Michael Turner, R-Ohio, attended as part of a separate congressional delegation, and his expenses were not paid by the conference, according to the report. Clarke is a member of the Ethics Committee.Īnother lawmaker, Rep.
Rubén Hinojosa, D-Texas Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas Leonard Lance, R-N.J. The lawmakers who took the trip were Reps. The report reflects the most extensive investigation undertaken by the ethics office, which was created seven years ago in response to scandals on Capitol Hill, including lobbyist Jack Abramoff’s illegal funding of lawmakers’ trips. The State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic, known as SOCAR, allegedly funneled $750,000 through nonprofit corporations based in the United States to conceal the source of the funding for the conference in the former Soviet nation, according to the 70-page report by the Office of Congressional Ethics, an independent investigative arm of the House. Airfare for the lawmakers and some of their spouses cost $112,899, travel invoices show. Lawmakers and their staff members received hundreds of thousands of dollars of travel expenses, silk scarves, crystal tea sets and Azerbaijani rugs valued at $2,500 to $10,000, according to the ethics report. Three former top aides to President Barack Obama appeared as speakers at the conference. WASHINGTON - The state-owned oil company of Azerbaijan secretly funded an all-expenses-paid trip to a conference at Baku on the Caspian Sea in 2013 for 10 members of Congress and 32 staff members, according to a confidential ethics report obtained by The Washington Post. Digital Replica Edition Home Page Close Menu