WASHINGTON — The Justice Department Friday issued an indictment against the long-time representative. Henri CuéllarD-Texas, and his wife, Imelda, accusing them of corruption and money laundering related to their ties to a bank in Mexico and an oil and gas company controlled by Azerbaijan.
NBC News was the first to report the charges were coming. The congressman and his wife were each released on $100,000 bail after an initial appearance in federal court in Houston, a DOJ spokesperson said Friday afternoon.
According to the indictment, from 2014 to 2021, the Cuellars allegedly accepted approximately $600,000 in bribes from the two foreign entities in exchange for the congressman performing official acts.
“The bribes were allegedly laundered, pursuant to bogus consulting contracts, through a series of shell companies and intermediaries within shell companies owned by Imelda Cuellar, who carried out little or no legitimate work under contracts,” the DOJ said in a statement.
“In exchange for 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,” the Justice Department continued. “In exchange for bribes paid by the Mexican bank, Congressman Cuellar allegedly agreed to influence legislative activity and advise and lobby senior U.S. executive officials on measures beneficial to the bank .
The congressman and his wife are each charged with two counts of conspiracy to bribe a federal official and causing a public official to act as an agent of a foreign principal; two counts of bribery of a federal official; two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud; two counts of violating the ban on public officials acting as agents of a foreign principal; one count of conspiracy to conceal money laundering; and five counts of money laundering.
If convicted, they could spend years, if not decades, in prison.
In a statement Friday before the charges came to light, Cuellar denied any wrongdoing, saying he had “proactively sought legal advice” from the House Ethics Committee, which had issued “more than one written opinion” on the matter. Much of his statement focused on his wife.
“I want to be clear that my wife and I are innocent of these allegations. Everything I have done in Congress has been to serve the people of South Texas,” Cuellar said in his statement, later adding, “The actions I took in Congress were consistent with those of many of my colleagues and in America’s interest. people.”
“Imelda and I have been married for 32 years. In addition to being an amazing wife and mother, she is an accomplished businesswoman with two degrees. She spent her career working in banking, tax and consulting,” he continued. “The allegation that she is anything but qualified and hardworking is both false and offensive.”
Cuellar, a rebel, also made clear he would still seek re-election:…
