Rep. Henry Cuellar is one of only a few Democrats who have spoken out against Joe Biden’s border policy. The Justice Department has now charged Henry Cuellar and his wife Imelda for accepting $600,000 in bribes and money laundering.
The indictment shows a classic “pay-for-play” scheme, with Cuellar performing various favors for Azerbaijan in exchange for money and involving a corrupt Mexican Bank for a cut.
The indictment states that Cuellar had “agreed” to perform official actions in his capacity as a member of Congress and commit acts against his official duties. He also agreed to act as a representative of the Government of Azerbaijan and the bank.
Cuellar claims he is innocent.
Cuellar stated, “Everything I’ve done in Congress was to serve the people from South Texas.” Cuellar said, “Before taking action, I sought legal advice from both the House Ethics Committee and a national law office. I received more than one written opinion.”
It may be. He certainly didn’t behave as if the actions he performed on behalf of Azerbaijan were on the up-and-up.
According to the indictment, Azerbaijan paid the couple through a Texas shell company that Imelda Cuellar owned with her two children. According to the Associated Press, $25,000 a month was paid under a sham contract in exchange for unspecified consulting services.
The indictment says, “In reality, the contract was just a sham to cover up and legitimize the corrupt agreement” between Henry Cuellar’s government and Azerbaijan.
Imelda Cuellar sent a fake invoice to the Washington branch of the Azerbaijani Energy Company stating that the work contracted was completed.
The indictment states that Imelda Cuellar performed very little work or no work at all under the contract.
In the indictment, it is also alleged that an Azerbaijani diplomatic sent text messages referring to Henry Cuellar as “el Jefe,” or “boss,” while a member of Cuellar’s staff sent emails to Department of State officials pressuring them to extend a U.S. Passport for a daughter of an Azerbaijani ambassador.
Cuellar has served as the co-chairman of the Congressional Azerbaijan Caucus.
Cuellar’s lawyer at the time stated that Cuellar wasn’t the target of the investigation. In 2022, the FBI searched Cuellar’s home in Laredo. The search was part a broader Azerbaijan investigation that saw FBI agents conduct interviews and serve subpoenas in Washington, D.C. and Texas. A person with knowledge of the probe told The Associated Press previously. The person who spoke was not authorized by the FBI to speak publicly about it and requested anonymity.
Cuellar agreed to pay Azerbaijan for several agreements.
CNN:
Cuellar allegedly agreed to influence US policies through “a series of legislative actions relating Azerbaijan’s conflict against neighboring Armenia” by giving a pro-Azerbaijani address on the House Floor, inserting “favored language by Azerbaijan”, into legislation and reports of committees, and advocating “series legislative measures relating Azerbaijan’s conflict against neighboring Armenia.”
The Texas Democrat allegedly also promised to influence financial regulation in a manner that would benefit Mexican banks and their affiliated companies, including working to pressure the Executive Branch regarding anti-money laundering enforcement policies that “threatened their business interests” and supporting revisions of the criminal money laundering statutes.
Azerbaijan ranks 153rd out of 180 countries in the Corruption Index of Transparency International. Cuellar slept with some very bad individuals.
