Rep Cuellar to be indicted
-
The Justice Department is expected to announce the indictment of longtime Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, on Friday, two sources familiar with the matter told NBC News.
Cuellar’s home and campaign office in Laredo, Texas, were raided in January 2022 as part of a federal investigation into Azerbaijan and a group of U.S. businessmen who have ties to the country, law enforcement said at the time. His office had pledged to cooperate with the investigation. In April, Cuellar's lawyer, Joshua Berman, told some news outlets that federal authorities informed him he was not the target of the investigation.
Cuellar is a one-time co-chair of the Congressional Azerbaijan Caucus.
It wasn't immediately clear if the indictment was related to the 2022 raid. The Justice Department declined to comment.
Cuellar’s staff were calling other member offices Friday seeking advice on how to handle the situation, one source with knowledge of those calls told NBC News.
In a statement Friday, Cuellar denied any wrongdoing, saying that he had "proactively sought legal advice" from the House Ethics Committee, which had issued "more than one written opinion" about the matter. Much of his statement focused on his wife, Imelda Cuellar, though it wasn't immediately clear why.
Cuellar is an outspoken critic of the Biden border policies.
