FBI raid on Rep. Henry Cuellar's Texas home, office said to be tied to Azerbaijan

Rep. Henry Cuellar’s home and campaign office in Texas were raided as part of a federal investigation into the country of Azerbaijan and a group of U.S. businessmen who have ties to the country, a senior law enforcement official said Thursday.

The development was first reported by ABC News.

Witnesses said federal agents were seen carrying items out of Cuellar’s home in Laredo on Wednesday, while more agents were spotted outside his campaign office.

While it did not specifically refer to Cuellar by name or offer details about the investigation, the FBI acknowledged the search Wednesday night.

“The FBI was present in the vicinity of Windridge Drive and Estate Drive in Laredo conducting court-authorized law enforcement activity,” spokesperson Rosanne Hughes said in a statement. “The FBI cannot provide further comment on an ongoing investigation.”

FBI conducts search near the home of Democratic Rep. Cuellar, weeks before competitive primary

NBC News See more videos

SHARE

SHARE

TWEET

SHARE

EMAIL

What to watch next

• 

  Bombs in minibuses kill at least nine in northern Afghan city

  
  NBC News
• 

  Uvalde Residents Hold Prayer Vigil After Deadly School Shooting

  
  The Wall Street Journal.
• 

  Russian shelling continues near Kharkiv

  
  Associated Press
• 

  Progress is possible on gun safety despite Republican obstruction

  
  MSNBC
• 

  Sen. Murphy’s decade of pleading

  
  MSNBC
• 

  Imran Khan Convoy Reaches Islamabad

  
  Bloomberg
• 

  The Last Thing: Remembering the lives stolen

  
  MSNBC
• 

  Lawrence: GOP position is kids have to die because the Constitution says so

  
  MSNBC
• 

  FDA commissioner describes unsanitary conditions at Abbott baby formula plant

  
  CNN
• 

  Joy Reid: Replace four or five Republican senators and you can pass gun reform

  
  MSNBC
• 

  Expert Testifies Amber Heard's Bruising Photos Were Used In Editing Program

  
  Newsweek
• 

  World leaders react to school shooting in Texas

  
  CBS News
• 

  A closer look at gun laws in Texas

  
  CBS News
• 

  Linda Biegel Schulman, mother of Parkland shooting victim, speaks about Texas school shooting

  
  CBS News
• 

  Preventing gun violence after deadliest school shooting in a decade

  
  CBS News
• 

  ‘You are as low of a human being as can be’: Parkland father to Sen. Ted Cruz, Gov. Greg Abbott

  
  MSNBC

Click to expand

Replay Video

• Bombs in minibuses kill at least nine in northern Afghan city Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the blasts targeting minibuses in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e-Sharif. NBC News
• Uvalde Residents Hold Prayer Vigil After Deadly School Shooting More than 1,000 people gathered at an arena in Uvalde, Texas to remember the 21 victims, most of them children, who were killed by a gunman at Robb Elementary School, the deadliest school shooting in a decade. Photo: Jae C. Hong/Associated Press The Wall Street Journal.
• Russian shelling continues near Kharkiv Russian artillery hit the village of Shestakove, east of Kharkiv on Wednesday. Ukrainian forces retook the village two weeks ago in a counteroffensive that pushed Russian troops away from Ukraine's second biggest city. Associated Press

UP NEXT

As the FBI executed the search warrant Wednesday, Cuellar’s office released a statement saying: “Congressman Cuellar will fully cooperate in any investigation. He is committed to ensuring that justice and the law are upheld.”

His office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday night.

The same senior law enforcement official confirmed a grand jury investigation but could not provide any details of the exact focus of the grand jury or when and where it is meeting.

It is unclear whether Cuellar is a target of the grand jury or whether he is being investigated for allegations of criminal wrongdoing.

Cuellar, 66, a lawyer, is a former customs broker and Texas secretary of state.

Cuellar, who was first elected to the House in 2004, sits on the powerful Appropriations Committee and was recently a co-chair of the Congressional Azerbaijan Caucus.