Blunt, Inc. Tarred and Feathered by Campaign for a Cleaner Congress on Turkey Junkets

The Campaign for a Cleaner Congress today issued a stunningly broad indictment of Blunt, Inc's involvement with the shadowy American Turkish Council (ATC).

According to a soon to be released Vanity Fair story, the ATC is a criminal front that has funneled campaign money to the GOP Congressional Leadership.

It has also sponsored joint junkets with tobacco companies for members of Roy Blunt's staff. Some of those staffers now work for Governor Matt Blunt.

Here is the CCC dispatch:

For Immediate Release: Contact:Sandra Salstrom

Friday, August 5, 2005

Congressional Records Show Blunt Chiefs of Staff And Special Assistant Junketed by Turkish Lobbying Interest

Upcoming Vanity Fair Article Reports FBI Wiretaps Caught Turks Bragging of Bribes to House Speaker Hastert

Campaign for a Cleaner Congress Asks Blunt to Answer Questions

WASHINGTON – Campaign for a Cleaner Congress today called on the number three leader in the U.S. House, Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-MO), to address questions about his past and current chiefs of staffs and his special assistant’s involvement with junkets sponsored by a lobbying organization, the American Turkish Council (A.T.C.).

The Council is the subject of a report in the September issue of Vanity Fair magazine, which hit newsstands in New York on Wednesday, that reveals wiretapped conversations, translated by a then-FBI employee Sibel Edmonds, recorded Turkish nationals describing efforts to bribe U.S. politicians, including House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-IL). According to the wiretaps, thousands of dollars were to be paid to Hastert’s campaign funds in small checks, which under Federal Election Commission rules do not have to be itemized in public filings if they are under $200.

Officials of large corporations with economic interests in Turkey, such as Philip Morris with whom Rep. Blunt’s wife is employed as a lobbyist, sit on the Council’s board

A Campaign for a Cleaner Congress review of Congressional travel records shows that Gregg Hartley, then chief of staff to Congressman Roy Blunt (R-MO), took a junket sponsored by the A.T.C. Blunt’s current Chief of Staff, Amy Field, also attended the same junket, and Jared Craighead, who was a special assistant to Rep. Blunt and now works as a senior policy advisor to Governor Matt Blunt, attended a separate A.T.C.- sponsored junket. Nov. 13-19,1999.

Edmonds told Vanity Fair that “the wiretaps suggested to her that the Washington office of the A.T.C. was being used as a front for criminal activity.”

Hartley has come under recent scrutiny for receiving $50,000 for one month of lobbying the Congressman’s son, Missouri Governor Matt Blunt (R), and for his involvement with controversial Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who is now under a federal criminal investigation.

Congressional travel records filed by Hartley and Field show they junketed to Turkey from May 25 to June 2 of 2002 at an estimated cost of $4,650 each. Records filed by Craighead show that he junketed to Turkey from November 13-18 of 1999 at an estimated cost of $4,815. All of the paperwork filed was approved by Blunt himself.

In addition to A.T.C. the junket was sponsored by pharmaceutical giant Pfizer and the tobacco company Phillip Morris. Hartley listed the trip as a “fact finding” mission.

Campaign for a Cleaner Congress Director Mike Casey said, “With Congressional approval ratings at 26 percent, the last thing public trust in Congress needs is another addition to the House Lobbying Scandal. Congressman Blunt can clear up a lot of questions quickly by answering a few basic questions:

• What interest of people in southwest Missouri was served by having your former and current Chiefs of Staff and your special assistant junket to Turkey?
• Of all the places in the world to visit, why did they choose to visit Turkey?
• Hartley, Field and Craighead all listed their trips as “fact finding” trips. What facts did they find that were of value to Missourians, and with whom have you shared these facts?
• What contact did you or your staff have with people employed by or associated with the American Turkish Council, and what was the nature of this contact?
• To help prevent any appearance problems, would you release a complete list of your small donors over the last five election cycles?

A copy of Hartley’s, Field’s and Craighead’s travel disclosure form is available online at www.cleanercongress.org.

Campaign for a Cleaner Congress is a reform organization that has recently opened chapters in seven states, including Missouri. It
is seeking to reform Congress with a five-part platform that includes
banning gifts and junkets for lawmakers, requiring Internet disclosure
of lobbyist contact with lawmakers and eliminating lobbying loopholes.