Texas Tribune, other newsrooms ask to unseal Henry Cuellar warrant

Sign up for The Brief, our each day publication that retains readers up to velocity on essentially the most important Texas news.

The Texas Tribune and other nationwide and native news organizations on Tuesday requested a federal court docket to unseal a search warrant used within the January FBI raid of U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar’s Laredo house and marketing campaign workplace.

The raid was a exceptional transfer by the chief department on a sitting lawmaker given the search’s proximity to Cuellar’s competitive March 1 primary. The particulars of the raid haven’t been formally launched, however Cuellar’s lawyer, Joshua Berman, has stated that the congressman isn’t the goal of a federal investigation. Cuellar has additionally stated that the raid will show he has done no wrong.

Shortly after the raid, ABC News reported {that a} grand jury sought data associated to Cuellar, his spouse and one among his marketing campaign staffers over connections to Azerbaijan. Cuellar is a member of the Congressional Azerbaijan Caucus and sometimes speaks out advocating for the oil-rich nation. The Associated Press confirmed the report.

“The adequacy (or inadequacy) of the Justice Department’s guidance on taking overt investigative steps close-in-time to an election is a subject of keen public interest and a source of recurring public debate,” the news organizations write of their request.

Cuellar’s workplace deferred remark to Berman, his lawyer. Berman didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark. The FBI declined to remark.

The Associated Press, Gannett, Gray Media Group and Hearst additionally signed on to the request, filed within the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of Texas. Gannett and Hearst each function quite a few main Texas newspapers, and Gray Media Group owns Texas tv stations together with KGNS – Laredo. Lawyers from the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press are representing the news organizations free of charge.

In addition to the search warrant, the news shops request the search warrant purposes, supporting affidavits and any other associated data.

The full program is now LIVE for the 2022 The Texas Tribune Festival, occurring Sept. 22-24 in Austin. Explore the schedule of 100+ mind-expanding conversations coming to TribFest, together with the within observe on the 2022 elections and the 2023 legislative session, the state of public and better ed at this stage within the pandemic, why Texas suburbs are booming, why broadband entry issues, the legacy of slavery, what actually occurred in Uvalde and a lot extra. See the program.