It's been more than a week since veteran Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, and his wife, Imelda Cuellar, were hit with a sensational indictment charging they accepted at least $598,000 in bribes from a Mexican bank and an oil and gas company controlled by Azerbaijan.
On Thursday, the case took a new twist when it was revealed that two former associates of Cuellar — onetime campaign manager and top aide Mina Colin Strother and Texas businessman Florencio "Lencho" Rendon — signed plea deals in March and agreed to cooperate with the Justice Department in the case against the Cuellars.
Both Strother and Rendon had been charged with conspiracy to commit fraud.
Cuellar, who has fiercely denied any wrongdoing, stepped down from his positions as chief deputy whip and ranking member of the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee pending his trial. Having won the Democratic primary in Texas' 28th District (Laredo-San Antonio) last month, 10-termer Cuellar insists he will not withdraw as a candidate for reelection.
A few Republican House members have called on House Democrats to expel Cuellar and cited Democratic calls last year for the Republicans to oust disgraced former Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., over charges he had confabulated and lied outright about his background, education, and work history.
One who disagrees with this opinion is Donald Trump. Noting Cuellar's sometimes-conservative voting record (he opposes abortion and is strong on border security), the former president on May 5 posted on Truth Social: "Biden just Indicted Henry Cuellar because the Respected Democrat Congressman wouldn't play Crooked Joe's Open Border game. He was for Border Control, so they said, 'Let's use the FBI and DOJ [Department of Justice] to take him out!' This is the way they operate. They're a bunch of D.C. Thugs, and at some point they will be paying a very big price for what they have done to our Country. CROOKED JOE BIDEN IS A THREAT TO DEMOCRACY!"
So far, not a single congressman — either Democrat or Republican — has called for Cuellar's expulsion.
"[Cuellar is] one of the few relatively conservative Democrats left in Congress," Wayne Thorburn, former executive director of the Texas Republican Party and author of two critically acclaimed books on Texas politics, told Newsmax. "Before going to Washington, he had been appointed Texas secretary of state by Gov. George W. Bush. He is well respected in Laredo.
"Cuellar harkens back to the time when both parties were interested in governing and reflecting consensus views rather than simply attacking each other and rallying around a party, regardless of what positions the party advocates at any specific point in time."
While Thorburn's view is widely shared by Lone Star State Republicans, this does not mean there will not be a spirited campaign against the embattled congressman after the Republican nominee is decided in the runoff on May 28. The nomination will be decided between retired U.S. Navy Commander Jay Furman, who topped the initial primary field with 44.8% of the vote and rancher and oilman Lazaro Garza Jr., who got 27.1%.
Despite all of the bipartisan rallying behind Cuellar, the situation could change if the congressman is tried and convicted before the November elections. Convicted felons have served in Congress before. In 1956, Rep. Thomas Lane, D-Mass., served four months in prison for income tax evasion and then returned to Congress and was reelected three more times.
More recently, however, the leadership of both parties in the House have moved quickly to get colleagues out of office once they are convicted of a crime. Two years ago, Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, R.-Neb., was convicted in Los Angeles of lying to federal authorities about campaign donations that were illegal, and he resigned at the urging of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and then-Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. (Fortenberry's conviction was overturned in December on grounds he was tried in the wrong venue; on Thursday, the Justice Department announced a grand jury in Washington indicted Fortenberry on charges of lying to the FBI.)
No one knows what twists and turns the saga of Henry Cuellar will take next. But it is clear that his fate and his district will be increasingly watched as the November election grows nearer.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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