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President Trump will pardon former Puerto Rico Gov. Wanda Vázquez Garced (R), a White House official confirmed to The Hill on Friday.
Garced, who was governor of the U.S. territory from 2019 to 2021, was arrested in 2022 for allegedly bribing people to finance her 2020 campaign.
In August, Garced pled guilty to accepting a campaign finance violation from a Venezuelan banker in 2020.
Garced endorsed Trump’s 2020 reelection bid. One of her co-defendants attorneys, Christopher Kise, was apart of Trump’s legal team during the 2022 federal investigation into his handling of classified documents for a short period.
Most notably, Kise led Trump’s defense in the civil fraud case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James.
The White House official noted to The Hill that the investigation into Garced began 10 days after she backed Trump in 2020. The official also pointed out that Vasquez argues there was no bribery because the discussions in question were with a potential donor on police, and not taking action for a material gain.
This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.
