McCain Writes to Mexican President on Behalf of Marine Jailed in Mexico
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ABC/Donna Svennevik(PHOENIX) — Sen. John McCain sent a letter to Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto on Friday appealing for the release of U.S. Marine Corps veteran Andrew Tahmooressi, who has been held in Mexico since March.
McCain acknowledges that the case “is rightfully a Mexican judicial matter,” but calls the incident “the clear result of an honest mistake.” Tahmooressi reportedly visited shops in Tijuana, Mexico by foot after leaving his car in San Diego. After returning to his vehicle, he apparently made a wrong turn, crossing the border into Mexico, where he was stopped an apprehended after disclosing the presence of three loaded firearms in his car.
Tahmooressi was arrested on March 31, McCain says. “I continue to hope that your government will find, after full examination of the facts of his case, that he committed an honest mistake; harbored no malign intent toward your country or its citizens; and, therefore, can be allowed to return home to the United States.
McCain sent the letter two days after a House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee hearing that featured multiple congressmen calling for Tahmooressi’s release.
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