Playbook PM: DOJ closes in on a defiant Henry Cuellar

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THE CATCH-UP

Rep. HENRY CUELLAR raced out this morning to get ahead of a looming indictment that the Justice Department is preparing to drop on the Texas Democrat.

After NBC broke news of the pending federal charges, Cuellar issued a statement declaring himself and his wife, IMELDA, innocent of any allegations, though he did not clarify the specific charges that are expected,

“Everything I have done in Congress has been to serve the people of South Texas,” Cuellar said, adding that he’d sought legal advice from the House Ethics panel. He also issued a defense for his wife: “On top of being an amazing wife and mother, she’s an accomplished businesswoman with two degrees. She spent her career working with banking, tax, and consulting. The allegation that she is anything but qualified and hard working is both wrong and offensive.”

He closed his statement with a defiant declaration: “Let me be clear, I’m running for re-election and will win this November.” Read the full statement

The backstory: “Just over two years ago, the FBI conducted a ‘court-authorized’ search of the Texas Democrat’s Laredo home, as well as a second building housing his campaign office,” our colleagues Daniella Diaz and Nicholas Wu write. “It’s unclear if the coming indictment is related to those raids. Cuellar’s lawyer JOSHUA BERMAN has said that the moderate Democrat was not the target of the investigation by the DOJ. The search reportedly came as part of a federal investigation into US businessmen who have ties to the country of Azerbaijan.”

The context: The indictment could spell big trouble for Cuellar and Democrats’ prospects of retaking the House. Cuellar’s 28th Congressional District has been at risk of slipping from his grasp in recent elections.

Though Cuellar dispatched Republican CASSY GARCIA in the 2022 general election by more than 10 percentage points, he barely scraped through a brutal Democratic primary against JESSICA CISNEROS by 281 votes.

Republicans are set to select their challenger in a runoff election on May 28 between little-known candidates JAY FURMAN and LAZARO GARZA JR. More on the two candidates, via the Laredo Morning Times

THE TRUMP TRIAL — We are into the 11th day of the criminal hush money trial against DONALD TRUMP, closing out the third week in the case.

Judge JUAN MERCHAN addressed Trump at the beginning of today’s proceedings, telling the former president that the gag order on him does not prevent him from testifying in the trial, should he decide he wants to do so. The instruction from Merchan was in direct response to a comment Trump made to reporters yesterday in which he said he was “not allowed to testify because this judge is totally conflicted, has me under an unconstitutional gag order.” More from Erica Orden

HOPE HICKS, one of Trump’s former top comms aides, is testifying now. Our colleagues Alex Isenstadt and Meridith McGraw track how Hicks ended up on the witness stand.

Follow along for all of the updates from the courtroom with POLITICO’s live blog

Happy Friday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line at [email protected].

7 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

1. THE RACE FOR SECOND PLACE: Despite the persistent parlor game over who might join Trump on the Republican ticket for November, there is no indication that the former president is close to making a decision on his running mate. In fact, “Trump’s team has yet to move past the early stages of vetting vice presidential prospects,” NBC’s Dasha Burns, Henry Gomez, Vaughn Hillyard and Jonathan Allen report.

“Top contenders have not received detailed questionnaires or other requests for information to help finalize a shortlist, though there are signs that they are being evaluated for their fundraising prowess.” A Trump adviser tells NBC that it’s “going to be quiet for a while” — though for what it’s worth, another source said “while the Trump team has yet to directly engage with prospects about the possibility of joining the ticket, the campaign has done initial deep dives on them.”

2. CONVENTIONAL WISDOM: As the Democratic and Republican conventions prepare to descend on Chicago and Milwaukee, corporations are so far approaching any involvement with reservation, CNBC’s Brian Schwartz and NBC’s Natasha Korecki report. “NBC News interviewed more than 15 major corporate fundraisers and consultants with corporate clients. Many expressed concern over a charged political climate that they worry could backfire on their brand or where an investment would not pay off.

“Some said they feared being tied to Trump, given the litany of criminal charges against the former president. Others said the environment is too fragile, given the unrest exploding at college campuses across the country. Out of the more than two dozen company representatives NBC News reached out to, only two — at AT&T and Fiserv Inc. — would confirm they had finalized plans to be involved in both the Republican and Democratic conventions this year.”

3. THE DOG DAYS: The hits keep coming for South Dakota Gov. KRISTI NOEM. First, the Guardian reported on how Noem bragged in her new book about shooting her family dog years ago. And we reported in Playbook this morning about new questionable details in the book, which is set for publication and a full rollout next week — where Noem will undoubtedly be pressed on those and other tales.

The book controversies threaten to complicate Noem’s efforts to stay in the spotlight in the coming weeks, including a keynote spot at the California GOP’s convention later this month. He speech there “threatens to be a distraction … amid an election cycle where the road to the GOP holding its majority in the House likely depends on a handful of suburban swing districts in the Golden State,” Dustin Gardiner and Lara Korte write. Noem will also attend and speak at Trump’s big donor retreat this weekend, where she is listed as a special guest, NewsNation’s Kevin Bohn reports, alongside some other notable Republicans who have drawn speculation as potential running mates, such as Sens. MARCO RUBIO (R-Fla.), TIM SCOTT (R-S.C.) and J.D. VANCE (R-Ohio), Rep. ELISE STEFANIK (R-N.Y.) and North Dakota Gov. DOUG BURGUM.

4. YOU CAN’T HANDLE THE TRUTH: “Truth Social keeps shrinking despite the Trump trial and looming election,” by CNN’s Matt Egan: “Truth Social’s average number of daily active US users on iOS and Android dropped by 19% year over year in April to about 113,000, according to data shared exclusively with CNN from Similarweb, a data intelligence company. … That drop comes despite the considerable attention received by the ongoing Trump criminal trial and the growing focus on the US presidential election. This is a problem for Truth Social and for Trump, who is not only the dominant shareholder in Trump Media but also serves as the chairman and is the platform’s most popular user.”

Related read: “Trump Media’s audit firm barred from SEC practice over ‘massive fraud,’” by Declan Harty

5. WHAT JEROME POWELL IS READING: “US employers scaled back hiring in April. How that could let the Fed cut interest rates,” by AP’s Paul Wiseman and Anne D’Innocenzio: “The nation’s employers pulled back on their hiring in April but still added a decent 175,000 jobs in a sign that persistently high interest rates may be starting to slow the robust U.S. job market. Friday’s government report showed that last month’s hiring gain was down sharply from the blockbuster increase of 315,000 in March. And it was well below the 233,000 gain that economists had predicted for April. Yet the moderation in the pace of hiring, along with a slowdown last month in wage growth, will likely be welcomed by the Federal Reserve, which has kept interest rates at a two-decade high to fight persistently elevated inflation.”

6. WHAT JOE MANCHIN IS READING: “Biden’s final EV tax credit rules please automakers, anger China hawks,” by James Bikales: “Biden administration finalized guardrails for its electric vehicle tax credit on Friday that keep President Joe Biden’s EV adoption goals in sight but are likely to draw challenges from critics on both sides of the aisle who say he is illegally opening the door for Chinese imports. The rules offer some reprieve for automakers on the most severe restrictions on Chinese minerals, acknowledging that fledgling American battery suppliers will need years — or possibly decades — to catch up to their Chinese competitors. The regulations nonetheless have left only around 20 percent of electric models qualifying for the lucrative incentive.”

7. RAISING ARIZONA: CANELO ÁLVAREZ and JAIME MUNGUIA, two of the most renowned Mexican fighters, are set to touch gloves in the boxing ring this weekend at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. But down in Glendale, Arizona, Rep. RUBEN GALLEGO will be watching with one eye toward the fight and one eye toward November as he takes on Republican KARI LAKE in the Arizona Senate race. Gallego is throwing a blowout watch party for the main event. “The event on Cinco de Mayo weekend, expected to bring more than 100 largely Latino residents and families, is not just happening because Gallego is a boxing fan, but rather serves as evidence of how the campaign from the former US marine and Iraq combat veteran aims to reach Latino voters and Hispanic men who have eroded from the Democratic party in recent election cycles,” Adrian Carrasquillo writes for The Guardian.

PLAYBOOKERS

SPOTTED: Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and Kellyanne Conway having dinner together at Capital Grille on Wednesday night.

SPOTTED: Marisa Tomei dining at Pastis DC last night. She was initially seen in the early evening and, per a tipster, ended up coming back at the end of the night.

OUT AND ABOUT — SPOTTED at Ducks Unlimited’s annual D.C. dinner Wednesday: Speaker Mike Johnson, Sens. Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), John Boozman (R-Ark.) and John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), and Reps. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), Beth Van Duyne (R-Texas), French Hill (R-Ark.), Trent Kelly (R-Miss.), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.), Jim Baird (R-Ind.), Rudy Yakym (R-Ind.), Mark Alford (R-Mo.), Tracey Mann (R-Kan.), Ken Calvert (R-Calif.), Dan Meuser (R-Pa.), David Kustoff (R-Tenn.), Troy Carter (D-La.), Tim Walberg (R-Mich.), Jerry Carl (R-Ala.), Sam Graves (R-Mo.), Rich McCormick (R-Ga.), Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.), Jim Costa (D-Calif.), Gabe Vasquez (D-N.M.), Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.), Becca Balint (D-Vt.), Monica De La Cruz (R-Texas), Ralph Norman (R-S.C.), David Valadao (R-Calif.), Clay Higgins (R-La.), John Duarte (R-Calif.), Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.), Michael Cloud (R-Texas), Marc Veasey (D-Texas), Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.), Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.), Randy Weber (R-Texas), Gary Palmer (R-Ala.), Jimmy Panetta (D-Calif.), Mike Carey (R-Ohio), Brad Schneider (D-Ill.), David Rouzer (R-N.C.), Bob Latta (R-Ohio), Anthony D’Esposito (R-N.Y.), Carol Miller (R-W.Va.), Hillary Scholten (D-Mich.), Garret Graves (R-La.), Pete Stauber (R-Minn.), Cliff Bentz (R-Ore.), Doug LaMalfa (R-Calif.), Brian Babin (R-Texas) and Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.).

— Yesterday at Holland & Knight, Eve Maldonado O’Toole, Keenan Austin Reed, Irene Bueno, Linda Shim and Mariel Sáez launched a coalition of women of color who are government affairs and public affairs professionals in D.C. to support the Biden campaign. SPOTTED: Dao Nguyen, Alisa La, Nicole Tisdale, Jade Floyd, Arshi Siddiqui, Ashli Palmer, Eriade Williams, Mona Mohib, Danielle Aviles Krueger, Josie Villanueva and Naprisha Taylor.

— SPOTTED at the Hispanic Lobbyist Association’s Cinco de Mayo Celebration in honor of the new Congressional Hispanic Staff Association Board of Directors at the CTA Innovation House last night: Estuardo Rodriguez, Liz Lopez, Angel Colón-Rivera, Eddie Meyer, Brian Garcia, Karla Rodriguez, Art Sidney, Andres Ramirez, Leo Mendoza, Norberto Salinas, Lucia Alonzo, Emely Sanchez, Ivelisse Porroa-García, Erica Romero, Maria Luisa Boyce, Osiris Morel, Art Motta, Omar Franco, Manuel Bonilla, Erica Johnson Creamer, Carlos Sanchez and Silvia Ruelas.

— Vital Voices hosted a conversation on Wednesday night, the first day of Mental Health Awareness Month, between Sophie Grégoire Trudeau and Huma Abedin on Trudeau’s book, “Closer Together: Knowing Ourselves, Loving Each Other” ($30). First lady Jill Biden made a surprise appearance and provided opening remarks. SPOTTED: Alyse Nelson, Greg Hale, Mica Strother, Opal Vadhan, Dennis Cheng, Mike Taylor, Sabrina Singh, Lona Valmoro, Craig Johnstone, Carolyn Wu and Sali Christeson.

TRANSITIONS — Mike French has started the Space Policy Group and joined BCG as a senior advisor on space. He previously was VP for space policy at the Aerospace Industries Association and is an Obama NASA alum. … Joe Bush is now deputy comms director for Sen. Jacky Rosen’s Nevada Senate reelection campaign. He most recently was deputy comms director and speechwriter for Rosen’s Senate office.

WEDDING — Samuel Benson, national political correspondent for the Deseret News and a former intern for POLITICO, and Keylla Ortega, a Wheatley scholar at Brigham Young University, got married on April 25 at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ temple in Manti, Utah. The couple met in England when they were both doing a summer term at Cambridge. Pic … Another pic

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