Trump pardon of former sheriff creates fallout in a Virginia county : NPR

CULPEPER, Va. — When Donald Trump pardoned former Culpeper County Sheriff Scott Jenkins last week, the president called him a “victim” who had been “persecuted by the Radical Left ‘monsters’ and ‘left for dead.'”

Jenkins is an outspoken supporter of Trump. The reprieve spared Jenkins from what Trump called an “unfair sentence” — 10 years for bribery, conspiracy, and honest services fraud — just before the former sheriff was to start serving it.

More than 60% of voters in Culpeper backed Trump in last year’s election. But many there, including Trump supporters, say pardoning the former sheriff was wrong.

“That’s a terrific mistake,” said Ken Green, a retired entrepreneur and three-time Trump voter, as he ate breakfast at the counter at Frost Cafe in downtown Culpeper. “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?”

“Totally surprised, stunned,” added John Cook, another Trump voter who runs a tree service and was sitting just a few stools away. “It’s unbelievable.”

“I believe everyone is against it”

Both Green and Cook said they still like many of Trump’s policies, his forthright style and still support him as president. “It’s kind of a two-edged sword,” Green said. “You either support him or you support the other side, and I can’t support the other side right now so … it’s the evil you know.”

Gordon Clore, a retired salesman who did not vote for Trump, said he doesn’t know anyone in Culpeper who supports the pardon: “I believe everyone is against it.”

NPR interviewed more than two dozen people in Culpeper about the pardon. All but one opposed it — and that person refused to speak on the record.

A jury convicted Jenkins last year of effectively selling auxiliary deputy badges to businessmen for $75,000 in cash and campaign contributions. It was largely a local story.

So the president’s decision to pardon a little-known sheriff left many in this county and town of about 75,000 puzzled. Cook wondered how Trump, the world’s most powerful political leader who lives 70 miles away in the White House, had even heard of Jenkins.

Influential supporters go to bat for Jenkins

One apparent answer is Roger Stone, a longtime Trump confidant. Speaking on his podcast, The StoneZone, Stone said he and others urged the president to pardon Jenkins.

Stone said Jenkins wasn’t allowed to offer exculpatory evidence at trial, a claim Trump repeated in his Truth Social post. Stone also commiserated with the former sheriff, who appeared on Stone’s podcast last week. Stone said that he, too, had been unfairly targeted by the justice system.

“I have been in your shoes, my friend, and the Lord heard those prayers, which is why the president became well aware and acquainted with your case … that you were framed for strictly political reasons,” Stone said.

Stone himself was convicted of witness tampering and lying to Congress in 2019. Trump commuted his sentence, also calling him a victim.

On Stone’s podcast, Jenkins claimed the Biden administration’s Justice Department went after him for various reasons, including his vow to counter gun control legislation by swearing in thousands of armed citizens as reserve deputy sheriffs. Jenkins also claimed the Biden administration didn’t like what he says were his plans to join with other sheriffs to try to examine Hunter Biden’s laptop.

NPR reached out to two of Jenkins’ attorneys for comment but did not hear back. The former sheriff told Stone he was grateful for all the support. “All of you who have put a kind word in and did the work you did to communicate with the White House and others to help, I’m forever indebted,” Jenkins said.

‘A mirror image in some respects to Trump’

But the criminal case painted a very different picture of the former sheriff. Federal prosecutors presented video they said showed Jenkins taking bribes from businessmen for auxiliary deputy badges. In return, the businessmen were told the badges could allow them to carry a concealed weapon and get them out of traffic tickets, according to court documents.

A jury convicted the former sheriff after just two hours of deliberations.

Paul Hutcheson, who owns a garden center here and voted for Trump in 2016, thinks the president sees Jenkins as a sort of kindred spirit.

“He’s kind of a mirror image in some respects to Trump,” said Hutcheson, pausing to chat downtown, which is home to restaurants with names like “It’s About Thyme,” and “Reigning Cats & Dogs and Kindness,” a gift and supply store for pets. “I think Trump sees a little bit of himself in that … victim mentality of everyone’s out to get me.”

The next morning, several blocks away, Shelly Tutt was having breakfast at 4 C’s, which serves homestyle Peruvian food. Tutt, who did not vote for Trump, says she finds it unsettling that the president pardoned a convicted felon while his administration has detained some immigrants on valid visas without charge.

“There’s no due process,” Tutt says between bites of sausage wrapped in pancakes, “yet you can take criminals and … pardon them with a blink of an eye. It’s just not right. … It’s like gangsters running the country.”

On Truth Social, Trump said Jenkins and his family were quote “dragged through HELL by a Corrupt and Weaponized Biden DOJ.”

Jenkins served for a dozen years as sheriff. After his indictment in 2023, he ran for a fourth term. He won just 20% of the vote. People here say the former sheriff rarely shows his face in town anymore.