DC Corruption Is Bipartisan— Both Parties Should Be Held Accountable
Last cycle, when Henry Cuellar faced the general election voters— after a recount that showed him winning his primary runoff by just 289 votes— he bested Republican Cassy Garcia 56.7% to 43.3%. His home had been raided by the FBI and bags of evidence had been seized and carted off. Most voters probably knew and voted for him anyway. But he hadn’t been indicted at that time. He has been now and the case against him is disgusting and strong. Like Robert Menendez, he was taking bribes from foreign countries in return for tasks on their behalf. Menendez was bought by Egypt and Qatar and his trial begins next week. Cuellar was paid off by Azerbaijan and by a bank in Mexico. Both men were likely taking bribes from other sources as well, but the FBI only caught them in these specific cases. Both have been criminals for decades.
Unlike Menendez and George Santos, two other Hispanics who have been indicted for serious crimes, Cuellar is a member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. And they’re defending him based on… what exactly? That he’s a member? Although no member of Congress wants to be quoted saying anything defending Cuellar, the caucus spokesperson, Brian Garcia told Politico that “Cuellar has been a steadfast advocate for his constituents in South Texas and an important voice in the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. The Congressman has stated that he is innocent of the allegations in the indictment and that he was proactive in seeking Ethics Committee guidance. He deserves his day in court to respond.” Hmmm… if I recall correctly correctly, every single member of the Hispanic Caucus voted to expel Santos, who hadn’t been tried and who also stated his innocence, but, like I said, wasn’t a member of the Hispanic Caucus.
No telling when his trial will begin, likely not before the election, but I can’t see him surviving November. Oh, he’ll win Zapata, Jim Hogg, Starr and Webb counties, but I’d bet that Bexar is going to flip and the GOP share of the vote will go up everywhere, especially in Guadalupe, Atascosa and Duval counties. One of the two Republicans in the runoff is probably going to beat him and flip the district and the Democrats deserve that for tolerating his undeniable corruption to the point of making the party brand complicit with it.
Jake Hochberg, Cuellar’s chief of staff, quit on Monday and several other staffers are considering leaving. In accord with Democratic Party rules, Cuellar has been suspended from his seat on the House Appropriations Committee. “Cuellar,” one Democratic freshman told me yesterday, “makes all politicians look like we're on the take and it isn't true... at least not on our side of the aisle.” I didn't want to quibble about numbers but that assertion is debatable. Even if they don't start corrupt— though many do— it doesn't take too long before they start slippin' down the slippery slope. And look at the leaders they elect! Yikes! Hakeem Jeffries and Pete Aguilar help define what corruption in Washington is, very much like Kevin McCarthy did and Scalise and Emmer do. I wish I could say both parties are bad but the Republicans are worse. I can't. Both parties are, by their nature, utterly corrupt and riven with unindicted criminals in their top ranks.
Pete Aguilar, whose entire career is rooted in sordid corruption, defended Cuellar yesterday— with the presumed innocent bullshit that didn’t apply to Aguilar's vote for booting Santos out of Congress. “He’s entitled to make his defense, he’s entitled to the presumption of innocence. Just like every American he’s entitled to that presumption. I think that’s the overwhelming feeling of House Democrats at this point.” When a reporter brought up his hypocrisy he said Cuellar and Santos are “very different… [Cuellar] has deep relationships… on both sides of the aisle. We know that he is a serious public official, public servant. And I think that’s what sets this apart from other issues and the silliness of George Santos that we had in the past. And I think that’s why many of us are treating this a little different. The substance of the allegations is very different, but the individuals are also night and day.” Aguilar kept tap dancing and making an idiot out of himself without coming up with any answer other than, essentially, Santos in a Republican and Cuellar is a Democrat. Cuellar is out on $100,000 bail and isn’t allowed to travel out of his home area other than to attend meetings of Congress. He and his crooked wife were forced to turn over their passports— like Santos.
As for Menendez, he’s likely to claim that he thought he was acting for the “good of the public” when helping Egypt and Qatar, not really addressing the coincidence of the gold bars, Mercedes, watches, etc. One of his co-defendents, Jose Uribe, already plead guilty and is cooperating with the prosecution, while two others, Wael Hana and Fred Daibes, will be tried alongside Menendez, although his wife will be tied separately. He will presumably blame the bribery aspects of the crimes on her.
Montana Republican Tim Sheehy’s ad claims— incorrectly— that Democrat Jon Tester gets the most lobbyist cash of any member of Congress. So far this cycle, Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Ken McCarthy (R-CA) got more and Republicans like Speaker MAGA Mike, House Majority Leader Steve Sxcalise (R-LA) and House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN), one of Congress’ most blatantly corrupt members, are all in the same 6-figure league as Tester. So are Republican senators Roger Wicker (MS), John Barrasso (WY), Marsha Blackburn (TN), Tim Scott (SC) and Ted Cruz (TX). NRSC research shows that corruption is a salient issue for challengers. Voters don’t like hypocrisy though, do they?
Still the NRSC is encouraging its candidates to lean into corruption as an issue and use Menendez and Cuellar as the poster children, hoping everyone has forgotten about Republican George Santos— though his corruption trial will be all over the media during the final months of the election cycle. Not to mention the most corrupt politician in American history, Donald Trump, is currently on trial in his first of 4 criminal cases. Yesterday, the Washington Post reported that the NRSC claims that “The Cuellar and Menendez bribery scandals have put a spotlight on Washington corruption. That is bad news for Jon Tester and Bob Casey, who have become everything they ran against to get elected and forged deep ties to Washington’s influence-peddling industry.”
Both Tester and Casey are being opposed by highly corrupt businessmen (as is Sherrod Brown, whose opponent, Bernie Moreno is so corrupt that the NRSC left him out of this little project). If there’s one thing in DC that is still completely bipartisan, everyone knows that is corruption. And leave it to Trump to step all over the messaging:
