Rep. Cuellar accused of taking bribes from Azerbaijan, Mexican bank

Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, and his wife allegedly accepted $600,000 in bribes from an oil company controlled by the Azerbaijan government and a bank headquartered in Mexico, according to a federal indictment unsealed in Texas on Friday.

The 68-year-old congressman and his wife, Imelda Cuellar, are accused of setting up front companies that entered into sham contracts with the two entities, the indictment said.

According to the indictment, Cuellar agreed to use his position as a congressman to positively influence U.S. foreign policies for Azerbaijan. In exchange for the Mexican bank bribes, Cuellar agreed to push policies that would benefit the bank, the indictment said.

Both husband and wife face charges that include money laundering, conspiracy to commit bribery of a federal official, wire fraud and more.

Cuellar said in a statement that he is innocent and expects to win his re-election bid in November.

“I want to be clear that both my wife and I are innocent of these allegations. Everything I have done in Congress has been to serve the people of South Texas,” he said.

The announcement comes two years after Cuellar’s home and office in Laredo, Texas, were raided by FBI agents as part of an investigation that authorities never publicly disclosed. Cuellar’s lawyers maintained that the Justice Department told them the congressman was not the subject of the probe.

Cuellar had said he was cooperating in the investigation. He pledged in 2022 not to abandon his bid for re-election, winning his 10th term in Congress that November. He is running again this cycle.

Cuellar has served in the House for almost two decades and has been critical of the Democratic Party over what he says has been a shift to the left over the years.

He proudly wears the moderate Democrat label and has often sought to work across the aisle.

Representing a district bordering the Texas-Mexico border that’s anchored around his hometown of Laredo, Cuellar has pushed the Democratic caucus over the years to seek moderate and bipartisan solutions to the border crisis, often siding with proposals made by then-President Donald Trump. Many liberals consider him a thorn in Democrats’ side, complicating efforts to advance the border issue in a way most of the caucus wants to pursue.

Cuellar is also the last remaining House Democrat who is antiabortion. He often sides with Republicans on more conservative legislation. His more moderate stances have earned him primary challenges in recent years, including two by liberal Jessica Cisneros, who came close to ousting him shortly after the 2022 FBI raid.

In recent months, Cuellar made headlines after he was carjacked last year about a mile from the U.S. Capitol. His car and luggage were stolen.