San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Congress is wrong place for the indicted
Afederal court will eventually determine whether Henry Cuellar violated the law. But it’s not too soon to conclude that the Laredo-based Democratic member of Congress, whose district includes parts of San Antonio’s East Side and downtown, has violated the public trust. It had been an open question since 2022 when the FBI raided Cuellar’s home and office.
That question has been magnified following the May 3 federal indictment of Cuellar and his wife, Imelda, on charges of bribery, money laundering, wire fraud and illegally acting as a foreign agent.
Everyone is entitled to the presumption of innocence. That is a legal standard. But politicians are also held to a moral standard, and an indictment such as this betrays voters and erodes confidence in our institutions.
According to the 54-page indictment, the Cuellars allegedly accepted nearly $600,000 in bribes from the national oil and gas company of Azerbaijan and a Mexican bank, and they funneled these payments through shell companies. Cuellar has proclaimed his innocence and vowed to continue his bid for an 11th term in office.
When we talk about the public trust, consider that Cuellar’s attorney, Joshua Berman, speaking on his behalf, misled the public in April 2022 when he told Fox News that Cuellar was not the target of an FBI raid of the Congress member’s home and campaign office.
Berman’s statement was an obvious bid to rescue Cuellar’s campaign prospects in a tough primary runoff battle with progressive immigration attorney Jessica Cisneros. Cuellar won that race by 281 votes. It’s clear he also won under false pretenses.
Berman’s effort at damage control, and the subsequent two years of silence on the FBI investigation, dissuaded any serious competitors in either major party from challenging Cuellar this year. Even with federal indictments hanging over his head, it’s possible that voters, given their limited options, could send him back to Congress in November.
Cuellar, the indicted, will face either Jay Furman or Lazaro Garza, who are locked in the May 28 Republican runoff.
What kind of public servant could Cuellar be under those circumstances? He will be distracted by his legal problems, he will be weakened in the U.S. House, and he will carry the stench of corruption wherever he goes. He already must take leave as ranking member of the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee.
Staying in office might be good for Cuellar, but there’s no way it serves the best interests of his constituents.
There’s no room for partisanship here. We called on Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican, to step down in 2020 after seven whistleblowers who held high-ranking positions in his office accused him of abusing his position to benefit a campaign donor. By that point, Paxton had been fighting securities fraud charges for five years.
Our argument for Paxton’s resignation was that the “seriousness of the charges” and the “force of his checkered history” had fatally compromised his ability to fulfill the duties of his office.
When it comes to Cuellar, there is no denying the seriousness of the charges.
The indictment alleges that the congressman, in exchange for bribery payments, “promised to use the power and prestige of his office” to advance the interests of Azerbaijan and the Mexican bank. That includes inserting language into congressional bills, delivering a pro-Azerbaijan speech on the House floor and influencing federal financial regulations.
These accusations cut to the essence of Cuellar’s compact with voters, as well as his congressional oath to “bear true faith and allegiance” to the Constitution of the United States.
It’s important to consider the level of detail in this indictment. Federal investigators spent two years building a case against Cuellar. They collected bank records, text exchanges and emails.
For example, the indictment alleges that on May 5, 2014, Cuellar emailed an Azerbaijani diplomat and two other individuals to let them know he had placed language they wanted in that year’s National Defense Authorization Act.
The diplomat thanked Cuellar and called for a meeting with the U.S. Department of Defense, and Cuellar promised to set up the meeting, according to the indictment.
On March 31, 2017, after Cuellar allegedly texted the diplomat to say he had “submitted language” sought by Azerbaijan, according to the indictment, the diplomat responded, “You are the best El Jefe!”
Two political strategists connected to Cuellar, Colin Strother, of Buda, and Florencio “Lencho” Rendon, of San Antonio, have struck a deal with prosecutors to plead guilty to launder more than $200,000 in bribes. The two will work with prosecutors.
The allegations against Cuellar echo the current federal indictment U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., faces. Federal prosecutors allege that Menendez and his wife, Nadine, took bribes from three New Jersey businessmen in exchange for the senator’s efforts to benefit the government of Egypt and enrich the businessmen.
Shortly after that indictment was filed last September, Cory Booker, Menendez’s fellow New Jersey senator, called on his friend to resign.
“Stepping down is not an admission of guilt but an acknowledgement that holding public office often demands tremendous sacrifices at great personal cost,” Booker said. “I believe stepping down is best for those Sen. Menendez has spent his life serving.”
It’s time for Cuellar to make a personal sacrifice for the good of his district. If the allegations against him are true, he has used his office to serve himself. Now, he needs to serve the people who put him in Congress. And the best way for him to do that is to step down.
Cuellar has lost the public’s trust, ability to focus on his duties