WASHINGTON, D.C., USA — This article includes reporting from Texas Tribune.
The House Ethics Committee said Wednesday it will conduct its own investigation into Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar following his recent indictment, CBS News reports. The South Texas Democrat was accused of accepting nearly $600,000 in bribes from Azerbaijan and a Mexican bank.
CBS News reports the committee voted to establish a subcommittee to investigate whether Cuellar "solicited or accepted bribes, gratuities, or improper gifts; acted as a foreign agent; violated federal money laundering laws; misused his official position for private gain; and/or made false statements or omissions on public disclosure statements filed with the House."
Cuellar and his wife were indicted on April 30 on charges of accepting payments from Azerbaijan's state-run oil and gas company. The couple allegedly laundered the payments through fake consulting contracts to shell companies owned by Imelda Cuellar, according to the indictment.
In exchange, the Laredo congressman allegedly pushed U.S. policy in favor of Azerbaijan, an oil-rich former Soviet country that borders Iran and Russia on the Caspian Sea. Cuellar allegedly helped add language to defense spending legislation to prioritize ties to countries in the region, including with Azerbaijan.
Cuellar also allegedly took money from a retail Mexican bank, Banco Azteca, and influenced members of the executive branch to work around an anti-money laundering policy that threatened the bank’s interests, according to the indictment.
Three other people with ties to U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar’s bribery case have also pleaded guilty. Irada Akhoundova pleaded guilty to unlawfully acting as an agent of the Azerbaijani government and a state-run oil company, a violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, according to a plea deal. Cuellar’s former campaign manager, Colin Strother, and another consultant, Florencio "Lencho" Rendon, pleaded guilty to charges that they helped launder more than $200,000 in bribes from a Mexican bank, according to court records.