Trump Explodes Over 'Lack of Loyalty': Pardoned Texas Congressman Runs Back to Democrats Days After He and His Wife Escape From Bribery Scandal
Donald Trump publicly blasted Texas Congressman Henry Cuellar for showing a 'lack of LOYALTY'.
Dec. 7 2025, Published 1:00 p.m. ET
President Donald Trump has publicly criticized Texas Congressman Henry Cuellar over the weekend, accusing the Democrat of showing a "lack of LOYALTY" by announcing a reelection bid shortly after receiving a presidential pardon, RadarOnline.com can report.
Trump's comments, posted on Sunday, December 7, on Truth Social, came just days after he granted Cuellar and his wife, Imelda, a "full and unconditional" pardon related to their federal bribery and conspiracy indictment.
Trump's Pardon
Trump's criticism came after Cuellar announced he would run for Congress again as a Democrat.
"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…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 — And probably still do," Trump wrote, adding, "Oh well, next time, no more Mr. Nice guy!"
Cuellar's pardon was Trump's third act of clemency in a single week. The former president also commuted the sentence of investment manager David Gentile, who faced seven years in prison for fraud, and eliminated a decades-old sentence for former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, convicted of trafficking cocaine into the United States.
Texas Congressman Henry Cuellar
Cuellar and his wife Imelda were indicted for allegedly taking nearly $600,000 in bribes.
The Cuellar case appeared particularly significant to Trump, who has repeatedly argued that the justice system was "weaponized" under President Joe Biden. Trump described the indictment against Cuellar as a "witch hunt", using the same language he applied to the criminal cases against himself.
Trump was convicted last year in New York on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records connected to an alleged hush-money scheme during the 2016 campaign. Although a judge granted him an "unconditional discharge" in January — meaning no jail time, fines or probation — the conviction remains on the books.
Cuellar and his wife had been charged with allegedly accepting nearly $600,000 in bribes from an Azerbaijani state-owned oil company and an unnamed Mexican bank. Trump claimed Cuellar, known as a moderate Democrat, was targeted because of his criticism of Biden's immigration policies.
"For years, the Biden Administration weaponized the Justice System against their Political Opponents, and anyone who disagreed with them," Trump said when announcing the pardon. He added that "Crooked Joe used the FBI and DOJ to 'take out' a member of his own Party after Highly Respected Congressman Henry Cuellar bravely spoke out against Open Borders, and the Biden Border 'Catastrophe.'"
The Justice System
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Trump ended his post by warning: 'Next time, no more Mr. Nice guy!'
Trump also revealed that he had never met Cuellar or his wife, saying the decision to pardon them came after he received a "beautiful letter" from their daughters.
The letter, dated November 12, 2025, urged Trump to show "mercy and compassion to our parents," describing them as "two of the kindest, most selfless people we know."
Cuellar, in an interview with CNN, expressed gratitude for the pardon and echoed Trump's criticism of the justice system, saying there had been a "weaponization in his case. He also emphasized that while he had been indicted, he was never convicted.
