Pardoned Democrat Who Betrayed Trump Now Finding He Doesn’t Have Many Friends Left

Democratic Texas Rep. Henry Cuellar, who received a pardon from President Donald Trump only to betray him, now finds he doesn’t have many friends left on Capitol Hill.

Trump pardoned Cuellar and his wife — both of whom were indicted by Biden’s Department of Justice (DOJ) on bribery charges — earlier in December, claiming the Democrat was unfairly targeted because he had called out Biden’s handling of the southern border crisis.

Prosecutors alleged that Cuellar and his wife accepted approximately $600,000 from an Azerbaijanian state-controlled oil and gas company and a Mexican financial entity, between 2014 and 2021. In return for the funds, Cuellar allegedly agreed to leverage his congressional position to further the interests of Azerbaijan. However, both he and his wife have disputed the accusations.

It is pretty clear that the pardon was a part of a deal to get Cuellar to retire or run for re-election as a Republican, rather than a Democrat, to help the GOP’s chances of keeping the House in 2026. On Sunday, after Cuellar announced that he would be sticking with the Democratic Party, Trump lashed out. (RELATED: Trump Explodes After Pardoned Texas Rep. Cuellar Launches Reelection Bid As Dem)

“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, continuing to work with the same Radical Left Scum that just weeks before wanted him and his wife to spend the rest of their lives in Prison,” the president wrote on TruthSocial. “And probably still do! Such a lack of LOYALTY, something that Texas Voters, and Henry’s daughters, will not like. Oh’ [sic] well, next time, no more Mr. Nice guy!”

WASHINGTON, DC – DECEMBER 10: Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) (C) and Rep. Jimmy Panetta (D-CA) (L) arrive at the U.S. Capitol Building on December 10, 2025 in Washington, DC. The House is expected to vote on the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) today. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

Cuellar has certainly burned his bridge with Trump. And now, as he seeks to regain his ranking spot on the Appropriations subcommittee that oversees funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), some of his Democratic colleagues are skeptical he should be allowed to return. The position gave him significant power in controlling how the DHS uses its $60 billion in annual spending.

“That position is critical — it’s Homeland Security,” one Democrat told Politico. “Your moral values are important — at least mine are — and I can’t look at myself in the mirror and vote for him.”

“I’ve had nothing but good interactions with Henry in Congress, but we can’t be the party of following the law and say it’s just fine to break it and get a pardon from Trump,” said Democratic Massachusetts Rep. Seth Moulton, who recently launched a Senate bid.

“President Trump’s continued efforts to pardon politicians that are either convicted or accused of corruption is just wrong,” Democratic New Jersey Sen. Andy Kim told Politico. “And this is exactly the kind of problem that causes so many Americans to lose trust and faith in our politics.”

Cuellar still has some allies in Congress, such as Democratic Louisiana Rep. Troy Carter.

“Under our system of laws, you’re still innocent until proven guilty,” Carter said. “He was indicted but never went to trial — was never proven to be guilty, never proven to be innocent, because there was no trial, but the pardon overrides that. That’s how the ball bounces.”

But the entire saga should never have come to pass. Cuellar’s pardon, which now appears to have been political, is one of several Trump pardons that seem corrupt on the surface, or, at the very least, unethical. In an interview after he pardoned convicted crypto billionaire Changpeng Zhao, Trump admitted, “I don’t know who he is.”

For all this administration’s hand–wringing over the Biden White House’s “autopen” pardon system, you have to wonder if something similar is going on with Trump 47.

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