The Thread of Democrats

[Sean Hayden]

—right? It’s almost like they know the headlines have the bigger impact…

[Tero]

Elsewhere:
A: Yes, he’s been far more effective than i expected. I voted for him with some reluctance due to his age, but i will vote for him enthusiastically this time around.

B: He’s actually a better, and more effective president than either Bill Clinton or Barack Obama. He strongly governs in ways they never could. But he won’t get the credit unfortunately. I think Clinton & Obama are better natural speakers and politicians. Biden is better at the sausage-making itself. Not so good at public speaking.

[L'Emmerdeur]

A conservative Democratic congressman and his wife seem to have had their hands too blatantly in the cookie jar. Won't be much of a loss in regard to social issues at least.

'US Rep. Henry Cuellar and Wife Indicted on Bribery Charges'

The U.S. Department of Justice confirmed Friday that Democratic Texas Congressman Henry Cuellar and his wife, Imelda Cuellar, were indicted last week for allegedly "participating in two schemes involving bribery, unlawful foreign influence, and money laundering."

According to the indictment, between at least December 2014 and November 2021, the Cuellars allegedly took approximately $600,000 in bribes from a fossil fuel company owned by the Azerbaijani government and an unnamed bank headquartered in Mexico City. The congressman, who has served on Capitol Hill for nearly two decades and is seeking reelection, previously co-chaired the Congressional Azerbaijan Caucus.

"The bribe payments were laundered, pursuant to sham consulting contracts, through a series of front companies and middlemen into shell companies owned by Imelda Cuellar," the document states. "In exchange for the bribe payments to Imelda Cuellar, Henry Cuellar agreed to perform official acts in his capacity as a member of Congress, to commit acts in violation of his official duties, and to act as an agent of the government of Azerbaijan and [the foreign bank]."

NBC News first reported early Friday that the Justice Department was expected to release the indictment, which came more than two years after a Federal Bureau of Investigation raid of the couple's Laredo home. Before the document was unsealed, the congressman claimed in a statement that his actions were "consistent with the actions of many of my colleagues and in the interest of the American people."

"I want to be clear that both my wife and I are innocent of these allegations," Cuellar said Friday. "Before I took any 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."

[Sean Hayden]

—jeez, you’d think a bare minimum of effort would make it impossible to prove a consulting business was a sham…

[JimC]

The temptation to corrupt practices is ever present for politicians of all stripes. The very nature of their path to being elected, with its wheeling and dealing, means that they are often pre-adapted to the slippery slope of corruption...