Court records that place U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar at the center of an international bribery scheme depict the arrangement as a well-oiled machine. To judge from prosecutors' papers, payoffs from the government of Azerbaijan and a Mexican bank passed seamlessly through layers of middlemen and front companies, then to Cuellar's wife and finally to the congressman himself with nary a hitch or a cross word.
Two accused middlemen plead guilty in Henry Cuellar bribery case, agree to cooperate But there is an exception to the antiseptic tone. It's buried in a plea agreement signed by Texas political consultant Colin Strother. For more than 20 years, Strother, 50, was one of Cuellar's closest advisers. He served as his chief of staff and managed his political campaigns.