Former President Trump offered another pardon on Monday, claiming the former official was targeted by a “weaponized” Department of Justice (DOJ) under the Biden administration, by granting clemency to ex-Sheriff Scott Jenkins.
Jenkins had been the sheriff of Culpeper County in northern Virginia for ten years but failed to win his reelection campaign in 2023 due to the charges against him. He was convicted of bribery charges and was on the verge of starting a 10-year prison sentence before receiving the pardon.
Here’s what to know about Jenkins:
Longstanding career derailed by bribery allegations
Jenkins held the role of county sheriff for 12 years, initially getting elected in 2011 and securing reelection twice thereafter, running as a Republican and later as an independent.
But he lost his reelection bid in November 2023, less than five months after he was indicted. He came in third place in the race, losing to now-Sheriff Timothy Chilton, who was serving as the deputy chief of the Culpeper Police Department.
Chilton said at the time that he avoided discussing the details of the allegations against Jenkins during the campaign but wanted to focus on regaining the trust of the community and change the office’s culture.
One prominent moment during Jenkins’s tenure came in 2019 when he announced plans to deputize the county’s residents if the Democratic-controlled legislature passed “further unnecessary gun restrictions.”
“I plan to properly screen and deputize thousands of our law-abiding citizens to protect their constitutional right to own firearms,” he said.
Chilton has ended that program since taking office.
The case against Jenkins
Jenkins was indicted in June 2023 based on allegations that he accepted more than $70,000 in bribes in the form of cash or campaign contributions from more than a half dozen, including two undercover FBI agents.
Prosecutors alleged that Jenkins appointed these men as auxiliary deputy sheriffs, giving them badges and credentials despite them not being trained or vetted and not offering services to the sheriff’s office. They also accused him of pressuring local officials in the case of one man, a convicted felon, to restore his right to own a firearm.
That man and the two undercover FBI agents testified against Jenkins, saying that they gave the then-sheriff bribes in exchange for being deputized. Jenkins took the stand in his own defense and argued that the payments he received and the badges he provided had no connection.
The Washington Post reported at the time that Jenkins’s defense attorney argued prosecutors had “no credible evidence” of bribery and Jenkins “came up with creative ideas” to get around gun control laws that the state legislature passed. The attorney said the money that Jenkins received were legitimate political donations.
Three of the six men who were appointed as auxiliary deputy sheriffs pleaded guilty ahead of Jenkins’s trial and cooperated with authorities.
Jenkins was convicted on all counts that he faced in December, including one count of conspiracy, four counts of honest services mail and wire fraud and seven counts of bribery concerning programs receiving public funds.
He was sentenced to a decade in prison in March.
Why Trump pardoned Jenkins
Trump has been eager throughout his second term to grant pardons and commutations to individuals he sees as in the same situation as himself, as victims of a “weaponized” DOJ under former President Biden.
Trump regularly accused prosecutors in different jurisdictions of pursing politically motivated prosecutions, as he was indicted four times during his 2024 presidential election campaign.
He cited similar allegations in his post on Truth Social announcing his decision to pardon Jenkins.
“Sheriff Scott Jenkins, his wife Patricia, and their family have been dragged through HELL by a Corrupt and Weaponized Biden DOJ,” he said.
He alleged that the judge in the case, appointed by Biden, treated Jenkins unfairly in refusing to accept evidence that Jenkins offered to exonerate himself.
Jenkins reportedly asked for clemency last month from Trump, saying during a webinar that he didn’t have the money for an appeal of the verdict and believed Trump would step in if he heard the evidence that he wasn’t able to share in front of the jury.
Trump has also issued pardons for others he’s argued were the targets of politically motivated cases, notably most of those convicted of crimes stemming from the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. Those who did not receive pardons receive commutations of their sentences.
His pardon of Jenkins also falls in line with others he has issued for those of high-profile individuals who have expressed similar conservative-leaning political views to him, like conservative commentators Dinesh D’Souza during his first term and Michele Fiore, also a former Las Vegas City Council member, during his second term.
