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U.S. REP. JEAN SCHMIDT TO REPAY $500,000 TO TURKISH COALITION OF AMERICA
PanARMENIAN.Net
August 6, 2011 - 12:50 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - U.S. Representative Jean Schmidt, Republican of
Ohio, has been ordered by the House Ethics Committee to repay a
Turkish-American group $500,000 for legal services it improperly
paid for to help her pursue a defamation lawsuit and other legal
proceedings against a Democratic opponent in the 2008 election.
The action by the House committee, disclosed Friday, August 5, did not
come with a formal punishment, because ethics investigators concluded
that Ms. Schmidt had been misled by her own lawyers from the Turkish
American Legal Defense Fund about who was paying the legal bills.
Ms. Schmidt was ordered to amend her annual personal financial
disclosure reports to acknowledge the gift from the Turkish Coalition
of America, which actually paid the bills, and then reimburse the
lawyers, New York Times reported.
The case involving Ms. Schmidt has its origins in the move in 2007
by Armenian-Americans to get the House to pass the American Genocide
resolution.
Ms. Schmidt sided with the Turkish-American groups.
One of her opponents in the 2008 race, who lost the Democratic
nomination, accused her of taking "blood money" in the form of
campaign contributions in return for her opposition to the House
resolution. Ms. Schmidt ended up filing a $6.8 million defamation
lawsuit, and the legal bills were improperly paid by the Turkish
Coalition, the ethics committee concluded. There were also other
legal challenges to her election, which were handled by lawyers paid
by the coalition.
PanARMENIAN.Net
August 6, 2011 - 12:50 AMT
PanARMENIAN.Net - U.S. Representative Jean Schmidt, Republican of
Ohio, has been ordered by the House Ethics Committee to repay a
Turkish-American group $500,000 for legal services it improperly
paid for to help her pursue a defamation lawsuit and other legal
proceedings against a Democratic opponent in the 2008 election.
The action by the House committee, disclosed Friday, August 5, did not
come with a formal punishment, because ethics investigators concluded
that Ms. Schmidt had been misled by her own lawyers from the Turkish
American Legal Defense Fund about who was paying the legal bills.
Ms. Schmidt was ordered to amend her annual personal financial
disclosure reports to acknowledge the gift from the Turkish Coalition
of America, which actually paid the bills, and then reimburse the
lawyers, New York Times reported.
The case involving Ms. Schmidt has its origins in the move in 2007
by Armenian-Americans to get the House to pass the American Genocide
resolution.
Ms. Schmidt sided with the Turkish-American groups.
One of her opponents in the 2008 race, who lost the Democratic
nomination, accused her of taking "blood money" in the form of
campaign contributions in return for her opposition to the House
resolution. Ms. Schmidt ended up filing a $6.8 million defamation
lawsuit, and the legal bills were improperly paid by the Turkish
Coalition, the ethics committee concluded. There were also other
legal challenges to her election, which were handled by lawyers paid
by the coalition.