Trump pardons Democrat congressman Cuellar and wife
US President Donald Trump said he granted “full and unconditional pardon” to Texas Democratic House Representative Henry Cuellar and his wife Imelda, who were accused of bribery.
Last year, Cuellar and his wife were indicted for allegedly accepting nearly US$600,000 ($910,000) in bribes in two schemes aimed at benefiting an Azerbaijani state-owned energy company and an unnamed Mexico-based bank.
He preserved his and his wife’s innocence.
Cuellar, who was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2004, is a moderate Democrat who has managed to fend off recent primary challenges from more progressive candidates in the party.
Claiming that his legal troubles were a partisan witch hunt, Trump insisted on social media that Cuellar and his wife were being prosecuted because the congressman criticized former President Joe Biden’s immigration policies.
Republican Trump said in his social media post that Cuellar “bravely spoke out against Open Borders” and accused Democrat Biden of going after the congressman and his wife “for simply telling the TRUTH.”
Cuellar was accused of agreeing to influence legislation favorable to Azerbaijan and giving a pro-Azerbaijani speech in the US House.
Cuellar said he and his wife were innocent.
The couple’s trial was to begin next April.
“Henry, I don’t know you, but you can sleep well tonight,” Trump wrote in a social media post announcing his pardon.
“Your nightmare is finally over!”
Cuellar, who has served in Congress for more than 20 years, represents a district along the Texas-Mexico border and has a history of breaking with his party when it comes to immigration and firearms.
He was one of the most vocal critics of the Biden administration’s response to the record number of migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border.
He is also one of the last Democrats in Congress to oppose abortion.
Cuellar isn’t the only Democrat Trump pardoned this year.
In February, he pardoned former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich, five years after commuting his sentence in a political corruption case.
Trump suggested that, as in the Cuellar case, New York City mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat, faces federal corruption charges after making comments critical of Biden’s immigration policies.
Trump did not pardon Adams, but after Trump took office, the Justice Department moved to drop the case against the mayor, who began working with the Republican administration on immigration issues.
with AP
