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1 1 (December 4, 2025)

handle is hein.crs/goveswp0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Presidential Pardon of Former Honduran President Convicted of Drug Trafficking December 4, 2025 On November 28, 2025, President Donald Trump announced on social media that he intended to issue a full and complete pardon to former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hemindez. President Trump formally granted the pardon on December 1, 2025, and Hernindez was released from prison on the same day, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. Hemindez had been sentenced to 45 years in prison in June 2024 after a U.S. federal jury convicted him of conspiring to import cocaine into the United States and related firearms offenses. According to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Hemindez and his co- conspirators trafficked more than 400 tons ofU.S.-bound cocaine through Honduras between 2004 and 2022. In his pardon announcement, President Trump asserted that Hemindez had been treated unfairly. Some Members of Congress have questioned and criticized the Hemindez pardon. Congress could use its oversight authority to examine the Administration's justification for the pardon and the potential implications for U.S. security interests and relations with Honduras, among other issues. Background on Hernindez Hemindez was an influential politician in Honduras, having served as a legislator (1998-2014), president of the national congress (2010-2014), and president (2014-2022). During his 12 years as the head of congress and president, Hemindez and his right-wing National Party consolidated their influence over other nominally independent government institutions, including the supreme court and the electoral oversight agency. This erosion of checks and balances paved the way for Hernindez to win a disputed second presidential term in 2017, despite Article 239 and other provisions of the Honduran constitution that prohibit presidential reelection. The Hemindez administration also allegedly engaged in widespread corruption, diverting social assistance funds to advance personal and political interests. Nevertheless, the Hemindez administration was able to maintain some political support through its patronage, conservative social policies, and hard-line approach to public security that coincided with a decline in the country's homicide rate. The Obama Administration and the first Trump Administration maintained close ties with Hemindez, welcoming his apparent willingness to collaborate on high-level U.S. priorities, such as counternarcotics and migration. According to DOJ, however, at the same time that Hemindez was cooperating with U.S. agencies on certain security matters, he also was acting to protect and enrich his criminal allies. Among Congressional Research Service https://crsreports.congress.gov IN12621 CRS INSIGHT Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress