Federal and local lawmakers in Puerto Rico, along with civil rights and advocacy groups, are demanding investigations following a ProPublica report revealing that a federal probe into a drugs-for-votes scheme in the island’s prisons was abruptly shut down after the 2024 elections. Puerto Rico’s congressional representative, Pablo José Hernández Rivera, urged members of the U.S. House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday to support a congressional inquiry into the matter. “The report published today by ProPublica details facts that no elected official — whether in Puerto Rico or in Washington — can ignore,” he said in a statement. That same day, Rep. Héctor Ferrer Santiago, from the Popular Democratic Party, submitted a resolution in the House of Representatives directing its Committee on Public Security to look into the matter. He described the allegations as “serious” and stated that the House has “an inescapable duty to investigate.” Their requests arrived the same day ProPublica released its investigation, which revealed how prosecutors had exposed a drugs-for-votes operation orchestrated by a violent gang inside Puerto Rican prisons and were actively examining whether the current governor was involved. Jenniffer González-Colón or her campaign had any involvement. In the days after Donald Trump’s 2024 election victory, supervisors in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Puerto Rico instructed prosecutors to drop the voting-related charges against inmates and prison staff as they prepared the indictment, four sources familiar with the investigation told ProPublica. After Trump assumed the presidency, the sources said, they were instructed to drop the investigation into possible political connections altogether. González-Colón, a veteran Republican who belongs to the pro-statehood New Progressive Party, has turned down multiple interview requests from ProPublica. In a statement on Tuesday, she denied any misconduct, saying she has “stood firmly against corruption” during her entire career and in her political campaigns. “I categorically reject any attempt to link me to unlawful conduct,” she wrote. González-Colón has not been charged with any crime. On Wednesday, she told local news outlets that she does not believe any investigation into the matter is necessary.
