Nancy Pelosi says she backs "my incumbents," including a conservative Texas Democrat whose home was raided by the FBI.- Rep.
Henry Cuellar is facing a May 24 run-off against a progressive primary challenger.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi offered her full-throated support for embattled Rep. Henry Cuellar on Wednesday, an endorsement that comes just months after the FBI raided the Texas Democrat's home and as he faces down a primary challenge.
"I support my incumbents," Pelosi said during an unrelated news conference in Austin, according to The Texas Tribune. "I support every one of them, from right to left. That is what I do."
Asked about the FBI raid, Pelosi told reporters "I don't know what it is," according to the Tribune. "I haven't seen anything, have you? Do you know what it's about?"
FBI agents raided Cuellar's home in January in what the agency later said was a "court-authorized" action. Cuellar has said he is cooperating with the investigation. It's unclear what federal agents are investigating, but ABC News previously reported that it concerns a "wide-ranging federal probe relating to the former Soviet state of Azerbaijan and several U.S. businessmen."
Cuellar is also facing a May 24th run-off against progressive primary challenger Jessica Cisneros, who narrowly lost to the eight-term congressman in 2020.
A former Texas state lawmaker and secretary of state, Cuellar has one of the most conservative voting records of any House Democrat. He has a particularly conservative record on immigration policy, which includes being one of only three House Democrats to vote to strip funding from so-called sanctuary cities. Cuellar was also the only House Democrat to oppose legislation that would have guaranteed access to abortion nationwide.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and other influential liberal lawmakers have endorsed and campaigned for Cisneros.
It's very rare in Washington for a party leader to side against a colleague's reelection, but it does happen from time to time. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy recently signaled that he would oppose fellow Republican Rep. Liz Cheney's reelection.