Trump Considers Pardon for Former Puerto Rico Governor Wanda Vázquez
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is reportedly preparing to issue a pardon for former Puerto Rico Governor Wanda Vázquez, according to a White House official.
Vázquez admitted guilt in August of last year to a federal campaign finance charge, which also implicated a former FBI agent and a Venezuelan banker. Her sentencing was scheduled for later this month.
Federal prosecutors have been advocating for a one-year prison sentence, a measure contested by Vázquez’s legal team. They argue that prosecutors are breaching a plea agreement from last year, which had led to the dismissal of other charges such as bribery and fraud.
Vázquez’s attorneys highlighted that she consented to plead guilty to the allegation of accepting a campaign donation promise that was never fulfilled.
Attempts to reach Vázquez’s legal representatives for comments were unsuccessful.
The White House official, speaking under anonymity, revealed that Trump perceives the case as politically motivated, citing that the investigation into Vázquez, who is a Republican and part of the pro-statehood New Progressive Party, commenced shortly after her endorsement of Trump in 2020.
Vázquez, a lawyer by profession, made history as the first former governor of the U.S. territory to plead guilty to a crime, specifically for accepting a foreign donation for her 2020 campaign.
In August 2022, Vázquez was taken into custody under accusations of participating in a bribery plot from December 2019 through June 2020 during her tenure as governor. She professed her innocence at the time.
Investigations by Puerto Rico’s Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions were ongoing into Venezuelan Julio Martín Herrera Velutini’s international bank over suspected transactions that went unreported, according to authorities.
Authorities allege that Herrera, with the assistance of Mark Rossini, a former FBI agent providing consultancy to Herrera, offered to back Vázquez’s campaign contingent on her replacing the commissioner with one of Herrera’s choice.
In February 2020, Vázquez allegedly demanded the commissioner’s resignation after purportedly accepting the bribe. In May 2020, she appointed a new commissioner, formerly a consultant for Herrera’s bank.
Vázquez was the second female governor of Puerto Rico and the first former governor to face federal charges.
She assumed the governorship in August 2019 following the resignation of former Governor Ricardo Rosselló amidst widespread protests. Vázquez remained in office until 2021, when she lost the primaries of the pro-statehood New Progressive Party to former Governor Pedro Pierluisi.
