MaddowBlog-Trump follows through on vow, pardons notorious Honduran drug trafficker

[LetMyPeopleVote]

“Trump’s pardon reeks of hypocrisy, it reeks of corruption, which is the M.O. of the Trump administration,” Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer said.

On the Juan Orlando Hernández pardon, a Trump insider conceded, “How we justify this is really hard.”

And yet, Trump did it anyway. www.ms.now/rachel-maddo...

— Steve Benen (@stevebenen.com) 2025-12-02T18:22:53.716Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-follows-through-on-vow-pardons-notorious-honduran-drug-trafficker

The president, however, was apparently sincere about his intentions. The Associated Press reported:

Former Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernández … was released from prison following a pardon from President Donald Trump, officials confirmed Tuesday.

The U.S. Bureau of Prisons inmate website showed that Hernández was released from U.S. Penitentiary, Hazelton in West Virginia on Monday, and a spokesperson for the bureau on Tuesday confirmed his release.

.....Pressed for some kind of explanation, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the president was responding to “the people of Honduras,” who convinced Trump that the Biden-era Justice Department was being too hard on the notorious drug trafficker.

Leavitt: "The people of Honduras have highlighted to him how the former President Hernandez was set up. This was a clear Biden over prosecution."

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) 2025-12-01T18:50:48.720Z

...After the pardon news was formally announced, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer delivered floor remarks in which the New York Democrat described the president’s move as “truly disgusting and alarming.”

“Pardoning one of the world’s biggest drug traffickers is egregious, shameful and dangerous, even for Donald Trump,” Schumer said. The senator also drew attention to an Axios report that quoted a Trump adviser who conceded, “How we justify this is really hard.”

“Trump’s pardon reeks of hypocrisy, it reeks of corruption, which is the M.O. of the Trump administration,” Schumer concluded.