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President Donald Trump has pardoned Democratic congressman Henry Cuellar of Texas and his wife in a federal bribery and conspiracy case. Trump says on social media without presenting evidence Cuellar and his wife, Imelda Cuellar, were prosecuted because the congressman had been critical of President Joe Biden’s immigration policies. The Republican president said Wednesday in a social media post Cuellar “bravely spoke out against Open Borders.” Trump accuses Biden of going after the congressman and his wife “simply for speaking the TRUTH.” Trump says Cuellar's "nightmare is finally over!” Earlier this year, Trump pardoned Democratic former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, five years after he had commuted his sentence in a political corruption case.

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Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Tuesday defended the secondary strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean Sea, citing the “fog of war” as reason for his not seeing any survivors in the water when the strike was ordered and launched. Hegseth’s comments came during a cabinet meeting hosted by President Donald Trump the day after the administration insisted the strike, which it says was ordered by Navy Vice Adm. Frank “Mitch” Bradley, was lawful. Legal experts say the U.S. military would have committed a crime if survivors were killed, and lawmakers have announced congressional reviews of the strikes. Bradley is expected to provide a classified briefing Thursday to lawmakers overseeing the military.

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The wife of former Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernández says he has been released from prison following a pardon from President Donald Trump. The U.S. Bureau of Prisons has confirmed his release from a penitentiary in West Virginia on Monday. Hernández was sentenced last year to 45 years for aiding drug traffickers. His wife thanked Trump for the pardon, saying it ends nearly four years of hardship. Hernández was arrested in 2022 at U.S. request and convicted in New York. Trump, speaking Sunday on Air Force One, said he believed Hernández was set up and that Hondurans had asked for his release.

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Hondurans cast ballots to elect a new president only days after U.S. President Donald Trump intervened in a close race with an endorsement of one candidate and announced he would pardon a former president. The country’s major parties were present Sunday at a voting site in the capital. But media far outnumbered potential voters initially. Voters will also elect a new Congress, as well as hundreds of local positions.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asked Israel's president for a pardon during his ongoing corruption trial. His office on Sunday confirmed the request was submitted to the president's legal department. The president's office called it an “extraordinary request” with “significant implications.” Netanyahu faces charges of fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes. But he hasn't been convicted. He denies the allegations and calls the trial a witch hunt. The request follows U.S. President Donald Trump's urging for a pardon. Legal experts say the request can't stop the trial. Opposition leaders oppose the pardon without an admission of guilt and withdrawal from political life.

AP Wire
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President Donald Trump said Friday that he will be pardoning former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who in 2024 was convicted for drug trafficking and weapons charges and sentenced to 45 years in prison. The president explained his decision on social media by posting that “according to many people that I greatly respect,” Hernandez was “treated very harshly and unfairly.” Hernandez had been convicted last year in the U.S. of conspiring to import cocaine and two weapons counts. He had served two terms as the leader of the Central American nation of roughly 10 million people.

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Democratic lawmakers who appeared in a social media video urging U.S. troops to defy “illegal orders” say the FBI has contacted them to begin scheduling interviews, signaling a possible inquiry into the matter. It would mark the second investigation tied to the video, coming a day after the Pentagon announced it is investigating Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona over potential violations of military law. The FBI and Pentagon actions come after President Donald Trump accused the lawmakers of sedition “punishable by DEATH” in a social media post.

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President Donald Trump brought insults and grievances to the traditional Thanksgiving turkey pardoning ceremony at the White House. On Tuesday, he joked about sending the turkeys to a prison in El Salvador and suggested naming them after Democratic stalwarts Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi. Trump also claimed that last year's turkey pardons by President Joe Biden were invalid. The ceremony eventually proceeded with Trump pardoning a turkey named Gobble, although its companion, Waddle, was absent. Trump also used the event to claim that Thanksgiving meal prices are dropping, though some research suggests otherwise.

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A proposed peace plan for Ukraine led by the United States has been met with anguish by many Ukrainians, who fear a post-war amnesty for Russian forces would erase accountability for alleged atrocities. The plan crafted after secret talks involving Russia and an envoy appointed by U.S. President Donald Trump has deepens national anxiety as Ukraine faces demands to relinquish territory and abandon NATO ambitions. While the draft deal promises security guarantees and reconstruction aid, critics warn it risks legitimizing further violence as skepticism toward negotiated peace grows.

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President Donald Trump has issued two pardons related to the investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021 riot, including for a woman convicted of threatening to shoot FBI agents who were investigating a tip that she may have been at the Capitol. In a separate case, Trump issued a second pardon for a Jan. 6 defendant who had remained behind bars despite the sweeping grant of clemency for Capitol rioters because of a separate conviction for illegally possessing firearms. It’s the latest example of Trump’s willingness to use his constitutional authority to help supporters who were scrutinized as part of the Biden administration’s massive Jan. 6 investigation that led to charges against more than 1,500 defendants.