"Driving the news: Trump announced Friday that he planned to pardon Hernandez ahead of Sunday's elections in Honduras, where the White House backed the right-wing National Party that Hernandez led as president from 2014-2022. National Party candidate Nasry "Tito" Asfura is narrowly leading a center-right candidate as votes are being counted in a three-way race, according to the BBC. Zoom in: Shortly after Trump took office in January, Stone wrote three separate Substack posts calling for the pardon of"
"Stone told Axios that on Friday he reached out to Trump and reiterated those points. Stone claimed a pardon announcement would energize the National Party and called Trump's attention to Hernandez's four-page letter begging for clemency. Hours later, at 4 p.m., Trump posted on Truth Social that he'd endorse Asfura. Less than 20 minutes later, he posted that he'd pardon Hernandez. "It was a Biden setup," Trump told reporters Sunday about the case against Hernandez, who's serving a 45-year sentence."
"Zoom in: In his letter to Trump, Hernandez hits notes of praise that Trump is known to appreciate: "I have found strength from you, Sir, your resilience to get back in that great office notwithstanding the persecution and prosecution you faced." Hernandez recalls the close working relationship they had during Trump's first term, when Trump credited his Honduran counterpart with fighting drug trafficking."
Trump announced a planned pardon for former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez immediately before Honduras's presidential election and publicly endorsed National Party candidate Nasry "Tito" Asfura. Roger Stone had earlier written Substack posts urging a pardon, framed Hernandez as a victim of leftist "lawfare," and told Trump a pardon would energize the National Party. Hernandez was indicted as he left office in 2022, extradited to the United States to face cocaine-trafficking and weapons charges, and is serving a 45-year sentence. Hernandez wrote a four-page letter praising Trump's resilience and claiming his prosecution advanced because the Biden-Harris DOJ sought to empower ideological allies.
Read at Axios
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