President Donald Trump on Monday pardoned a corrupt Virginia sheriff who in March was sentenced to 10 years in prison for federal bribery charges.
Former Culpepper Country Sheriff Scott Jenkins was convicted on, "one count of conspiracy, four counts of honest services fraud, and seven counts of bribery" after he accepted $75,000 in payments from people who wanted to become deputy sheriffs so that they could get out of speeding tickets. Jenkins made the men deputy sheriffs even though they “were not trained or vetted and did not render any legitimate services to the Sheriff’s Office or the citizens of Culpepper County," the Department of Justice said in March after Jenkins was sentenced.
Jenkins also accepted a bribe from a convicted felon who wanted his gun rights restored.
But Trump claimed Jenkins, who was convicted of his crimes, was the "victim of an overzealous Biden Department of Justice, and doesn’t deserve to spend a single day in jail." He pardoned Jenkins a day before he was set to report to federal prison to serve his sentence.
Related | Criminals are sucking up to Trump because they think he'll pardon them
"He is a wonderful person, who was persecuted by the Radical Left 'monsters,' and 'left for dead,'" Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social. "This is why I, as President of the United States, see fit to end his unfair sentence, and grant Sheriff Jenkins a FULL and Unconditional Pardon. He will NOT be going to jail tomorrow, but instead will have a wonderful and productive life."
Abigail Spanberger, the Democratic nominee for governor in Virginia, slammed Jenkins’ pardon.
Spanberger wrote in a post on X: “Scott Jenkins was in a position of public trust and he broke the law. He abused his power, violated his oath, committed multiple federal crimes, and was to be held accountable for his crimes. He was convicted by a jury of his peers of one count of conspiracy, four counts of honest services fraud, and seven counts of bribery. He was supposed to report to prison this week for a ten year sentence. The president just pardoned him in an affront to the oath he swore, the community he betrayed, the laws he broke, and the law enforcement officers who investigated this case and hold themselves to the highest ethical standard every day.”
Jenkins—a Trump supporter—was Trump's first pardon since making Ed Martin pardon attorney. Martin is the former acting U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C., whose nomination Trump was forced to pull after even the most sycophantic Senate Republicans said they would not support Martin for the position due to his role in the Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021.
Martin was proud that he helped Trump pardon Jenkins.
"No MAGA left behind," Martin wrote in a post on X.
But Jenkins is hardly the first corrupt pardon Trump has made.
Trump pardoned hundreds of people who either pleaded guilty to or were convicted on charges related to their actions at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. A number of the pardons were of violent individuals, some of whom have been rearrested for new crimes since Trump’s disgusting act of clemency.
Trump also pardoned Michele Fiore, a former Las Vegas city councilwoman who was found guilty in October on multiple fraud charges, after she was caught raising money she said was going toward a statue to honor a slain police officer, but instead used those funds for her own plastic surgery and other personal expenses.
Trump also pardoned Rod Blagojevich, the former Illinois governor who was caught trying to sell former President Barack Obama’s U.S. Senate seat. Blagojevich, a Democrat, heaped praise upon Trump in order to secure clemency.
In his first term, Trump also pardoned a number of loyal Trump stooges, including right-wing conspiracy theorist-spreader Dinesh D’Souza; Michal Flynn, Trump’s former national security adviser who lied to investigators during the Russia collusion investigation; Trump ally Roger Stone, who was convicted of witness tampering; and Joe Arpaio, the former Maricopa County sheriff who was convicted of contempt of court after he refused to follow a judge’s order to stop his abusive racial profiling practices.
Ultimately, Jenkins’ pardon shows that as long as Trump is in office, being a Trump supporter is a get out of jail free card.
Campaign Action
