Walden: Trump ‘seriously considering’ pardon of Hammonds

Rep. Greg Walden , R-Ore., said he received a phone call Saturday from President Trump, who said he is “seriously considering” pardoning Eastern Oregon ranchers Dwight and Steven Hammond, now serving a 5-year federal prison sentence.

“Late Saturday afternoon, President Trump called me to say he is ‘seriously considering’ pardoning Dwight and Steven Hammond,” the congressman said in a statement released Sunday.

“The sentencing of Dwight and Steve Hammond to five years in federal prison is unjust. Period. Federal Judge Michael Hogan agreed, when he used his discretion to apply more appropriate sentences, calling the mandatory minimum sentence for this case something that would ‘shock the conscience.’ Multiple editorial boards across Oregon have concurred.

“Prosecutorial overzealousness by the federal government under the Obama Administration ignored Judge Hogan’s judicial discretion and doubled down, forcing them to serve a mandatory minimum sentence established for terrorists,” Walden said.

“President Trump can right this wrong. I again strongly urged the president to administer the justice that is long overdue for these Eastern Oregon ranchers by granting them a pardon so that they can get back to Harney County and their families.”

A jury in Pendleton convicted Dwight and Steven Hammond of arson in 2012. Prosecutors said the father and son had started a blaze to destroy evidence of game violations.

The Hammonds were tried under a statute that includes a mandatory-minimum sentence of five years in prison. A federal judge went against the guidelines and imposed a lighter penalty.

But prosecutors appealed and won, negating the reduced sentences. The Hammonds were returned to prison in 2016.

Protesters led by Ammon Bundy seized the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge for nearly six weeks in early 2016 after a rally in support of the Hammonds, who later disavowed their actions.