Pardoning for Patronage: The Case of Henry Cuellar
The latest kleptocratic actions by the Trump administration from the week of December 15, 2025
...he’s a respected person. He was treated very badly because he said that people should not be allowed to pour into our country. And he was right. He didn’t like open borders...But what happened is he got indicted for speaking the truth.
Trump on his decision to pardon Cuellar on December 3, 2025
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 (a State where I received the highest number of votes ever recorded!), as a Democrat...Such a lack of LOYALTY...Oh well, next time, no more Mr. Nice guy!
Trump’s assessment of Cuellar on December 7, 2025
Politics make strange bedfellows, as the saying goes, and sometimes that shared bed is never even consummated. On December 3, President Trump pardoned Texas Democratic Congressional Representative Henry Cuellar, who faced dozens of charges of bribery, money laundering, and conspiracy. That same day, Henry Cuellar confirmed his candidacy for re-election as a Democrat. Four days later, Trump excoriated Cuellar for his “lack of loyalty” and “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 surprise ploy to flip a Congressional Democrat lawmaker backfired on the so-called “Dealmaker-in-Chief.” Worse though, it further undermined the fragile rule of law: our shared commitment to making sure no member of any party is above the law.
The Backstory
Prosecutors had prepared a 54-page, multi-count indictment in which Cuellar had been accused of accepting bribes of about $600,000 by an energy company controlled by the government of Azerbaijan and a Mexican bank. Azerbaijan is an oil-rich and notoriously corrupt country that regularly tries to polish its image abroad. The trial before a jury was scheduled for April 2026.
The Cuellar case was a legal and political watershed. For the first time in US history, a sitting member of Congress was charged with secretly serving a foreign power. Selling favors to foreign interests undermines the core principle of democratic representation of the interests of US citizens. If true, the specter of a legislator who serves on the House Appropriations Committee taking payments to advance the interests of a foreign-controlled energy company and bank is nothing short of a national security threat.
Why This Matters
In issuing the pardon, Trump praised the congressman’s stance on the southern border and asserted that the indictment, filed in 2024, was retribution from the Biden administration for his moderate border policies. Immediately after the pardon, however, Cuellar filed for reelection as a Democrat and told reporters that he did not intend to switch parties. Trump’s change of tune on Cuellar suggests that he had assumed there was an implicit quid pro quo agreement that Cuellar would retire or change parties out of gratitude for the pardon.
While we may be surprised by how badly Trump’s clemency seems to have backfired, his initial sympathy with Cuellar is par for the course. As we’ve outlined previously, the Trump’s recent wave of pardons has focused on white-collar criminals and corrupt officials. Furthermore, the Department of Justice under Attorney General Pam Bondi has decimated protections against foreign influence and disbanded the Task Force KleptoCapture (which aimed to freeze the assets of corrupt foreign leaders) as well as the Foreign Influence Task Force (which plays a role in identifying illegal foreign finance).
This case also has an interesting bipartisan element. Unfortunately, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries also appeared to make a play for Representative Cuellar’s loyalty. Instead of condemning the potential impunity implicit in the pardon, Jeffries praised the pardon and questioned the credibility of the case against Cuellar in an apparent effort to keep the Congressman aligned with the Democrats.
Allowing policy decisions to be influenced by bribes to either party means our democracy has been bought and sold to the highest bidder, including foreign governments. The pardon by Trump and the pandering by Jeffries degrade the ability of our already polarized justice system to root out the corruption that Americans increasingly come believe shields economic and political elites from accountability and further erodes their confidence in democratic practice.
Programming note: We’re taking two weeks off for the holidays. See you in 2026!
Weekly Wins
A Crack in the Red Wall: Indiana GOP Resists Federal Power Play
The Indiana state Senate rejected a Trump‑backed map designed to redraw US House seats ahead of the 2026 midterms. Rather than falling in line with months of pressure from the White House, Vice President JD Vance, and others, more than 20 Republican state senators joined all Democrats in saying “no” to mid‑decade gerrymandering, signaling that even loyal GOP lawmakers aren’t willing to cave to the administration’s demands to engineer partisan advantage. Their resistance—framed not only as fidelity to constitutional norms but also to constituent views—also signals a potential crack in Trump’s influence over his own party on the ground.
Trump’s Loyalty-First Appointments Face Judicial Pushback
The legal and ethical pressure mounting on figures in Donald Trump’s orbit deserves another spotlight this week. Following Alina Habba’s resignation in New Jersey and a federal judge’s suggestion that Virginia US Attorney Lindsey Halligan should step down, Delaware’s acting US Attorney Julianne Murray abruptly resigned, further underscoring the courts’ willingness to push back against politically engineered appointments. Murray, a former state GOP chair with minimal prosecutorial experience, had been installed under Trump’s interim appointment scheme—the same mechanism recently struck down by federal appeals courts as unlawful.
More Links, More Kleptocracy
Protection racket
Self-enrichment
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After Backlash, Jared Kushner Drops Plan to Build a Trump Hotel in Serbia - WSJ
Cronyism
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Make Money Not War: Trump’s Real Plan for Peace in Ukraine - WSJ
Top Democrats call for investigation into share-buying spree by Trump allies - The Guardian
Former Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan is asking President Donald Trump to pardon him - Illinois Policy
The Real Reason the Trump Administration is Mad at Europe - The Globalist
Threats, intimidation, and surveillance
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ICEBlock creator sues Trump administration, alleges it pressured Apple to remove it from app store - CNN
The TSA is providing airline passenger data to ICE to aid Trump’s deportation efforts, report says - The Independent
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Weakening independent agencies
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The Bondi Memo’s Quiet Rewriting of Domestic Terrorism Rules - Lawfare
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Other agencies and local government
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Trump sues BBC for $10 billion dollars for “putting words in my mouth” - USA Today
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Manipulating elections
What you should know about the Trump administration’s push to get California voters’ private data - LAist
Missouri offiicials ask if they were misled by the Trump administration on voter data - Missouri Independent
Justice Department Sues Four More States for Voter Data - The Independent UK
Trump pardons jailed ex-Colorado election official Tina Peters, but she was charged in state court - CBS news
Aiding kleptocrats abroad
Ukrainian oligarch wanted by the US won’t be extradited due to missed filing deadline - ABC7 Chicago