As tensions rose over disputed territory in the Caucasus region in the summer of 2020, Azerbaijan’s squadron of high-priced Washington lobbyists sought to shift blame to neighboring Armenia and highlight its ties to Russia.
Members of Congress were unaware that Azerbaijan had an insider working closely with the then-Azerbaijani ambassador to Washington on a parallel line of attack, according to text messages released by federal prosecutors.
Rep. Henry Cuellar, a Texas Democrat now charged with accepting bribes and acting as a foreign agent in a years-long scheme, suggested in a text that he was planning a legislative maneuver to defund Armenia, because it housed Russian military bases.
The Azerbaijani ambassador responded enthusiastically.
“Your amendment is more relevant than ever,” Ambassador Elin Suleymanov wrote to Mr. Cuellar. “It’s all about the Russian presence there,” added Mr. Suleymanov, who called the congressman “boss.”
Mr. Cuellar’s legislative move didn’t go far. But at the time of the text exchange, his family had accepted at least $360,000 from Azerbaijani state-controlled companies since December 2014, according to a federal indictment unsealed Friday in Houston.
The 54-page indictment underscores the importance of U.S. policies to foreign interests and the efforts they take to shape them to their advantage despite high risks and sometimes questionable results.
The indictment accuses Mr. Cuellar, 68, and his wife Imelda, 67, of taking bribes, money laundering and conspiring to violate foreign lobbying laws in connection with efforts on behalf of the Azerbaijani government and a Mexico City bank that paid them at least $238,390 $.
The Cuellars pleaded not guilty Friday and were released after each posted $100,000 bail. In a pre-arraignment statement, Mr. Cuellar declared his innocence and suggested that the House Ethics Committee had cleared his financial activities. The Azerbaijani embassy did not respond to a request for comment.
The allegations against the couple suggest that the Justice Department is expanding its efforts to crack down on foreign influence campaigns despite recent high-profile setbacks. Jurors and judges have rejected cases involving unregistered foreign lobbying by political figures with close ties to former Presidents Barack Obama and Donald J. Trump.
The indictment is the second in recent months in which a sitting member of Congress has been charged with violating the ban on lawmakers acting as foreign agents. Senator Robert Menendez, Democrat of New Jersey, and his wife received a series of indictments beginning in October accusing them of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes, including gold bullion, to support the governments of Egypt and Qatar. Mr. Menendez and his wife have pleaded not guilty.
Aside from the payments that Mr. Menendez and Mr. Cuellar are accused of, Azerbaijan, Egypt and Qatar have spent heavily on traditional lobbying in Washington to keep U.S. aid flowing and win support in disputes with neighbors.
From 2015 to the end of last year, Egypt spent $14.3 million on lobbying and Qatar spent nearly $85.9 million. This comes from analysis by the nonpartisan website OpenSecrets of disclosures to the Department of Justice under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). The disclosures do not include donations to think tanks and other spending by wealthy foreign governments to try to generate goodwill.
According to FARA records, Azerbaijan spent nearly $9.2 million on lobbying during this period. The government retained about 20 companies during that time, including those led by former Gov. Haley Barbour, Republican of Mississippi, and former Rep. Bob Livingston, a Republican from Louisiana who served as chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. Democratic-run firms such as former Biden adviser Larry Rasky, who died in 2020, and fundraiser Vincent A. Roberti were also involved in the lobbying efforts.
One of Azerbaijan’s goals was to gain support for the reintegration of the Nagorno-Karabakh territory, which has been disputed with Armenia for decades, into the Lesser Caucasus. (Azerbaijan gained full control of the territory in September.) Azerbaijan also wanted Congress to lift a ban on U.S. aid imposed in 1992 during the first Nagorno-Karabakh war.
While the United States has repeatedly lifted the ban since 2001, Azerbaijanis view the permanence of the underlying ban as “kind of an insult and an injustice,” said Richard Kauzlarich, who served as ambassador to Azerbaijan during the Clinton administration.
“I have seen no signs of the investment paying off on issues that are important to Azerbaijan in terms of its lobbying efforts,” Mr. Kauzlarich said. He attributed this partly to ongoing concerns about human rights abuses by the Azerbaijani government and partly to the lack of an organized, activated diaspora like the one that has championed Armenian issues.
“No amount of money will be able to offset the number of voters in California and Massachusetts and elsewhere where Armenian Americans live, are active and vote,” he said.
As politicians in Europe face accusations of accepting gifts and bribes from Azerbaijani and Qatari officials, prosecutors’ allegations about payments to Mr. Menendez and Mr. Cueller add a new wrinkle to the world of underground influence campaigns in Washington.
Lawmakers were in the best position to help foreign governments. Mr. Menendez was chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, while Mr. Cuellar was a member of the House Appropriations Subcommittee, which oversees the State Department budget.
After their respective indictments, Mr. Menendez resigned from his chairmanship and Mr. Cuellar resigned from his position as the top Democrat on the Homeland Security Appropriations Subcommittee. Mr. Menendez’s trial is scheduled to begin this month. Both have vowed to remain in office while they contest the allegations, and Mr. Cuellar has said he intends to continue his re-election campaign.
The Azerbaijanis’ courtship of Mr. Cuellar came as the country’s oil interests, including the state-owned company that prosecutors say financed the Cuellar payments, remained present in Texas.
Mr. Cuellar and his wife were invited to travel to Azerbaijan in 2013 along with other Texas lawmakers. According to prosecutors, he received briefings from senior government officials and attended a dinner with state oil company executives. After Mr. Cuellar returned, he was recruited by Azerbaijani officials, who began funneling payments to two consulting firms founded by his wife called IRC Business Solutions and Global Gold Group, according to filings from prosecutors and Texas companies.
The Cuellars used the money to pay off debts, cover living expenses and make purchases, including a $12,000 custom-made dress and a $7,000 down payment on a new car, prosecutors said.
The indictment alleges that Imelda Cuellar “performed little or no legitimate work in return for the payments.” Instead, “Henry Cuellar agreed, in return for the bribe payments, to undertake official actions and actions contrary to his official duties on behalf of Azerbaijan and to act as an agent of the government of Azerbaijan.”
Among the services Mr. Cuellar performed on behalf of the Azerbaijanis included urging the Obama administration to take a tougher stance toward Armenia by attempting to incorporate language favorable to Azerbaijan into legislation and committee reports, and members of his staff to urge the Foreign Ministry to renew a passport for Mr. Suleymanov’s daughter.
For the most part, Mr. Cuellar’s efforts on behalf of Azerbaijan appear to have had minimal impact. He withdrew the amendment to withdraw funding from Armenia after an Armenian diaspora group objected.
“It was supposed to be annulled so I backed out but they’re taking credit ha ha,” Mr. Cuellar texted Mr. Suleymanov.
The ambassador replied, “You take credit for everything!”
After the indictment against Mr. Cuellar was dropped, the group Armenian Assembly of America called for “a broader investigation into these allegations and who else might be linked to Azerbaijan’s corrupt operations.”
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2024-05-04 22:05:55
www.nytimes.com
