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GENOCIDE DENIAL, ACCEPTANCE OF BLOOD MONEY TRIGGER DOWNFALL OF TURKISH LOBBY'S CHEERLEADER IN US CONGRESS
By Appo Jabarian
USA Armenian Life Magazine
http://www.armenianlife.com/2012/03/16/genocide-denial-acceptance-of-blood-money-trigger-downfall-of-turkish-lobby%E2%80%99s-cheerleader-in-us-congress/
March 16, 2012
Last week, Rep. Jean Schmidt's Armenian Genocide denial and blood
money-driven relationship with Turkey eventually led to her downfall.
She didn't realize how much trouble her cuddly relationship with
Turkey would cause in her Congressional District no. 2 in Ohio.
According to Politico.com, a private luncheon with Turkish Ambassador
Namik Tan kept her away from her district during March 6 Super
Tuesday's GOP primary election when her Republican constituents were
denying her re-nomination to run for another term.
Back in Fall of 2011, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics (CREW)
in Washington had asked the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE)
for an investigation into whether Rep. Jean Schmidt lied during
prior inquiries into her possible receipt of free legal services in
violation of Congressional gift rules. At that time, Schmidt little
realized that her evasive answers could trigger her ejection from U.S.
Congress.
CREW had charged that Schmidt had avoided being sanctioned for
accepting what the OCE and the Ethics Committee agreed was an improper
gift of nearly $500,000 in free legal services by telling investigators
that she was unaware of how her legal defense was paid for. It was
further revealed that a payment arrangement was made between her
attorneys at the Turkish American Legal Defense Fund and the Turkish
Coalition of America to indirectly reimburse TALDF for helping Schmidt
on a defamation case against her opponent David Krikorian, a Democrat.
In August 2009 Schmidt (R/OH-2) had filed a lawsuit for monetary
damages against David Krikorian claiming that he made three "false"
accusations of criminality against her.
In February of 2012, the Court of Appeals of Ohio released its decision
on "the interlocutory appeal that Jean Schmidt filed trying to force
the trial court to accept Bruce Fein as Schmidt's attorney (who is
not licensed in Ohio) in the case," and forcing Schmidt to reveal
who have been paying her attorneys fees. Through those decisions the
Court effectively denied each of Jean Schmidt's appeals, and rejected
each argument she made.
Most importantly, the appeals court decided the case quickly after oral
argument, moving the case back to the trial court. Legal observers
qualified that decision as a significant "win" for David Krikorian
in that the decisions of Judge Kessler at the trial court have been
sustained, and the appeals of Ms. Schmidt have been shown to be
without merit.
This latest development illustrates the point that Schmidt and
her Turkish backers unfairly attempted to silence Krikorian on the
issue of her genocide denial and her acceptance of improper gifts
from Turkey's proxies in the United States. It is anticipated that
Schmidt will appeal this decision to the Ohio Supreme Court and the
United States Supreme Court, which can further delay the proceedings.
Dealing her re-nomination bid with lethal blow, Schmidt's primary rival
and fellow Republican Brad Wenstrup, hammered her for "having taken
$500,000 in free legal assistance from Turkish-American activists,
a sum the House Ethics Committee told her to repay after looking into
allegations that the money constituted an improper gift."
Wenstrup went on to defeat Schmidt 49 percent to 43 percent,
marking the first time when Armenian Genocide denial and dealing
with genocide-related blood money have brought down a well-entrenched
incumbent.
As for Schmidt's Turkish backers, Turkish American Legal Defense Fund
continues to falsely boast "victory" on its website when in fact
a series of defeats have rendered TALDF along with its "alter ego"
Turkish Coalition of America more a liability for Turkey than an asset.
Interestingly, as of press time on Wednesday March 14, 2012, 7:19
p.m., TALDF's website featured an outdated press release (June 8,
2010) claiming "victory." The sole press release relating to Schmidt
vs. Krikorian case was titled: "REP. SCHMIDT SUES DAVID KRIKORIAN
FOR DEFAMATION STEMMING FROM HIS REPEATED FALSE ALLEGATIONS REGARDING
TURKISH INFLUENCE."
(Click to see webpage http://www.taldf.org/ohio_71210.html)
It remains to be seen how much more money will be wasted by Turkey
in order to finance failed attorneys Fein's and David Saltzman's
ill-guided legal battles in the United States designed to suppress
the internationally-recognized facts of the Armenian Genocide; to
stifle truthful free speech on the topic in American academia; and to
undermine the American people's right to be informed of such crime
against humanity. Their repeated failures reaffirm that political
argument in favor of justice for Armenians is on robust moral ground.
Lies can not survive on local level. And as such, politics of deceit
are doomed to falter because - like the saying goes, "All politics are
local." Therefore it is safe to say that on personal level American
voters are of healthy moral character. If Armenian Americans and their
allies continue to present their case on local level, they can gain
empathetic attention of their fellow Americans, and can ultimately
impact the outcome of elections in favor of truth and justice.
By Appo Jabarian
USA Armenian Life Magazine
http://www.armenianlife.com/2012/03/16/genocide-denial-acceptance-of-blood-money-trigger-downfall-of-turkish-lobby%E2%80%99s-cheerleader-in-us-congress/
March 16, 2012
Last week, Rep. Jean Schmidt's Armenian Genocide denial and blood
money-driven relationship with Turkey eventually led to her downfall.
She didn't realize how much trouble her cuddly relationship with
Turkey would cause in her Congressional District no. 2 in Ohio.
According to Politico.com, a private luncheon with Turkish Ambassador
Namik Tan kept her away from her district during March 6 Super
Tuesday's GOP primary election when her Republican constituents were
denying her re-nomination to run for another term.
Back in Fall of 2011, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics (CREW)
in Washington had asked the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE)
for an investigation into whether Rep. Jean Schmidt lied during
prior inquiries into her possible receipt of free legal services in
violation of Congressional gift rules. At that time, Schmidt little
realized that her evasive answers could trigger her ejection from U.S.
Congress.
CREW had charged that Schmidt had avoided being sanctioned for
accepting what the OCE and the Ethics Committee agreed was an improper
gift of nearly $500,000 in free legal services by telling investigators
that she was unaware of how her legal defense was paid for. It was
further revealed that a payment arrangement was made between her
attorneys at the Turkish American Legal Defense Fund and the Turkish
Coalition of America to indirectly reimburse TALDF for helping Schmidt
on a defamation case against her opponent David Krikorian, a Democrat.
In August 2009 Schmidt (R/OH-2) had filed a lawsuit for monetary
damages against David Krikorian claiming that he made three "false"
accusations of criminality against her.
In February of 2012, the Court of Appeals of Ohio released its decision
on "the interlocutory appeal that Jean Schmidt filed trying to force
the trial court to accept Bruce Fein as Schmidt's attorney (who is
not licensed in Ohio) in the case," and forcing Schmidt to reveal
who have been paying her attorneys fees. Through those decisions the
Court effectively denied each of Jean Schmidt's appeals, and rejected
each argument she made.
Most importantly, the appeals court decided the case quickly after oral
argument, moving the case back to the trial court. Legal observers
qualified that decision as a significant "win" for David Krikorian
in that the decisions of Judge Kessler at the trial court have been
sustained, and the appeals of Ms. Schmidt have been shown to be
without merit.
This latest development illustrates the point that Schmidt and
her Turkish backers unfairly attempted to silence Krikorian on the
issue of her genocide denial and her acceptance of improper gifts
from Turkey's proxies in the United States. It is anticipated that
Schmidt will appeal this decision to the Ohio Supreme Court and the
United States Supreme Court, which can further delay the proceedings.
Dealing her re-nomination bid with lethal blow, Schmidt's primary rival
and fellow Republican Brad Wenstrup, hammered her for "having taken
$500,000 in free legal assistance from Turkish-American activists,
a sum the House Ethics Committee told her to repay after looking into
allegations that the money constituted an improper gift."
Wenstrup went on to defeat Schmidt 49 percent to 43 percent,
marking the first time when Armenian Genocide denial and dealing
with genocide-related blood money have brought down a well-entrenched
incumbent.
As for Schmidt's Turkish backers, Turkish American Legal Defense Fund
continues to falsely boast "victory" on its website when in fact
a series of defeats have rendered TALDF along with its "alter ego"
Turkish Coalition of America more a liability for Turkey than an asset.
Interestingly, as of press time on Wednesday March 14, 2012, 7:19
p.m., TALDF's website featured an outdated press release (June 8,
2010) claiming "victory." The sole press release relating to Schmidt
vs. Krikorian case was titled: "REP. SCHMIDT SUES DAVID KRIKORIAN
FOR DEFAMATION STEMMING FROM HIS REPEATED FALSE ALLEGATIONS REGARDING
TURKISH INFLUENCE."
(Click to see webpage http://www.taldf.org/ohio_71210.html)
It remains to be seen how much more money will be wasted by Turkey
in order to finance failed attorneys Fein's and David Saltzman's
ill-guided legal battles in the United States designed to suppress
the internationally-recognized facts of the Armenian Genocide; to
stifle truthful free speech on the topic in American academia; and to
undermine the American people's right to be informed of such crime
against humanity. Their repeated failures reaffirm that political
argument in favor of justice for Armenians is on robust moral ground.
Lies can not survive on local level. And as such, politics of deceit
are doomed to falter because - like the saying goes, "All politics are
local." Therefore it is safe to say that on personal level American
voters are of healthy moral character. If Armenian Americans and their
allies continue to present their case on local level, they can gain
empathetic attention of their fellow Americans, and can ultimately
impact the outcome of elections in favor of truth and justice.