Puerto Rico’s congressional representative and four other House members have urged the Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General to examine why a federal investigation into a prison-based drugs-for-votes scheme was dropped after the 2024 elections.
“Credible allegations of election fraud uncovered through federal investigative work warrant serious scrutiny and transparent explanation,” the lawmakers wrote in their May 20 letter. They stressed that maintaining public confidence in democratic institutions requires such claims to be handled consistently, “regardless of the political actors involved.” The letter was signed by Resident Commissioner Pablo José Hernández Rivera—a Democrat and member of Puerto Rico’s Popular Democratic Party—along with several representatives. Robert Garcia, a Democrat from California. , the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee; Nydia Velázquez, D-N.Y. Y.; Adriano Espaillat, D-N. Y., who chairs the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, along with Illinois Democrat Jesús “Chuy” García. , who sits on the House Judiciary Committee. Their request comes after a ProPublica investigation published earlier this month revealed how prosecutors had discovered a drugs-for-votes operation run by a violent gang inside Puerto Rican prisons and had been actively examining whether the current governor Jenniffer González-Colón or her campaign had any involvement.
