Trump blasts lawmaker for remaining Democrat after receiving pardon
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Representative Henry Cuellar was indicted by a federal grand jury in 2024 on charges that he and his wife had accepted roughly S$777,400 in bribes.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Ann E. Marimow
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WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump on Dec 7 upbraided Representative Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, for not switching parties in his reelection bid after Mr Trump pardoned him and his wife
Mr Cuellar was indicted by a federal grand jury in 2024 on charges that he and his wife had accepted roughly US$600,000 (S$777,400) in bribes from an Azerbaijani oil company and a Mexican bank in exchange for promises that he would use his position in ways that would benefit Azerbaijan and the bank.
As one of the few Democrats in Congress who openly criticised former President Joe Biden for not imposing tougher immigration policies, Mr Cuellar received public support and a pardon from Mr Trump, who wrote on social media this week that the former president had gone “after the Congressman, and even the Congressman’s wonderful wife, Imelda, simply for speaking the TRUTH”.
But by Dec 7, Mr Trump appeared to have soured on Mr Cuellar for running for reelection in Texas as a Democrat. In a lengthy social media post, Mr Trump accused Democrats of looking to “destroy” Mr Cuellar and blasted him for not switching parties after receiving the pardon. “Next time, no more Mr Nice guy!” he added.
In an interview on the Fox News program Sunday Morning Futures, Mr Cuellar defended himself as a “conservative Democrat” who was willing to work with the Trump administration and said he had prayed for the president and his family at church that morning.
“I prayed for the presidency because if the president succeeds, the country succeeds,” Mr Cuellar said, adding that “as probably the most bipartisan individual, I don’t vote party. I vote for what’s right for the country”.
Mr Cuellar also echoed Mr Trump’s accusations about his indictment, saying that Biden’s Justice Department had tried to “entrap” him because of his views on immigration and that it had attempted a “sting operation” while investigating what the federal indictment said was a bribery scheme that ran from 2014 through 2021.
Though the charges against Mr Cuellar were filed during the Biden administration, career prosecutors under Mr Trump’s Justice Department had decided this summer to move ahead with the bribery case despite pressure from Mr Trump to drop the charges. NYTIMES
