WASHINGTON– The House Ethics Committee opens an investigation into Rep. Henry Cuellar, Democrat of Texas, after his indictment earlier this month on allegations of bribery, money laundering and working for a foreign government .
The commission said Wednesday that it voted unanimously in favor of the rare step of continuing an investigation into Cuellar, 68, while he and his wife remain under investigation by the Department of Justice. Justice on the couple’s links with the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan.
“The Committee is aware of the risks associated with dual investigations and is in communication with the Department of Justice to mitigate potential risks while respecting the Committee’s obligations to safeguard the integrity of the House,” said the Chairman, Rep. Michael Guest. R-Miss., and ranking member, Rep. Susan Wild, D-Pa., said in a statement.
Cuellar, in a statement to The Associated Press, said he respected the committee’s work. He said he was “innocent of these allegations and that everything I have done in Congress has been to serve the people of South Texas.”
House and committee rules require that within 30 days after a member is formally indicted or charged, the committee either establishes an investigative subcommittee to review the allegations or publicly reports the reasons for which he did not do so.
Guest speaker and Rep. Glenn Ivy, D-Md., will lead the review of Cuellar. The committee cautioned in its statement that opening an investigation does not mean the lawmaker violated House rules.
Culler is the third lawmaker to face a federal indictment since the current session of Congress began in January. He said he and his wife, Imelda Cuellar, 67, “are innocent of these allegations.”
In a statement in early May, Cuellar said that before taking action, “I proactively requested a legal opinion from the House Ethics Committee, which gave me more than one written opinion, as well as ‘an additional opinion from a national law firm’.
The indictment against the couple says that between 2014 and 2021, they accepted nearly $600,000 in bribes from an Azerbaijani-controlled energy company and a bank in Mexico, and that in exchange, Cuellar agreed to promote the interests of the country and the bank in the United States. States.
Among other things, Cuellar agreed to influence legislation favorable to Azerbaijan and to deliver a pro-Azerbaijani speech on the House floor, according to the indictment.
In addition to bribery and conspiracy, Cuellar and his wife face charges including wire fraud conspiracy, acting as agents of foreign executives and money laundering. If convicted, they face up to decades in prison and forfeiture of any property related to the proceeds of the alleged scheme.
ABC News
