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Media outlets are reporting that the FBI agents seen outside the home and campaign office of Texas Democrat Rep. Henry Cuellar were there as part of an investigation related to Azerbaijan and contacts in the U.S.
On Thursday, ABC News reported that sources say the FBI’s search of Cuellar’s home and office were part of a federal probe related to connections between the former Soviet republic and several U.S. businessmen.
U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, speaks on southern border security and illegal immigration during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol July 30, 2021, in Washington, D.C. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
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Earlier in the day, CNN reported that the Department of Justice’s Public Integrity Unit, which investigates bribery and government integrity, is involved in the investigation.
“The FBI was present in the vicinity of Windridge Drive and Estate Drive in Laredo conducting court-authorized law enforcement activity,” the FBI said in a statement to Fox News Wednesday. The agency did not provide any more information when contacted Thursday, citing the investigation’s status as ongoing.
In the past, Cuellar has served as a co-chair of the Congressional Azerbaijan Caucus and met with multiple Azerbaijani officials, including the country’s ambassador, Elin Suleymanov.
Cuellar’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fox News on the potential Azerbaijan connection but said Wednesday that Cuellar is cooperating with authorities.
Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, delivers remarks during a rally for the passage of the USMCA trade agreement Sept. 12, 2019, in Washington, D.C. (Tom Brenner/Getty Images)
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“Congressman Cuellar will fully cooperate in any investigation,” a spokesperson for Cuellar said. “He is committed to ensuring that justice and the law are upheld.”
Valerie Gonzales, a reporter for The Monitor, posted photos and video Wednesday of FBI agents present at Cuellar’s home and office in Laredo, Texas, and said that agents removed a computer and bags of items.
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Cuellar, who represents Texas’ 28th district that stretches from San Antonio to Laredo and to Rio Grande City, has been one of the most outspoken liberal critics of the Biden administration’s border policy and has called for Vice President Kamala Harris to be replaced as President Biden’s “border czar.”
Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, holds up a border map as he speaks during a meeting with lawmakers on immigration policy in the Cabinet Room at the White House in Washington, D.C., Jan. 9, 2018. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
Cuellar is set to compete in a Democratic primary March 1 to retain his seat in Congress, and one of his opponents, immigration attorney Jessica Cisneros, released a statement Thursday about the FBI investigation, saying her office is “closely watching” as the situation “develops.”
Also on Thursday, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., issued an endorsement of Cisneros, calling Cuellar an “anti-choice Democrat” and linking him to former President Donald Trump.
