WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo, asserted his innocence in a statement Friday after NBC News reported federal investigators were planning to indict the long-time congressman.
The nature of the potential indictment remains unclear. FBI agents raideded Cuellar’s Laredo home and office in 2022 — weeks before his primary election— though his lawyer at the time asserted he was not the target of the investigation. ABC News reported shortly after that the investigation was related to Cuellar, his wife and one of his campaign staffers and their alleged ties to Azerbaijan. Cellular is a member of the Congressional Azerbaijan Caucus.
In his Friday statement, Cuellar said his actions were “consistent with the actions of many of my colleagues and in the interest of the American people.”
“I want to be clear that both my wife and I are innocent of these allegations,” Cuellar said without addressing what the allegations were about. “Before I took any 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.”
Cuellar added that he will still run for reelection in November.
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