President Donald Trump on Wednesday pardoned Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas, unexpectedly ending the prosecution of a member of the opposing party.
Cuellar, one of the most conservative Democrats in the House, was charged last year with bribery, money laundering and conspiracy. Trump also pardoned Cuellar’s wife, Imelda, who also had been charged. He and his wife were scheduled to stand trial in April for the combined dozen charges. The 54-page indictment of Henry and Imelda Cuellar detailed a bold corruption scheme in which Cuellar allegedly promised to wield his power as a U.S. congressman to advocate for his benefactors.
Cuellar has repeatedly claimed that he and his wife are innocent. In response to Trump’s pardon announcement, he said the president’s decision “clears the air and lets us move forward for South Texas.”
“I want to thank President Trump for his tremendous leadership and for taking the time to look at the facts. I thank God for standing with my family and I during this difficult time,” Cuellar said in a statement released through his attorney. “This pardon gives us a clean slate. The noise is gone. The work remains. And I intend to meet it head on.”
The investigation into Cuellar began in 2022. Federal authorities alleged that the congressman and his wife accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars for advancing the interests of an energy company controlled by the Azerbaijan government and a bank headquartered in Mexico.
Cuellar is running for reelection in his Laredo district and has remained steadfast in his belief that the investigation into his alleged dealings with Azerbaijan would not hurt his popularity with voters.
The 70-year-old lawmaker has proved he remains the “King of Laredo,” a nickname often used by his constituents, according to Democratic strategists working on House races, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly.
He has served in the House since arriving in 2005 — including winning reelection twice since the federal investigation began in 2022, something the Democratic strategists pointed to as evidence that voters see past his legal liabilities. One strategist even suggested to The Washington Post on Wednesday that Trump’s pardon probably would help Cuellar win reelection in 2026, because it removes the drama of a trial from shrouding his campaign.
While the investigation into Cuellar was independently run by the Justice Department, in his Wednesday post, Trump — who has often accused his opponents of weaponizing the justice system against him — said the investigation was “unAmerican” and accused Democrats of being willing to “attack, rob, lie, cheat, destroy, and decimate anyone who dares to oppose their Far Left Agenda.”
Speaking at the White House later Wednesday, a reporter asked Trump if he’s worried he made it easier for Cuellar to win reelection, which could complicate Republicans’ push to retain control of the House next year. Trump said he wasn’t worried about the implications the pardon might have on the 2026 election, arguing that Cuellar is “a respected person” who was “treated very badly because he said that people should not be allowed to pour into our country.”
“He didn’t like open borders,” Trump said.
In his Truth Social post, Trump also attached a letter that appears to be sent to him by Cuellar’s daughters, in which they ask Trump to “show mercy and compassion” to their parents. The letter referenced Trump’s legal troubles, saying that when he and his family “faced your own challenges, we understood that pain in a very human way.”
The letter also said Cuellar’s “independence and honesty may have contributed to how this case began.”
“He has never been afraid to speak his mind, especially when it comes to protecting the people of South Texas and securing the border from the policies of the previous administration,” the letter said.
Trump accused the Biden administration of weaponizing the justice system against “anyone who disagreed with them” — including Cuellar.
“Crooked Joe used the FBI and DOJ to ‘take out’ a member of his own Party after Highly Respected Congressman Henry Cuellar bravely spoke out against Open Borders, and the Biden Border ‘Catastrophe,’” Trump wrote in his post.
Although Cuellar is a Democrat, he repeatedly criticized the Biden administration’s immigration policies and voted with Republicans to limit abortion access.
Trump’s pardon appeared to initially take Cuellar by surprise.
When a Post reporter texted Cuellar about the news Wednesday morning, the congressman replied with a question mark. He later followed up that message by sending a social media post that included his statement on the pardon.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York) described Cuellar as a “beloved” House member in an interview with CNN on Wednesday morning. Jeffries said that the indictment against Cuellar “was very thin to begin with” and that he expected the charges to be dismissed eventually, “if not at the trial court level, by the Supreme Court, as they’ve repeatedly done in instances just like this.”
The Democratic leader said he didn’t know why Trump decided to pardon Cuellar but added that he expects the congressman to continue serving as a member of the House Democratic Caucus.
Within hours of the pardon announcement, Cuellar filed the paperwork to run for reelection in 2026 as a Democrat.
Multiple Republicans, including House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) and the National Republican Congressional Committee, did not return requests for comment.
Matthew Choi contributed to this report.
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