Trump is facing criticism for pardoning Scott Jenkins - but who is he?

On the first day of his second term as US president, Donald Trump made the controversial decision to pardon more than 1,500 supporters charged with crimes connected to the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021 – and now a new pardon, issued to one Scott Jenkins on Monday, has seen the Republican come under fire yet again.

In a post to his Truth Social platform, Trump wrote: “Sheriff Scott Jenkins, his wife Patricia, and their family have been dragged through HELL by a Corrupt and Weaponized Biden DOJ.

“This Sheriff is a victim of an overzealous Biden Department of Justice, and doesn’t deserve to spend a single day in jail.

“He is a wonderful person, who was persecuted by the Radical Left ‘monsters’, and ‘left for dead’. 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.”

Just last month, Jenkins said during a webinar hosted by the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association that he believed if Trump “heard the information” about his case, “he would help”.

And it seems he has.

Who is Scott Jenkins?

The 53-year-old from Virginia was formerly the sheriff of Culpeper County in the state, and in March was sentenced to 10 years in prison for “accepting over $75,000 in bribes in exchange for appointing numerous Northern Virginia businessmen as auxiliary deputy sheriffs within his department”.

The DOJ also said Jenkins “pressured other local officials” to approve a court petition to restore convicted felon Rick Rahim’s right to possess a firearm.

The department added the bribe payors “were not trained or vetted” and “did not render any legitimate services”.

Jenkins was convicted by a jury, in December, of one count of conspiracy, four counts of honest services fraud, and seven counts of bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds.

In a statement issued after Jenkins’ sentencing, Acting United States Attorney Zachary T. Lee said: “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.

“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.”

In 2021, Jenkins was selected as a “sheriff fellow” by the Claremont Institute, a far-right think tank with links to the MAGA movement.

What has been the reaction to the pardon?

The Republicans Against Trump Twitter/X account responded to news of the pardon by using the president’s calls to “drain the swamp” against him:

While MeidasTouch editor Ron Filipkowski wrote that Tiger King star Joe Exotic – who was convicted of murder-for-hire, falsifying wildlife records and violating the Endangered Species Act – had been “passed over again”:

Elsewhere, the DOJ’s new pardon attorney, Ed Martin Jr., said on Friday that he will take a “hard look” at the case of two men serving time over a conspiracy to kidnap Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer.

“On the pardon front, we can’t leave these guys behind. In my opinion these are victims just like January 6,” he told The Breanna Morello Show.

Why not read…

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