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Henry Cuellar will retake key spending post after Trump pardon
Democrats on the House Appropriations Committee voted Thursday to return Rep. Henry Cuellar to his leadership position on a powerful spending panel following his pardon on federal corruption charges.
“We got ratified,” Cuellar told reporters following the vote.
The veteran Texas lawmaker overcame private concerns inside his party about restoring him as the top Democrat on the Homeland Security subpanel after President Donald Trump granted him clemency in a surprise move last week.
But Cuellar remains popular in the Democratic Caucus, particularly among longtime colleagues — some of whom argued that with the pardon wiping away his bribery indictment, the legal process had run its course and there was no reason to bar Cuellar from the post under caucus rules.
https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/12/11/congress/henry-cuellar-will-retake-key-spending-post-after-trump-pardon-00687105
“We got ratified,” Cuellar told reporters following the vote.
The veteran Texas lawmaker overcame private concerns inside his party about restoring him as the top Democrat on the Homeland Security subpanel after President Donald Trump granted him clemency in a surprise move last week.
But Cuellar remains popular in the Democratic Caucus, particularly among longtime colleagues — some of whom argued that with the pardon wiping away his bribery indictment, the legal process had run its course and there was no reason to bar Cuellar from the post under caucus rules.
https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/12/11/congress/henry-cuellar-will-retake-key-spending-post-after-trump-pardon-00687105
On May 3, 2024, Cuellar and his wife, Imelda, were indicted on money laundering, conspiracy, and bribery charges.[109] The indictment says that nearly $600,000 in bribes from Azerbaijan and a Mexican commercial bank was laundered into shell companies owned by Imelda from December 2014 through at least November 2021.[110][111] After the indictment was unsealed, Cuellar released a supportive statement regarding his wife.[112] Former president Donald Trump defended Cuellar.[113] On August 14, 2025, federal judge Lee H. Rosenthal dismissed two of the charges.[114]
After Cuellar's indictment, two political advisors he had worked with pleaded guilty to charges that they had conspired with Cuellar to launder more than $200,000 in bribes from a Mexican bank. Cuellar's indictment accuses him of accepting money from a Mexican bank in exchange for "influencing the Treasury Department to work around an anti-money laundering policy that threatened the bank's interests." The advisors, including Cuellar's former campaign manager, Colin Strother, allegedly facilitated the payments. Strother and Florencio "Lencho" Rendon struck plea deals in exchange for cooperating with the investigation into Cuellar; they each face up to 20 years in prison and fines in excess of $100,000. Cuellar has said he is innocent of the charges and that his actions were "consistent with the actions of many of my colleagues and in the interest of the American people."[115]
Cuellar is represented by criminal defense attorney Josh Berman of Clifford Chance LLP.[116][105]
Cuellar's criminal trial was originally scheduled to begin in September 2025, but a federal judge moved the date to April 2026, along with dropping two of the 14 charges.[117] A federal judge denied Cuellar's request to move the trial from Houston to Laredo.[118][114]
On December 3, 2025, President Donald Trump unconditionally pardoned Cuellar and his wife, saying Cuellar was targeted by the Joe Biden administration for criticizing Biden's border policy.[119][120] On December 7, 2025, Trump criticized Cuellar for "a lack of loyalty" for not switching his party allegiance to the Republican Party.[121]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Cuellar#FBI_investigation_and_indictment
After Cuellar's indictment, two political advisors he had worked with pleaded guilty to charges that they had conspired with Cuellar to launder more than $200,000 in bribes from a Mexican bank. Cuellar's indictment accuses him of accepting money from a Mexican bank in exchange for "influencing the Treasury Department to work around an anti-money laundering policy that threatened the bank's interests." The advisors, including Cuellar's former campaign manager, Colin Strother, allegedly facilitated the payments. Strother and Florencio "Lencho" Rendon struck plea deals in exchange for cooperating with the investigation into Cuellar; they each face up to 20 years in prison and fines in excess of $100,000. Cuellar has said he is innocent of the charges and that his actions were "consistent with the actions of many of my colleagues and in the interest of the American people."[115]
Cuellar is represented by criminal defense attorney Josh Berman of Clifford Chance LLP.[116][105]
Cuellar's criminal trial was originally scheduled to begin in September 2025, but a federal judge moved the date to April 2026, along with dropping two of the 14 charges.[117] A federal judge denied Cuellar's request to move the trial from Houston to Laredo.[118][114]
On December 3, 2025, President Donald Trump unconditionally pardoned Cuellar and his wife, saying Cuellar was targeted by the Joe Biden administration for criticizing Biden's border policy.[119][120] On December 7, 2025, Trump criticized Cuellar for "a lack of loyalty" for not switching his party allegiance to the Republican Party.[121]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Cuellar#FBI_investigation_and_indictment
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