The U.S. congressman and his wife faced up to 20 years behind bars had they been convicted of bribery, unlawful foreign influence, and money laundering.
WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump said on Dec. 3 that he is pardoning Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas).
The pardon ends the case against the congressman, who was under federal indictment.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said that the Biden administration went after Cuellar and his wife, Imelda, because of the congressman’s criticism of the Biden administration’s policies at the southern border.
Cuellar and his wife were charged in May 2024 for allegedly partaking in two schemes involving bribery, unlawful foreign influence, and money laundering.
They were charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit bribery of a federal official and to have a public official act as an agent of a foreign principal required to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA); two counts of bribery of a federal official; two counts of conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud; two counts of violating the ban on public officials acting as agents of a foreign principal required to register under FARA; one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering; and five counts of money laundering.
Cuellar and his wife faced up to 20 years behind bars had they been convicted.
Between at least December 2014 and November 2021, Cuellar and his wife allegedly accepted approximately $600,000 in bribes from an oil and gas company wholly owned and controlled by the government of Azerbaijan, and a Mexico City-based bank, according to a statement from the Department of Justice.
The payments were allegedly laundered “through a series of front companies and middlemen into shell companies owned by Imelda Cuellar, who performed little to no legitimate work under the contracts,” the statement said.
“In exchange for the bribes paid by the Azerbaijani oil and gas company, Congressman Cuellar allegedly agreed to use his office to influence U.S. foreign policy in favor of Azerbaijan,” it said.
“In exchange for the bribes paid by the Mexican bank, Congressman Cuellar allegedly agreed to influence legislative activity and to advise and pressure high-ranking U.S. Executive Branch officials regarding measures beneficial to the bank.”
