Donald Trump has inadvertently revealed what may have been his true reasoning behind the pardon of Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX).
Trump initially said he pardoned Cuellar because he had been victimized by Biden’s Department of Justice (DOJ).
But after Cuellar announced that he is running for office again as a Democrat, Trump went ballistic for him for not having changed parties.
Rep. Cuellar had been indicted on bribery charges related to $600,000 in alleged payments he received over the course of his career from foreign interests.
It was very similar in nature to the case brought against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, which the Trump DOJ had dismissed, and the one that resulted in the conviction of former Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.).
Trump cites a “weaponized” DOJ in his statement about the Cuellar pardon, also noting that the congressman was charged after taking a stand against Biden’s immigration policies.
The president told the Texas Democrat after issuing the clemency, “Henry, I don’t know you, but you can sleep well tonight. Your nightmare is finally over!”
Cuellar thanked Trump for the pardon, stating, “I think the facts have been clear about this, but I would also say I want to thank God for standing during this very difficult time with my family and I. Now we can get back to work. Nothing has changed. We will continue working hard.”
He also spoke to the media, claiming he was framed by the federal government, which he alleged had set up fake accounts to funnel money to him for these alleged bribes.
Cuellar stated, “… even went and did a sting operation, a separate sting operation to try to bribe me. And that failed, and what they did there was wrong. So again, no quid pro quo from any of the evidence, from any of the individuals.” He continued, “And, therefore, they even did attempted [sic] a sting operation where they were trying to entrap me, and that failed.”
Cuellar has announced that he will run for re-election, and he will do so as a Democrat, a fact that immediately set Trump off. The president stated, “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 (a State where I received the highest number of votes ever recorded!), as a Democrat.”
Trump continued, “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!”
This, to me, is not something Trump should have admitted publicly because it just feeds the Democrat narrative that Trump is abusing the pardon process. It is not hard to make the leap that the president only pardoned Cuellar to have him defect to the GOP.
The other problem I have with Trump’s statement is that it now alienates Cuellar as an ally across the aisle. I don’t want Cuellar in the GOP because he is not a conservative. Having said that, he is a bit more to the right on immigration, and since we know that, we can use it to our advantage.
But with Trump calling him out like this publicly, Cuellar has no reason to be loyal to Trump in any way, shape, or form. Again, it is better to just pick up the phone rather than go against the congressman with a statement on social media. Trump is going to need every ally he can muster if the House flips to Democrats in 2026, and he just burned a very important bridge.
