President Donald Trump’s administration continues its aggressive rollback of auto-emissions policies, and this time, federal prosecutors have been directed to stop pursuing charges tied to the sale of illicit “defeat devices.”
The details: The move, which was ordered by the Justice Department, was issued by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche in a memo that outlines the department’s legal stance on charges involving the air-pollution control system used in diesel-powered cars, reports CBS News.
Blanche contends that violations involving the devices could not be prosecuted as crimes under the Clean Air Act and could only be pursued as civil offenses, noting that he wants “to ensure the best use of Department’s resources.”
The position, however, conflicts with conclusions reached by federal prosecutors and attorneys for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), according to internal government records, per CBS.
Why it matters: A shift from criminal prosecutions to civil enforcement could change the risk calculus, but not the underlying exposure. If enforcement becomes less predictable at the federal level, scrutiny may migrate to civil actions, state regulators, and reputational pressure, while customer and lender expectations around “no-tamper” compliance stay the same.
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Between the lines: Blanche’s memo comes months after the President pardoned Troy Lake, a diesel mechanic who was convicted and served seven months in federal prison for conspiring to disable emissions-control devices in diesel trucks and is poised to have a ripple effect.
There are reportedly more than a dozen pending criminal cases in the U.S. targeting companies and individuals who allegedly sold after-market emissions defeat devices and more than 20 ongoing investigations.
Several of the pending cases, including two in different districts in Pennsylvania, were indicted in 2025 during the first year of Trump's second term in office, per CBS.
The most high-profile case tied to the Clean Air Act and emissions cheating involved Volkswagen, which pleaded guilty to related charges in 2017, resulting in a $2.8 billion fine and another $1.5 billion in civil resolutions.
A 2020 study by the EPA found that in the last decade, emissions controls had been removed from some 550,000 diesel pickup trucks, leading to the emission of 570,000 tons of excess oxides of nitrogen, as highlighted by CBS News.
Bottom line: For franchised auto retailers, the policy shift does not change core legal obligations, but it could mean more tampered diesel vehicles in circulation, complicating warranty coverage and appraisal decisions when modifications are present.
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