The FBI raided Texas Democrat Rep. Henry Cuellar’s house Wednesday night. The FBI said they were acting on “court authorization.”
“The FBI was present in the vicinity of Windridge Drive and Estate Drive in Laredo conducting court-authorized law enforcement activity. The FBI cannot provide further comment on an ongoing investigation,” a spokesperson for the FBI said in a statement, according to CNN.
It is not clear yet what the FBI was looking for, but they searched Cuellar’s house and campaign office in Laredo, Texas, the Washington Post reported.
Cuellar said that he is willing to cooperate with any investigation.
“Congressman Cuellar will fully cooperate in any investigation. He is committed to ensuring that justice and the law are upheld,” his office said in a statement, according to the Washington Post.
The Texas Tribune reported that FBI agents were seen taking cases and other items from the representative’s home and downtown office building.
Cuellar has been the longtime representative of Texas’ 28th District. He is also very influential in Washington due to his role on the House Appropriations Committee.
Cuellar is a moderate Democrat and has worked with Republicans during the past year on border issues, since his district includes a large section of the border.
Earlier this year he joined Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina in a charge to the Biden administration to appoint a “border czar” to deal with the surge of immigrants flooding across the border, USA TODAY reported.
Cuellar has spoken out against the Biden administration concerning the border and called on them to do something.
“They don’t need pats on the back. They need help down there on the border,” Cuellar said, according to USA TODAY. “Something has to change when it comes to border immigration issues.”
Cuellar is currently seeking re-election, but Webb County-Zapata County District Attorney Isidro Alaniz said he is worried that the FBI action could affect Cuellar’s campaign, the Texas Tribune reported.
Alaniz added that Cuellar is revered in the Southern Texas area and said the timing of the FBI raid during his re-election campaign is “questionable.”
“He’s done an excellent job in all the years of service when he was a state representative, and now as a United States congressman, and I myself continue to have the utmost respect for Congressman Cuellar,” Alaniz said, according to the Texas Tribune.
“The law is the law, however, and the law has to be respected. So you know, in time that’s what the court process is for. And the truth will eventually come out,” Alaniz added.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
