Trump pardons US Congressman Henry Cuellar of Texas and his wife
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In 2024, Mr Cuellar and his wife were indicted for allegedly accepting close to US$600,000 (S$770,000) in bribes.
PHOTO: KENNY HOLSTON/NYTIMES
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- Donald Trump pardoned Democratic Representative Henry Cuellar and his wife, who faced bribery charges for allegedly accepting US$600,000 in bribes.
- Cuellar, seeking re-election, thanked Trump and aims to continue his work, with the Democratic Party offering their full support.
- Trump accused Biden's administration of weaponising the justice system against Cuellar, criticising his immigration policies.
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WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump on Dec 3 said he was granting a “full and unconditional pardon” to Democratic Representative Henry Cuellar of Texas, and his wife Imelda, who were charged with bribery.
In 2024, Mr Cuellar and his wife were indicted for allegedly accepting close to US$600,000 (S$770,000) in bribes in two schemes meant to benefit an Azerbaijani state-owned energy company and an unnamed bank based in Mexico.
He has maintained his innocence and that of his wife.
With a pardon from the Republican president resolving his legal problems, Mr Cuellar is seeking a 12th two-year term with his Democratic Party throwing its full support behind him.
In thanking Mr Trump on social media, Mr Cuellar also said: “This pardon gives us a clean slate. The noise is gone. The work remains. And I intend to meet it head on.”
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, not taking any chances that Mr Cuellar could be persuaded to switch party allegiance and run as a Republican, lavished praise on the Texan, calling him a “beloved” House member and a “highly valued” member of the House Democratic Caucus, in an interview with CNN.
Mr Jeffries also said he thought Mr Cuellar’s indictment “was very thin to begin with.”
In his own social media post, Mr Trump accused former president Joe Biden’s administration of having “weaponised” the justice system against Mr Cuellar for having spoken out against Mr Biden’s immigration policies.
Mr Cuellar, first elected to the House in 2004, is a moderate Democrat who has fended off primary challenges from more progressive candidates in the party. The Democratic Party’s congressional campaign committee has put Mr Cuellar on its list of incumbent Democrats it is defending for re-election with additional resources because they could face stiff challenges in the 2026 midterm elections.
Mr Trump’s Justice Department has largely dismantled its Public Integrity Section, which was erected after the Watergate scandal to investigate and prosecute the country’s most politically sensitive cases.
As the section has unravelled, Mr Trump has pardoned or commuted sentences for many of the defendants in cases that remained outstanding in 2025, including former Tennessee House Speaker Glen Casada, former Tennessee state lawmaker Brian Kelsey, a former Virginia sheriff and a Las Vegas councilwoman.
He also commuted the prison sentence for former Republican Representative George Santos.
All of these prosecutions, as well as Mr Cuellar’s, were secured by the Public Integrity Section. REUTERS
