Donald Trump handed out two pardons onstage at a campaign rally in Alaska today.
The two Anchorage diesel mechanics pleaded guilty in 2022 to conspiring to violate the Clean Air Act after prosecutors said their shop stripped emissions controls from at least 37 trucks for about $100,000. Trump told the crowd the government wanted them jailed for 10 years “because they fixed an engine.” One was sentenced to probation and a fine. The other paid a fine.
Alaska gave Trump a 13-point win in 2024, and he made the trip three weeks before the election because his party could lose its Senate seat there anyway. Then one of the pardoned men spoke from the same stage and endorsed Trump’s candidates.
I’ve emailed 9,499 stories over 621 straight nights, free and without ads. The algorithm can’t show them all to you. Add your email address at govbrief.today and I will.
🟡109|🟢36|🟢73|🟡100|🟠116
Federal judge accuses Trump administration of deceiving her after it fells 430 trees on 12 hours’ notice at the DC golf course Trump wants remade.
Today’s GovBrief News
State Department bars US government employees from Saudi airports without special approval, as Saudi-led coalition strikes Houthi oil sites across western Yemen.
Source: CBS News
October 13, 2026
CVS agrees to pay $315 million to settle Justice Department claims it filled illegitimate opioid prescriptions, after a former employee blew the whistle in 2019.
Source: The Hill
October 13, 2026
FTC and seven states ask judge to hold former drug executive Martin Shkreli in contempt, saying he livestreamed trades violating his lifetime pharma ban.
Source: Ars Technica
October 13, 2026
Treasury fines Bank of America $1.2 billion after the bank admits willfully failing to report more than $5 billion in suspicious transactions.
Source: CNBC
October 13, 2026
Probe behind search of Democratic Rep. Omar’s home targets her birth date on teenage citizenship papers, sources say, raising possibility of stripping her citizenship.
Source: The Washington Post
October 13, 2026
Judge extends DC golf course tree-cutting halt to Oct. 26, orders acting Park Service chief and Interior aide named as ordering the cuts to testify.
Source: NPR
October 13, 2026
Supreme Court agrees to hear Trump administration’s bid to shield DOGE from public records requests, three months after the Musk-led cost-cutting unit shut down.
Source: Courthouse News Service
October 13, 2026
Supreme Court refuses to hear appeal of sanctions against 2022 Arizona governor candidate Kari Lake’s lawyer for a “frivolous” suit against vote-counting machines.
Source: The Arizona Mirror
October 13, 2026
Trump pardons two Alaska shop owners onstage at a rally, saying they “fixed an engine,” but prosecutors said the shop disabled emissions controls on at least 37 vehicles.
Source: USA Today
October 13, 2026
Federal judge temporarily blocks Agriculture Department from using money Congress approved to move thousands of employees to five regional hubs, siding with unions.
Source: Politico
October 13, 2026
Trump posts video of a tiger fatally mauling a man at a UK wildlife park, writing “Don’t ever mess with nature!” to 13 million followers.
Source: The Independent
October 13, 2026
Trump forces out Ambassador to Greece Guilfoyle a day after leaving her fate open, saying “we didn’t like what we were reading.”
Source: eKathimerini
October 13, 2026
Memphis councilwoman directs $159,000 in council grant funds to cancel more than $17 million in medical debt for 12,000 residents.
Source: WREG Memphis
October 13, 2026
Federal judge extends block on Trump’s White House ban of CNN, Politico and MS NOW, finding he likely barred them over their coverage.
Source: NBC News
October 13, 2026