Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) was recently re-elected to the 28th District of Texas along the southern border with Mexico. The longtime Texas Democrat won reelection despite a federal indictment for criminal bribery that he is actively battling. Cuellar has denied any wrongdoing in the allegations brought against him.
With 99 percent of the votes counted, the Associated Press called the race in favor of Cuellar, who won 52.4 percent of the vote (125,067 votes) against Republican challenger Jay Furman, who took 47.6 percent of the vote (113,695). However, Cuellar has been accused of accepting approximately $600,000 from Azerbaijan’s State-Owned Oil Company and a Mexican Bank in exchange for favors as a Congressman.
According to a May press release from the Department of Justice, “An indictment was unsealed today in the Southern District of Texas charging U.S. Congressman Enrique Roberto “Henry” Cuellar, 68, and his wife, Imelda Cuellar, 67, both of Laredo, Texas, with participating in two schemes involving bribery, unlawful foreign influence, and money laundering. Congressman Cuellar and Imelda Cuellar made their initial court appearance today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Dena Palermo in Houston.”
The DOJ statement continued, “According to court documents, beginning in at least December 2014 and continuing through at least November 2021, Congressman Cuellar and Imelda Cuellar allegedly accepted approximately $600,000 in bribes from two foreign entities: an oil and gas company wholly owned and controlled by the Government of Azerbaijan, and a bank headquartered in Mexico City. 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.”
Furthermore, allegations suggest that Cuellar agreed to exercise his influence in response to the bribes. “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,” the DOJ said.
Cuellar’s controversial indictment sparked commentary from conservatives on social media. The popular right-wing X account Clandestine wrote, “The DOJ are reportedly about to indict Democrat Congressman, Henry Cuellar. He represents Texas’s 28th District, right on the southern border. His home and campaign office were raided by the FBI in January 2022, in connection to an investigation involving Azerbaijan and US businessmen… It’s unclear if the raid and indictment are connected, but certainly something to keep an eye on. Developing.” the post read.
Others in the comments suggested that Cuellar was being investigated because he chose to oppose the Biden-Harris administration. “His crime was that he complained about the massive illegal invasion at the border close to where he lives and where his constituency is. Even Democrats who expose the truth about the border invasion are being investigated by the Marxist Biden Regime,” another person said.
Echoing this sentiment, another user wrote, “Hmmm, a Biden political opponent who is pro-gun control, anti-abortion, anti-union and referred to as “Trumps favorite Democrat” is indicted by Bidens DOJ. He also is against Bidens open border policies. And Oct 23, 2023 he was carjacked. 🤔”
Watch New York City Mayor Eric Adams discuss the possibility of joining the GOP below:
Featured image credit: Eric Connolly; U.S. House Office of Photography, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Henry_Cuellar,_official_portrait,_115th_congress.jpg
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