President Donald Trump announced Wednesday he is issuing a “full and unconditional” pardon to Texas Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar and his wife, Imelda, using a lengthy social media post to accuse the Biden administration of targeting political opponents, even within its own party.
“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,’” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“Henry, I don’t know you, but you can sleep well tonight — Your nightmare is finally over!” Trump continued, referring to bribery charges brought against the congressman in 2024.
Responding to the pardon on X, Cuellar thanked Trump “for his tremendous leadership and for taking the time to look at the facts.”
“This pardon gives us a clean slate. The noise is gone. The work remains. And I intend to meet it head on,” he wrote.
The 11-term congressman, who filed for reelection Wednesday as a Democrat, has been likely to face a competitive reelection in a Trump-won district that Republicans are targeting — making the president’s pardon a puzzling move as his party tries to defend its majority in 2026.
Asked Wednesday if he’ll change parties, Cuellar told reporters on Capitol Hill, “No, like I said, nothing has changed.”
And Cuellar said he did not cut a deal with the White House to earn the pardon. “No, no,” he told CNN’s Manu Raju when pressed on the topic later Wednesday. The congressman said he “didn’t know that this was coming,” adding he would go to a White House Christmas party next week and would thank the president personally.
Hellbound and Down 