Overview
- Hernández released a video praising God and President Trump for his Dec. 1 pardon and portrayed his U.S. prosecution as a politically driven conspiracy.
- He restricted replies on X and tagged Trump allies, while separately thanking Roger Stone, Matt Gaetz, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, and Justice Department pardon attorney Ed Martin for help securing clemency.
- A U.S. jury convicted Hernández on March 8, 2024, and he received a 45-year sentence in June after prosecutors detailed alleged cartel ties, including a $1 million payment from Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán and the use of Honduras as a cocaine transit corridor.
- He was freed from a federal prison in West Virginia following the pardon, which intersected with a razor-thin Honduran presidential race where Trump endorsed Hernández ally Nasry “Tito” Asfura and linked U.S. aid to the outcome.
- Pressed on Sunday shows, Republican Sens. Tom Cotton and Eric Schmitt said they were unfamiliar with the case when asked to assess the pardon, declining to defend the decision on the merits.