Trump pardons lawmaker who led protest ride on blm tract

Trump pardons lawmaker who led protest ride on blm tract


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President Trump last night issued a full pardon to Utah state Rep. Phil Lyman (R), who served a brief jail stint for leading an illegal all-terrain vehicle protest ride through a closed Utah


canyon in 2015. An outspoken critic of federal land managers, Lyman praised Trump in a statement posted to Facebook. He also used the platform to slam "persistent federal attacks on


rural Utah by the Bureau of Land Management." "The false narratives of the media have been so damaging, not only to me but to the truth," Lyman wrote. "We protested a


federal agency that wrongly and maliciously raided our community." Advertisement In 2015, a federal jury convicted Lyman, then a San Juan County commissioner, for misdemeanor illegal


use of ATVs and conspiracy for organizing a 50-vehicle ride through closed BLM areas (_E&E News PM_, Dec. 18, 2015). Lyman organized the ride to protest the closure of Recapture Canyon


to motorized vehicles, a decision made to protect nearby archaeological sites including Native American cliff dwellings. The Utah man served 10 days in jail in 2016 and was ordered to pay


$96,000 in restitution, which he paid off in a lump sum earlier this year (_Greenwire_, Oct. 8). Utah Sen. Mike Lee (R), who is also a detractor of public lands management, praised Lyman as


a "devoted public servant" in a statement on Twitter last night. Lyman won election to a state House seat in 2018 and was reelected to a second term last month. "I thank


President Trump for correcting the injustice stemming from this overreach of federal power," Lee wrote. According to the White House, Lee supported Lyman’s pardon, along with former


House Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R). In a statement detailing the pardon, Trump likewise called Lyman "a man of integrity and character" who was "subjected to selective


prosecution" by the Obama administration. Lyman filed a lawsuit against BLM in 2019, seeking $10 million in damages for alleged harm to his reputation, business and political


relationships (_Greenwire_, Nov. 13, 2019). But records in the U.S. District Court for the District of Utah show Lyman failed to notify the federal government about the lawsuit, resulting in


the case’s dismissal in March. Lyman received one of the 15 pardons Trump issued last night. The president also commuted the sentences of five other individuals. Among those who received


pardons are three former Republican House lawmakers who committed various financial crimes: Texas Rep. Steve Stockman, New York Rep. Chris Collins and California Rep. Duncan Hunter. Trump


also pardoned former campaign adviser and energy consultant George Papadopoulos, who pleaded guilty to perjury after lying to federal investigators about his contacts with Russia during the


2016 campaign (_Greenwire_, Oct. 30, 2017).