Judge dismisses 2 counts against US Rep. Cuellar of Texas, moves bribery trial to next year

Key Points

• A federal judge has dismissed two counts against U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar and his wife related to violating foreign agent laws, reducing their total charges to 12.
• The couple's trial, initially scheduled for September 22, has been rescheduled to April 6 of next year.
• Cuellar and his wife are accused of accepting money in exchange for advancing the interests of foreign entities, including an Azerbaijan-controlled energy company.
• Cuellar maintains his and his wife's innocence amidst the bribery and conspiracy charges.

HOUSTON (AP) — A judge on Thursday granted a request by federal prosecutors to dismiss two of the 14 counts against U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas and his wife, as part of a federal bribery and conspiracy indictment. The judge also ordered that their trial, which had been set for September, be rescheduled for next year.

Prosecutors with the U.S. Justice Department had asked U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal to dismiss two counts that Cuellar and his wife had each faced related to violating the prohibition on public officials acting as agents of a foreign principal.

Federal authorities have charged Cuellar, 69, and his wife, Imelda Cuellar, with accepting thousands of dollars in exchange for the congressman advancing the interests of an Azerbaijan-controlled energy company and a bank in Mexico. Cuellar is accused of agreeing to influence legislation favorable to Azerbaijan and deliver a pro-Azerbaijan speech on the floor of the U.S. House. The payments to the couple initially went through a Texas-based shell company owned by Imelda Cuellar and two of the couple’s children, according to the indictment.

Cuellar has said he and his wife are innocent.

Prosecutors said they were dismissing the two counts following a February memorandum from U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi that shifted the focus of charges filed under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. The law is aimed at ensuring transparency about lobbying efforts done in the U.S. at the direction of foreign governments or principals.

Bondi’s memorandum said that such charges “shall be limited to instances of alleged conduct similar to more traditional espionage by foreign government actors.”

During a Zoom court hearing, Rosenthal said she was set to file an order granting the prosecution’s motion to dismiss the two counts.

Cuellar and his wife each still face 12 charges, including conspiracy, bribery and money laundering.

Rosenthal also granted a request from both prosecutors and attorneys for the Cuellars to reschedule their trial in Houston. The couple’s trial had been set to begin Sept. 22. Rosenthal agreed to move it to April 6. The trial is expected to last five weeks, prosecutors said.

Stephen Dockery, one of Cuellar's lawyers, asked Rosenthal to dismiss the entire indictment because the remaining charges rely on the allegations tied to the dismissed counts and accusations that fall under the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

“There’s no reason to strike the indictment,” Rosaleen O’Gara, one of the prosecutors, told Rosenthal.

The judge did not immediately rule on the request to dismiss the remaining counts of the indictment.

Cuellar has served in Congress for over 20 years, and his district stretches from San Antonio to the U.S.-Mexico border in South Texas. In May, Rosenthal denied a request by lawyers for the Cuellars to move their trial from Houston to their hometown of Laredo, Texas, about 315 miles (507 kilometers) southwest along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Since Cuellar’s indictment in April 2024, three people have pleaded guilty in connection with the case: Colin Strother, one of Cuellar’s top former aides; Florencio Rendon, a Texas political and business consultant; and Irada Akhoundova, who was director of a Texas affiliate of an Azerbaijan energy company.

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