President Donald Trump Wednesday unexpectedly pardoned Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas), who was charged last year with accepting nearly $600,000 in foreign bribes tied to Azerbaijan and Mexico.
The Biden administration “weaponized the Justice System” against “Political Opponents” like Cuellar, Trump said in a social media post announcing his pardons of the “beloved Texas congressman” and his “wonderful wife, Imelda.” But Trump Wednesday also pardoned sports executive and arena developer Timothy Leiweke, who was indicted by his own Justice Department in July for allegedly rigging the bidding process for a new arena in Texas.
Who said what
The Cuellar pardon “immediately stoked speculation” that the Lardo Democrat “might finally switch to the GOP after years of entreaties,” or simply retire, affording the GOP a potential pickup of his “competitive Rio Grande Valley seat,” said Politico. But Cuellar put that speculation to rest, saying the pardon “came as a surprise,” but “nothing has changed, and we’re going to be ready to win reelection again.” Hours after his pardon, he filed to run again as a Democrat.
It’s “tempting to try to divine some sort of political motive” for Trump’s “surprise pardon” of Cuellar, The Washington Post said in an editorial. But like the rest of his “string of shocking pardons — most notably the Jan. 6 rioters” — it appears he views his “pardon power” as a “monarchical” tool to “dispense the law for whoever he sees fit.” That’s “Trump’s prerogative,” constitutionally speaking, but his “excessive use of clemency is almost as problematic” as his “personalized system of punishment.”
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Cuellar has “no strong primary challengers” in his “bid for a 12th term,” The Texas Tribune said, but Republicans had been “targeting” his seat as a “top pickup opportunity in 2026.” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) was “blindsided” by the pardon, Axios said. Cuellar and his wife will no longer go on trial in April for bribery and money laundering, but the congressman still faces a House Ethics Committee investigation into his conduct.
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Rafi Schwartz has worked as a politics writer at The Week since 2022, where he covers elections, Congress and the White House. He was previously a contributing writer with Mic focusing largely on politics, a senior writer with Splinter News, a staff writer for Fusion's news lab, and the managing editor of Heeb Magazine, a Jewish life and culture publication. Rafi's work has appeared in Rolling Stone, GOOD and The Forward, among others.
