After being indicted on federal bribery charges last week, Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) is being called on to step down by a Democrat colleague in the House.
Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN), a former long-shot candidate for president, lumped Cuellar in with former President Donald Trump and Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) as part of a list of politicians who he insisted should resign because they have been indicted.
“While the bar for Federal indictment is high, trust in our government is low,” Phillips said in a post to X. “That’s why office holders and candidates under indictment should resign or end their campaigns, including Sen. Bob Menendez, Donald Trump, & Rep. Henry Cuellar.”
The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced on Friday that Cuellar, a 10-term congressman, and his wife Imelda were charged with allegedly participating in schemes involving bribery, unlawful foreign influence, and money laundering.
Cuellar, 68, accepted $600,000 in bribes from two foreign entities — an energy company controlled by Azerbaijan and a bank headquartered in Mexico City — in exchange for official acts as a member of Congress, the DOJ said.
In a statement responding to the indictment, Cuellar said he and his wife were “innocent of these allegations,” taking a similarly defiant stance as Trump and Menendez have as they seek to fend off the charges they face.
“Everything I have done in Congress has been to serve the people of South Texas,” Cuellar said. “Before I took action, I proactively sought legal advice from the House Ethics Committee, who gave me more than one written opinion, along with an additional opinion from a national law firm.”
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He added, “Furthermore, we requested a meeting with the Washington D.C. prosecutors to explain the facts and they refused to discuss the case with us or hear our side.”
The DOJ said the Cuellars, who face decades in prison if convicted, surrendered to authorities on Friday and made an initial appearance before a federal judge in Houston before each being released on $100,000 bond, according to the Associated Press.
Menendez, who also faces bribery-related charges, has also been pressured to step down by a fellow Democrat — Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) — amid his legal battle.
“Senator Menendez should resign,” Fetterman said in a statement. “He’s entitled to the presumption of innocence under our system, but he is not entitled to continue to wield influence over national policy, especially given the serious and specific nature of the allegations. I hope he chooses an honorable exit and focuses on his trial.”
