On Wednesday, Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar, who represents Texas’ 28th congressional district, said he will “fully cooperate in any investigation” after reports surfaced that the FBI searched his Texas home and campaign office.
According to the New York Post, the bureau conducted a “court-authorized” search Wednesday, though it is unclear what they are looking for. An FBI spokeswoman told reporters that agents were “present in the vicinity” of Cuellar’s home in Laredo. She did not provide additional information on the investigation.
“Congressman Cuellar will fully cooperate in any investigation. He is committed to ensuring that justice and the law are upheld,” a spokesperson for Cuellar told reporters in a statement. Cuellar has served in Congress since 2005.
On Wednesday evening, a reporter for The Monitor newspaper tweeted that around 7:30 p.m., a group of FBI agents loaded large bags, plastic bins, and a computer into a federal vehicle.
By around 7:30 p.m., a group of agents loaded large bags, plastic bins, and a computer into a federal vehicle. Others appeared to be logging the items. pic.twitter.com/dFlGWRnOqK
— Valerie Gonzalez (@ValOnTheBorder) January 20, 2022
An unnamed source told CNN that The Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Public Integrity Unit is involved with the investigation. “The public integrity section handles cases involving elected officials, including campaign finance and other investigations,” CNN’s report stated.
Cuellar, who is described as a “moderate” Democrat, told The New York Times last month that his experiences with Vice President Kamala Harris’ team on the border crisis have been “disappointing.” The Times noted that Cuellar phoned Harris’ office ahead of her visit to the border and never received a response.
“Representative Henry Cuellar, a moderate from Texas and one of the more prominent voices on border issues in the Democratic Party, said his experiences with Ms. Harris’s team had been disappointing. When Mr. Cuellar heard Ms. Harris was traveling to the border in June, he had his staff call her office to offer help and advice for her visit. He never received a call back.
‘I say this very respectfully to her: I moved on,’ Mr. Cuellar said. ‘She was tasked with that job, it doesn’t look like she’s very interested in this, so we are going to move on to other folks that work on this issue.’
In the future, Mr. Cuellar said he would go straight to the West Wing with his concerns on migration rather than the vice president’s office.
Of the White House, Mr. Cuellar said, ‘at least they talk to you.’”