Texas Tribune / Michael Gonzalez
U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, speaks in regards to the U.S.-Mexico border on the World Commerce Bridge at a information convention in Laredo on Feb. 17, 2023.
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WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, was indicted together with his spouse Imelda on Friday on expenses of accepting nearly $600,000 in bribes from an Azerbaijani vitality firm and a Mexican financial institution, the Justice Division introduced.
Cuellar allegedly accepted the funds after they’d been laundered by way of pretend consulting contracts to shell firms owned by Imelda Cuellar, in keeping with the DOJ. In alternate, Henry Cuellar allegedly pursued coverage in favor of Azerbaijan, an oil-rich former Soviet republic that borders Iran and Russia on the Caspian sea, the division stated. Cuellar additionally allegedly took cash from a Mexican financial institution and influenced members of the Govt Department to make coverage favorable for the financial institution, in keeping with the division.
Cuellar asserted his innocence in an announcement Friday after NBC Information reported federal prosecutors’ plans for an indictment. The Cuellars appeared in a federal courthouse in Houston on Friday over the fees.
If convicted and given the utmost sentence, Cuellar may face many years in jail.
Cuellar stated his actions have been “in line with the actions of a lot of my colleagues and within the curiosity of the American folks.”
“I wish to be clear that each my spouse and I are harmless of those allegations,” Cuellar stated with out addressing what the allegations have been about. “Earlier than I took any motion, I proactively sought authorized recommendation from the Home Ethics Committee, who gave me multiple written opinion, together with an extra opinion from a nationwide regulation agency.”
A spokesperson for the Home Ethics Committee declined to touch upon Friday.
FBI brokers raided Cuellar’s Laredo dwelling and workplace in 2022 — simply weeks earlier than his aggressive major election. His lawyer on the time asserted he was not the goal of the investigation. ABC Information reported shortly after that the investigation was associated to Cuellar, his spouse and one in every of his marketing campaign staffers and their alleged ties to Azerbaijan. The Texas Tribune and a number of other nationwide information organizations requested a federal courtroom to unseal the search warrant in 2022.
Ties to Azerbaijan
Cuellar is a member of the Congressional Azerbaijan Caucus and has been a fervent advocate for the nation’s pursuits in Congress.
Cuellar traveled to Azerbaijan on a $25,000 journey together with his spouse Imelda in 2013, paid for by the Turquoise Council of People and Eurasians. Shortly after, a Cuellar staffer went on one other journey to Azerbaijan with a number of members, together with Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Houston, that was additionally facilitated by the group.
The group is predicated in Texas and was led by Kemal Oksuz, who pleaded responsible in 2018 to partaking within the coverup of the Azerbaijani’s authorities’s function financing the 2013 congressional journey that included Jackson Lee. Oksuz admitted to mendacity in disclosures to the Home Ethics Committee on the supply of funding for the journey, which got here from the State Oil Firm of the Azerbaijan Republic.
Oksuz additionally labored with Cuellar to ascertain a program for Texas A&M Worldwide College college students to review vitality points in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. ExxonMobil and the Azerbaijani authorities have been additionally concerned within the creation of this system.
Azerbaijan is thought for lavish spending on overseas lawmakers to advance its pursuits. The nation has reportedly spent billions on treating European lawmakers in a apply derisively often called “caviar diplomacy.” The nation spends about half one million {dollars} a yr on lobbying in Washington, in keeping with OpenSecrets.
Azerbaijan has had curiosity in influencing Western governments resulting from tense relations with its neighbors. The nation had been engaged in a long-running border dispute with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh, an enclave made from largely of ethnic Armenians, till Azerbaijan forcibly retook management of the territory final yr. The dispute had been a big roadblock to peace within the area for the reason that fall of the Soviet Union, with European, American and Russian governments combating the problems for many years.
A strong Democrat
The 2022 search by federal investigators on Cuellar’s dwelling got here only some weeks earlier than a aggressive major in opposition to progressive candidate Jessica Cisneros, a Laredo-based immigration legal professional. He ended up successful within the major by 0.6 share factors.
Cuellar stated in his Friday assertion that he’ll nonetheless run for reelection in November.
Cuellar is the fourth-longest serving Democrat within the Texas delegation and is a longtime fixture within the Home Democratic Caucus. He’s identified for often crossing the aisle to vote with Republicans, together with votes reflecting his private aversion to abortion and in assist of stricter border safety. He’s the one Democrat within the Home who opposes abortion rights.
Cuellar and his household have been political fixtures in Laredo and Webb County for many years, courting again to 1987, when Cuellar started a 14-year stint representing the world within the Texas Home. He was elected to Congress in 2004, just a few years earlier than his brother, Martin Cuellar, ousted the incumbent Webb County sheriff — a place he nonetheless holds at this time.Cuellar’s sister, Rosie Cuellar, beforehand served as Webb County tax assessor-collector. She is searching for the Democratic nomination for an open Texas Home seat that covers a part of Laredo and Webb County, a contest that might be determined later this month in a Might 28 major runoff.
He’s additionally a serious proponent of the oil and fuel business, which is answerable for a big a part of his district’s economic system. Azerbaijan is a serious oil and fuel producer.
Nonetheless, he’s nicely revered throughout the Democratic Caucus for his prolific fundraising and reliability on main votes that rely. Democratic management below Speaker Nancy Pelosi supported Cuellar when Cisneros challenged him within the 2020 and 2022 primaries. Cuellar gained in each primaries and the 2022 basic election, regardless of heavy funding from Republicans to flip South Texas. He beat his 2022 Republican opponent, Cassy Garcia, by over 13 factors.
After Cuellar’s 2022 win, Republicans have thought of the district much less aggressive and are investing extra closely within the close by Rio Grande Valley-based fifteenth and thirty fourth districts. Two Republican challengers will face off in a Might 28 runoff for the possibility to problem Cuellar within the basic: Jay Furman and Lazaro Garza.
Furman issued a video assertion shortly after the information of a possible indictment, blasting Cuellar as being a part of an institution that’s “promoting us to different nations.”
“They’re buying and selling us for his or her deep pockets and their endlessly insurance policies which might be in opposition to the values of South Texas,” Furman stated. “Thrilling that perhaps one in every of them will get their due.”
In a Fb put up on Friday, Garza stated: “There isn’t any place for corruption in Congress!”
The Nationwide Republican Congressional Committee additionally known as on Cuellar to resign.
“If his colleagues actually imagine in placing ‘folks over politics,’ they may name on him to resign. If not – they’re hypocrites whose statements about public service aren’t definitely worth the paper they’re written on,” NRCC spokesperson Delanie Bomar stated in an announcement.
Some Texas Democrats have already completed so for an additional longtime lawmaker who was not too long ago indicted. After the Justice Division charged Sen. Bob Menendez, D-New Jersey, on a number of counts of corruption and bribery associated to his ties to Egypt, a handful of Texas members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus known as for his resignation.
Home Minority Chief Hakeem Jeffries stated in an announcement that Cuellar deserved a good trial and the “presumption of innocence all through the authorized course of.” Jeffries stated Cuellar would forfeit his place atop the Appropriations subcommittee on Homeland Safety. Home Democratic guidelines require a committee chair to step down if they’re indicted on against the law with a doable jail sentence of greater than two years.
Jasper Scherer contributed to this report.
This text initially appeared within the Texas Tribune.
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