BREAKING: Dem Rep Henry Cuellar Indicted For Taking $600,000 In Bribes From Foreign Government, Faces Over 200 Years In Prison

On Friday, the Department of Justice indicted Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) for taking $600,000 in bribes from an oil and gas company owned and controlled by the Azerbaijani government. The DOJ alleges that Cuellar and his wife participated in "two schemes involving bribery, unlawful foreign influence, and money laundering."

The two-decade veteran lawmaker from South Texas and his wife have both been charged with 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, two counts of bribery, two counts of conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud, two counts of violating the ban on public officials acting as agents of a foreign principal, one count of conspiracy to commit concealment money laundering, and five counts of money laundering. If found guilty of all the charges, the Cuellars could face a maximum sentence of 204 years in prison.

In response to the indictment, Cuellar said in a statement that he was innocent of all allegations against him. "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," the congressman said. "Before I took my action, I proactively sought legal advice from the House Ethics Committee, who gave me more than one written opinion, along with an additional opinion from a national law firm. The actions I took in Congress were consistent with the actions of many of my colleagues and in the interest of the American people."

The Texas Democrat explained that his wife, Imelda, was also innocent of any wrongdoing, "The allegation that she is anything but qualified and hard working is both wrong and offensive." He also said that he would be running for re-election despite the charges.

Cuellar was first elected to represent Texas' 28th District in Congress in 2004, and he is currently running for his 11th term in Congress. He hasn't faced any significant Republican opposition during his tenure, defeating Cassy Garcia (R-TX) by more than 13 points in 2022.

Read the full indictment here.

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