ANCA Condemns Reckless Trump Pardon of Cong. Cuellar Accused of Taking Bribes from Azerbaijan

— Renews Call for Cuellar’s Expulsion from Congress

 

WASHINGTON, DC – The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) condemned President Trump’s pardon of Congressman Henry Cuellar (D-TX), who was indicted in 2024 for accepting nearly $600,000 in Azerbaijani bribes in exchange for advancing Azerbaijan’s interests in Congress.

 

“Trump’s pardon of Congressman Cuellar is a free pass for foreign bribes, a billboard atop the White House announcing to the world that it’s pay-to-play in Washington,” said ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian. “It’s Azerbaijan First foreign policy, at the expense of the American people.”

 

President Trump announced on Truth Social on Thursday his “full and unconditional PARDON” of Rep. Cuellar and his wife, Imelda. In his post, Trump characterized the federal indictment as political persecution, claiming that “Crooked Joe used the FBI and DOJ to ‘take out’ a member of his own Party after Highly Respected Congressman Henry Cuellar bravely spoke out against Open Borders.” Trump made no mention of the detailed evidence presented in the Justice Department’s indictment documenting years of corrupt payments from Azerbaijan’s state-controlled oil company in exchange for legislative favors.

 

The ANCA is continuing its call on the U.S. House of Representatives to expel Henry Cuellar, condemn Azerbaijan’s brazen interference in American democracy, and enact statutory measures to prevent ongoing attempts by Azerbaijan’s corrupt Aliyev regime to rig U.S. foreign policy in its favor. To contact Congress, visit anca.org/expel

 

“President Trump’s reckless pardon underscores the importance of investigating Azerbaijan’s foreign influence operations in Washington, DC,” said Hamparian. “Cuellar’s crimes – as serious as they are – represent the tip of the iceberg. Congress needs to expel him immediately and root out Baku’s bribery schemes across our government.”

 

The Indictment: Nearly $600,000 in Azerbaijani Bribes

 

The federal indictment against Rep. Cuellar and his wife Imelda, unsealed in May 2024, presents extensive evidence that Rep. Cuellar accepted at least $598,000 in bribes from two foreign entities: an oil and gas company wholly owned and controlled by the Government of Azerbaijan, and a bank headquartered in Mexico City. The indictment accused Cuellar and his wife of laundering foreign bribe payments through Texas shell companies, disguising their arrangement with consulting contracts for which Imelda Cuellar performed little or no legitimate work.

 

The indictment explicitly states: “With respect to Azerbaijan, in exchange for the bribe payments, Henry Cuellar promised to influence U.S. foreign policy in favor of Azerbaijan. Henry Cuellar agreed, among other things, to influence a series of legislative measures relating to Azerbaijan’s conflict with neighboring Armenia; to insert language favored by Azerbaijan into legislation and committee reports governing certain security and economic aid programs; to deliver a pro-Azerbaijan speech on the floor of the House of Representatives; and to consult with representatives of Azerbaijan regarding their efforts to lobby the United States government.”

 

Internal communications revealed through the indictment show Azerbaijani diplomats referring to Cuellar as “El Jefe” (“The Boss”), acknowledging his central role in advancing their foreign influence operations in Washington. In response to an Azerbaijani diplomat’s request for assistance with U.S. legislation, Cuellar indicated readiness to help, stating he would “try [his] best” to influence legislative outcomes favorably for Azerbaijan.

 

Blocking Aid to Artsakh, Undermining Armenian American Advocacy

 

According to the indictment, Rep. Cuellar’s corrupt actions had tangible and devastating consequences for Armenian communities. On multiple occasions, Cuellar communicated directly with Azerbaijani officials to discuss strategies for overriding Armenian American interests in Congress. The indictment details how Cuellar agreed to block amendments advanced by members of the Congressional Armenian Caucus that would have secured humanitarian relief for Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) or strengthened U.S. support for Armenia.

 

In one particularly egregious instance documented in the indictment, on September 1, 2017, an Azerbaijani diplomat texted Cuellar a screenshot of an amendment to fund efforts to clear land mines in the Nagorno-Karabakh region — efforts that were supported by Armenian Americans and opposed by Azerbaijan. Cuellar replied: “I see it. We work on it.” The diplomat responded, “Thank you Boss!”

 

In text message exchanges during the summer of 2020, as tensions between Azerbaijan and Armenia escalated toward open war, Cuellar repeatedly promised Azerbaijani diplomats he would “add Rider on bases” and assured them “I have another amendment I may add this week” to advance Azerbaijan’s interests against Armenia.

 

The indictment further uncovers how Rep. Cuellar agreed to insert pro-Azerbaijan speeches into Congressional records and to advance legislation that would undermine U.S. aid to Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh). In one email, Cuellar promised Azerbaijani contacts to “set up a meeting” with U.S. defense officials to discuss matters benefiting Azerbaijan, directly linking his legislative actions to the bribes received.

 

“Rep. Cuellar not only betrayed the trust of his South Texas constituents — by taking foreign money to obstruct our community’s right to petition our government — he cheated Americans of Armenian heritage from all across our country of our Constitutional right to honest representation,” the ANCA noted in a September 2024 letter to the U.S. Attorney. “By conspiring to rig U.S. foreign policy in favor of authoritarian Azerbaijan, Rep. Cuellar undermined American support for Armenian Christians, enabling Azerbaijan’s genocidal ethnic cleansing of Artsakh.”

 

Armenian Americans as Victims Under the Crime Victims’ Rights Act

 

In September 2024, the ANCA formally called upon U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei to recognize Americans of Armenian heritage as victims of Congressman Cuellar’s criminal conspiracy with Azerbaijan under the Crime Victims’ Rights Act (18 U.S.C. § 3771). This designation would permit Armenian American community representatives, including the ANCA, to submit victim impact statements and ensure the harms they suffered are factored into any sentencing or restitution decisions in the case.

 

In a September 3, 2025 letter to the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas, ANCA Executive Director Aram Hamparian underscored that Rep. Cuellar’s alleged corruption deprived Armenian Americans of their constitutional right to petition their government and to participate in the democratic process free of foreign manipulation.

 

“Congressman Cuellar’s actions harmed Armenian Americans by undermining the free exercise of our constitutional right ‘peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances,’ covertly conspiring with a foreign entity to reduce the impact of our advocacy as American citizens on the U.S. legislative process,” explained Hamparian in the letter.

 

Trump’s pardon effectively denies Armenian Americans their right as victims to see justice served and to have their harms acknowledged in sentencing proceedings.

 

A Decades-Long Pattern of Azerbaijani Influence Operations

 

The ANCA has, over the past three decades, warned of Azerbaijan’s efforts to buy influence in Washington, with Rep. Cuellar serving as a linchpin in these operations. As early as 2013, Cuellar accepted trips to Azerbaijan arranged by intermediaries later convicted of concealing Azerbaijani state sponsorship. From there, his ties to Azerbaijani oil companies deepened into what prosecutors laid bare as a years-long bribery scheme.

 

In January 2013, one of Cuellar’s organizations sponsored Rep. Cuellar and his wife to travel to Istanbul, Turkey and Baku, Azerbaijan at a cost of $26,125. Shortly after the Cuellars returned to the United States, Azerbaijani officials discussed recruiting Cuellar to promote Azerbaijan’s interests in Congress. An Azerbaijani diplomat emailed the director of the Azerbaijani oil company’s Washington, D.C. office, noting that Cuellar had just been appointed to the Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs, and writing: “[t]he good news is that Cuellar was just in Baku.” The diplomat continued, “[w]e need to work with these offices to make sure we build an anti-[Representative-1] coalition”—referring to a member of the Congressional Armenian Caucus.

 

The magnitude of Azerbaijan’s global influence operations was first exposed by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project in its report on the “Azerbaijani Laundromat”—which found that, between 2012 and 2014, over $2.5 billion was laundered through slush funds into the accounts of European politicians and international organizations to suffocate criticism of the Azerbaijani regime’s abuses and promote Azerbaijan’s image on the world stage.

 

In 2013, reports revealed that a congressional delegation to Azerbaijan involving 10 members of Congress and over 30 staffers had been paid for without their knowledge by SOCAR, the state-owned oil company of Azerbaijan. The trip was the subject of an Ethics Committee investigation and ultimately led to the indictment of the delegation’s organizer, Kemal Oksuz, who worked closely with Cuellar to connect Azerbaijani oil executives with U.S. business leaders and elected officials.

 

Undermining U.S. Interests and Democratic Principles

 

In a June 2024 Huffington Post op-ed calling for Cuellar’s expulsion, ANCA Policy Director Alex Galitsky and National Grassroots Director Gev Iskajyan wrote: “As a matter of principle, Cuellar’s alleged transgressions should have warranted strong action regardless of which government he had scandalous dealings with. But the fact that Cuellar appears to have chosen to act on behalf of a regime engaged in the torture of prisoners of war, the execution of civilians, the systematic destruction of Armenian cultural heritage, and the blockade and forced displacement of 150,000 Armenian civilians last year demonstrates a contempt not only for our democratic process but for the principles of human rights and international law that supposedly underpin U.S. foreign policy.”

 

The op-ed continued: “In light of the gravity of the charges against Cuellar, both Republicans and Democrats must realize there’s much more on the line than control of the House of Representatives. As the U.S. hemorrhages credibility on the world stage amid its abject failure to uphold the principles of democracy and human rights it proclaims to hold dear, the refusal to expel Cuellar will only signal to Azerbaijanb — and other abusive regimes — that U.S. democracy is for sale.”

 

Trump’s pardon sends precisely that signal: that foreign bribes to members of Congress will be tolerated, that American democracy can indeed be purchased by authoritarian regimes, and that there will be no accountability for betraying the American people’s trust.

 

Call for Congressional Action

 

The ANCA emphasized that Trump’s pardon makes Congressional action even more urgent. While the pardon may shield Cuellar from criminal prosecution, it does nothing to restore the integrity of Congress or accountability to the American people. The House of Representatives retains its constitutional authority — and duty — to expel members who have fundamentally betrayed their oath of office.

 

The ANCA is continuing its nationwide #ExpelCuellar campaign, demanding Cuellar’s immediate removal from Congress. The initiative rallies grassroots activists across the country to press their Representatives to vote for Cuellar’s expulsion, to demand a House Ethics Committee investigation into Azerbaijan’s broader foreign influence operations, and to bar Azerbaijani officials and registered foreign agents from access to Capitol Hill until a full accounting of this corruption is delivered.

 

Armenian Americans and all concerned citizens are urged to visit anca.org/expel to contact their Representatives, demand Cuellar’s expulsion, and share resources with their networks.

 

“Recognizing Armenian-Americans as victims of Cuellar’s conspiracy is not just symbolic – it’s a concrete step toward justice and accountability,” added Hamparian. “Trump’s pardon makes that impossible in the courts. But Congress can still act. Only by expelling Cuellar and dismantling Azerbaijan’s illicit influence operations can we restore faith in the integrity of U.S. policy on issues of concern to Americans of Armenian heritage and our many allies across our great nation.”