Record at a Glance
- Clemency type
- Pardon
- Presidential term
- 2025–Present
- Federal district
- Puerto Rico
- Offense
- Conspiracy; federal program bribery; honest services wire fraud
- Sentence
- N/A
- Current status
- The federal court dismissed both criminal cases January 27, 2026 after accepted clemency. Separately, the Puerto Rico Supreme Court immediately and indefinitely suspended Vázquez from legal and notarial practice March 16, 2026; this professional discipline is distinct from the federal criminal disposition.
Original Case
In 2022, a federal indictment in 3:22-cr-342 alleged conspiracy, federal-program bribery, and honest-services wire fraud; those allegations were not convictions. On August 27, 2025, Vázquez pleaded guilty in separate 3:25-cr-296 to the misdemeanor offense of accepting a promised foreign-national campaign contribution. She was not sentenced.
Clemency
January 15, 2026: full and unconditional pardon in 3:22-cr-342. The January 20 amended warrant granted a full and unconditional pardon in separate 3:25-cr-296.
Trump Connection
Vázquez, then Puerto Rico’s governor, endorsed Trump for reelection in 2020. After Trump pardoned her original felony case and the later misdemeanor case, an unnamed White House official described the prosecution as political and pointed to her endorsement and the timing of the investigation. That is the administration’s reported explanation and a documented political connection; it is not a court finding that the prosecution was retaliatory or proof that the endorsement purchased clemency.
Since Clemency
2026-01-27 · criminal case disposition
The federal court dismissed the pardoned campaign-finance case after the presidential clemency.
Legal Status: Judicial dismissal after pardon; the earlier guilty plea and superseded allegations remain distinct historical facts.
- Development Source
Wanda Vázquez Garced: criminal case disposition, 2026-01-27EFE
- Development Source
Sources
- Primary Documentation
DOJ: Clemency Grants by President Donald J. Trump (2025–Present)U.S. Department of Justice2026-09-24 - Primary Documentation
DOJ clemency document: Wanda Vazquez GarcedU.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Pardon Attorney2026-09-24 active - Primary Documentation
DOJ clemency document: Wanda Vazquez GarcedU.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Pardon Attorney2026-09-24 active - Primary Documentation
Signed pardon warrantDOJ / President of the United States - Primary Documentation
Amended pardon warrantDOJ - Supporting Reporting
Wanda Vázquez Garced: criminal case disposition, 2026-01-27EFE - Supporting Reporting
Campaign-finance guilty pleas, August 2025Associated Press