KJRH/WashPo: OK Congressman Among 10 Lawmakers On Trip Funded By Foreign Government
Lawmakers take trip funded by foreign gov’t
KJRH.com
Congressman Jim Bridenstine, R-Oklahoma, is one of 10 lawmakers under investigation for a secret trip funded by the state-owned oil company of Azerbaijan, according to the Washington Post.
The Post’s story cites a confidential ethics report that alleges the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) funded the 2013 all-expenses-paid trip to a conference at Baku on the Caspian Sea for 10 members of Congress and 32 staff members.
The report says the lawmakers and their staffers received hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of travel expenses, silk scarves, crystal tea sets and rugs valued at $2,500 to $10,000. Airfare alone for the lawmakers and their spouses totaled nearly $113,000.
The Office of Congressional Ethics issued the 70-page report, alleging SOCAR funneled $750,000 through nonprofit corporations in the United States to conceal funding for the conference.