Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas and his wife Imelda were indicted on bribery charges by federal officials. The indictment, which was unsealed on Friday (May 3), alleges that Cuellar and his wife accepted $600,000 in bribes from two foreign entities from 2014 through 2021 in exchange for pushing their interests in Congress.

"In exchange for the bribes paid by the Azerbaijani oil and gas company, Congressman Cuellar allegedly agreed to use his office to influence U.S. foreign policy in favor of Azerbaijan," the Justice Department said in a statement. "In exchange for the bribes paid by the Mexican bank, Congressman Cuellar allegedly agreed to influence legislative activity and to advise and pressure high-ranking U.S. Executive Branch officials regarding measures beneficial to the bank."

Cuellar and his wife were each charged with five counts of money laundering, two counts of conspiracy to commit bribery of a federal official and to have a public official act as an agent of a foreign principal, two counts of bribery of a federal official, two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, two counts of violating the ban on public officials acting as agents of a foreign principal, and one count of conspiracy to commit concealment money laundering.

Cuellar issued a statement declaring that he and his wife are innocent.

"I want to be clear that both my wife and I are innocent of these allegations. Everything I have done in Congress has been to serve the people of South Texas."

Vicki McKenna