Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar was charged with accepting $600,000 in bribes from two foreign entities, according to an indictment released by the Justice Department on Friday.
The moderate Democrat said in a statement earlier in the day that he will continue seeking reelection to his Texas seat and that both he and his wife are innocent of the charges.
The indictment obtained by federal prosecutors in the Southern District of Texas alleges that the Cuellars participated in two schemes involving bribery, unlawful foreign influence and money laundering. They appeared in court in Houston on Friday.
The court documents unsealed Friday allege that starting in December 2014 through November 2021, Cuellar and his wife, Imelda Cuellar, accepted bribes from an oil and gas company owned by the government of Azerbaijan as well as a bank headquartered in Mexico City.
