Trump defends Democrat Texas congressman accused of accepting $600,000 in ... trends now
Former President Donald Trump has issued a defense of Democratic Congressman Henry Cuellar after he and his wife were indicted for allegedly accepting bribes.
Cuellar, who has been in office since 2005, is a pro-life and pro-border security Democrat.
'Biden just Indicted Henry Cuellar because the Respected Democrat Congressman wouldn’t play Crooked Joe’s Open Border game,' Trump wrote on Truth Social. 'He was for Border Control, so they said, “Let’s use the FBI and DOJ to take him out!” This is the way they operate. They’re a bunch of D.C. Thugs.'
Two bribes, which amounted to $598,000, allegedly came from an oil and gas company owned by the Azerbaijani government and a bank headquartered in Mexico City. They were reportedly funneled through shell companies owned by Imelda.
'Cuellar promised to use the power and prestige of his office to advance Azerbaijan’s and Foreign Bank-1’s interests in the United States,' the DOJ claimed.
The pair were released on $100,000 bond on Friday. If convicted, they could each spend the rest of their lives behind bars.
Cuellar is the third member of Congress to be indicted this congressional term, following Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., and Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J.
Santos was ousted in December but Menendez remains in the Senate, though he no longer serves as Foreign Relations chairman.
Trump has issued a defense of Democratic Congressman Henry Cuellar after he and his wife were indicted for allegedly accepting bribes
At least one Democrat, Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn., has called on Cuellar to resign.
House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries declined to call on Cuellar to resign, but removed him as chair of a key funding subcommitteee.
Cuellar is “'s entitled to his day in court and the presumption of innocence throughout the legal process,' said Jeffries, but will 'take leave as Ranking Member of the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee while this matter is ongoing.'
'The bribe payments were laundered, pursuant to sham consulting contracts, through a series of front companies and middlemen into shell companies owned by Imelda Cuellar. Cuellar performed little or no legitimate work under the sham contracts.'
The scheme ran 'at least' from December 2014 to November 2021. The couple faces up to 204 years in prison if convicted on all counts.
The Texas Democrat's home was raided by the FBI in January 2022 as part of an investigation into his
