WASHINGTON — The Justice Section on Friday launched an indictment against longtime Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, and his wife, Imelda, charging the pair with bribery and money laundering similar to their ties with a bank in Mexico and an oil and gas business controlled by Azerbaijan.
NBC Information was very first to report that the prices had been coming. The congressman and his wife ended up each individual launched on a $100,000 bond right after a to start with physical appearance in federal court docket in Houston, a DOJ spokesperson stated Friday afternoon.
According to the indictment, from 2014 to 2021, the Cuellars allegedly acknowledged around $600,000 in bribes from the two international entities in trade for the congressman executing formal functions.
“The bribe payments were being allegedly laundered, pursuant to sham consulting contracts, by a series of front providers and middlemen into shell firms owned by Imelda Cuellar, who carried out small to no reputable perform less than the contracts,” the DOJ said in a assertion.
“In trade for the bribes paid out by the Azerbaijani oil and gas corporation, Congressman Cuellar allegedly agreed to use his business office to influence U.S. overseas plan in favor of Azerbaijan,” DOJ continued. “In exchange for the bribes compensated by the Mexican financial institution, Congressman Cuellar allegedly agreed to impact legislative activity and to advise and stress superior-rating U.S. Executive Branch officers pertaining to actions helpful to the bank.”
The congressman and his spouse are each individual charged with two counts of conspiracy to dedicate bribery of a federal formal and to have a general public official act as an agent of a foreign principal two counts of bribery of a federal official two counts of conspiracy to dedicate wire fraud two counts of violating the ban on public officers performing as agents of a overseas principal just one depend of conspiracy to dedicate concealment income laundering and 5 counts of dollars laundering.
If convicted, they could expend several years or even decades in prison.
In a statement Friday prior to the fees ended up unsealed, Cuellar denied any wrongdoing, expressing that he had “proactively sought lawful advice” from the Dwelling Ethics Committee, which had issued “more than a person written opinion” about the matter. Substantially of his assertion targeted on his wife.
“I want to be crystal clear that the two my spouse and I are harmless of these allegations. All the things I have carried out in Congress has been to provide the people today of South Texas,” Cuellar explained in his statement, afterwards introducing: “The actions I took in Congress ended up reliable with the steps of quite a few of my colleagues and in the curiosity of the American people.”
“Imelda and I have been married for 32 yrs. On prime of becoming an remarkable wife and mom, she’s an completed businesswoman with two levels. She invested her profession working with banking, tax, and consulting,” he continued. “The allegation that she is something but qualified and really hard doing the job is both wrong and offensive.”
A defiant Cuellar also built very clear he will nonetheless look for re-election: “Let me be crystal clear, I’m running for re-election and will get this November.”
A statement from the congressman’s protection lawyers was related to Cuellar’s but also pointed out prosecutors indicted him just 6 months right before Election Day.
“The government’s determination to move forward with costs so close to the typical election — and their conclusion to execute a look for warrant 40 times prior to his [2022] main — undermines the citizens and places a thumb on the scale,” said attorneys Chris Flood and Eric Reed.
House Minority Chief Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., who experienced endorsed Cuellar’s re-election bid final summertime, identified as Cuellar a “valued Member of the Household Democratic Caucus” in a statement, noting that Cuellar is “entitled to his day in courtroom and the presumption of innocence in the course of the lawful approach.”
In the meantime, Cuellar will phase aside from his placement as the top Democrat on the Residence Appropriations subcommittee overseeing the Department of Homeland Safety, Jeffries claimed.
Cuellar’s home and marketing campaign office in Laredo, Texas, were being raided in January 2022 as portion of a federal investigation into Azerbaijan and a group of U.S. businessmen who have ties to the country, law enforcement stated at the time. His place of work had pledged to cooperate with the investigation. In April, Cuellar’s law firm, Joshua Berman, told some information shops that federal authorities informed him he was not the concentrate on of the investigation.
Cuellar is a just one-time co-chair of the Congressional Azerbaijan Caucus. According to the indictment, in exchange for the bribes, Cuellar promised to influence legislation associated to Azerbaijan’s conflict with neighboring Armenia insert pro-Azerbaijan language into legislation and committee reports on security and financial support applications deliver a pro-Azerbaijan speech on the Property flooring and “seek the advice of” with Azerbaijan officials about their initiatives to lobby the U.S. governing administration.
Forward of the indictment’s release, Cuellar’s team have been calling other member workplaces Friday trying to get advice on how to manage the condition, one particular supply with knowledge of people phone calls explained to NBC Information.
A 12 months right after the raid on his house — which has not formerly yielded arrests or prices — Cuellar informed the Texas Tribune: “There has been no wrongdoing on my aspect. … My focus continues to be the same from my very very first working day in workplace: delivering effects for Texans throughout my district.”
Despite the raid, Cuellar narrowly defeated a progressive challenger, Jessica Cisneros, in his 2022 key and went on to earn re-election to his seat that November. He didn’t facial area a key challenger this yr and will be on the ballot this November looking for his 11th phrase in Congress.
Two years back, Cuellar conveniently defeated Republican nominee Cassy Garcia, 57% to 43%. His district turned bluer when he picked up pieces of San Antonio pursuing redistricting. But the indictment will make Cuellar extra vulnerable than in the earlier in 2020, Joe Biden won Cuellar’s district above Donald Trump by 7 percentage points.
Two Republicans will experience every single other in a runoff election in late Might for a prospect to acquire on Cuellar in the drop.
“Henry Cuellar does not place Texas very first, he puts himself 1st,” said Delanie Bomar, a spokesperson for the Countrywide Republican Congressional Committee. “If his colleagues actually imagine in putting ‘people over politics,’ they will get in touch with on him to resign. If not — they are hypocrites whose statements about public company aren’t value the paper they’re prepared on.”
Cuellar, 66, a lawyer, is a former customs broker and Texas secretary of point out. A member of the centrist Blue Pet dogs and New Democrat Coalition, Cuellar was elected to the Household in 2004.
He is the only Democrat left in Congress who opposes abortion legal rights — a situation that has infuriated several in his party.
The Cuellars are the second congressional couple to be charged in a overseas bribery scheme in the earlier calendar year. In September, DOJ charged then-Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Bob Menendez, D-N.J., and his spouse after they allegedly accepted hundreds of countless numbers of pounds, together with gold bars, in return for formal acts aimed at enriching a few New Jersey businessmen and benefitting the Egyptian governing administration. Equally Cuellar and Menendez are customers of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
Menendez, who stepped apart from foremost International Relations, has pleaded not responsible. His demo is scheduled to start later on this month.
A third lawmaker, New York Republican George Santos, was expelled from the House in December immediately after a scathing ethics report and 23-count federal indictment charging him with crimes these types of as wire fraud and dollars laundering. Santos also has pleaded not guilty.
