President Donald Trump on Wednesday pardoned Texas Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar and his wife, who were indicted on bribery and conspiracy charges last year.
Trump accused the Biden administration of weaponizing the justice system and said one of the clearest examples was Cuellar’s indictment after he “bravely spoke out against Open Borders.”
“Sleepy Joe went after the Congressman, and even the Congressman’s wonderful wife, Imelda, simply for speaking the TRUTH,” Trump said online. “It is unAmerican and, as I previously stated, the Radical Left Democrats are a complete and total threat to Democracy!”
“Because of these facts, and others, I am hereby announcing my full and unconditional PARDON of beloved Texas Congressman Henry Cuellar, and Imelda. Henry, I don’t know you, but you can sleep well tonight — Your nightmare is finally over!” Trump concluded.
He included a letter he received last month from Cuellar’s daughters, in which they requested a pardon for their parents. They suggested that their father’s “independence and honesty may have contributed to how this case began.”
Federal prosecutors alleged that Cuellar and his wife, Imelda Cuellar, were accepting about $600,000 in bribes from an oil and gas company that is owned by Azerbaijan’s government and a Mexican bank.
The Cuellars were indicted by the Justice Department in March 2024. In August, a judge dismissed two of the 14 counts at the request of federal prosecutors. A trial date was set for 2026.
Trump has issued pardons to several people who he said were unfairly targeted by the Biden administration, including the recent pardon of Changpeng Zhao, the Binance founder.
Cuellar is not the first Democrat Trump has pardoned, after pardoning former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich. He also dropped the case against Democratic New York City Mayor Eric Adams earlier this year.
Cuellar’s pardon also comes just after Trump issued a pardon to former Honduras President Juan Orlando Hernández, who was sentenced last year to 45 years in prison for his role in a drug trafficking operation that brought hundreds of tons of cocaine to the United States.
He was released from prison after Trump’s pardon, which was sharply criticized. Trump defended the pardon and said the former president was “set up.”
Cuellar says he will run again
Cuellar, who has maintained he is innocent, thanked the president in a post online.
“This pardon gives us a clean slate. The noise is gone. The work remains. And I intend to meet it head on,” Cuellar wrote.
Cuellar, who has served in the House for more than 20 years, represents an area along the Texas-Mexico border. He has often broken with his party on immigration issues and was a vocal critic of the Biden administration’s immigration policy.
CNN asked House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., if he had any conversations with Cuellar about the Texas Democrat potentially switching sides and joining the Republican Party after being targeted by his own party.
“I think Congressman Cuellar is a highly valued member of the House Democratic caucus and I expect that he will continue to remain a highly valued member of the House Democratic caucus,” Jeffries replied.
Cuellar on Tuesday in the House was asked by reporters about the pardon and if he is switching parties. He said that “nothing has changed” and “for now, that is my statement.”
Cuellar just filed for reelection to serve Texas’s 28th Congressional District, where he will likely not face Democratic opposition in the primary.
While the pardon clears him from the federal charges, Cuellar will still face a House Ethics Committee investigation, which began last year.