Update: Fox News' Chad Pergram posted on Tuesday night that despite House ethics rules advising members against voting if they have been indicted for a felony, which Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) has, the embattled congressman voted on Tuesday afternoon.
From colleague Tyler Olson. Cuellar voted in the most recent House vote series this afternoon. House ethics rules advise mbrs against voting if they have been indicted for a felony
— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) May 8, 2024
Original: Last Friday, as Spencer covered, Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) was indicted by the Department of Justice (DOJ) for federal bribery charges. Not only has the congressman insisted he's innocent, he's also insisted he's not resigning from his seat, despite the charges.
As Spencer's coverage mentioned:
According to the indictment unsealed Friday in the Southern District of Texas, Cuellar and his wife accepted close to $600,000 in bribes from a state-owned oil and gas company in Azerbaijan and a bank headquartered in Mexico City between 2014 and 2021. In return, Cuellar advocated for the interests of Azerbaijan and the Mexican bank in the United States.
The DOJ alleges that the Cuellars' scheme also involved "unlawful foreign influence and money laundering" carried out "pursuant to sham consulting contracts" through "a series of front companies and middlemen into shell companies owned by Imelda Cuellar, who performed little to no legitimate work under the contracts."
Cuellar is also not leaving his existing committees, though he is stepping down from his roles as ranking member, per POLITICO's Katherine Tully-McManus.
Recently indicted Rep. Cuellar, asked about the difference between his situation & George Santos says “everything is in the details”
— K Tully-McManus (@ktullymcmanus) May 7, 2024
Cuellar says he’s only stepping down from ranking member roles, but not exiting committees
“No, no, no, no, no” to if he’s resigning
From the start, comparisons were made between Cuellar and now former Rep. George Santos (R-NY), who was expelled from Congress last December, in an effort led by his fellow New York Republicans. He too had been indicted on federal charges, and also faced a damning report from the House Ethics Committee, though he has yet to be found guilty. In an unprecedented move, Santos became the first person expelled from Congress who had not fought for the Confederacy or had already been convicted of a crime.
Santos was replaced by a Democrat, Rep. Tom Suozzi, who previously held the seat before he left to run unsuccessfully for governor as a primary challenge to Gov. Kathy Hochul. Such a move thus shrunk the already narrow Republican majority even further.
Democratic leaders are standing by Cuellar, however. And there just isn't as much interest as there was about Santos, as Axios and The Hill have devoted entire articles to mentioning. The Hill had also covered how Santos issued several posts as to if they'd expel Cuellar.
An Axios report from Monday shows there doesn't look to be too much interest:
State of play: The National Republican Congressional Committee has challenged Democrats to call for Cuellar's resignation as they did with Santos.
- So far, just one Democrat, retiring Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.), has heeded that call.
What they're saying: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said in a statement on Friday that Cuellar "is entitled to his day in court and the presumption of innocence throughout the legal process."
- House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) told Axios on Monday that Cuellar is "going to get due process of law" and praised him for doing "the right thing" by stepping down from his subcommittee chairmanship.
- A senior House Democrat predicted few Democrats will call for Cuellar's resignation: "Dean Phillips is probably not the person to lean on for these things."
- But the lawmaker acknowledged "it's a problem" and said the appearance of hypocrisy with Santos is "concerning" to some Democrats.
Yes, but: House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.), asked if Cuellar should resign, said: "I haven't seen any details."
- House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told Axios: "I don't know much about that."
What we're hearing: "There's the ordinary [process]: allegation, criminal process, ethics review, outcome. And then there's the extraordinary – George Santos," said one House Republican.
- A House Democrat told Axios that Cuellar's stuff "isn't as entertaining and bizarre ... Santos was a bizarre series of weird fabrications plus the FEC violations. Made for good soap opera."
Even as Cuellar insists he can win reelection, Cook Political Report changed the race for Texas' 28th Congressional District from "Likely Democrat" to "Lean Democrat," with an analysis from Erin Covey noting how the indictment "Puts Him in More Vulnerable Position."
When he won in 2022, after overcoming a primary challenge from Squad-backed Jessica Cisneros, Cuellar won with 56.7 percent of the vote to Republican Cassy Garcia's 43.3 percent. The race at the time was ranked as a "Toss-Up" race by Cook Political Repot, but as "Lean Democrat" by other prognosticators.
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