement officials to a higher standard of conduct … and this case proves that when those officials use their authority for unjust personal enrichment, the Department of Justice will hold them accountable.' FBI officials echoed that assessment. Stanley Meador, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Richmond Division, called Jenkins's actions a betrayal of his badge. 'Every law enforcement officer takes an oath to serve and protect the community — that includes following the law they've sworn to uphold,' Meador said. 'I am proud of the diligent work our investigative team did on this case to bring Jenkins to justice.' Court documents showed that Jenkins accepted bribes from at least eight individuals, including co-defendants Rick Rahim, Fredric Gumbinner, and James Metcalf — all of whom pleaded guilty — as well as two undercover FBI agents posing as wealthy donors. In return, Jenkins appointed them as auxiliary deputy sheriffs and issued official law enforcement credentials. In one instance, Jenkins pressured Culpeper County officials to support a petition falsely claiming that Rahim — a convicted felon — resided in the county, in order to have his firearm rights restored. The petition, later revealed to contain misleading information, was central to the government's case in proving Jenkins's abuse of power. Assistant U.S. Attorney Melanie Smith, along with Trial Attorneys Celia Choy and Lina Peng from the Department of Justice's Public Integrity Section, led the prosecution. Despite the evidence and jury verdict, Trump's decision to intervene and grant clemency to Jenkins sparked outrage — even in conservative Culpeper County, where Trump won more than 60% of the vote in the 2024 presidential election. According to NPR, which interviewed more than two dozen Culpeper residents following the pardon, all but one person expressed disapproval of the pardon — and the lone supporter refused to go on record. 'That's a terrific mistake,' Ken Green, a retired entrepreneur and three-time Trump voter, told the reporter as he sat at the counter of Frost Café on Culpeper's Main Street. 'It's a failure of our justice system. He was guilty as could be. He needed to go to jail, and he didn't. So what kind of signal does that send?' For Miyares, the issue isn't Trump's constitutional authority — which he acknowledges — but whether that authority was exercised responsibly. 'I think it is clear the Constitution gives the president incredibly broad pardon powers, as we have seen,' Miyares said in the interview. 'And regardless of who's in the White House, these pardons can be controversial at times.' He added, 'Clearly the White House is privy to facts that I'm not aware of, but with the facts that I am aware of, I would not have pardoned him.' Miyares's criticism adds to a growing chorus of Republicans what they view as Trump's increasingly personal use of the pardon power. While presidents have long granted clemency for controversial figures, Jenkins's case stands out because of the sheer volume of evidence, the jury's unanimous verdict and the betrayal of public trust by a sitting sheriff. 'You're scared. Honestly, you're scared,' Jenkins said of his sentencing. 'You may have been a cop all your life but you're sitting here going, 'They want to put me in prison for life.'' Whether Trump's decision will have political consequences remains to be seen, but the fallout in Virginia — especially among conservative voters who also value law-and-order policy— is still unfolding. As Miyares put it, 'I don't agree with that.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Trump 'law and order' claim reflects his admiration for TV show, not actions
The 'law and order' president is at it again. The same person who pardoned 1,500 January 6, 2021 rioters, some of whom admitted to assaulting police officers, has pardoned a former Virginia sheriff convicted of bribery in what prosecutors called a 'cash for badges' scheme ('Trump pardons former sheriff convicted of bribery,' May 27). Former Sheriff Scott Jenkins was convicted last December of accepting $75,000 in bribes in exchange for appointing Virginia business executives as auxiliary deputies. Jenkins had appealed to President Donald Trump by saying, 'I believe wholeheartedly in the president.' Apparently, his faith was duly rewarded. This after Trump monetized the Oval Office by selling Bibles, sneakers and meme coin before moving on to presidential pardons. And after his 'business trip' to the Middle East and his biggest coup yet, a $400 million 'gift' from Qatar. Opinion: Trump worries more about South Africa's nonexistent genocide than real US racism On multiple occasions Trump has claimed he is the president of 'law and order.' At this point, I have to assume that he can only be referring to his admiration for the long running television series of the same name. Craig Barbian, Sussex Regardless of religion or any other belief or nonbelief, there exists an ethic that is innate to people that has been with us for hundreds of thousands of years. It was there before Moses, before the Buddha and yes before any imaginal spiritual teaching. And it is the ground on which all ethical systems are founded. You don't have to go to school or join any group to discover that you prefer to feel good and are averse to suffering. These desires are innate to each of us. All we have to do to pay attention to how our body reacts. We all feel better when around people who exhibit the positive inner qualities of kindness, patience, tolerance, forgiveness and generosity. Likewise, we all feel worse when around those who exhibit the negative qualities of greed, malice, hatred and bigotry. It seems to me that a more harmonious society can be created if we value the positive qualities we each feel. It's totally natural and part of us. We were born this way. So, it puzzles me that we would forgo these qualities when choosing leaders. Surely, the bullying, demeaning, lying, defiance and boasting we see from this administration isn't doing any of us any good as it decreases the harmony and cooperation necessary to create a better world. Unethical behavior respects no law or cultural norm. And it feels bad. Isn't this obvious? Surely, we can do better by voting for candidates with the inner qualities that best reflects the ethics innate to all of us. John S. Strauss, Campton Hills, Illinois Letters: Republican Party and President Trump are becoming our country's biggest bullies Opinion: Rising housing costs could be pricing people out of college in Wisconsin Here are some tips to get your views shared with your friends, family, neighbors and across our state: Please include your name, street address and daytime phone. Generally, we limit letters to 200 words. Cite sources of where you found information or the article that prompted your letter. Be civil and constructive, especially when criticizing. Avoid ad hominem attacks, take issue with a position, not a person. We cannot acknowledge receipt of submissions. We don't publish poetry, anonymous or open letters. Each writer is limited to one published letter every two months. All letters are subject to editing. Write: Letters to the editor, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 330 E. Kilbourn Avenue, Suite 500, Milwaukee, WI, 53202. Fax: (414)-223-5444. E-mail: jsedit@ or submit using the form that can be found on the on the bottom of this page. This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Pardons granted in sheriff bribery, Jan. 6 rioting cases | Letters
Washington Post
31-05-2025
- General
- Washington Post
‘No MAGA left behind': The trouble with Trump's pardons
A jury convicted Scott Jenkins, the disgraced ex-sheriff of Culpeper County in Virginia, of taking more than $75,000 in bribes in exchange for deputizing rich businessmen so they could get out of speeding tickets and carry guns without permits. Two undercover FBI agents who gave him envelopes of cash after he gave them badges testified at his trial. Luckily for Jenkins, he has long been an outspoken supporter of President Donald Trump. On Monday, the day before he was due to report for his 10-year prison sentence, Trump pardoned him.
CNN
29-05-2025
- Business
- CNN
‘No MAGA left behind': Trump's pardons get even more political
As President Donald Trump's interim US attorney for the District of Columbia, Ed Martin was remarkably blunt about intermingling Trump's political goals with the ostensibly independent actions of the Justice Department. That might have cost him the permanent gig. So leave it to Martin, now Trump's pardon attorney, to say the quiet part out loud about Trump's pardons. 'No MAGA left behind,' Martin posted Monday on X. Martin's missive came after Trump pardoned a MAGA-supporting former Virginia sheriff, Scott Jenkins, who had been convicted of bribery. Martin's further posts suggested this pardon wasn't about rewarding a Trump ally, per se – a more problematic proposition – but rather about correcting what Trump allies argue was a weaponized Biden administration prosecution. However, if you look closely at how Trump's used his pardon power – which he has exercised dramatically this week, with a slew of new pardons and commutations on Wednesday alone – it's virtually impossible to miss the political overtones. Many of Trump's acts of clemency have rewarded an ally or someone tied to an ally, or they have served a clear and not terribly subtle political purpose. Politics have loomed over other controversial and high-profile pardons – from Andrew Jackson's, to Gerald Ford pardoning Richard Nixon, to Bill Clinton pardoning Marc Rich, to Joe Biden pardoning his own son. (Biden in his closing days also preemptively pardoned other family members and Trump critics who hadn't been accused or convicted of crimes, because Trump and his allies had suggested they could be targeted.) But Trump took things up a level by pardoning a spate of key convicted allies in his first term, often without the kind of extensive process usually used in pardons. And his second term continues to push the envelope. The big one, of course, was the blanket pardoning of virtually all January 6, 2021, defendants – about 1,500 people in total. These were people who quite literally rose up on Trump's behalf and in some cases assaulted police. Trump pardoned nearly all of them even as polling later showed 83% of Americans opposed his pardons for those convicted of violent crimes. There has been more where that came from this week. On Monday, Trump pardoned the MAGA-supporting former sheriff. Jenkins was sentenced to 10 years in prison (during the Trump administration) for offering local businessmen positions as auxiliary deputy sheriffs in return for campaign contributions. On Tuesday, Trump made a splash when he spared reality TV stars Todd and Julie Chrisley lengthy prison sentences for bank fraud after their daughter campaigned extensively for Trump in 2024. Campaign assistance appears to be a common denominator for some Trump pardons. The New York Times reported on Tuesday, for example, that Trump's April pardon of convicted nursing home executive Paul Walczak came after Walczak's mother raised millions for Trump and other Republicans, sought to publicize the diary of Biden's daughter, and attended a $1-million-per-person fundraising dinner last month. Walczak even cited his mother's pro-Trump political activity in his pardon application. And on Wednesday, as Martin took to social media again to proclaim it 'pardon day,' Trump granted clemency to even more individuals, including pardoning former GOP Rep. Michael Grimm of New York. That means Trump has now pardoned no fewer than eight convicted former GOP members of Congress, between his first and second terms. Earlier in the day, Trump suggested that next in line for pardons could be two men convicted of conspiring to kidnap Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. ('It looked to me like somewhat of a railroad job,' Trump said.) Beyond the pardons mentioned above, Trump has also pardoned or granted clemency to: Former Republican Connecticut Gov. John Rowland, who was convicted on two separate occasions in recent decades Mark Bashaw, an officer who formerly served at the Army Public Health Center and was found guilty of violating the Biden administration's military Covid safety rules by a court martial Trevor Milton, who with his wife gave Trump's reelection effort $1.8 million just a month before the 2024 election and had been represented by lawyers with ties to Trump Ross Ulbricht, whom Trump had pledged to pardon during the 2024 campaign as an appeal to potential libertarian supporters Two key witnesses in the Biden impeachment inquiry (Devon Archer and Jason Galanis) Brian Kelsey, a Republican former state senator from Tennessee Ex-Illinois Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who has supported Trump and called himself a 'Trumpocrat' Former Las Vegas City Councilwoman Michele Fiore, a Republican who some have labeled 'Lady Trump' About two dozen people convicted of blocking access to abortion clinics In case the politics of that last one weren't clear enough, Trump announced the pardons just a day before he addressed the anti-abortion-rights 'March for Life' in January. Indeed, you have to strain pretty hard to find Trump pardons or grants of clemency that don't have some kind of political element. Trump in March pardoned three cryptocurrency figures who don't have an obvious political connection to him. But he's also made inroads – both political and personal – into the crypto world, and has pushed for deregulation. He pardoned two DC police officers convicted in a deadly pursuit, and he did so with at least some support from D.C.'s police chief and Democratic mayor. But he also suggested the police had been targeted 'because they went after an illegal' – suggesting the decision was linked to his harsh anti-illegal immigration efforts. Jean Pinkard might be Trump's most normal-sounding act of clemency, given she was sentenced to just one year in prison and has battled cancer. But even there, she was represented by a lawyer who prominently pushed Trump's baseless claims of a stolen 2020 election. Trump on Wednesday also made several pardons and commutations with no immediately apparent political nexus. For instance, he commuted the sentence of former Gangster Disciples co-founder Larry Hoover, just months after Biden pardoned Hoover's second-in-command. Regardless of intent, the pattern of Trump's pardons is pretty clear. They're heavily focused on people who support Trump or have ties to him, those who targeted people Trump also doesn't like, and instances where the pardons could send messages to key constituencies. And there's no sign it's going to slow down any time soon – especially where Martin is involved.
CBC
28-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
'No MAGA left behind': Trump turning pardons into partisan exercise, critics say
As U.S. President Donald Trump makes a dizzying series of tariff proclamations, puts Ivy League schools in his sights over their policies, and tries to broker ceasefire agreements in global conflicts, his administration is periodically issuing pardons and commutations that attract less media attention. These recent decisions — which included a pardon Tuesday for a reality-show couple convicting of defrauding banks out of more than $30 million US — haven't led the widespread condemnation that met Trump's sweeping pardon of some 1,500 people, many convicted of violent assault, in the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. Based on the evidence so far, many of the subsequent pardons seem to be less about the legal nuances of specific cases than affiliation and partisanship. Trump on Monday said he would pardon Scott Jenkins, alleging in a social media post that the Virginia sheriff was the victim of an "overzealous" Justice Department in president Joe Biden's term and by a judge appointed by Biden. In fact, the Culpeper County sheriff was seen on video during his 2024 trial accepting cash, part of what prosecutors said was a pattern of taking money in exchange for auxiliary sheriff badges, as well as for personal gain. Jenkins, who's run as both a Republican and an independent, said last month he had hoped to plead for clemency directly with the Trump administration. Democrat Abigail Spanberger, running for governor in Virginia, panned the pardon in a social media post that pointed out that a jury of U.S. citizens, not a politicized individual or body, voted to convict Jenkins on 12 separate counts. Spanberger said the pardon was an "affront" to many officials, including "the law enforcement officers who investigated this case and hold themselves to the highest ethical standard every day." Former Ronald Reagan administration official and longtime conservative commentator William Kristol excoriated the pardon of Jenkins, arguing it sends a signal to Trump-supporting sheriffs "that they can act with immunity." "MAGA vigilantism over the next four years will be supercharged," Kristol wrote for the Bulwark. MAGA loyalists, Biden antagonists Nevada politician Michele Fiore, a staunch MAGA loyalist for a decade, was pardoned in April. Fiore was convicted after raising more than $70,000 for a statue for a slain Las Vegas police officer but instead spent some of the donations on cosmetic surgery, rent and her daughter's wedding. Brian Kalt, a Michigan State University constitutional law expert who's written about presidential pardons, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal after the Fiore pardon that "the main criterion seems to be someone is a supporter and if [Trump] can sort of identify with them as the victim of a politically motivated prosecution." In the case of Nikola electric vehicle founder Trevor Milton's pardon, issued in March, Trump said, "They say the thing that he did wrong was he was one of the first people that supported a gentleman named Donald Trump for president." In response to the president's comments, the nonprofit watchdog organization Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington Inc. (CREW) posted: "Well, one thing's for sure: Trevor Milton and his wife donated more than $1.8 million to the Trump 47 Committee in the weeks before the election." It also didn't escape notice from Democrats that Milton, convicted of wire and securities fraud, was represented during his legal travails by lawyers including Brad Bondi — brother of current Republican attorney general Pam Bondi — and Marc Mukasey, who has represented the Trump Organization. There have also been pardons and sentence commutations for individuals who have, coincidentally or not, painted Biden's children in an unfavourable light. Jason Galanis and Devon Archer, who gave critical testimony about one-time business associate Hunter Biden, the president's son, on Capitol Hill, had their sentences for defrauding an Indigenous tribe in a separate transaction commuted by Trump. Paul Walczak, the son of a major Trump donor who was convicted of income tax fraud and ordered to pay over $4 million in restitution, received another pardon slammed by CREW and Democrats. In describing the presidential action, the New York Times headline read: Trump Pardons Executive Whose Family Sought to Publicize Ashley Biden's Diary. Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy on the Walczak pardon: Trump's Justice Department weaponized: legal analyst Presidents have broad power to pardon federal crimes or commute sentences, as an act of mercy or justice, and Democratic presidents have faced criticism in certain cases: Jimmy Carter for executive actions involving folk singer Peter Yarrow and kidnapped heiress Patricia Hearst, and Bill Clinton for pardoning Marc Rich, an international fugitive whose former spouse was a Democratic donor. But according to Liz Oyer, the cost of these 2025 pardons is significant. Oyer, the former chief pardon attorney who is suing the government after being fired in March, has argued in a series of TikTok videos that it's not just the optics that are suboptimal. It costs taxpayers, Oyer says, as those pardoned no longer are mandated by the courts to pay back ill-gotten proceeds. She estimates that the total of debts wiped off the books is over $1.2 billion so far. Biden was only the second president in over a century whose pardons overall did not number in the hundreds or even the thousands, according to Pew Research. But among the 80 he granted, he received considerable criticism for pre-emptive pardons for figures who are hated by many of Trump's MAGA supporters, including Dr. Anthony Fauci and military leader Gen. Mark Milley. Legal analyst Dan Abrams, founder of Mediaite and host of a Sirius radio program, was in that camp, but said last week he'd changed his mind. "President Biden was right to preemptively pardon these folks even though it sets a terrible precedent; what we have seen [so far] is much worse," he said. Abrams said he changed his mind because "it is clear now that this administration is going to use the [Department of Justice] as a weapon," pointing to a series of threats from the White House and its cabinet members to investigate former or current Trump critics, from former FBI director James Comey for a seashell display on the beach, to former Trump administration cybersecurity expert Chris Krebs. In addition, Democratic Congress member LaMonica McIver has been charged over a fracas at an immigrant detention centre. Can Trump really revoke Biden's pardons? | About That 2 months ago Duration 11:10 'We can't leave those guys behind' Trump, indicted in four separate criminal matters until three of those cases fell away in the wake of his November election win, spent considerable time railing on the campaign trail about a justice system he said was weaponized against Republicans. Democrats have pointed out that despite those claims, mimicked by some Republican Congress members, the Justice Department in Biden's term appeared to pursue cases without favour. Prosecutions were pursued against Hunter Biden, Democratic legislators Bob Menendez and Henry Cuellar, and Democratic Mayor Eric Adams in New York City. It's not clear if federal prosecutors in this administration will aggressively probe suspected criminal activity by Republicans. But in Trump's first term, Justice Department officials under the auspices of then-attorney general William Barr sought to intervene in sentencing on behalf of Roger Stone and Michael Flynn, Trump loyalists charged with federal crimes. Both Stone and Flynn were subsequently pardoned. Trump has tapped loyalist Ed Martin to replace Oyer as chief pardon attorney. Martin was originally chosen to be lead attorney in D.C., but the required Senate confirmation appeared doomed given his staunch support of 2021 Capitol rioters, including of an avowed white supremacist Martin referred to as a friend. Martin, not needing Senate confirmation in his new role, recently told a radio host he's taking a "hard look" at the convictions of two men convicted in federal court over a plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, adding, "We can't leave those guys behind."
