Texas Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar and his wife were indicted in May 2024 on a series of federal corruption charges including bribery, money laundering, wire fraud and failing to register as a foreign agent.
Federal prosecutors accused the 69-year-old Cuellar — a career politician — of using “sham contracts” and fake invoices to conceal hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes from an Azerbaijani oil company and a Mexican bank over a years-long period.
Cuellar represents a district that sits on the south Texas border, and he often breaks with Democrats on immigration and border issues. That’s true even for culture war bills at times.
But now, with President Donald Trump in office – and House Republicans barely holding onto a razor-thin margin where every vote counts – Cuellar is becoming a hot commodity among top administration officials.
In an interview on Wednesday, Cuellar told us that Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, are all seeking meetings with him. Cuellar has also reached out to Homan independently over the past few months.
“We’re talking about immigration,” Cuellar said of the Trump administration officials, Cuellar also noted that he has had a long relationship with Homan. “We’ve known each other for many, many years.”
Cuellar added that these conversations took place around Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration.
The 11-term lawmaker is one of only two Texas Democrats serving on the House Appropriations Committee. He sits on the Defense, Homeland Security and MilCon-VA subcommittees on that panel.
When asked whether Cuellar or his defense attorneys have spoken to administration officials about his criminal case, the Texas Democrat insisted, “That has nothing to do with it. Nothing at all.”
Cuellar was indicted on April 30, more than two years after his home was raided by FBI agents. Cuellar stepped aside as ranking member of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on the Appropriations Committee, but there has been little other fallout within the House Democratic Caucus. Cuellar won reelection in November, defeating Republican Jay Furman despite a bad year for Democrats.
Cuellar’s criminal case isn’t going anywhere fast either. The case is currently scheduled to go to trial in late September. There’s been very little action in the case docket beyond the logistics of the treatment of classified information and rescheduling the start of the trial.
