...
By Giulia Carbonaro
Senior Reporter
0
Share
Newsweek is a Trust Project member
See more of our trusted coverage when you search.Prefer Newsweek on Googleto see more of our trusted coverage when you search.
President Donald Trump has scolded a Texas lawmaker's "lack of LOYALTY" for announcing he will seek election again as a Democrat only days after the president issued a “full and unconditional” pardon in his favor.
“Only a short time after signing the Pardon, Congressman Henry Cuellar announced that he will be ‘running’ for Congress again, in the Great State of Texas…as a Democrat, continuing to work with the same Radical Left Scum that just weeks before wanted him and his wife to spend the rest of their lives in Prison—And probably still do,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social on Sunday morning.
Trump added: “Oh well, next time, no more Mr. Nice guy!”
Read More on News
Why It Matters
The pardoning of Cuellar and his wife was Trump’s third act of clemency this week, after commuting the sentence of former investment manager David Gentile, who was facing a seven-year prison sentence for fraud, and scrapping a 45-year-old sentence for former President of Honduras Juan Orlando Hernandez, who had been convicted of flooding the U.S. with cocaine.
But Cuellar’s pardon particularly played into Trump’s rhetoric of a “weaponized” justice system under Joe Biden's administration, with the president calling the Cuellars’ indictment a "witch hunt”—the same term he had used for the cases against himself.
Trump was convicted by an unanimous jury in New York last year on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records as part of an alleged hush money scheme to influence the 2016 election. But in January, a judge sentenced him to an “unconditional discharge”—which means that he won’t face any jail time, fines or probation for it. The conviction, however, stands.
What To Know
Cuellar and his wife Imelda were indicted last year in a federal bribery and conspiracy case for allegedly accepting nearly $600,000 in bribes from an Azerbaijani government-owned oil company and an unnamed Mexican bank.
According to Trump, however, Cuellar—a moderate Democrat representing an area on the Texas-Mexico border—was unfairly targeted by then-president Biden for the congressman’s criticism of his administration’s immigration policies.
“For years, the Biden Administration weaponized the Justice System against their Political Opponents, and anyone who disagreed with them,” Trump said when announcing he had pardoned Cuellar on Wednesday.
“One of the clearest examples of this was when 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,'” he added.
Cuellar has always said he and his wife as innocent to the federal charges.
Trump said on Sunday that he has never met Cuellar or his wife in person, but decided to pardon the couple after receiving a “beautiful letter” from their daughters.
The letter, dated November 12, 2025, and posted on Truth Social on Sunday, shows that the Cuellars’ daughters did appeal to Trump to show “mercy and compassion to our parents,” they wrote, “either by dismissing this case or granting a full and unconditional pardon.”
In the document, Catherine Ann and Christina Alexandra Cuellar described their parents as “two of the kindest, most selfless people we know,” and said that their father’s “independence and honesty may have contributed to how this case began”
The pair said that their father had “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.”
In an appeal that would have resonated with the president, they talked of the Trump family's “own challenges” with the justice system, which they compared to theirs. They then speak of meeting Trump at a White House picnic—despite his later saying he has never spoken to them—and being told “personally” that he thought Cuellar was “a good man.”
In an interview with CNN, Cuellar said he thanked the president for the pardon and trusted his judgment on it. He also said there was a “weaponization” of the justice system in his case, adding that while he was indicted, he was not, in fact, convicted.
...
What People Are Saying
Henry Cuellar told reporters after the pardon, as reported by Politico: “It came as a surprise. I want to thank President Trump for this…Now we clear the air. Nothing has changed, and we’re going to be ready to win reelection again.”
President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sunday: “I signed the papers, and said to people in the Oval Office that I just did a very good, perhaps life saving, thing. God was very happy with me that day! THEN IT HAPPENED!!!…Such a lack of LOYALTY, something that Texas Voters, and Henry’s daughters, will not like. Oh’ well, next time, no more Mr. Nice guy!”
What Happens Next
Cuellar served in the Texas House of Representatives for 14 years, from 1987 to 2001, and then as the Texas Secretary of State in 2001—always as a Democrat.
The 69-year-old Texas lawmaker filed for reelection on Wednesday, telling reporters he had no intention of retiring or switching parties.
“Nothing has changed—I’m a good old conservative Democrat,” he said.
View 0 Comments
Submit Correction
View Editorial & AI Guidelines