The efforts of Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas, to move past his indictment and subsequent pardon by President Donald Trump are clashing with his brother’s legal troubles.
Martin Cuellar, sheriff of Webb County, Texas, faces a court hearing on Thursday over accusations of having misappropriated county funds. The case, coupled with the closeness of the Cuellar family, is complicating Henry Cuellars political outlook as he wages a campaign to continue his congressional career in one of the countrys most competitive districts.
Its been over half a year since Trump pardoned Cuellar from an indictment on charges of bribery, conspiracy and money laundering.
“This pardon gives us a clean slate. The noise is gone. The work remains,” Cuellar said in a post to X, announcing that very same day that he would pursue reelection.
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Cuellar was accused of accepting nearly $600,000 in bribes from an oil and gas company controlled by the government of Azerbaijan and a Mexican bank.
Although those charges are gone, Cuellars case is still very much in the public eye as his brother fends off accusations of siphoning funds.
Martin Cuellar faces 10 years behind bars as well as a possible $250,000 maximum fine for allegedly using county employees and resources to run his own disinfecting business, Disinfect Pro Master.
Martin allegedly took home about $175,000 in illegal proceeds between 2020 and 2022, according to the Department of Justice.
“They allegedly opened Disinfect Pro Master in April 2020 and entered into service agreements with local businesses and restaurants despite having no employees or supplies of their own,” the U.S. attorneys office wrote.
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“The indictment alleges WCSO employees handled the companys day-to-day operations from the sheriffs office where they picked up schedules and equipment to conduct disinfecting services both on and off the clock with the county.”
Connections between Cuellar and his siblings are further strengthened by their closeness. In the past, Cuellar has used his campaign fundraising apparatus to bolster his familys chances in their own official pursuits, records show.
According to FEC filings, Cuellars campaign and his leadership PAC have paid $11,000 to his sister Rosie Cuellar for doing work for the campaign in 2022 and then donated $1,200 to her bid to become a judge. He has similarly donated $8,400 to his brother, Martin Cuellar, and his campaign to become sheriff in 2008 and 2020.
To at least one onlooker, the familys woes look interconnected.
“The latest legal trouble surrounding Henry Cuellar’s family proves one thing: the scandals didn’t end with Henry. They simply moved down the family tree,” Christian Martinez, the national Hispanic press secretary for the National Republican Congressional Committee,
