Texas Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar, Wife Indicted on Bribery, Money Laundering Charges
The DOJ alleges the Cuellars “agreed to and did accept at least $598,000 in bribes from two foreign entities: Foreign Oil Company-1, an oil and gas company wholly owned and controlled by the Government of Azerbaijan, and Foreign Bank-1, a bank headquartered in Mexico City.”
A grand jury indicted Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) and his wife, Imelda, on bribery and money laundering charges linked to Azerbaijan and Mexico.
The DOJ unsealed the indictment today.
The DOJ alleges the Cuellars “agreed to and did accept at least $598,000 in bribes from two foreign entities: Foreign Oil Company-1, an oil and gas company wholly owned and controlled by the Government of Azerbaijan, and Foreign Bank-1, a bank headquartered in Mexico City.”
By the way, Cuellar has sat on the House Committee on Appropriations since 2013.
The scheme started in December 2014 and went through at least November 2021:
The bribe payments were allegedly laundered, pursuant to sham consulting contracts, through a series of front companies and middlemen into shell companies owned by Imelda Cuellar, who performed little to no legitimate work under the contracts. In exchange for the bribes paid by the Azerbaijani oil and gas company, Congressman Cuellar allegedly agreed to use his office to influence U.S. foreign policy in favor of Azerbaijan. In exchange for the bribes paid by the Mexican bank, Congressman Cuellar allegedly agreed to influence legislative activity and to advise and pressure high-ranking U.S. Executive Branch officials regarding measures beneficial to the bank.
Henry and Imelda face these charges:
- Two counts of conspiracy to commit bribery of a federal official and to have a public official act as an agent of a foreign principal – 5 years in prison
- Two counts of bribery of a federal official – 15 years in prison
- Two counts of conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud – 20 years in prison
- Two counts of violating the ban on public officials acting as agents of a foreign principal – 2 years in prison
- One count of conspiracy to commit concealment money laundering – 20 years in prison
- Five counts of money laundering – 20 years in prison
Officials accused Cuellar of using his influence in the House in exchange for bribes to benefit Azerbaijan, including:
- Legislation relating to U.S. security and economic development programs
- Legislation and policy relating to the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict
- Immigration issues relating to an Azerbaijani citizen
- Promotion of Azerbaijan’s reputation as an ally and strategic partner of the United States, among other matters
Armenia and Azerbaijan fought over the Nogorno-Karabakh region from 1988 to January 1, 2024.
The fighting escalated in 2020, leading to bloodshed and terror.
How Cuellar allegedly tried to help:
On April 11, 2016, HENRY CUELLAR wrote a letter to U.S. Official-1, a high ranking Executive Branch Official, accusing Armenia of being a “proxy” for Russia “to intimidate U.S. partners, including Azerbaijan,” and expressing support for “the withdrawal of the military forces from the occupied territories of Azerbaijan,” meaning the Nagorno-Karabakh region. On April 12, 2016, one of HENRY CUELLAR’s staffers emailed the letter to Azerbaijani Diplomat-1 and stated that the letter “was sent to our White House legislative affairs contact.”
In 2020, a member of the Armenian caucus proposed an amendment to “appropriate $1.4 million for demining efforts in the region.” The DOJ alleges that Cuellar sent the Azbaijani diplomat a tweet from the Armenian Assembly claiming Cuellar withdrew the amendment.
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Comments
This is the Dim Machine punishing Cuellar for deviating from the party line with respect to the border debacle.
Absolutely
And a warning to everyone else
But, they won’t kick him out because it’s (probably) too late to hold a special election this year.
Must be hearing some rumblings about the general coming up. I’d look for a number of Dems to either retire, not run again or get thrown out ahead of this fall. Besides, what he did is exactly what Biden and Hunter have done or that weirdo with gold bars up in NJ. He just did it on a smaller scale.
He needs to resign now.
Not so fast; why not switch parties?
Great question. Cuellar is an old-school ‘blue dog’ Democrat… fiscally conservative. He’s not down with the open-border nonsense, and like the vast majority of Tejanos he is Catholic so he holds a lot of viewpoints on social issues that would be considered ‘radical right-wing’ by the progressive left these days. A lot of Tejano voters in the valley are switching sides, why not him?
So similar.
So different.
I wonder why.
So the one guy who had any disagreement with the pedophile in Chief over the open border gets indicted, I’m sure it’s just a coincidence..
He needs to change to Republican right now
He’s too far left for that
I’m cynical enough to think there isn’t a clean member of congress or the senate regardless of party.
He’s going through the wringer for not toeing the Democrat party line.
I have to believe just based on the law of odds that there are at least a handful of boyscouts and/or girlscouts…but damn it seems like there aren’t many.
Must have wandered off the reservation somehow
Well, of course they did. How do you think Congresscritters manage to become millionaires on their paltry salaries?
Insider trading, mostly. No need to take bribes when you can make a literal fortune without the criminal exposure. This is why there’s bipartisan reluctance to criminalize these trading practices.
Most were either rich before they entered politics, or have rich spouses. There’s usually no need to resort to accusations of malfeasance in order to explain their wealth.
Then there is insider trading, which is not illegal for them. And there’s the kind of relationship where friends help each other, that DOJ keeps trying to turn into a crime of “honest services fraud”, but the courts keep pointing out that no matter how much DOJ doesn’t like it, it’s perfectly legal.
Normally, Bribery and Money Laundering are considered part of the compensation package for elected Democrats and officials. Until they wander off the reservation.
Subotai Bahadur
So when will the House vote to expel him, as they did to Mr. Santos?
Exactly
No, because it’s just an accusation. He may very well be acquitted, just as Menendez was the first time around, and so many others.
Santos was not expelled until the House did its own investigation and determined independently of the executive branch that he was guilty.
So, when do you think the House is going to do an “investigation “.
House investigations being the gold standard, of course.
Stupid a$$ Johnson
“Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) and his wife, Imelda”
Never go full Marcos.
So, as it turns out, Federal disclosures show that Cuellar, a nine-term congressman, traveled to Azerbaijan in 2013.
Two years later, Cuellar’s office announced an agreement between a Texas university and an organization called the Assembly of Friends of Azerbaijan to collaborate on oil and gas research and education. Where have we heard a story like this before? Let us think. Hunter and Joe!
Cuellar is also a target because he is one of the last anti-abortion Democrats in Congress. He narrowly defeated a progressive challenger, Jessica Cisneros, by fewer than 300 votes in a primary race in 2022.
In other words, Biden’s chief of staff and the DNC want him out. The use of this Administration’s DOJ for abuse of power and obstruction of justice is maddening.