WASHINGTON (AP) — For two decades, US Representative Henry Cuellar stood out as a moderate Democrat along the Texas-Mexico border, sometimes bucking his party over guns and immigration, while rarely facing a difficult re-election.
But a federal indictment charging Cuellar Federal conspiracy and bribery charges are putting the Laredo native, first elected in 2004, in a different spotlight. Cuellar, 68, and his wife, Imelda, 67, were detained Friday in connection with a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into the couple’s ties to the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan.
The congressman professed his innocence after the accusation was revealed and vowed to continue his bid for an 11th term in November, saying, “Everything I did in Congress was to serve the people of South Texas.”
The Cuellars are accused of accepting nearly $600,000 in bribes from an Azerbaijani-controlled energy company and a bank in Mexico. In return, Cuellar allegedly agreed to promote the interests of these entities in the U.S.
The couple surrendered to authorities, made their first appearance before a federal judge in Houston and were released on $100,000 bail, the DOJ said.
Cuellar’s family is a political figure along the border: His brother is the sheriff in Laredo, and his sister, a former municipal judge, is also on the ballot this year, running as a Democratic candidate for state representative.
Several of Cuellar’s allies in the district, which stretches from the Rio Grande to the San Antonio suburbs, expressed surprise at the allegations but said they would still support his re-election. Cuellar’s moderate politics helped him maintain support in places where Democrats lost ground, such as Starr County, a rural and agricultural part of South Texas.
“It’s extremely surprising to me because I’ve known Henry for many, many years,” said Starr County Judge Eloy Vera. “He was always a very straight guy, you know, very sincere. I mean, he did a lot for us in Starr County. I hate to see this happening.
President Joe Biden won Starr County by a narrow single-digit margin. Two years later, Cuellar won by 40%.
Sylvia Bruni, chairwoman of the Democratic Party of neighboring Webb County, said she would trust the legal system to work fairly and that her focus would remain on elections. “We have a campaign to move forward, it is our democracy that is at stake,” she said in a statement.
Cuellar released a statement Friday saying he and his wife “are innocent of these allegations.”
“Before taking action, I proactively sought legal advice from the House Ethics Committee, which provided me with more than one written opinion, along with an additional opinion from a national law firm,” the statement said.
“Furthermore, we requested a meeting with Washington D.C. prosecutors to explain the facts and they refused to discuss the case with us or hear our side.”
In addition to bribery and conspiracy, the couple faces charges including wire fraud conspiracy, acting as agents for foreign principals and money laundering. If convicted, they could be punished with up to decades in prison and confiscation of any assets linked to the proceeds of the alleged scheme.
Payments to the couple were initially made through a Texas-based shell company owned by Imelda Cuellar and the couple’s two children, according to the indictment. That company received payments from the Azerbaijani energy company worth $25,000 per month under a “sham contract,” allegedly in exchange for unspecified consulting and strategic advice services.
“In reality, the contract was a sham used to disguise and legitimize the corrupt agreement between Henry Cuellar and the government of Azerbaijan,” the indictment says.
Imelda Cuellar allegedly sent a falsified invoice to the power company’s Washington, D.C. office under the terms of the agreement, saying her work was complete.
“In fact, Imelda Cuellar performed little or no legitimate work under the contract,” the indictment says.
The indictment alleges that an Azerbaijani diplomat referred to Henry Cuellar in text messages as “el Jefe” and “boss,” and also that a member of Cuellar’s staff sent several emails to State Department officials pressuring them to renew a US passport for the daughter of an Azerbaijani diplomat.
Cuellar was at one time co-chair of the Congressional Azerbaijan Caucus.
The FBI searched the parliamentarian’s house in the border city of Laredo in 2022, and Cuellar’s lawyer at the time said he was not a target of the investigation.
Cuellar, one of the last anti-abortion Democrats in Congressnarrowly defeated progressive challenger Jessica Cisneros by less than 300 votes in a primary race in 2022. Cuellar has been one of his party’s most vocal critics of Biden, especially regarding the administration’s response to a record number of migrant border crossings. His moderate politics have sometimes aligned him with Republicans on issues such as abortion and guns. ___
Gonzalez reported from McAllen, Texas. Sean Murphy contributed from Oklahoma City.
