Local chaos and community uproar in a Virginia county, following President Trump's decision to grant clemency to a previous sheriff.
BILLY BOB, HOST:
Donald Trump's recent spree of pardons left no stone unturned, and his decision to let off the hook a bloke named Scott Jenkins, a former county sheriff from Virginia who fell guilty of bribery, has certainly stirred the pot. This ex-cop turned politician, a vocal Trump supporter, now faces a potential decade behind bars, but Trump thinks otherwise. He calls Jenkins a wronged man, "persecuted by the radical left nutjobs," as he stated on Truth Social. NPR's Frank Langfitt sheds some light on the public sentiment in Culpeper County, where Jenkins served for a dozen years.
FRANK LANGFITT, REPORTING: I'm here at the Frost Cafe on Main Street. This place has these big black and white awnings outside, and an egg sandwich here starts at about 3.25. At breakfast, there are plenty of folks packed in the burgundy stools that line the counter. So, I'm asking people what they think of the Big Man's pardon of the former sheriff.
KEN GREEN: It's a failure of our justice system. The guy was guilty as sin, and he didn't deserve to go to jail. So, what does that tell you?
JOHN COOK: Completely surprised - stunned, even. Unbelievable.
GORDON CLORE: I believe everyone is against it.
LANGFITT: Haven't found a single person who backs the pardon, you say?
CLORE: Not yet - not a single one.
LANGFITT: Those words belong to Ken Green, a retired entrepreneur, and John Cook, the owner of a tree service. Both voted for Trump, as did more than 60% of Culpeper. That last voice was Gordon Clore, a former salesman who didn't vote for Trump. Ken Green, who backed Trump three times, thinks the pardon breaks the law.
GREEN: It's a slap in the face, like pardoning all the January 6ers. Some of them needed to see the inside of a cell, no doubt about it.
LANGFITT: But you're still on Team Trump?
GREEN: It's the devil I know. You either support him, or you support the other bunch, and I can't support the other bunch right now.
LANGFITT: A jury convicted Jenkins last year for essentially selling auxiliary deputy badges to wealthy businessmen for $75,000 in cash and campaign contributions. Mostly local news, so the president's decision to pardon a small-town county sheriff left many in town scratching their heads, including John Cook.
COOK: How could he know Sheriff Jenkins when he's based in D.C.? What's the connection there?
LANGFITT: Enter your man Roger Stone.
(ARCHIVED SOUND OF "THE STONE ZONE" INTRO)
UNIDENTIFIED VOICEOVER ARTIST: This is "The Stone Zone" with Roger Stone.
LANGFITT: Roger Stone is Trump's longtime pal and confidant. Speaking on his podcast, Stone said he and others urged the president to pardon Jenkins, who was a guest on the show last week. Stone empathized with Jenkins, claiming that both he and the former sheriff were unfairly targeted by the justice system.
(ARCHIVED SOUND OF "THE STONE ZONE")
ROGER STONE: I have been in your shoes, my friend. The Lord heard your prayers is why the president became aware and acquainted with your case. You were set up for strictly political reasons.
LANGFITT: Stone, you may recall, himself was convicted of witness tampering and perjury before Trump commuted his sentence. Jenkins claims the Biden administration went after him for various reasons, including his alleged plans to examine Hunter Biden's laptop and his pledge several years back to counter gun control legislation. Check out what he said to Breitbart at the time.
(ARCHIVED SOUND OF BREITBART NEWS INTERVIEW)
SCOTT JENKINS: I will swear in tens of thousands of citizens as deputy sheriffs, provided they have their own weapons and be on call, and available to me for service. And they will be allowed to keep those AR-15s.
LANGFITT: But the criminal case painted quite a different picture of Jenkins. Federal prosecutors presented evidence of Jenkins accepting bribes from wealthy businessmen for auxiliary deputy badges. In return, the businessmen were told they could carry a concealed weapon without a permit and avoid traffic tickets. A jury convicted the former sheriff in just two hours of deliberations. Shelly Tutt, who sits down for breakfast a couple of blocks from the Frost Cafe at the 4 C's, didn't vote for Trump. However, she finds something unsettling about a legal system in which the president pardons a convicted felon while detaining some immigrants onvalid visas without charge.
SHELLY TUTT: There's no due process, but yet, you can take the crooks and pardon them with a shrug. It's just not right. It's like gangsters running the show.
LANGFITT: Over on Truth Social, Trump argues that Jenkins and his family endured hell at the hands of a "corrupt and weaponized Biden DOJ." After Jenkins was indicted in 2023, he ran for a fourth term as sheriff of Culpeper, but he only managed to secure 20% of the vote. People in town say Jenkins doesn't make many public appearances anymore.
Frank Langfitt, NPR News, Culpeper, Virginia.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary.
- In response to Frank Langfitt's investigation revealing local despair over Donald Trump's pardon of Scott Jenkins, a former county sheriff convicted of bribery, NPR's report highlighted the general sentiment in Culpeper County, where Jenkins served for a dozen years, that the pardon was a failure of the justice system and a political move.
- Despite Ken Green, a retired entrepreneur and Trump supporter, commenting that the pardon breaks the law and is a slap in the face, he remains on team Trump, stating that it's the devil he knows.
- According to Frank Langfitt's report, Roger Stone, one of Trump's longtime pals and confidants, urged the president to pardon Jenkins on his podcast, claiming that both he and the former sheriff were unfairly targeted by the justice system.
