Henry Cuellar

The FEC Audit Division referred Texans for Henry Cuellar Congressional Campaign (committee treasurer Rosendo Carranco) for receiving $36,300 in excessive contributions and $13,000 in potentially prohibited contributions during the 2004 election cycle. The case was opened under the FEC's Alternative Dispute Resolution process on June 23, 2008 and resolved by settlement agreement on March 6, 2009. Under the settlement, the campaign paid a $2,500 civil penalty and refunded or redesignated all excessive and prohibited contributions. All terms were confirmed satisfied as of November 25, 2014.

On May 3, 2024, the DOJ unsealed a 14-count federal indictment against Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) and his wife Imelda Cuellar, charging them with bribery of a public official, conspiracy, honest-services wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, substantive money laundering, and violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). Prosecutors alleged that from approximately December 2014 through November 2021, the Cuellars accepted approximately $598,000 in bribes from two foreign entities: SOCAR (an oil and gas company wholly owned by the Government of Azerbaijan) and Banco Azteca (a bank headquartered in Mexico City), in exchange for Cuellar using his congressional office to influence U.S. foreign policy in favor of Azerbaijan and to pressure executive branch officials on behalf of the Mexican bank. The FBI had raided Cuellar's home and campaign office on January 19, 2022, as part of the underlying investigation. Both defendants pleaded not guilty. Three co-defendants — campaign manager Colin Strother, political consultant Florencio Rendon, and Houston-Baku Sister City Association president Irada Akhoundova — pleaded guilty in May 2024. In August 2025, a federal judge dismissed two of the 14 FARA-related counts following a DOJ policy shift under AG Pam Bondi. The trial, originally scheduled for September 2025, was rescheduled for April 2026. On December 3, 2025, President Trump issued a full and unconditional pardon to both Henry and Imelda Cuellar before trial. The federal judge dismissed the case with prejudice on December 23, 2025. Cuellar remained in office and won reelection in November 2024 while charges were pending.

On May 3, 2024, Rep. Henry Cuellar and his wife Imelda were indicted on 14 federal counts alleging they accepted approximately $600,000 in bribes between December 2014 and November 2021 from an oil-and-gas company owned by the government of Azerbaijan and from a bank headquartered in Mexico City (reported as Banco Azteca). In exchange, Cuellar allegedly agreed to use his office to influence U.S. foreign policy in favor of Azerbaijan and to influence legislative and executive-branch action benefiting the Mexican bank. The payments were allegedly laundered through sham consulting contracts into shell companies owned by Imelda Cuellar. Two of Cuellar's political advisers, Colin Strother and Florencio Rendon, pleaded guilty to related money-laundering conspiracy charges. Cuellar relinquished his post as ranking member/chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security after the indictment but maintained his and his wife's innocence. In August 2025, a federal judge dismissed two FARA-related counts (after DOJ sought their dismissal under a 2025 policy memo). Before the April 2026 trial, President Trump granted a full and unconditional pardon to both Cuellars on December 3, 2025, ending the prosecution without a conviction.

Following Cuellar's May 2024 federal indictment, the House Committee on Ethics announced on May 29, 2024 that it had unanimously voted to establish an investigative subcommittee to determine 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 on House financial disclosure filings. The establishment of the subcommittee is a formal procedural action by an official body. No formal findings, reprimand, censure, or expulsion were publicly issued against Cuellar before the underlying criminal case ended with a presidential pardon.