Henry Cuellar aide’s pay shot up after his role in the alleged bribery scheme, records show

  • 📰 SAcurrent
  • ⏱ Reading Time:
  • 50 sec. here
  • 9 min. at publisher
  • 📊 Quality Score:
  • News: 47%
  • Publisher: 51%

Us Rep Henry Cuellar News

Colin Strother,Imelda Cuellar,House Ethics Committee

This story first appeared in NOTUS, a publication from the nonprofit, nonpartisan Allbritton Journalism Institute. A top aide to Rep. Henry Cuellar saw a hefty salary boost after he began acting as a middleman for alleged Mexican bribes, a review of campaign finance and congressional spending records show.

Between 2016 and 2017, Colin Strother was paid through Cuellar’s congressional budget despite not having a clear job or title in the Texas Democrat’s office, three sources told NOTUS.

“It’s typical for congressional offices to have outside advisers that weigh in but aren’t on staff,” one source said. “I wasn’t aware he was being paid at the time.” Strother, who runs his own consulting firm from a small town outside of Austin, began working for the longtime congressman when he first ran for Congress in 2003. FEC records from the 2003-2004 cycle show that Cuellar’s campaign paid Strother a salary, and in 2005, he became Cuellar’s chief of staff.“But something didn’t seem right,” that source added.

“He’s the type of guy who would do kind of what a consultant does, which is like, they don’t do any actual work, and then they would just chime in with their two cents and then call that good,” they said. “It still doesn’t make it right.”The indictment alleges that in March 2016, Imelda Cuellar, Henry Cuellar’s wife, began emailing Strother falsified invoices for a sham contract. In December 2016, Strother was brought on as a “policy adviser” and paid $4,000.

 

Thank you for your comment. Your comment will be published after being reviewed.
Please try again later.
We have summarized this news so that you can read it quickly. If you are interested in the news, you can read the full text here. Read more:

 /  🏆 607. in BUSİNESS

Business Business Latest News, Business Business Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

US Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas denies wrongdoing amid reports of pending indictmentDemocratic U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas is denying any wrongdoing amid reports of pending indictments related to business dealings with the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan
Source: sdut - 🏆 5. / 95 Read more »