Texas Congressman Henry Cuellar indicted on charges of bribery, money laundering

Sign up for The Brief, The Texas Tribune’s daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.

WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, was indicted with his wife Imelda on Friday on charges of accepting almost $600,000 in bribes from an Azerbaijani energy company and a Mexican bank, the Justice Department announced.

Cuellar allegedly accepted the payments after they had been laundered through fake consulting contracts to shell companies owned by Imelda Cuellar, according to the DOJ. In exchange, Henry Cuellar allegedly pursued policy in favor of Azerbaijan, an oil-rich former Soviet republic that borders Iran and Russia on the Caspian sea, the department said. Cuellar also allegedly took money from a Mexican bank and influenced members of the Executive Branch to make policy favorable for the bank, according to the department.

Cuellar asserted his innocence in a statement Friday after NBC News reported federal prosecutors’ plans for an indictment. The Cuellars appeared in a federal courthouse in Houston on Friday over the charges.

If convicted and given the maximum sentence, Cuellar could face decades in prison.

Cuellar said his actions were “consistent with the actions of many of my colleagues and in the interest of the American people.”

“I want to be clear that both my wife and I are innocent of these allegations,” Cuellar said without addressing what the allegations were about. “Before I took any action, I 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.”

A spokesperson for the House Ethics Committee declined to comment on Friday.

FBI agents raided Cuellar’s Laredo home and office in 2022 — just weeks before his competitive primary election. His lawyer at the time asserted he was not the target of the investigation. ABC News reported shortly after that the investigation was related to Cuellar, his wife and one of his campaign staffers and their alleged ties to Azerbaijan. The Texas Tribune and several national news organizations asked a federal court 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 country’s interests in Congress.

Cuellar traveled to Azerbaijan on a $25,000 trip with his wife Imelda in 2013, paid for by the Turquoise Council of Americans and Eurasians. Shortly after, a Cuellar staffer went on another trip to Azerbaijan with several members, including Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Houston, that was also facilitated by the group.

The group is based in Texas and was led by Kemal Oksuz, who pleaded guilty in 2018 to partaking in the coverup of the Azerbaijani’s government’s role financing the 2013 congressional trip that included Jackson Lee. Oksuz admitted to lying in disclosures to the House Ethics Committee on the source of funding for the trip, which came from the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic.

Oksuz also worked with Cuellar to establish a program for Texas A&M International University students to study energy issues in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. ExxonMobil and the Azerbaijani government were also involved in the creation of the program.

Azerbaijan is known for lavish spending on foreign lawmakers to advance its interests. The country has reportedly spent billions on treating European lawmakers in a practice derisively known as “caviar diplomacy.” The country spends about half a million dollars a year on lobbying in Washington, according to OpenSecrets.

Azerbaijan has had interest in influencing Western governments due to tense relations with its neighbors. The country had been engaged in a long-running border dispute with Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh, an enclave made of largely of ethnic Armenians, until Azerbaijan forcibly retook control of the territory last year. The dispute had been a significant roadblock to peace in the region since the fall of the Soviet Union, with European, American and Russian governments struggling with the issues for decades.

A powerful Democrat

The 2022 search by federal investigators on Cuellar’s home came only a few weeks before a competitive primary against progressive candidate Jessica Cisneros, a Laredo-based immigration attorney. He ended up winning in the primary by 0.6 percentage points.

Cuellar said in his Friday statement that he will still run for reelection in November.

Cuellar is the fourth-longest serving Democrat in the Texas delegation and is an established fixture in the House Democratic Caucus. He is known for occasionally crossing the aisle to vote with Republicans, including votes reflecting his personal aversion to abortion and in support of stricter border security. He is the only Democrat in the House who opposes abortion rights.

Cuellar and his family have been political fixtures in Laredo and Webb County for decades, dating back to 1987, when Cuellar began a 14-year stint representing the area in the Texas House. He was elected to Congress in 2004, a few years before his brother, Martin Cuellar, ousted the incumbent Webb County sheriff — a position he still holds today.Cuellar’s sister, Rosie Cuellar, previously served as Webb County tax assessor-collector. She is seeking the Democratic nomination for an open Texas House seat that covers part of Laredo and Webb County, a contest that will be decided later this month in a May 28 primary runoff.

He is also a major proponent of the oil and gas industry, which is responsible for a large part of his district’s economy. Azerbaijan is a major oil and gas producer.

Still, he is well respected within the Democratic Caucus for his prolific fundraising and reliability on major votes that count. Democratic leadership under Speaker Nancy Pelosi supported Cuellar when Cisneros challenged him in the 2020 and 2022 primaries. Cuellar won in both primaries and the 2022 general election, despite heavy investment from Republicans to flip South Texas. He beat his 2022 Republican opponent, Cassy Garcia, by over 13 points.

After Cuellar’s 2022 win, Republicans have considered the district less competitive and are investing more heavily in the nearby Rio Grande Valley-based 15th and 34th districts. Two Republican challengers will face off in a May 28 runoff for the chance to challenge Cuellar in the general: Jay Furman and Lazaro Garza.

Furman issued a video statement shortly after the news of a potential indictment, blasting Cuellar as being part of an establishment that is “selling us to other nations.”

“They’re trading us for their deep pockets and their forever policies that are against the values of South Texas,” Furman said. “Exciting that maybe one of them will get their due.”

In a Facebook post on Friday, Garza said: “There is no place for corruption in Congress!”

The National Republican Congressional Committee also called on Cuellar to resign.

“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,” NRCC spokesperson Delanie Bomar said in a statement.

Some Texas Democrats have already done so for another longtime lawmaker who was recently indicted. After the Justice Department charged Sen. Bob Menendez, D-New Jersey, on several counts of corruption and bribery related to his ties to Egypt, a handful of Texas members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus called for his resignation.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said in a statement that Cuellar deserved a fair trial and the “presumption of innocence throughout the legal process.” Jeffries said Cuellar would forfeit his position atop the Appropriations subcommittee on Homeland Security. House Democratic rules require a committee chair to step down if they are indicted on a crime with a possible prison sentence of more than two years.

Jasper Scherer contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared in the Texas Tribune.

The Texas Tribune is a member-supported, nonpartisan newsroom informing and engaging Texans on state politics and policy. Learn more at texastribune.org.

Subscribe to SA Current newsletters.

Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter| Or sign up for our RSS Feed

Related Stories

Reports: South Texas Rep. Henry Cuellar to be indicted by Justice Department

In 2022, the FBI raided Cuellar’s Laredo home and campaign office.

A year after FBI raids Henry Cuellar’s home, no arrests and no answers

One year later, there have been no arrests or charges filed related to the case. Cuellar maintains that he was never the target of the investigation and will ultimately be cleared of wrongdoing.

AP, Texas Tribune and other newsrooms ask court to unseal Henry Cuellar search warrant

The Tribune and a host of news organizations are seeking records related to a January raid on U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar’s Laredo home.

With indictment, U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar’s deep South Texas ties will again be tested

Cuellar was expected to cruise to reelection. Now he’ll need to rely on support from local and national Democratic leaders to help him overcome scandal.

Two political consultants plead guilty in Henry Cuellar bribery case

The Laredo Democrat faces federal charges of bribery, money laundering and working on behalf of a foreign government.

South Texas Rep. Henry Cuellar’s top aide leaves. More may follow.

Jake Hochberg — who’s served as Cuellar’s chief of staff since 2021 — left Monday, and others are reportedly mulling departures.

‘You are the best El Jefe’: Henry Cuellar’s alleged brazen foreign bribery schemes

The powerful Laredo congressman is indicted for allegedly acting as a foreign agent for Azerbaijan and a Mexican bank in exchange for at least $600,000 in bribes.

Indicted South Texas Rep. Cuellar spends majority of campaign cash on legal fees

A new analysis shows the congressman, now facing bribery charges, diverted more than half of his 2024 campaign money into legal fees.

‘The Patrón’: How Henry Cuellar and his family control Webb County, Texas

The congressman, his brother and his sister wield unusual power in South Texas. Documents and interviews with more than 25 local officials, business leaders and residents show just how far it stretches.

Texas congressmen cleared in ethics investigation over campaign finance spending

The ethics committee said existing law and guidance from the Federal Election Commission is ‘often ambiguous’ and provides gray areas of spending.

This article appears in May 1-14, 2024.