Name: Trump pardons Texas Democrat accused of bribery and fraud
Uploaded: 2025-12-04T15:13:06.756Z
Duration: 3 min 20 s
Description: President Trump pardoned Rep. Henry Cuellar before his trial even began. Cuellar, a Texas Democrat, and his wife will no longer face bribery and fraud charges. Scott MacFarlane reports.

President Trump pardoned Rep. Henry Cuellar before his trial even began. Cuellar, a Texas Democrat, and his wife will no longer face bribery and fraud charges. Scott MacFarlane reports.

Texas

President Trump has pardoned Texas Democratic Congressman Henry Cuellar and his wife, ending bribery and fraud charges against them before their trial commenced. Cuellar, who represents a competitive border district and is not a Trump supporter, was accused of accepting money to advance foreign interests but denies all charges.

This pardon is part of a broader pattern, as Trump has recently pardoned several individuals, including those convicted of white-collar crimes and political allies. Critics, including former federal prosecutors, have called the pre-trial pardon unprecedented and argue it undermines the rule of law, while Trump claims the prosecutions were politically motivated.

Trump pardons Texas Democrat accused of bribery and fraud

We're going to begin this hour with the latest controversial pardon from President Trump. Democratic Congressman Henry Cuellar and his wife will no longer face charges of bribery and fraud. Wednesday's announcement follows other recent pardons of a disgraced foreign leader, a billionaire with possible financial ties to the Trump family. Scott McFarlane is with us once again. Scott, good morning. People are saying there are a whole lot of questions here. What can you tell us? Hey again, Gail. Henry Cuellar is not a supporter of the president. In fact, he's a Texas Democrat who holds a competitive congressional seat on the Mexican border. Trump, says Cuellar, was targeted by a weaponized Biden administration, a claim he's made regarding other recent pardon decisions, which has critics saying Trump is politicizing his powers. I will thank the president personally. Democratic Congressman Henry Cuellar praised President Trump Wednesday after being pardoned from fraud and bribery charges before his trial even began. Nothing has changed. I am a conservative Democrat and I am very bipartisan. Cuellar and his wife Imelda were accused of accepting thousands of dollars to advance the interests of foreign figures in Azerbaijan. The couple denies all charges. Trump claims without evidence that Cuellar was prosecuted for defying then President Biden on border issues. He was treated very badly because he said that people should not be allowed to pour into our country. And he was right. It's fundamentally anti-democratic. Brendan Ballew is a former federal prosecutor who left the Department of Justice in January. Is it common to see a pardon before there's even a trial? I think it's virtually unprecedented. Fundamentally Donald Trump is personalizing that power and taking away or undermining the rule of law. Trump also pardoned hundreds of Capitol riot defendants before they went to trial, making the same argument, claiming Biden weaponized the Department of Justice against them. It's a claim he also made when pardoning the former Honduran president who was convicted of leading a violent drug trafficking conspiracy. This president says that he opposes drug traffickers and then he pardons a drug trafficker. He says that he wants to drain the swamp and then he pardons governors and congresspeople that are convicted of crimes. This isn't about the rule of law. It's about the rule of one man. Cuellar's case matches a pattern of pardons the president has handed out for white-collar crimes. He pardoned the founder of crypto company Binance, who pleaded guilty to charges of enabling money laundering. Binance was involved in a $2 billion investment using a cryptocurrency backed by Liberty Financial, the company run by Donald Trump's sons. Also recently, the pardoned a former investment manager, David Gentile, who was convicted of defrauding 10,000 people of more than $1.6 billion. The president claims the Biden Department of Justice was overreaching in its prosecution of Gentile, but the indictment was unsealed in the second month of Biden's first term, which means the case was built during Trump's first term. All of these cases take years to get a conviction and thousands of man-hours of work. And to rub salt in the wounds of those who lost money in the scheme, Gentile, as other pardoned defendants have found, will no longer have to pay their restitution. Tony. That'll change someone's holiday plans. That's a big, big, big change. Scott, wow. Thank you very much.

The New York Times has sued the U.S. Defence Department and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth in an effort to force the Pentagon to abandon its restrictive new press policy. The Times alleges that the policy, rejected by at least 30 news organizations, violates its rights to free speech and due process.

New York

New York Times sues Pentagon, Hegseth over press restrictions

President Trump weighed in on Russian President Vladimir Putin's meeting with his envoy, Steve Witkoff, and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner. CBS News' Ramy Inocencio has more.

Moscow

Ukraine Invasion

Trump insists Putin wants to end Ukraine war after Witkoff's trip

Democrats have released never-before-seen images in the Jeffrey Epstein case. They were taken at his private island estate. It comes as the Trump administration faces a deadline to release the full Epstein case files in two weeks.

Newly released images and videos show Epstein's private island estate

Venezuela holds the world’s largest proven oil reserves, more than five times more than the United States.

Caracas

Maduro accuses U.S. of pushing for regime change to get Venezuela’s oil

Australia starts enforcing a landmark ban requiring social media platforms to take down accounts belonging to under-16s

Canberra

Australia under-16s social media accounts to be taken down

European Union lawmakers and member states reached a deal to ban all imports of Russian gas before the end of 2027, as the bloc seeks to choke off key funds feeding Moscow's war chest. Aimed at breaking a reliance the bloc has struggled to end despite the invasion of Ukraine, the accord marks a compromise between EU capitals and the European Parliament, which wanted the ban to hit sooner.

Brussels

EU agrees deal to ban Russian gas by end of 2027

President Trump pardoned Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas and his wife on Wednesday. The couple was indicted in 2024 on more than a dozen federal charges. Cuellar has denied any wrongdoing.

Washington

Trump pardons Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar and his wife

Sources say the Pentagon watchdog found Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth could have endangered American service members when he shared military information in a Signal group chat in March. Alex Plitsas, a former Pentagon official, joins "The Daily Report" to discuss.

Watchdog found Hegseth jeopardized sensitive military information

Democrats on the House Oversight Committee Wednesday released never-before-seen images of the private island owned by convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. CBS News legal reporter Katrina Kaufman has more details.

Never-before-seen images of Jeffrey Epstein's island released

The doctor who pleaded guilty to selling ketamine to Matthew Perry in the weeks before the actor's overdose death has been sentenced to 30 months in prison.

Los Angeles

Doctor who sold Matthew Perry ketamine sentenced to 30 months in prison

Google subsidiary YouTube has criticized an Australian law banning social media accounts for under-16s, arguing the legislation set to start Dec 10 makes young users of Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and YouTube less safe.

YouTube attacks Australia's underage social media ban

U.S. envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff met Putin in the Kremlin on a revised Ukraine peace plan but left without a deal. Russia insists on territorial gains, army cuts, and blocking NATO membership, while Zelenskyy calls for long-term deterrence against future aggression.

U.S. envoys Kushner, Witkoff leave Kremlin without Ukraine deal

U.S. President Donald Trump, in a televised cabinet meeting, said “I don't want them in our country” about Somali immigrants, sparking outrage from politicians and migration experts. His remarks coincided with reports of planned federal raids targeting Minneapolis’ Somali community.

Trump targets Somali immigrants amid reports of Minneapolis raids

A Russian tanker carrying sunflower oil was hit by a drone off the Turkish coast, with no casualties. The attack is part of recent strikes on Russian-flagged vessels targeting Moscow’s oil sector, while Putin warns of possible retaliatory measures.

Russian tanker attacked off Turkey, Putin warns of retaliation

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said he had watched the first U.S. strike in September on an alleged drug-smuggling vessel in real time, but did not see survivors in the water or the second lethal strike that he described as being carried out in the "fog of war."

Hegseth says he didn't see survivors before second strike on boat

Republican comfortably beats Democratic challenger after polls showed candidates in a close race in US state.

Tennessee

Trump’s pick Van Epps wins special election in deep-red Tennessee

U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to expand his crackdown on drug trafficking during a cabinet meeting, suggesting he’d order land strikes on Venezuela and attacks on any country transporting illegal drugs into the U.S.

Trump threatens to expand strikes beyond Venezuela

Ahead of a meeting to discuss the U.S. proposal for peace in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed European counter-proposals as 'unacceptable' and said his country was ready for war if Europe wants one.

Putin says Russia is 'ready' if Europe wants war

OpenAI has declared a "code red" as Google threatens to unseat the AI industry's early leader, according to the Wall Street Journal. Technology journalist Jacob Ward joins CBS News to discuss.

California

OpenAI declares 'code red' as Google threatens its AI lead

Russian President Vladimir Putin met U.S. President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner in the Kremlin on Tuesday (December 2) for talks on a possible way to end the deadliest European conflict since World War Two.

Putin meets Trump envoys Witkoff, Kushner for Ukraine peace talks

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said during a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday that the deadly boat strikes in the region near Venezuela and Colombia have "only just begun." This comes as Republicans and Democrats in Congress question the legality of the military action.

Hegseth defends boat strikes near Venezuela during Cabinet meeting

President Vladimir Putin has hailed what his commanders told him was the full Russian capture of the city of Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine as an important victory after a prolonged campaign, saying it would help Moscow fulfil its wider war aims.

Pokrovsk

Russia claims control of Pokrovsk

Major rescue and recovery efforts are underway across Southeast Asia after a series of severe storms battered the region displacing millions and killing more than 1,100 people.

Nuwara Eliya

Severe storms batter Southeast Asia, displacing millions

Honduras’ presidential race is too close to call, with Nasry Asfura and Salvador Nasralla nearly tied at just under 40% each as technical glitches delay official results.

Tegucigalpa

Asfura, Nasralla in tight battle for Honduras presidency

Airbus must inspect hundreds of its A320 jets for potential quality flaws in the plane's body as a total of 628 aircraft contain panels that may be too thick or too thin due to a manufacturing issue at a supplier.

Blagnac

Airbus to inspect hundreds of A320s for defective panels

U.S. President Trump warns against actions that could ‘interfere with Syria’s evolution’ amid new Israeli incursions and strikes.

Damascus

Syria demands Israel withdraw amid escalating cross-border incursions

The White House confirmed it authorized a second airstrike on an alleged Venezuelan drug boat in September, but denied it ordered everyone on board be killed, which would be considered a war crime.

U.S. authorization of second strike of Venezuelan ship questioned

Monday is World AIDS Day. It has been recognized globally since 1988, but this year, the U.S. government is not commemorating it for the first time.

U.S. not recognizing World AIDS Day this year

Operation "Swamp Sweep," a monthslong immigration crackdown centered in New Orleans, is set to begin Monday. CBS News national reporter Kati Weis has the details.

New Orleans

Immigration enforcement operation set to begin in New Orleans

Luigi Mangione, the man charged with murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, was in a New York City courtroom on Monday for a pre-trial hearing focused on what evidence the jury will see. CBS News' Anna Schecter has the details.

Breakdown