DOJ expected to drop ‘foreign agent’ charges against San Antonio U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar

The U.S Justice Department is expected to drop some charges against U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, an embattled Democrat whose South Texas district includes part of San Antonio, the New York Times reports.

According to the Times, sources anticipate the DOJ will nix charges relating to the Foreign Agents Registration Act as it moves forward on Cuellar’s case. Those charges, filed last year, stem from a federal investigation alleging the congressman used his office to advocate for legislation favoring a Mexican bank and foreign policy friendly towards the country of Azerbaijan.

Even so, the DOJ is expected to move forward on other charges against Cuellar and his wife, Imelda, including bribery, money laundering and conspiracy, the paper reports.

A federal grand jury in Houston indicted the Cuellars in May 2024 on accusations they accepted $600,000 in bribes from an oil company owned by political leaders in Azerbaijan and also a Mexican bank. Prosecutors further alleged Cuellar used his office to seek benefits for both the bank and the former Soviet republic.

However, Cuellar, a moderate Democrat who’s sided with Republicans multiple times since first being elected in 2004, claimed that the Biden Administration had weaponized the DOJ to politically prosecute him for criticizing the previous president’s border policy.

That claim garnered the attention of current President Donald Trump, who agreed with the Texas Democrat’s assertion via a social media post.

“Biden just indicted Henry Cuellar because the Respected Democrat congressman wouldn’t play Crooked Joe’s Open Border game,” Trump wrote at the time on the Truth Social platform. “He was for Border Control, so they said, ‘Let’s use the FBI and DOJ to take him out!”

In February, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi rolled back enforcement of foreign corruption cases that didn’t involve drug cartels and other international criminal organizations.

That same month, Cuellar stated during a Punchbowl News interview that Trump’s top advisor, Stephen Miller, and the administration’s Border Czar, Tom Homan, had both sought meetings with him.

“We’re talking about immigration,” Cuellar told the publication at the time.

Despite the controversy surrounding Cuellar, he won reelection in his South Texas district last year by a comfortable 5.6% margin over Republican challenger Jay Furman in 2024.

Cuellar’s trial is set to begin in September. He and his wife could face up to 204 years in prison if convicted, according to the Express-News.

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This article appears in Jul 10-23, 2025.