Ex-Connecticut Gov. John Rowland, who resigned amid a corruption scandal, pardoned by Trump

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — Former Connecticut Gov. John Rowland, whose promising political career was upended by a corruption scandal and two federal prison stints, has been pardoned by President Donald Trump.

The Republican governor, who served from 1995 until 2004, was among a number of prominent figures the Republican president granted clemency Wednesday, including former New York Congressman Michael Grimm, also a Republican, and reality TV stars Julie and Todd Chrisley.

A White House official confirmed the pardon but spoke only on background to discuss matters that have not yet been made public.

“I am very humbled and deeply appreciative,” Rowland said in a statement to WTNH and other news outlets in Connecticut. “This is a wonderful final resolution.”

Once the nation’s youngest governor, Rowland was elected three times to the state’s highest office before resigning at the age of 47 amid a federal corruption investigation into gifts and favors that he accepted from state contractors and a growing move by state legislators to impeach him from office.

Rowland served 10 months in a federal prison camp after pleading guilty in 2004 to one count of conspiracy to steal honest services.

It was a stunning fall from grace for a man once considered a rising star in national Republican politics.

The Waterbury native served three terms in Congress, was chairman of the national Republican Governors Association and a friend of former President George H.W. Bush. He was elected governor in 1994 at the age of 37.

After finishing his prison sentence, Rowland found new life as a popular AM radio commentator.

But in 2014 he was convicted of conspiring to hide his work on political campaigns and was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison.

Associated Press reporter Will Weissert in Washington contributed to this report.

FILE - Former Connecticut Gov. John Rowland leaves federal appeals court in New York on March 16, 2016. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File)

President Donald Trump, left, gestures as Attorney Genera, Pam Bondi, right, looks on during a swearing in ceremony for interim U.S. Attorney General for the District of Columbia Jeanine Pirro, Wednesday, May 28, 2025, in the Oval Office of the Whit House in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

MADRID (AP) — A Spanish court is investigating former Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero for alleged influence peddling and other possible crimes tied to a government airline bailout.

The National Court in Madrid is probing possible financial wrongdoing in connection with the Spanish government’s rescue of the Plus Ultra airline, which in 2021 received 53 million euros (now $62 million) in public money as part of COVID-19 recovery funds.

The court said in a statement that the investigation was widened to include Zapatero, who was summoned to answer a judge’s questions on June 2. Police with warrants from the investigating judge searched Zapatero’s office on Tuesday.

Zapatero, 65, was prime minister from 2004 to 2011. He is a member of the Socialist party headed by current Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.

He denied any wrongdoing related to the bailout in a Senate hearing in March, saying he “never received any commissions from Plus Ultra.”

Plus Ultra is a Spanish-owned airline with investors from Venezuela. It specialized in flights between Spain and Venezuela, Peru and Ecuador.

Since leaving office, Zapatero has focused a large part of his activity on maintaining dialogue with the far-left regime in Venezuela, which was largely isolated from Western countries after it cracked down on the democratic opposition.

Zapatero had been out of public office for a decade when Plus Ultra received the bailout.

The former premier is considered a political ally of Sánchez, whose party has been rocked by other corruption scandals over the past two years.

FILE - Spain's former Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero speaks to journalists in La Paz, Bolivia, Thursday, May 12, 2022. (AP Photo/Juan Karita, File)