Washington, United States: US President Donald Trump has pardoned a Democratic member of Congress in a bribery case, saying the justice system had been “weaponized” by his predecessor Joe Biden.
“I am hereby announcing my full and unconditional PARDON of beloved Texas Congressman Henry Cuellar ... I don’t know you, but you can sleep well tonight — Your nightmare is finally over!” Trump said on his Truth Social platform on Wednesday.
Cuellar and his wife had been facing several charges of conspiracy and bribery based on accusations from prosecutors that they had accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of bribes from an oil and gas company partly owned by the government of Azerbaijan.
The couple have denied the charges for which they were facing trial in April.
“I want to thank President Trump for his tremendous leadership and for taking the time to look at the facts,” Cuellar said in response to the pardon in a post on X on Wednesday.
Trump, without citing evidence, said that former president Biden’s administration has “weaponized the Justice System against their political opponents,” adding that Cuellar had spoken out against “Open Borders and the Biden Border ‘Catastrophe.’“
Trump, who has blamed his own past legal problems on political “witch hunts,” has also made several high-profile pardons since taking office for a second term this year.
Former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez was released from a West Virginia prison where he was facing more than four decades behind bars on narcotics and weapons charges on Monday following a surprise pardon from the US president.
Trump has also offered legal relief to a Democratic politician in the past, in February pardoning Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich over a political corruption case.
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Trump pardons Democratic congressman in bribery case
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Trump pardons Democratic congressman in bribery case
- Cuellar and his wife had been facing several charges of conspiracy and bribery
- The couple have denied the charges
Australian defense minister to visit Japan as ‘strategic alignment’ grows
SYDNEY: Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles will travel to Japan on Saturday to meet his counterpart, Koizumi Shinjiro, and discuss deepening defense ties, his office said on Friday.
Australia wanted to engage early with the new government of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, Australian officials said, noting the two countries had a “shared vision for our region” and were working to respond to increasingly complex global challenges.
“Our relationship with Japan continues to grow from strength to strength – underpinned by close strategic alignment, mutual ambition and enormous potential,” Marles said in a statement ahead of the two-day visit.
Japan and China are in their worst diplomatic crisis in years, after Takaichi said last month in parliament that a hypothetical Chinese attack on democratically governed Taiwan could trigger a military response from Tokyo.
Australia awarded a A$10 billion ($6.5 billion) contract to Japanese company Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in August to build warships for Australia, marking Tokyo’s most consequential defense sale since ending a military export ban in 2014 as it steps away from postwar pacifism.
Australia plans to deploy the Mogami-class frigates to defend critical maritime trade routes and its northern approaches in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, where China’s military footprint is expanding.
Marles is expected to travel next week to Washington, to meet with the US and British defense ministers and discuss the AUKUS nuclear powered submarine partnership.
The Pentagon has completed its review of the AUKUS project to provide Australia with nuclear-powered submarines and has found areas to put the deal on the “strongest possible footing,” a US official said on Thursday.
Australian officials said on Monday an overhaul of the defense department will see naval shipbuilding sped up.
Australia wanted to engage early with the new government of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, Australian officials said, noting the two countries had a “shared vision for our region” and were working to respond to increasingly complex global challenges.
“Our relationship with Japan continues to grow from strength to strength – underpinned by close strategic alignment, mutual ambition and enormous potential,” Marles said in a statement ahead of the two-day visit.
Japan and China are in their worst diplomatic crisis in years, after Takaichi said last month in parliament that a hypothetical Chinese attack on democratically governed Taiwan could trigger a military response from Tokyo.
Australia awarded a A$10 billion ($6.5 billion) contract to Japanese company Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in August to build warships for Australia, marking Tokyo’s most consequential defense sale since ending a military export ban in 2014 as it steps away from postwar pacifism.
Australia plans to deploy the Mogami-class frigates to defend critical maritime trade routes and its northern approaches in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, where China’s military footprint is expanding.
Marles is expected to travel next week to Washington, to meet with the US and British defense ministers and discuss the AUKUS nuclear powered submarine partnership.
The Pentagon has completed its review of the AUKUS project to provide Australia with nuclear-powered submarines and has found areas to put the deal on the “strongest possible footing,” a US official said on Thursday.
Australian officials said on Monday an overhaul of the defense department will see naval shipbuilding sped up.
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