(WASHINGTON) -- President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he is granting a pardon to Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar and his wife, who were indicted on charges including bribery in 2024.
In a social media post, Trump alleged that former President Joe Biden's administration "went after the Congressman, and even the Congressman’s wonderful wife, Imelda" because Cuellar "bravely spoke out against Open Borders" and Biden's immigration policy. Cuellar, who is a Democrat representing Texas, is a moderate who has often bucked his party on votes in the House.
Prosecutors alleged that Cuellar and his wife, Imelda Cuellar, began accepting the roughly $600,000 in bribes from an oil and gas company owned by Azerbaijan's government as well as a bank headquartered in Mexico City.
Cuellar, of Texas, allegedly influenced a series of legislative measures regarding Azerbaijan's conflict with neighboring Armenia, and inserting language favored by Azerbaijan into legislation and committee reports governing certain security and economic aid programs, according to the indictment.
Cuellar and his wife pleaded not guilty to the charges and were set to go to trial next April.
Trump said while he doesn't know Cuellar, he hopes he can "sleep well tonight."
"Your nightmare is finally over!" Trump added in the Wednesday social media post.
Cuellar thanked Trump in a social media post Wednesday.
"I thank God for standing with my family and I during this difficult time. This decision clears the air and lets us move forward for South Texas,” Cuellar said in the post.
Cuellar told reporters that he is planning to go to the White House Christmas Party next week to "thank the president personally," adding that he did not have advance notice that a pardon was coming Wednesday.
Cuellar also knocked down speculation that he might join the Republican Party.
"I am a conservative Democrat, and I am very bipartisan, and I work with my Republican friends when I need to work with my Republican friends," he said.
Asked for reaction to Trump's pardon of Cuellar, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said "the right outcome has been achieved."
"Henry Cuellar is a well-respected member of the House of Representatives. A beloved representative down in Laredo and across South Texas, and in my view, the right outcome has been achieved," Jeffries said.
Trump has made sweeping use of his pardon power during the first year of his second term in office, including former New York Republican Reps. George Santos and Michael Grimm. Cuellar is the only congressional Democrat that Trump has pardoned so far, though he also granted a pardon to former Illinois Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
The president has come under scrutiny for some of his pardon actions, including issuing a pardon to cryptocurrency mogul Changpeng Zhao, as well as his pardon of Juan Orlando Hernandez, the former president of Honduras.