Although the Department of Justice (DOJ) recently announced the indictment of Texas Democrat Congressman Henry Cuellar and his wife, Imelda Cuellar, on charges related to their participation in two schemes involving bribery, unlawful foreign influence, and money laundering, it is yet to initiate investigations into US President Joe Biden’s scandalous son Hunter Biden, who has been appointed as lobbyist for Al Qaeda-connected Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) as well as two prominent agents of the party – namely William B Milam and Jon Danilowicz.
For the last many years, although former US diplomats William B Milam and Jon Danilowicz have been working as lobbyists for the ultra-Islamist Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) along with a few more individuals in the United States, none of them have registered themselves as lobbyists thus violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).
The US Department of Justice says, “Penalty for a willful violation of FARA is imprisonment for not more than five years, a fine of up to US$250,000, or both. Certain violations are considered misdemeanors, with penalties of imprisonment of not more than six months, a fine of not more than US$5,000, or both”.
Jon Danilowicz, a former Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Bangladesh has become a propagandist in favor of Islamists and jihadists in Bangladesh by joining a vicious group named ‘Right to Freedom’, which is jointly funded by Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI). Within the diplomatic and media circle in Bangladesh, Jon Danilowicz was known as an influential diplomat who made frantic bids in sabotaging the January 5, 2014 general elections in Bangladesh and plant an unelected coalition government of several members of the civil society, including a controversial editor of an English daily as well as members of Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Jamaat-e-Islami. He also made frantic bids in saving war criminals from being prosecuted.
According to description of Jon Danilowicz on his LinkedIn profile: “Thirty two years of reporting on and analyzing global political developments, managing justice sector assistance programs, and providing leadership in some of our most challenging diplomatic posts. Currently seeking to draw upon these international experiences to promote domestic political and economic development. Looking to leverage my background as a teacher, mentor, strategic thinker and practitioner to link the global with the local in my native New England”.
According to his Twitter handle, Jon Danilowicz has been dedicatedly working against Bangladesh and ruling Awami League, proving, it is now his full-time job to spread nefarious propaganda against Bangladesh. In addition to such nefarious propaganda, Jon Danilowics has recently written a derogatory content against Bangladesh, which is published in his own website named ‘South Asia Perspectives’.
Interestingly, address of the ‘South Asia Perspectives’ website is 1015 15th St NW, Suite 600, Washington DC, 20005, whereas according to the website of ‘Right to Freedom’ its office also is at the same address, proving this website also is funded by BNP-Jamaat nexus.
According to ‘About Us’ page of the ‘South Asia Perspectives’, this website is run by the same gang of BNP-Jamaat nexus such as William B Milam, BNP member Mushfiqul Fazal Ansarey, Jon Danilowicz and Sultan Muhammed Zakaria.
Meanwhile, according to court documents, beginning in at least December 2014 and continuing through at least November 2021, Congressman Henry Cuellar and his wife Imelda Cuellar allegedly accepted approximately $600,000 in bribes from two foreign entities: An oil and gas company wholly owned and controlled by the Government of Azerbaijan, and a bank headquartered in Mexico City.
Charges included violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). The indictment stated: “Public officials, including Henry Cuellar and all Members of Congress, have a lawful and official duty not to be or act as an agent of a foreign principal required to register under FARA”.
The Marco Polo investigative group, which compiled and published a database of the Hunter Biden laptop, noted that DOJ official Jennifer Kennedy Gellie, who signed off on the FARA charges against Cuellar, “refused” to prosecute alleged violations of FARA by the Biden family.
The DOJ said in a press release announcing the indictment: “The bribe payments were allegedly laundered, pursuant to sham consulting contracts, through a series of front companies and middlemen into shell companies owned by Imelda Cuellar, who performed little to no legitimate work under the contracts. In exchange for the bribes paid by the Azerbaijani oil and gas company, Congressman Cuellar allegedly agreed to use his office to influence U.S. foreign policy in favor of Azerbaijan. In exchange for the bribes paid by the Mexican bank, Congressman Cuellar allegedly agreed to influence legislative activity and to advise and pressure high-ranking US Executive Branch officials regarding measures beneficial to the bank”.
If convicted, the Cuellars face maximum penalties as indicated: two counts of conspiracy to commit bribery of a federal official and to have a public official act as an agent of a foreign principal, five years in prison on each count; two counts of bribery of a federal official, 15 years in prison on each count; two counts of conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud, 20 years in prison on each count; two counts of violating the ban on public officials acting as agents of a foreign principal, two years in prison on each count; one count of conspiracy to commit concealment money laundering, 20 years in prison; and five counts of money laundering, 20 years in prison on each count.
Part of the indictment was for violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), which is a federal registration and disclosure statute that requires any person who agrees to act or acts in the United States as an “agent of a foreign principal” to register with the United States Attorney General if he or she agrees to engage or engages, directly or through another person, in certain types of conduct, such as political activities, political consulting, public relations, or publicity activities, for or in the interest of the foreign principal.
“Public officials, including Henry Cuellar and all Members of Congress, have a lawful and official duty not to be or act as an agent of a foreign principal required to register under FARA”, the DOJ’s indictment said. “At all times relevant to this Indictment, the House Ethics Manual, which was publicly available, stated, among other things, ‘[r]egardless of compensation, a public official may not act as an agent or attorney for . . . a foreign principal required to register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act of 1938, as amended, that is, generally, those individuals engaged in lobbying, political, or propaganda activities’, citing Title 18, United States Code, Section 219.
