Puerto Rico Governor Wanda Vázquez speaks during a press conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico, January 19, 2020.
Ricardo Arduengo | Reuters
President Donald Trump plans to pardon former Puerto Rico Governor Wanda Vazquez, White House officials said Friday.
Vazquez pleaded guilty last August to campaign finance violations in a federal case that also involved a former FBI agent and a Venezuelan banker. Her sentencing is scheduled for later this month.
Federal prosecutors had sought a one-year prison sentence, but Vazquez’s lawyers opposed that, accusing prosecutors of violating a plea agreement reached last year in which earlier charges, including bribery and fraud, were dropped.
They noted that Vazquez had agreed to plead guilty to accepting campaign finance promises that were never received.
Vasquez’s attorney did not respond to a request for comment.
Officials who confirmed the pardon plan said the investigation into Vázquez, a Republican aligned with the pro-national New Progressive Party, began 10 days after she endorsed Trump in 2020, suggesting that Trump views the case as a political prosecution. The official was not authorized to be named and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Pablo José Hernández, a Puerto Rican congressman and member of the island’s main opposition party, condemned Vázquez’s pardon.
“Immunity protects and fosters corruption. Pardons … undermine the integrity of our people, shatter faith in justice, and anger those of us who believe in honest governance,” said Hernandez, a Democrat with the Puerto Rico People’s Democratic Party.
Vázquez, an attorney, became the first former governor of a U.S. territory to plead guilty to the crime of accepting donations from foreign nationals, specifically for a 2020 political campaign.
She was arrested in August 2022 and charged with participating in a bribery scheme from December 2019 to June 2020 while she was governor. At the time, she told reporters she was innocent.
Puerto Rico’s Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions is investigating an international bank owned by Venezuelan Julio Martín Herrera Veltini for suspicious transactions that were not reported by the bank, authorities said.
Authorities said Herrera and Mark Rossini, a former FBI agent who provided consulting services to Herrera, promised to support Vazquez’s campaign if he was fired and a new director of Herrera’s choice was appointed.
Authorities said Vázquez asked for his resignation as commissioner in February 2020 after he allegedly accepted an offer of bribery. She is also accused of appointing a former consultant for Herrera’s bank as a new commissioner in May 2020.
Vázquez is the second woman to serve as governor of Puerto Rico and the first former governor to face federal charges.
She became governor in August 2019 after former governor Ricardo Rosselló resigned following mass protests. Vázquez ruled until 2021 after losing to former governor Pedro Pierluigi in the pro-national New Progressive Party primary.
