What happened when the FBI raided Congressman Henry Cuellar's (D-TX) home?

Nothing. I haven’t heard anything, have you? In fact, you may not have heard about it at all, given the current tenor of our media.

In late January of this year, the FBI appeared on Cuellar’s doorstep, and executed search warrants of both his home and campaign office.

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Rep. Henry Cuellar’s home and campaign office in Texas were raided as part of a federal investigation into the country of Azerbaijan and a group of U.S. businessmen who have ties to the country, a senior law enforcement official said Thursday.

A local news station fleshed out the initial reports on the raid, which came just 4 weeks before the start of early voting in what was already a hotly contested Democratic primary.

Cuellar squeaked through the primary by the hair of his chinny chin chin, emerging as the winner by only 289 votes.

A recount in Texas affirmed Democrat U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar as the winner Tuesday of his primary race against progressive challenger Jessica Cisneros, who had trailed by fewer than 200 votes following a runoff in May.

Cuellar, a nine-term congressman, defeated Cisneros by 289 votes, according to the results of the recount announced by the Texas Democratic Party.

Cuellar is an interesting fellow from a modern Democratic view, and probably why he had no high-profile Dems campaigning for him this go-round. He’s anti-abortion, pro-guns, vocal about the impact of illegal immigration (“Deport more people“) – basically what used to be known as a “moderate” until the Squad and their torch-carrying goons chased all the middle-of-the-road Dems into hiding.

But he’s also had to have his lawyer spend the spring repeatedly asserting he wasn’t the target of a criminal investigation, even though that same FBI tossed his crib. Unfortunately for Cuellar, the FBI wouldn’t and still won’t back up what his lawyer was telling the press:

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As the primary runoff elections are well underway, eyes all around the country continue to be on the Democratic race for Texas’ District 28 between longtime incumbent Rep. Henry Cuellar and challenger Jessica Cisneros.

And a potentially major concern for some voters remains the status of Cuellar, who had his home and office raided by the FBI in January. Cuellar’s lawyer Joshua Berman proclaimed he was not a target of the investigation in mid-April.

In a conversation with LMT this week, however, an FBI media representative refused to clear the nine-term incumbent of wrongdoing, stating both the FBI and the Department of Justice do not comment on the existence of any investigation.

Furthermore, no other media outlets have been able to confirm Berman’s proclamation of Cuellar’s innocence. That means outside of Cuellar’s own lawyer, voters are unfortunately stuck with no confirmation one way or the other regarding whether or not Cuellar is a target of the investigation as they head to the polls for Election Day on Tuesday.

Isn’t that the oddest thing? The FBI is locked down so tightly on anything to do with Cuellar, that media orgs are completely stymied, and were forced in mid-August – 8 months later – to go to federal court to ask for the warrant to be unsealed.

…The Texas Tribune and other national and local news organizations on Tuesday asked a federal court to unseal a search warrant used in the January FBI raid of U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar’s Laredo home and campaign office.

The raid was a remarkable move by the executive branch on a sitting lawmaker given the search’s proximity to Cuellar’s competitive March 1 primary. The details of the raid have not been officially released, but Cuellar’s attorney, Joshua Berman, has said that the congressman is not the target of a federal investigation. Cuellar has also said that the raid will show he has done no wrong.

Shortly after the raid, ABC News reported that a grand jury sought records related to Cuellar, his wife and one of his campaign staffers over connections to Azerbaijan. Cuellar is a member of the Congressional Azerbaijan Caucus and often speaks out advocating for the oil-rich country. The Associated Press confirmed the report.

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I mean, everybody and anybody signed on to this request! (PDF here)

…The Associated Press, Gannett, Gray Media Group and Hearst also signed on to the request, filed in the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of Texas. Gannett and Hearst both operate numerous major Texas newspapers, and Gray Media Group owns Texas television stations including KGNS – Laredo. Lawyers from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press are representing the news organizations for free.

In addition to the search warrant, the news outlets request the search warrant applications, supporting affidavits and any other related records.

Nothing from the government. Crickets.

I’d just like to take a moment to point out the obvious differences between what happens when a Democrat’s home is raided and when a Repubican’s home is. If this had been Trump’s or Matt Gaetz’s or anyone else remotely prominent in the GOP, a major network would have been on site to spontaneously capture the raid (which would have been a SWAT team, not a polite knock), we would already know the size and color of the ladies’ underwear they’d rifled through, not to mention pictures of documents, and enough salacious details – not necessarily true, but juicy enough – to spark a feeding frenzy of WALLS ARE CLOSING IN, thus keeping CNN/MSNBC on air for another week.

Oh, but not here! No leaks. Almost a year into an “investigation” and bupkis out of anyone at DoJ. Not even a vapor wafting from a window. SO odd.

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Another reason besides the obvious that this is all flying under the radar is that Cuellar is now tied in a dogfight for his re-election. Nancy Pelosi might not be fond of him, but I’m sure they expected to keep the seat, as he’s a nine-term Congressman. Another young Latina Republican named Cassy Garcia (former Deputy State Director for Ted Cruz) has charged from deep back in the polls. She is going for the jugular.

…Garcia told the Washington Examiner…her objective was to contrast the values of each candidate vying for the Texas 28th Congressional District, which spans from the Rio Grande Valley and Laredo on the border up to San Antonio.

“The differences in this race could not be clearer. While I was working my way through school and serving our community, Henry Cuellar was using public office to enrich himself, his family, and his friends — all while South Texas families saw grocery bills, border crossings, and crime skyrocket,” Garcia said in a statement. “Cuellar has been in office since I was in kindergarten — and he needs to go.”

Real Clear Politics elections map has it as a toss-up. You can bet your sweet bippy no one in the Dem hierarchy or media wants to make this any tighter by mentioning that “raid” and “corruption” thing.

The walls might really close in.

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John Stossel 8:30 AM | October 12, 2024
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