Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) released a statement on Friday maintaining his innocence after he and his wife were indicted on federal corruption and bribery charges.
The 68-year-old congressman was charged along with his wife, Imelda Cuellar, 67, of participating in two alleged schemes involving bribery, unlawful foreign influence, and money laundering, the DOJ said in a statement.
The Cuellars allegedly took nearly $600,000 in bribes from an oil and gas company that is wholly owned and controlled by the government of Azerbaijan and a bank that is headquartered in Mexico city.
“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,” prosecutors allege. “Cuellar performed little or no legitimate work under the sham contracts.”
“I want to be clear that both my wife and I…
