Sources: Trump Preparing Pardons for Former Puerto Rico Governor Wanda Vázquez Garced and Two Co-Defendants

President Donald Trump is preparing to pardon former Puerto Rico governor Wanda Vázquez Garced, who pleaded guilty last year as part of a federal public-corruption case, multiple sources told CBS News. Two co-defendants — billionaire banker and Britannia Financial Group founder Julio Martin Herrera-Velutini and Mark Rossini — are also expected to receive pardons, according to sources.

The three were originally charged in 2022 by the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section with conspiracy, federal-programs bribery and honest-services wire fraud tied to Vázquez’s 2020 campaign. As the case neared trial, prosecutors negotiated a last-minute deal; all three later pleaded guilty to lesser corruption-related counts in August.

Defense counsel played a prominent role in securing the agreement. Among the attorneys involved was Chris Kise, who previously represented the president in a separate criminal matter involving classified documents. Sources told CBS News that Kise met with senior Justice Department officials last year to seek dismissal or reduction of the charges as trial approached.

Supporters of Vázquez and Trump allies have argued the prosecution was politically motivated, noting that the investigation began in 2020 shortly after Vázquez endorsed Mr. Trump. A White House official, speaking anonymously because the pardons have not been formally announced, told CBS News that Vázquez's pardon materials assert there was no quid pro quo and describe her prosecution as politically driven.

"Strikingly, the penalty for violating Section 30121 of the FECA is a mere slap on the wrist when compared to the sentencing exposure the defendants faced if convicted of the conduct charged in the Indictment," wrote U.S. District Judge Silvia Carreño-Coll of the District of Puerto Rico. "But alas, the Government's decision to shift gears at the eleventh hour is allowed because ultimately the Government decides how it will exercise its prosecutorial discretion."

The Public Integrity Section — created after the Watergate scandal to handle politically sensitive corruption prosecutions — has been pared back in recent years. Last year, the Justice Department ordered the section to stop consulting with U.S. attorneys and reassigned most of its prosecutors. As the unit has been reduced, President Trump has used clemency to undo portions of its work, granting pardons or commutations to several people the section had prosecuted or been pursuing.

Those who have received clemency in the past year include Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar, former Tennessee House Speaker Glen Casada, former Tennessee state lawmaker Brian Kelsey, a former Virginia sheriff and a Las Vegas city councilwoman. Mr. Trump also commuted the prison sentence of former Republican Rep. George Santos.

White House officials have not publicly confirmed the pardons, and the president had not formally announced them at the time of reporting. CBS News is the primary source cited for the reporting on the expected pardons.