US Senate Leader Condemns Trump Pardon of Convicted Honduran Ex-President

The top Democrat in the U.S. Senate has sharply criticized former President Donald Trump for pardoning a former Honduran president convicted of drug trafficking. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called the pardon "egregious, shameful and dangerous." He stated the action was extreme "even for Donald Trump." Trump granted clemency to Juan Orlando Hernández during his final hours in office in January 2021. Hernández, who led Honduras from 2014 to 2022, was later convicted in a U.S. federal court in March 2024. A New York jury found Hernández guilty of conspiring to import cocaine into the United States. U.S. prosecutors had labeled him a "large-scale drug trafficker."