Robert García (D-California), the incoming chair of the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, could put an investigation of allegations that President Donald Trump granted pardons in exchange for political donations on his 2027 agenda. He named no specific case. Democrats’ criticism has included donations by Isabela Herrera, daughter of Venezuelan banker Julio Herrera Velutini, who was pardoned along with former Puerto Rico Governor Wanda Vázquez Garced and ex-FBI agent Mark Rossini in January.
In December 2024, Herrera, a U.S. citizen, gave $1 million to MAGA, Inc., a committee associated with Trump. A little over a month after federal prosecutors reduced the serious charges against the three to lesser offenses, she gave $2.5 million toward the White House ballroom. The pardons were signed after Herrera awarded a $50 million contract to a former personal attorney of the president who was leaving her role as a Justice Department adviser.
The San Juan federal prosecutor’s office had originally accused Herrera Velutini, then head of Bancrédito International, of financing a poll for the 2020 New Progressive Party primaries in exchange for Vázquez removing George Joyner as head of the Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions. García said on CNN Sunday that bribery allegations would be examined, and also cited the Trump family’s enrichment, the Jeffrey Epstein files, and Stephen Miller’s immigration policy.
Attorney General Todd Blanche said García makes "direct threats" and that committee members could end up being investigated. García replied he will not back down.