A Democrat congressman accused of bribery spent roughly half of the money for his 2024 campaign on legal services, according to data from the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
Out of nearly $1.6 million in campaign funds that Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX) spent, around $784,900 reportedly went to legal services, according to an analysis of FEC records, Open Secrets reported.
At the beginning of May, Cuellar and his wife, Imelda Rios Cuellar, were indicted on bribery charges after allegedly accepting almost $600,000 in bribes from two foreign entities.
FEC records show the majority of Cuellar’s expenditures went to Clifford Chance LLP, an international law firm reportedly representing Cuellar, receiving nearly $690,000 in payments.
Perkins Coie LLP is another law firm listed in the FEC records, receiving more than $46,900. Perkins Coie LLP specializes in representing “corporations, trade associations, individuals, candidates, parties, political committees,” and lobbyists, according to the firm’s website.
Another law firm, Mololamken LLP, also received payments from Cuellar’s campaign.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a statement on May 3, announcing that Cuellar and his wife had been indicted after accepting $600,000 in bribes from an oil and gas company owned by the government of Azerbaijan and a bank headquartered in Mexico City, between December 2014 and November 2021.
In the statement, the DOJ explained:
The bribe payments were allegedly laundered, 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.
The DOJ’s indictment of the Cuellars came two years after Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents arrived at the couple’s home with a search warrant.
In January 2022, FBI agents not only searched Cuellar’s home but also another building where his campaign was headquartered.
A lawyer for Cuellar stated in April 2022, months after the FBI’s search, that Cuellar had not been the target of the FBI’s search.
