On Sunday, President Donald Trump openly attacked a Texas lawmaker he had just pardoned, accusing him of showing “no LOYALTY” only days after receiving help from him.
Trump was angry because Congressman Henry Cuellar announced he would run for Congress again as a Democrat, even though Trump had given him and his wife a full and unconditional pardon. Trump shared his frustration on Truth Social, saying Cuellar planned to keep working with the “Radical Left Scum” who, according to Trump, wanted the couple locked up for life.
Trump ended his message by warning that next time, he would not be “Mr. Nice guy.”
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To understand why this caused such a reaction from Trump, it helps to look at the bigger picture.
Cuellar’s pardon was the third major act of mercy Trump granted that same week. He also commuted a seven-year fraud sentence for former investment manager David Gentile, and he removed a decades-old sentence for former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who had been convicted of flooding the U.S. with cocaine.
But the Cuellar pardon was different because it helped Trump support his claim that the justice system is “weaponized” against political opponents.
Trump has repeatedly used this argument to defend himself in his own legal troubles. He described the Cuellars’ case as a “witch hunt,” which is the same phrase he uses when speaking about the 34 felony counts he was convicted of last year in New York. Even though Trump received an “unconditional discharge,” meaning no jail time or fines, the conviction still remains on his record.
Cuellar and his wife were accused of accepting nearly $600,000 in bribes.
Prosecutors said the money came from an Azerbaijani government-owned oil company and an unnamed Mexican bank. Both Cuellar and his wife strongly denied the accusations and said they were innocent.
According to Trump, Cuellar was punished for criticizing President Biden’s immigration policies. Trump argued that Biden used the FBI and the DOJ to attack a member of his own party. This message helped strengthen Trump’s argument that the system is being used for political punishment.
Trump said he pardoned Cuellar after getting a “beautiful letter” from the congressman’s daughters. He shared the letter on Truth Social, where Catherine Ann and Christina Alexandra Cuellar asked him to show mercy to their parents. They called their parents selfless and suggested their father’s honesty may have played a part in how the case began.
They also wrote that their family understood Trump’s struggles with the justice system because they felt they were facing something similar. They even mentioned meeting Trump at a White House picnic and said he told them their father was “a good man,” even though Trump now says he never met them.
Cuellar later thanked Trump for the pardon.
In an interview with CNN, he said he trusted Trump’s judgment and believed his case showed a “weaponization” of the justice system. He also pointed out that he had been indicted but never convicted.
Featured image via Political Tribune Gallery
