ANCA Seeks Release of Office of Congressional Ethics Findings on Azerbaijani Travel Scandal

 

 

Urges Leadership of U.S. House Ethics Committee to Allow Public Access to 70-Page Findings

WASHINGTON—A 70-page Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) report dealing with “concerted, possibly criminal, efforts” by pro-Azerbaijani interests to secretly fund congressional participation in an extravagant Baku conference should be released by the leadership of the U.S. House Ethics Committee, according to the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA).

ANCA urges calls to the House Ethics Committee to release the 70-page OCE findings on the Azerbaijan travel scandal.
ANCA urges calls to the House Ethics Committee to release the 70-page OCE findings on the Azerbaijan travel scandal.

In a letter sent earlier this week to Chairman Charles Dent (R-Pa.) and Ranking Member Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.) of this panel, ANCA Chairman Ken Hachikian called for the release of the findings “in the interests of government transparency and the rights of a fully informed electorate.” He stressed, “The committee should not withhold from American citizens any information involving foreign attempts to manipulate our democratic system or that, in the committee’s own words, reveals ‘evidence of concerted, possibly criminal, efforts’ by any party—foreign or domestic—seeking any manner of undue influence with U.S. policymakers.”

The ANCA is encouraging supporters of transparency in governance to call the House Ethics Committee at (202) 225-7103 to urge it to release the 70-page OCE findings.

The House Ethics Committee, earlier this week, cleared 10 U.S. Representatives and more than 30 congressional staff who had been under investigation for allegedly accepting illegal foreign funding to participate in a 2013 conference titled, “U.S.-Azerbaijan Convention: Vision for the Future,” funded by the state oil company of Azerbaijan (SOCAR).  The committee found that the members had not knowingly violated the law, since the nominal funders of the trip—the Assembly of the Friends of Azerbaijan (AFAZ) and groups associated with the Turkic American Association (TAA)—had apparently concealed from Congress the fact that SOCAR was, in reality, the true source of the junkets’ financing.  The House Ethics Committee has referred the case to the Department of Justice, but refused to release the OCE findings. The OCE, an independent, non-partisan entity charged with reviewing and, as appropriate, referring allegations of congressional misconduct to the Ethics Committee, typically have their findings released to the public after the investigation is concluded.  By all accounts, an exception has been made in this instance.

The controversy surrounding foreign funding of the Azerbaijan trips first came to light in July 2014, in an in-depth article published by the Houston Chronicle, which prompted the Ethics Committee to begin review of the matter. That initial piece is available here.

The Washington Post, in May of this year, first revealed the existence of the OCE report in a major investigative article titled, “10 Members of Congress Took Trip Secretly Funded by Foreign Government,” available here.

Earlier this week, after the House Ethics Committee report was released, the Center for Responsible Politics published an in-depth article spotlighting donations by supporters of the Turkic American Alliance to Chairman Dent, titled “Ethics Chair Received Contributions from Donors Linked to Groups in Azerbaijan Probe,” available here.

The full text of the ANCA letter is provided below.

***

August 3, 2015

The Honorable Charles W. Dent
The Honorable Linda T. Sanchez
Committee on Ethics
U.S. House of Representatives
1015 Longworth House Office Building

Washington, DC 2015

 

Dear Chairman Dent and Ranking Member Sanchez:

Thank you for your leadership of the Committee on Ethics and your service to the U.S. House of Representatives and the American people.

I am writing, in the wake of the Committee’s recent release of its report on officially connected travel by House Members to Azerbaijan in 2013, to formally communicate our request that the Ethics Committee publicly release the findings of the Office of Congressional Ethics regarding the “U.S.-Azerbaijan Convention: Vision for the Future.” We make this request in the interests of government transparency and the rights of a fully informed electorate.

The Committee should not withhold from American citizens any information involving foreign attempts to manipulate our democratic system or that, in the Committee’s own words, reveals “evidence of concerted, possibly criminal, efforts” by any party—foreign or domestic—seeking any manner of undue influence with U.S. policymakers.

Thank you for your consideration of our request. We are available to meet with you in person or to field any questions on this matter.

 

Sincerely,

[signed]

Kenneth V. Hachikian

Chairman

CC: Co-Chairman David Skaggs and Staff Director/Chief Counsel Omar Ashmawy, Office of Congressional Ethics

Guest Contributor

Guest Contributor

Guest contributions to the Armenian Weekly are informative articles or press releases written and submitted by members of the community.

3 Comments

  1. I called leaving a messg w/staffer named Christian. I provided my request, left my contact name and phone number. She stated they are taking a tally and will make a decision-unknown when. She stated some info already released and referred me to ethics.house.gov
    Thx.
    Jim Yogurtian

  2. There was recent article on the net stating that Rep. Dent himself was apparently receiving donations from the same people that organized the trip. It seems he has ties to Turkish organizations. He’s not going to find these people guilty of anything. I think all Armenians need to turn up the heat on the ethics committee and demand a release of their investigation.

    From OpenSecrets.org, “But even as the Ethics Committee investigated the matter, its chairman, Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Pa.), received political contributions from local individuals linked to the nonprofit network involved in the trips. The donations amounted to $8,000 and were given on a single day.” It seems asking Rep. Dent to preside over this investigations is like asking the fox to watch the hen house.

  3. Joe making a legit point.
    How can the Ethics Committee stay unbiased if Rep Dent is linked to the network involved in the trips?

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*