Trump pardons US Congressman Cuellar of Texas and wife

U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday 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.

Last year, Cuellar and his wife were indicted for allegedly accepting close to $600,000 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.

“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. This decision clears the air and lets us move forward for South Texas,” Cuellar said in a social media posting on X.

In his own social media post, Trump accused former President Joe Biden’s administration of having “weaponized” the justice system against Cuellar for having spoken out against Biden’s immigration policies.

Cuellar, first elected to the House in 2004, is a moderate Democrat who has fended off recent primary challenges from more progressive candidates in the party.

The Democratic Party’s congressional campaign committee has put Cuellar on its list of incumbent Democrats it is defending for re-election because they could face stiff challenges in the 2026 midterm elections.

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 unraveled, Trump has pardoned or commuted sentences for many of the defendants in cases that still 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 were secured by the Public Integrity Section, in addition to Cuellar’s.