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By BILL BARROW
Donald Trump is indignant that Rep. Henry Cuellar is operating once more as a Democrat slightly than swap events after the president pardoned the Texas congressman and his spouse in a federal bribery and conspiracy case.
Trump blasted Cuellar for “Such a scarcity of LOYALTY,” suggesting the Republican president might need anticipated the clemency to bolster the GOP’s slim Home majority heading into the 2026 midterm elections.
Cuellar, in a tv interview Sunday after Trump’s social media publish, mentioned he was a conservative Democrat prepared to work with the administration “to see the place we will discover widespread floor.” The congressman mentioned he had prayed for the president and the presidency at church that morning “as a result of if the president succeeds, the nation succeeds.”
Citing a fellow Texas politician, the late President Lyndon Johnson, Cuellar mentioned he was an American, Texan and Democrat, in that order. “I believe anyone that places social gathering earlier than their nation is doing a disservice to their nation,” he advised Fox Information Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures.”
Trump famous on his Reality Social platform that the Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration had introduced the costs in opposition to Cuellar and that the congressman, by operating as soon as extra as a Democrat, was persevering with to work with “the identical RADICAL LEFT” that needed him and his spouse in jail — “And possibly nonetheless do!”
“Such a scarcity of LOYALTY, one thing that Texas Voters, and Henry’s daughters, is not going to like. Oh’ nicely, subsequent time, no extra Mr. Good man!” Trump mentioned. Cuellar’s two daughters, Christina and Catherine, had despatched Trump a letter in November asking that he pardon their dad and mom.
Trump defined his pardon he introduced Wednesday as a matter of stopping a “weaponized” prosecution. Cuellar was an outspoken critic of Biden’s immigration coverage, a place that Trump noticed as a key alignment with the lawmaker.
Cuellar mentioned he has good relationships inside his social gathering. “I believe the final Democrat Caucus and I, we get alongside. However they know that I’m an impartial voice,” he mentioned.
A celebration swap would have been an surprising bonus for Republicans after the GOP-run Legislature redrew the state’s congressional districts this 12 months at Trump’s behest. The Texas maneuver began a mid-decade gerrymandering scramble enjoying out throughout a number of states. Trump is attempting to defend Republicans’ Home majority and keep away from a repeat of his first time period, when Democrats dominated the Home midterms and used a brand new majority to stymie the administration, launch investigations and twice impeach Trump.
But Cuellar’s South Texas district, which incorporates elements of metro San Antonio, was not one of many Democratic districts that Republicans modified considerably, and Cuellar believes he stays well-positioned to win reelection.
Federal authorities had charged Cuellar and his spouse with accepting 1000’s of {dollars} in trade for the congressman advancing the pursuits of an Azerbaijan-controlled vitality firm and a financial institution in Mexico. Cuellar was accused of agreeing to affect laws favorable to Azerbaijan and ship a pro-Azerbaijan speech on the ground of the U.S. Home.
Cuellar has mentioned he his spouse have been harmless. The couple’s trial had been set to start in April.
Within the Fox interview,, Cuellar insisted that federal authorities tried to entrap him with “a sting operation to attempt to bribe me, and that failed.”
Cuellar nonetheless faces a Home Ethics Committee investigation.
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