Like Sen. Bob Menendez before him, Rep. Henry Cuellar is facing an indictment for bribery. Like Menendez, Cuellar is refusing calls to resign.
In fact, Cuellar has gone a step further. He’s promised to continue running for re-election.
“Let me be clear, I’m running for re-election and will win this November,” the Texas Democrat said Friday in a statement.
Cuellar’s prediction might be right. He likely will win in November.
The Cuellar family has become a ruling dynasty in Texas. The congressman’s brother is a sheriff in Laredo, Texas. His sister was a municipal judge, and she’s running for the state legislature.
Rep. Cuellar benefits not only from this name recognition, but also from his tendency to buck far-Left sloganeering. Cuellar has become one of the House Democrats’ few pro-life voices. He’s slammed President Joe Biden’s administration for presiding over a record number of border crossings, and he votes with Republicans on gun control, a hot topic in Texas.
Cuellar is also running as a 20-year incumbent with a history of landslide elections. In 2020, Biden carried the Lone Star State’s 28th congressional district by seven points. On the same ballot, Cuellar won it by more than 18 points.
Granted, he came within 300 votes of losing 2022’s Democratic primary to far-Left lawyer Jessica Cisneros, but he already won this year’s primary.
Sure enough, some of Cuellar’s constituents in southern Texas still support his re-election, even after expressing their alarm at the allegations.
Webb County Democratic Party Chair Sylvia Bruni wants the courts to remain separate from the campaign. “We have a campaign to advance, our Democracy at stake,” she said in a statement.
“It is extremely surprising for me because I’ve known Henry for many, many years,” Starr County Judge Eloy Vera said. “He’s always been a very straight guy, you know, very sincere. I mean, he’s done so much for us in Starr County. I hate to see this going on.”
Cuellar, 68, looks likely to cruise toward an 11th term despite his legal woes.
In federal court, the congressman stands accused of bribery and conspiracy.
Cuellar and his wife, a businesswoman, were taken into custody Friday in connection with a U.S. Department of Justice probe into the couple’s ties to the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan.
The Cuellars are accused of accepting nearly $600,000 in bribes from an Azerbaijan-controlled energy company and a bank in Mexico. In exchange, Cuellar, the former co-chair of the Congressional Azerbaijan Caucus, allegedly agreed to advance those entities’ interests in the U.S.
The couple surrendered to authorities, made an initial appearance before a federal judge in Houston and were each released on $100,000 bond, the DOJ said.
In a statement, Cuellar described himself and his wife as “innocent of these allegations.”
“Everything I have done in Congress has been to serve the people of South Texas,” Cuellar added.
Menendez has missed the deadline to run for re-election as a Democrat, but he may still run as an independent.
Take a look at Cuellar’s full statement —
DOJ expected to announce indictment of Texas Democratic Congressman Henry Cuellar.
PER @EvanLambertTV DOJ has not commented.
But confirmed by @RepCuellar office.
He alludes to allegations against his wife as well.
Statement below: pic.twitter.com/SMyr3J3FjO
— Kellie Meyer (@KellieMeyerNews) May 3, 2024