The Justice Department announced Friday that Rep. Henry Cuellar has been indicted over claims he took $600,000 in bribes between 2014 and 2021 from an Azerbaijani oil and gas company and a Mexican bank.
Cuellar (D-Texas) and his wife, Imelda, were both charged and appeared in a Houston federal court for having allegedly participated “in two schemes involving bribery, unlawful foreign influence, and money laundering,” according to a DOJ press release.
According to prosecutors, the Cuellars accepted the bribes through “shell companies” owned by Imelda from Socar, Azerbaijan’s state-owned oil firm, and “a bank headquartered in Mexico City.”
Cuellar influenced US foreign policy “in favor of Azerbaijan” and “agreed to influence legislative activity and to advise and pressure high-ranking US Executive Branch officials regarding measures beneficial to the bank” in Mexico, prosecutors stated.
Both the congressman and his wife were hit with two counts of conspiracy to commit bribery of a federal official, two counts of conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud, two counts of violating the ban on public officials acting as agents of a foreign principal, one count of conspiracy to commit concealment money laundering and five counts of money laundering.
They each face a maximum penalty of up to 204 years in federal prison, but actual sentences often fall well beneath that benchmark
Cuellar, a pro-life moderate who has been critical of President Biden’s handling of the border crisis, issued a statement shortly after NBC News first reported that an indictment would be made public.
In the statement, Cuellar said he and his wife were “innocent of these allegations” and added that he had acted “consistent with the actions of many of my colleagues and in the interest of the American people.”
A source told NBC News that Cuellar’s congressional staff had reached out to other aides on Friday morning for advice on responding to the imminent charges.
“Henry Cuellar does not put Texas first, he puts himself first,” National Republican Congressional Committee spokeswoman Delanie Bomar said in a statement. “If his colleagues truly believe in putting ‘people over politics,’ they will call on him to resign. If not — they are hypocrites whose statements about public service aren’t worth the paper they’re written on.”
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) announced in a statement Friday afternoon that Cuellar would “take leave as Ranking Member of the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee while this matter is ongoing.”
“Henry Cuellar has admirably devoted his career to public service and is a valued Member of the House Democratic Caucus,” said Jeffries. “Like any American, Congressman Cuellar is entitled to his day in court and the presumption of innocence throughout the legal process.”
In January 2022, Cuellar’s home and campaign office in Laredo, Texas, were searched by federal investigators in connection with a larger probe into ties between the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan and multiple US businessmen.
At the time, Cuellar — a co-chair of the bipartisan Congressional Azerbaijan Caucus — vowed to “fully cooperate in any investigation.”
That November, the now-68-year-old was elected to a 10th House term, and concluded his statement Friday by saying: “Let me be clear, I’m running for re-election and will win this November.”
Cuellar also revealed in his Friday statement that he “proactively sought legal advice from the House Ethics Committee, who gave me more than one written opinion, along with an additional opinion from a national law firm.”
Joshua Berman, the congressman’s Washington attorney, said in April 2022 that “the Justice Department has informed me that Congressman Cuellar is not a target of the investigation.”
The Post has reached out to Berman for comment. The DOJ did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Cuellar added that he and his wife “requested a meeting with the Washington DC prosecutors to explain the facts and they refused to discuss the case with us or to hear our side.”
“Imelda and I have been married for 32 years. On top of being an amazing wife and mother, she’s an accomplished businesswoman with two degrees,” he said.
“She spent her career working with banking, tax, and consulting. The allegation that she is anything but qualified and hard working is both wrong and offensive.”
The Texan is now the second Democratic member of Congress to be charged with a crime along with his wife inside eight months.
Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) is scheduled to head to trial on May 13 on corruption allegations involving trading bribes for favors from three Garden State businessmen, as well as the governments of Egypt and Qatar.
In 2022, Cuellar defeated a tough primary challenge from “Squad”-backed candidate Jessica Cisneros — and went on to win re-election against Republican Cassy Garcia by a 14-point margin.
Before entering Congress, Cuellar served briefly as Texas secretary of state in 2001 and as a member of the state House of Representatives for 14 years before that.
A member of the moderate Blue Dog Coalition, the congressman has also pointed out he has the most higher education degrees of any member on Capitol Hill, including a JD and PhD from the University of Texas, Politico reported.
As of last year, Cuellar was a student at the Naval War College in DC, working on a master’s in defense and strategic studies.
“These allegations have been difficult on my family. But, with your prayers, we will overcome,” Cuellar said in his Friday statement. “As the son of migrant workers, I was taught to wake up early and work hard. That’s exactly what I’ve always done for the people of South Texas.”