The RecordExhibit 67
Pardoning a convicted drug-trafficking president mid-drug war
Criticized means: Legal, or a policy choice, but widely condemned.
While blowing up alleged drug boats, Trump pardoned former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, sentenced to 45 years for helping move hundreds of tons of cocaine into the U.S.
What happened
The pardon freed Hernández days before Honduras's presidential election, and Honduras issued a warrant for his arrest. Trump also commuted George Santos's fraud sentence and pardoned Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar before his bribery trial. A former DOJ pardon attorney called it the erosion of a system where money and political influence weigh more and more.
Where it stands
Pardons are legal. Members of both parties criticized the Hernández pardon.
The administration's side
Trump called the Hernández case a Biden witch hunt and said people in Honduras asked him to do it.
Sources
Permanent link: https://unredactedrecord.com/e/pardons/