OAN Staff Katherine Mosack
10:48 AM – Wednesday, December 3, 2025
President Donald Trump announced a “full and unconditional pardon” for Texas Democrat Rep. Henry Cuellar and his wife, Imelda Cuellar, in a Truth Social post on Wednesday. The couple had been indicted on bribery charges last year.
The pardon addresses federal charges of bribery, money laundering, and conspiracy filed against them in May last year, related to allegedly accepting nearly $600,000 from foreign entities. Their trial was scheduled for April 2026, but the pardon preempts it, clearing them of these federal charges without admitting guilt.
In July 2024, six Democrats, along with every House Republican, voted to condemn then-Vice President Kamala Harris’ failure, as border czar, to adequately deter foreign nationals from illegally entering the Southern Border and for failing to secure it. Rep. Cuellar (D-Texas) was one of the Democrats who voted in agreement with Republicans.
Meanwhile, in his recent announcement, Trump explicitly cited Cuellar’s opposition to Biden-era immigration policies as a key reason for the pardon, framing the indictment as politically motivated “weaponization” by the Justice Department.
The president declared in a Truth Social post on Wednesday, “I am hereby announcing my full and unconditional PARDON of beloved Texas Congressman Henry Cuellar, and Imelda.”
Advertisement“For years, the Biden administration weaponized the justice system against their political opponents,” Trump argued. “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.”
“Sleepy Joe went after the Congressman, and even the Congressman’s wonderful wife, Imelda, simply for speaking the TRUTH.”
In March 2024, Cuellar and his wife were charged by Biden administration feds with accepting thousands of dollars from an oil company owned by the Azerbaijan government and a Mexican bank. He was also accused of influencing legislation favorable to Azerbaijan. The couple was indicted on 14 total counts, including two counts of conspiracy to commit bribery of a federal official, two counts of bribery of a federal official and conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud.
Nonetheless, a judge dismissed two of the counts in August at the request of federal prosecutors, and a trial had been scheduled for next April.
Trump included a letter he received this month from the couple’s daughters, Christine and Catherine Cuellar, who had requested the pardon. In it, they wrote that their father’s “independence and honesty” could have contributed to the previous administration’s investigation, and that the ordeal had “taken a deep emotional and financial toll” on the family.
“With all our hearts, we humbly ask that you show mercy and compassion to our parents — either by dismissing this case or granting a full and unconditional pardon,” the beseeched the president.
Cuellar served in Congress for over 20 years. His district spans from San Antonio to the U.S.-Mexico Border in southern Texas.
“Henry, I don’t know you, but you can sleep well tonight — Your nightmare is finally over!” Trump said.
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