>>> WE ARE GETTING BREAKING NEWS OUT OF WASHINGTON. 23 IS BEING INDICTED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE. ACCUSED OF ASKING -- ACTING AS A AGENT OF FOREIGN PRINCIPAL. HE HAS SERVED SINCE 2005 AND IS A FORMER CO-CHAIR OF THE AZERBAIJAN CAUCUS. IN HIS HOME, SEARCHED BY THE FBI AS PART OF AN INVESTIGATION INTO CONNECTIONS TO AZERBAIJAN. FOR MORE ON ALL OF THIS, I WANT TO BRING IN SCOTT McFARLANE. ALL RIGHT, YOU HAVE TAKEN A LOOK AT THIS INDICTMENT, WHAT CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THE CHARGES? >> AN ELABORATE SCHEME BY CONGRESS IN CUELLAR . OFFICIAL ACTS ON BEHALF OF THE AZERBAIJAN GOVERNMENT AND A FOREIGN BANK. CONGRESSMAN CUELLAR SET UP A SHOW COMPANY THAT HE SIGNED ONTO AS A CONSULTANT TO VARIOUS BUSINESSES TIED TO THE AZERBAIJAN GOVERNMENT AND DID NOT REALLY DO ANY WORK AND THE PAYMENTS WERE EXCHANGED BY ACTS TAKEN BY THE CONGRESSMAN. THIS LISTS A WHOLE SERIES OF ACTS TAKEN BY THE CONGRESSMAN TO BENEFIT THE AZERBAIJAN GOVERNMENT. SOME OF THESE ALLEGATIONS, INCLUDING HELPING WITH AN IMMIGRATION ISSUE AND HELPING TO PULL LANGUAGE INTO LEGISLATION TO HELP GEOPOLITICALLY FOR THE SECURITY INTERESTS OF AZERBAIJAN. WHAT IS IMPORTANT HERE IS THAT SOME OF THIS WAS UNDERTAKEN FROM THE POST ON THE HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE WHICH HELPS FIGURE OUT WHERE U.S. TAX DOLLARS GO. THEY ARE ALLEGING THAT HE TRIED TO NAVIGATE SOME OF THE MILITARY LEGISLATION PASSED BY CONGRESS AND SWING IT TO THE BENEFIT OF AZERBAIJAN. IN ONE MESSAGE IN 2014, IN THE EARLIER WINDOW OF THESE ALLEGATIONS, GOOD NEWS, TO A POINT OF CONTACT, ABOUT SOME LANGUAGE HE GOT INCLUDED INTO THE NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT THAT WOULD BE FAVORABLE TO AZERBAIJAN. THERE WERE PAYMENTS MADE TO THE CONGRESSMAN AND HIS WIFE TO COINCIDE WITH SOME OF THESE ACT BY THE CONGRESSMAN IN CONGRESS. LET ME UNDERSCORE SOMETHING ELSE, THIS IS NOT THE FIRST MEMBER OF THIS CONGRESS TO BE CHARGED BY THE FEDS. ANOTHER CHARGE BY ROBERT MENDEZ, THE NEW JERSEY SENATOR ACCUSED OF TAKING BRIBES AND THERE IS THAT FRAUD CASE GOING AGAINST GEORGE SANTOS WHICH LED TO HIS EXPULSION. >> SCOTT, LOOKING THROUGH THIS INDICTMENT, YOU MENTIONED THE PERIOD OF TIME THAT THESE ALLEGATIONS DATE BACK TO, IT DOES COVER A NUMBER OF YEARS, WHAT STOOD OUT TO YOU FROM THIS INDICTMENT? >> THE ACTS OF THESE INDICTMENTS FROM 2014, WE KNOW THAT THERE WAS A SEARCH OF THE CONGRESSMAN'S HOME IN TEXAS IN 2022. IT MIGHT BE TIED TO A FEDERAL INVESTIGATION OF AZERBAIJAN AND FOREIGN BUSINESSES. EXACTLY WHAT WE ARE SEEING IN THIS INDICTMENT. THE REFERENCES TO HIS WORK ON THE HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE STANDS OUT TO ME. IN PART BECAUSE IT IS THE MOST POWERFUL OF CONGRESS COMMITTEES. WHEN YOU SIT THERE ON THE PANEL, YOU HAVE EXTRA LEVERAGE. HE WAS A RANKING MEMBER, A TOP DEMOCRAT ON THE HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE. WE LEARNED THAT HE HAS TEMPORARILY STEPPED ASIDE FROM THE RANKING MEMBER SEAT ON THE HOUSE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE. >> THAT REPERCUSSION, SCOTT, ON THIS INDICTMENT. THIS IS A STORY WHERE THE DETAILS ARE EMERGING AS WELL. >> MR. CUELLAR IS DESERVING OF HIS DAY IN COURT. THIS MIGHT NOT BE THE CASE. HENRY CUELLAR REPRESENTS A COMPETITIVE DISTRICT. A DOGFIGHT EACH TIME. HE RUNS THE RISK OF HAVING TO USE STEP DOWN. HE DID NOT ALLUDE TO HIS POLITICAL FUTURE. HE SAID, THESE ALLEGATIONS ARE FALSE. HE AN
