Henry Cuellar's indictment met with silence on Capitol Hill
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Rep. Henry Cuellar. Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images.
Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) is getting a quiet reprieve from colleagues in both parties after being indicted over the weekend.
Why it matters: It's a marked contrast to the treatment of the two other lawmakers who have been indicted in the 118th Congress – Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and former Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.).
- Menendez has similarly faced bribery charges, including that he took payment in the form of gold bars, and more than half his Democratic Senate colleagues have urged him to resign.
- The scandal-ridden Santos was expelled in a bipartisan House vote after two federal indictments and a damning Ethics Committee report.
What's happening: Cuellar was indicted by the Justice Department on Friday and accused of taking nearly $600,000 in bribes from an Azerbaijani government-controlled oil company and a Mexican bank.
- The South Texas congressman is accused of pushing legislation and pressuring executive branch officials to benefit Azerbaijan and the bank.
- Cuellar has proclaimed his innocence and said he plans to seek re-election in November.
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."
Zoom in: Republicans are hamstrung by their allegiance to former President Donald Trump, who is facing four criminal indictments and has leapt to Cuellar's defense.
- "We have a former president going through indictments now, nothing's been proven," said Rep. Kevin Hern (R-Okla.), telling Axios that Trump's case has "certainly" influenced how Republicans approach indictments.
- "Same thing with Congressman Cuellar, he deserves his day in court before anyone starts making accusations or speculation – before people start jumping on the bandwagon," he said.
