President Donald Trump is angry that former congressman Henry Cuellar, who was indicted in a federal bribery and conspiracy case after the president pardoned the Texas congressman and his wife, is running again as a Democrat instead of changing parties.
President Trump accused Cuéllar of a “tremendous lack of loyalty” and suggested the president was hoping the pardon would persuade the lifelong Democrat to run as a Republican, potentially boosting the GOP’s slim House majority ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
Cuellar said in a television interview Sunday after Trump’s social media posts that he is a conservative Democrat and is willing to work with the administration to see “where we can find common ground.” The congressman said he prayed for the president and his office that morning at church, saying, “If the president is successful, the country will be successful,” he said.
Citing fellow Texas politician, the late President Lyndon Johnson, Cuellar said he was an American, a Texan, and a Democrat, in that order. “I think anyone who puts party above country is doing a disservice to the country,” he said on Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures.”
President Trump said on his Truth Social platform that the Biden administration has indicted Cuéllar and that by running again as a Democrat, the congressman continues to work with “the same radical leftists” who “wanted” him and his wife to go to prison. “And probably still is!”
“That kind of lack of loyalty isn’t going to sit well with Texas voters or Henry’s daughters. Well, next time, no more Mr. Nice Guy!” Trump said. Mr. Cuellar’s two daughters, Christina and Catherine, sent a letter to President Trump in November asking for a pardon for their parents.
President Trump described the pardons he announced Wednesday as a way to stop prosecutions that he had “weaponized.” Mr. Cuellar has been an outspoken critic of Mr. Biden’s immigration policies, and Mr. Trump saw that position as an important alliance with the congressman.
Cuellar said he has good relationships within the party. “I think I get along well with the entire Democratic caucus, but they know I’m an independent voice,” he said.
The party change would have been an unexpected bonus for Republicans after the Republican-run Legislature redistricted the state’s congressional districts this year at the behest of President Trump. The Texas operation marked the beginning of a mid-decade gerrymandering battle that spanned multiple states. Mr. Trump is defending the Republican House majority, with Democrats gaining an upper hand in the House midterm elections, and is seeking to use the new majority to thwart his administration, launch investigations and avoid a repeat of his first term, when he impeached Mr. Trump twice.
But Mr. Cuellar’s South Texas district, which includes parts of the San Antonio metropolitan area, is not one of the Democratic districts that Republicans have significantly changed, and Mr. Cuellar believes he is still well-positioned for re-election despite being accused of crimes he committed.
Federal authorities have charged Mr. Cuellar and his wife with accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in exchange for lawmakers promoting the interests of an Azerbaijani-controlled energy company and a Mexican bank. Kueyar was accused of influencing legislation in favor of Azerbaijan and agreeing to give pro-Azerbaijan speeches on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Mr. Cuellar maintained that he and his wife were innocent. The couple’s trial was scheduled to begin in April.
In an interview with Fox, Cuellar said federal authorities tried to frame him in a “sting operation to try to bribe me,” but they failed.
Cuellar remains under investigation by the House Ethics Committee.
Barrow writes for The Associated Press.
