Congressman Henry Cuellar facing backlash from republican challengers after indictment
'It's pure fiction': Texas Congressman Henry Cuellar says he's innocent after indictment accusing him of bribery, money laundering, a powerful South Texas Democrat, was indicted with his wife Imelda on Friday on charges of accepting almost $600,000 in bribes from Azerbaijan and a Mexican bank.
The Cuellars appeared in a federal courthouse in Houston on Friday over the charges, where the congressman, flanked by his lawyer, asserted his innocence in brief remarks to KENS 5 sister station KHOU. 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.
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, Cuellar also allegedly included language to an annual defense spending bill in 2014 directing the secretaries of state and defense to work on a “strategic framework for United States security force assistance and cooperation in the European and Eurasian regions,” including Azerbaijan. He also coordinated with an Azerbaijani diplomat on a meeting with the Defense Department to focus more U.S. defense policy on the region, according to the indictment.
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 isfor 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.
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