Allegations about Privately-Sponsored Travel Paid for by the Turkish Coalition of America

Statement

Beginning in the last Congress, the Committee undertook a review of a multi-day, privately-sponsored trip to Turkey in August 2008 that was paid for, in part, by the Turkish Coalition of America (TCA). Five House employees sought and received Committee approval to participate in the trip. However, the Committee later learned that at the time of the travel, TCA employed or retained a federally-registered lobbyist, making it ineligible to sponsor a multi-day trip under the House’s privately-sponsored travel rules. The Committee’s review found that the employees who traveled acted in good faith, relied on the Committee’s review and approval of the trip, and had no knowledge that TCA employed or retained a lobbyist. Further, the Committee found that there were no prohibitions on this trip outside of the Committee’s waiver authority, such as impermissible expenses paid by foreign governments. The Committee therefore determined that no investigation or further action was necessary. After concluding its review, the Committee received three referrals from the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) regarding the same matter on June 13, 2013.

Documents

• Statement on ethics.house.gov
• Document 1 (PDF)
• Document 2 (PDF)
• Document 3 (PDF)
• Document 4 (PDF)

More

• All House ethics statements