As stress flared over challenged area in the summer season of 2020, Azerbaijan’s armada of pricey Washington powerbrokers rushed to pin the blame on surrounding Armenia and highlight its links to Russia.
Unbeknown to participants of Congress, Azerbaijan had a within guy that was functioning very closely with the Azerbaijani ambassador to Washington at the time on an identical line of strike, according to text launched by government district attorneys.
Agent Henry Cuellar, a Texas Democrat currently billed with approving kickbacks and working as an international representative in a yearslong system, suggested in a message that he prepared a legal maneuver to attempt to strip financing from Armenia since it organized Russian armed forces bases.
Azerbaijan’s ambassador reacted enthusiastically.
” Your modification is a lot more prompt than ever before,” the ambassador, Elin Suleymanov, contacted Mr. Cuellar. “It is everything about Russian existence there,” included Mr. Suleymanov, that described the congressman as “Employer.”
Mr. Cuellar’s legal gambit did not go much. However by the time of the message exchange, his household had actually approved at the very least $360,000 from Azerbaijani government-controlled firms given that December 2014, according to a government charge unsealed in Houston on Friday.
The 54-page charge highlights the significance of united state policymaking to international passions, and the sizes to which they most likely to attempt to form it to their benefit, regardless of high threats and in some cases suspicious outcomes.
The charge implicates Mr. Cuellar, 68, and his spouse, Imelda, 67, of approving kickbacks, cash laundering and conspiring to go against international lobbying legislations about initiatives in behalf of the Azerbaijani federal government and a Mexico City financial institution that paid them at the very least $238,390.
The Cuellars begged innocent on Friday, and were launched after each paid a bond of $100,000. In a declaration prior to the charge, Mr. Cuellar proclaimed his virtue and recommended that your house Ethics Board had actually removed his economic task. The Azerbaijani Consular office did not reply to an ask for remark.
The costs versus the pair recommend that the Justice Division is increasing its initiatives to secure down on international impact projects, regardless of current top-level troubles. Courts and judges have rejected cases pertaining to non listed international lobbying by political numbers with close connections to previous Head of states Barack Obama and Donald J. Trump.
The charge is the 2nd in current months to bill a resting participant of Congress with going against a prohibition on lawmakers serving as foreign agents. Legislator Robert Menendez, Democrat of New Jacket, and his spouse got a collection of costs beginning in October implicating them of approving numerous hundreds of bucks in kickbacks, consisting of gold bars, to assist the federal governments of Egypt and Qatar. Mr. Menendez and his spouse have actually begged innocent.
Past the settlements Mr. Menendez and Mr. Cuellar are implicated of obtaining, Azerbaijan, Egypt and Qatar have actually been hefty spenders on conventional Washington lobbying to preserve the circulation of USA help and to win assistance in conflicts with next-door neighbors.
From 2015 throughout of in 2015, Egypt invested $14.3 million on lobbying and Qatar invested virtually $85.9 million, according to analyses by the detached web site OpenSecrets of disclosures to the Justice Division under the Foreign Representatives Enrollment Act, or FARA. The disclosures do not consist of contributions to brain trust and various other expenses that well-off international federal governments make use of to attempt to produce goodwill.
Azerbaijan invested virtually $9.2 million on lobbying because time, according to FARA filings. Arms of the federal government maintained concerning 20 companies throughout that time, consisting of ones led by previous Gov. Haley Barbour, Republican Politician of Mississippi, and previous Agent Bob Livingston, a Louisiana Republican politician that functioned as chairman of your house Appropriations Board. The lobbying initiatives additionally entailed companies run by Democrats, such as the previous Biden advisor Larry Rasky, that passed away in 2020, and the fund-raiser Vincent A. Roberti.
Azerbaijan’s objectives consisted of winning assistance for the reintegration of the Nagorno-Karabakh area in the Lesser Caucasus, which has actually been under conflict with Armenia for years. (Azerbaijan took complete control of the area in September.) Azerbaijan additionally desired Congress to reverse a restriction on united state help enforced in 1992 throughout the very first Nagorno-Karabakh battle.
While the USA has actually constantly provided waivers to the restriction given that 2001, the Azerbaijanis take into consideration the resilience of the underlying restriction “sort of a disrespect and oppression,” claimed Richard Kauzlarich, that functioned as ambassador to Azerbaijan throughout the Clinton management.
” I have not seen indications of the return on the financial investment regarding problems that are necessary to Azerbaijan in regards to their lobbying initiatives,” Mr. Kauzlarich claimed. He connected that partially to proceeded issues concerning human rights abuses by the Azerbaijani federal government and partially to the absence of an arranged, triggered diaspora like that which has actually lobbied for Armenian reasons.
” No quantity of cash is mosting likely to have the ability to respond to the variety of citizens in The golden state and Massachusetts and in other places where Armenian Americans live, are energetic and ballot,” he claimed.
While political leaders in Europe have actually been accused of accepting gifts and bribes from Azerbaijani and Qatari authorities, the district attorneys’ insurance claims of settlements to Mr. Menendez and Mr. Cueller include a brand-new crease worldwide of below ground impact projects in Washington.
The legislators remained in prime placements to assist international federal governments. Mr. Menendez was the chairman of the Us senate Foreign Relations Board, while Mr. Cuellar offered on the Home Appropriations subcommittee that supervises the spending plan of the State Division.
After their corresponding charges, Mr. Menendez tipped down from his chairmanship, and Mr. Cuellar from his placement as the leading Democrat on the Homeland Protection Appropriations Subcommittee. Mr. Menendez’s test is arranged to start this month. Both have actually sworn to continue to be in workplace as they object to the costs, and Mr. Cuellar has actually claimed he plans to proceed his re-election project.
The Azerbaijanis’ courtship of Mr. Cuellar came as oil passions in the nation, consisting of the state-owned firm that district attorneys state moneyed the settlements to the Cuellars, preserved a visibility in Texas.
Mr. Cuellar and his spouse, together with various other Texas legislators, were dealt with to journeys to Azerbaijan in 2013. He got instructions from top-level federal government authorities and went to a supper with execs from the state-owned oil firm, according to district attorneys. After Mr. Cuellar returned, he was hired by Azerbaijani authorities, that started channeling settlements to a set of consulting companies his wife created called IRC Business Solutions and Global Gold Group, according to district attorneys and Texas companies filings.
The Cuellars made use of the cash to settle financial debts, fund living expenditures and make acquisitions consisting of a $12,000 personalized dress and a $7,000 deposit for a brand-new vehicle, district attorneys state.
The charge declares that Imelda Cuellar “executed little or no reputable operate in exchange for the settlements.” Rather, “for the kickback settlements, Henry Cuellar accepted execute main acts and acts in offense of his main responsibilities profiting Azerbaijan and to be and work as a representative of the federal government of Azerbaijan.”
Among the solutions district attorneys state Mr. Cuellar executed at the wish of the Azerbaijanis was pushing the Obama management to take a more difficult line versus Armenia, attempting to place language beneficial to Azerbaijan right into regulations and board records and having participants of his team prompt the State Division to restore a key for the child of Mr. Suleymanov.
Mr. Cuellar’s initiatives in behalf of Azerbaijan mainly appear to have actually had very little effect. He took out the modification to strip financing from Armenia after objections from an Armenian diaspora team.
” It was mosting likely to be dismissed of order so I took out however they are taking credit history ha ha,” Mr. Cuellar texted Mr. Suleymanov.
The ambassador reacted “they take credit history for every little thing!”
After the charge of Mr. Cuellar was unsealed, the team, Armenian Setting up of America, asked for “a wider examination in regard to these costs and that else might be connected to Azerbaijan’s corrupt moduses operandi.”
