May04

electoral-vote.com

Dem 51

   

GOP 49

I Am Not a Crook?, Part II: Rep. Henry Cuellar

As Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) has taught everyone, Republicans do not have a monopoly on (alleged) corruption. And yesterday, another Democratic member of Congress joined the list, namely Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX). The Representative and his wife have been indicted, accused of accepting $600,000 in bribes from petroleum interests in Azerbaijan and Mexico. The duo have already appeared in court, and have been released on $100,000 bail.

Everyone in the U.S. is presumed innocent until proven guilty, but we will point out three things:

1. As always, the feds don't go after someone, particularly a sitting member of Congress, unless they think the case is a slam dunk.
   
   
2. Cuellar is not disputing the facts of the case, per se, he's just disputing the government's interpretation of his actions.
   
   
3. "Innocent until proven guilty" is a legal standard, not something that voters adhere to.

Various Republican organs have called on Cuellar to step down, but he is refusing to do so. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) issued a statement of support for Cuellar, but it was... restrained. And while the Representative will remain in Congress, at least for now, he's stepping down from House Appropriations Subcommittee on Homeland Security.

Cuellar is possibly the most conservative Democrat in the House, and is far and away the most outspoken opponent of abortion access among members of the Blue Team. His district is D+3, so the Democrats would have an excellent chance of holding it if Cuellar stepped aside and some other Democratic candidate had time to get up to speed. But if he digs his heels in, the seat could well be lost. It depends on how much tolerance his voters have for shenanigans (or alleged shenanigans), and how quickly his court case proceeds. (Z)