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| Rep. Leonard Lance (R-NJ) |
Paul Milo reports for NJ.com:
Rep. Leonard Lance is one of 10 members of Congress who took a trip to the central Asian nation of Azerbaijan that is now the focus of an ethics probe, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.
The Post, citing a confidential report it obtained prepared by the Office of Congressional Ethics, said the May 2013 trip was secretly funded by state-owned SOCAR, the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic. Lance’s $1,885 airfare was paid by the company, according to the OCE report, which also funded expenses incurred and gifts received by other lawmakers during the conference in the city of Baku on the Caspian Sea.
The money for the 10 Congress members’ trips and several staffers, about $750,000, was channeled through two U.S.-based nonprofit organizations. In a filing, the corporations claimed they were actually funding the trips, the Post reported.
The trip came as Congress was considering sanctions against Iran, which has a partnership with SOCAR. Because of congressional rules barring foreign governments from attempting to influence foreign policy, the OCE report has been referred to the House Committee on Ethics for investigation of possible violations, the Post also reported.
Several of the Congress members mentioned in the report have denied any wrongdoing. A spokeswoman for Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, told the Associated Press that the Turquoise Council of Americans and Eurasians, one of the groups, told Poe’s office and the Ethics Committee before the trip that it was the sponsor of the event. Rep. Jim Bridenstine, R-Okla., reported a gift of two rugs received during the trip and later decided to return them.
Lance, a Hunterdon County Republican, also received a rug as well as earrings during the trip but also gave them back, his office told NorthJersey.com.
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