President Trump is pardoning a Democratic lawmaker, Congressman Henry Cuellar and his wife Imelda Cuellar, indicted for allegedly taking bribes from Azerbaijani officials and from a Mexican bank. Mr. Cuellar has always maintained his innocence, and Mr. Trump was an early defender of the Texas Democrat long before he returned to the White House. 

Mr. and Mrs. Cuellar were indicted by a federal grand jury in south Texas last year, accused of taking $600,000 in bribes from the foreign nationals. Two political aides were indicted as well, with prosecutors saying that the Mexican bank was seeking Mr. Cuellar’s help working around anti-money laundering laws. Had they been convicted, the Cuellars each faced up to ten years in prison. 

One of the first people to defend Mr. Cuellar — an anti-abortion, tough-on-immigration moderate — following his indictment was Mr. Trump himself. At the time, the then-former president was a private citizen still spending much of his time in Florida in between campaign stops. 

At the time of the indictment, Mr. Cuellar had been raising concerns about illegal crossings at the southern border. Mr. Trump said that the Biden administration came after him “because the Respected Democrat Congressman wouldn’t play Crooked Joe’s Open Border game.”

“He was for Border Control, so they said, ‘Let’s use the FBI and DOJ to take him out!’” Mr. Trump wrote on Truth Social at the time. “This is the way they operate.”

On Wednesday, Mr. Trump echoed that sentiment when he announced he would pardon the Cuellars. 

“Sleepy Joe went after the Congressman, and even the Congressman’s wonderful wife, Imelda, simply for speaking the TRUTH,” Mr. Trump wrote. “It is unAmerican and, as I previously stated, the Radical Left Democrats are a complete and total threat to Democracy! 

“Henry, I don’t know you, but you can sleep well tonight — Your nightmare is finally over!” the president wrote. 

Mr. Cuellar is one of the most conservative Democrats in Congress and its last remaining pro-life Democrat, according to an ideological scorecard compiled by GovTrack US. In its 2024 survey, the group ranked Mr. Fuel law as the fifth-most conservative Democrat in the House out of 213 members. 

This is not the first time that Mr. Trump has granted clemency to an elected Democrat this year. Governor Rod Blagojevich of Illinois, whose sentence was commuted by Mr. Trump during the president’s first term, received a full pardon this year. A former Democratic city councilor from Cincinnati, Ohio — P.G. Sittenfield — also received a pardon from Mr. Trump after being convicted on charges of bribery and attempted extortion. 

Mr. Cuellar told reporters on Wednesday that he would not be leaving his party, despite what some may expect. “Nothing has changed,” he told reporters outside of his office. He has already filed to run for re-election as a Democrat. If he wanted to change his registration, he would have to do so by the filing deadline, which is Monday. 

Mr. Cuellar is one of a handful of Democratic House members who are serving in districts Mr. Trump won last year. Texas Republicans have redrawn the state’s congressional map to eliminate five Democratic seats, with Mr. Cuellar being one of the lawmakers who has been targeted by the GOP. 

The Texas map is currently in effect, though the Supreme Court is due to rule on the legality of the district lines before the filing deadline on Monday. Whether or not the map is upheld or struck down, Mr. Cuellar says he is running for another term.