Monday, February 18, 2008

The Turkish Lobby, Obstruction of Justice and Henry Waxman

The Sibel Edmonds case is about US government officials who take bribes from Turkish organized crime to steer US policy in order to further the interests of Turkish organized crime.

The Turkish organized crime cartels work through "semi-legit" lobby groups in the United States.

Bribes, organized crime, Turkish lobby....

People who are following the Sibel Edmonds case took certain Democrats at their word when they promised in 2006 that, if the Democrats gained a majority in Congress, there would be hearings into the Sibel Edmonds case.

Of course, they are counting on Henry Waxman, Democrat from California's 30th District, to get this ball rolling in committee.

Here's why I don't think that will happen.

First, I came across a report implicating Waxman in taking bribes from organized crime back during the Clinton era: DEMOCRAT ON HEARING PANEL TAKES MOB MONEY.

July 15, 1996

The House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight last week started hearings into alleged ties between the Clinton administration and Mob-controlled labor unions.

Union boss Arthur E. Coia of the Laborers' International Union has close ties to several Mob leaders, and has been under investigation by the FBI for Mob-influenced racketeering. The Clinton Justice Department, however, settled the RICO suit against Coia on terms that were very favorable to Coia. The law firm defending Coia, Williams and Conolly, is the same law firm defending Clinton against Whitewater charges. Republicans allege that the Clinton administration let Coia off the hook because of his generous campaign contributions. Coia was recently seen as a co-chairman of a Democratic fundraiser, and Hillary Clinton had her picture taken with him.

"There is a pattern," said House Majority Leader Dick Armey last week, "when the Justice Department reaches a settlement with the Laborers International Union and leaves its president, Arthur Coia, in charge rather than proceed with racketeering charges against an organization that supports President Clinton."

Democrats on the committee attacked Republicans for partisanship. "It's hard for me to see how this hearing isn't part of a political agenda," said Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif. He may have other motives than protecting the President, however. An investigation by the Washington Weekly reveals that Henry Waxman has taken money from Laborers' International Union. In accordance with the charge by Democrats last week that Bob Dole is in the pocket of the Tobacco Industry, one might say that Henry Waxman is in the pocket of the Mob.


Perhaps links into Congressional representatives who take bribes from organized crime is not a can of worms that Waxman wishes to open?

Well, it seems links to Turkish lobby groups might not be Waxman's, uh, ball of wax, either.

There's a new Turkish lobby that has appeared in town since the Sibel Edmonds story came out but did not break: The Turkish Coalition of America. (Note: There are several sites with similar addresses that seem to be near mirrors of each other.)






About TCA
The Turkish Coalition of America (TCA) is an educational, charitable organization incorporated in February 2007. Based in the nation’s capital, TCA’s objective is to

Educate the general public about Turkey and Turkish Americans and voice their opinion on critical issues to interested parties.

Engage and cultivate a new generation of young Turkish American leaders.

Promote and advance the interests of the Turkish American community and Turks.

Foster friendship, understanding and cooperation between the United States and Turkey.

Protect the character and ensure a realistic portrayal of Turkey and Turkish Americans in the media and the arts.

Serve as a think tank of expertise and a clearinghouse of information on Turkey and Americans of Turkish descent.

Identify and recognize the achievements of Turkish Americans in academia, arts, business, education, government, public service and science.


Notice how this organization appeared in February 2007, shortly after this herd of Democrats took their oaths of office when the new Congress convened.



From the TCA's page entitled About Us:

Message from the Co-Chairs of the Congressional Caucus on Turkey

On behalf of the membership of the Congressional Caucus on Turkey in the U.S. House of Representatives, we wish to extend our congratulations and best wishes to the Turkish Coalition of America (TCA). We are pleased that a new organization has been established to foster greater understanding of issues impacting the Turkish American community through public education both in Washington and across the nation. We look forward to working with TCA, and believe that with their support and participation members of Congress will be more effective in addressing the concerns of the Turkish American community in addition to promoting stronger US-Turkish relations.


Of course, here is the Congressional Caucus membership list: Members of Caucus on US Turkish Relations and Turkish Americans



And whose smiling face do we see on the list?



There's another link (pay attention, as you mouse over it, to how it is different from the previous links -- they were "www.turkishcoalitionofamerica.com", this is "www.turkishcoalition.org") entitled Organizing in Politics.



It gives the following list of Congressional representatives:

MEMBERS OF THE TURKISH CAUCUS
Rep. Robert Wexler – Co-Chair D-Florida/19th Rep.
Ed Whitfield – Co-Chair R-Kentucky/1st
Rep. Kay Granger – Co-Chair R-Texas/12th
Rep. Robert Aderholt R-Alabama/4th
Rep. Gresham Barrett R-South Carolina/3rd
Rep. Joe Barton R-Texas/6th
Rep. Howard Berman D-California/28th
Rep. Charles Boustany R-Louisana/7th
Rep. Dan Burton R-Indiana/5th
Rep. G. K. Butterfield D-North Carolina/1st
Rep. Steve Chabot R-Ohio/1st
Rep. Ben Chandler D-Kentucky/6th
Rep. Howard Coble R-North Carolina/6th
Rep. Bud Cramer D-Alabama/5th
Rep. Henry Cueller D-Texas/28th
Rep. Lincoln Davis D-Tennessee/4th
Rep Norm Dicks D-Washington/6th
Rep. Lloyd Doggett D-Texas/25th
Rep. Phil English R-Pennsylvania/3rd
Rep. Eni Falmeoveaga D-American Samoa
Rep. Virginia Foxx R-North Carolina/5th
Rep. Paul Gillmor R-Ohio/5th
Rep. Alcee Hastings D-Florida/23rd
Rep. Rush Holt D-New Jersey/12th
Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. D-Illinois/2nd
Rep. William Jefferson D-Louisiana/2nd
Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson D-Texas/30th
Rep. Tim Johnson R-Illinois/15th
Rep. Tom Lantos D-California/12th
Rep. John Lewis D-Georgia/5th
Rep. Betty McCollum D-Minnesota/4th
Rep. Mike McIntyre D-North Carolina/7th
Rep. Gregory W. Meeks D-New York/6th
Rep. Brad Miller D-North Carolina/13th
Rep. Dennis Moore D-Kanasa/3rd
Rep. Jim Moran D-Virginia/8th
Rep. John Murtha D-Pennsylvania/12th
Rep. Ortiz Solomon D-Texas/27th
Rep. Bill Pascrell D-New Jersey/8th
Rep. Mike Pence R-Indiana/6th
Rep. Joe Pitts R-Pennsylvania/16th
Rep. Todd Platts R-Pennsylvania/19th
Rep. Earl Pomeroy D-North Dakota/At Large
Rep. David Price D-North Carolina/4th
Rep. Adam Putnam R-Florida/12th
Rep. Nick Rahall D-West Virginia/3rd
Rep. Jim Ramstad R-Minnesota/3rd
Rep. Silvestre Reyes D-Texas/16th
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen R-Florida/18th
Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger D-Maryland/2nd
Rep. David Scott D-Georgia/13th
Rep. Pete Sessions R-Texas/32nd
Rep. Chris Shays R-Connecticut/4th
Rep. Mike Simpson R-Idaho/2nd
Rep. Ike Skelton D-Missouri/4th
Rep. Adam Smith D-Washington/9th
Rep. Cliff Stearns R-Florida/6th
Rep. Tom Tancredo R-Colorado/6th
Rep. John Tanner D-Tennessee/8th
Rep. Gene Taylor R-Mississippi/4th
Rep. Bennie Thomson D-Mississippi/2nd
Rep. Henry Waxman D-California/30th
Rep. Heather Wilson R-New Mexico/1st
Rep. Joe Wilson R-South Carolina/2nd


Now, this is quality: farther down, it gives information about the TCA's president, G. Lincoln McCurdy.



He served as the senior advisor to the Turkish American Chamber of Commerce and Industry in New York in 2005 and 2006. McCurdy was the president and chief executive officer, 1998 - 2004, and executive director, 1989 – 1998, of the American-Turkish Council (ATC) in Washington, the leading business association in the United States devoted to the promotion of U.S.-Turkish commercial, defense and cultural relations. He received ATC’s Distinguished Career Award in 2005. Before joining ATC, Mr. McCurdy served in the American Consulate General in Istanbul as the Consul for Commercial Affairs, 1980 – 1984.


If anything of what Sibel Edmonds says is true -- and we know it is, see the summaries and links at Digging It Up, Part 1 of 2 and Digging It Up, Part 2 of 2-- this guy G. Lincoln McCurdy is a stinker; and, logically, so is his organization.

Connections with Turkish lobby groups might also be something that Waxman and a great many of his colleagues in Congress do not want to delve into in public hearings, which is exactly what an inquiry into the Sibel Edmonds case would demand.

____________________



There needs to be a conscientious investigation of Congressman Henry Waxman's ties with the Turkish lobby, and his failure to hold hearings regarding the Sibel Edmonds case as he had promised to do.

A conscientious investigation will result in indictments that will name G. Lincoln McCurdy, the president of the Turkish Coalition of America, and the Honorable Henry Waxman, Democratic Congressional Representative from California.

The charges are: influence-peddling, racketeering, obstruction of justice, bribery, espionage and treason.

____________________



While we're at it, notice who took a great deal of money from the Turkish lobby for her Presidential bid.

5 comments:

pela68 said...

Oh! Why am I not surprised? Great digging YD. "The Turkish Connection"is an inroad, not only for muslim radicals, but also for human and narco trafficing (as we know). The question is; Why does the politicians not know it? are they ignorant or just outright crooks? My bet it's a mixture of the former and the latter.

Aurora said...

The Turks are not our true allies and they seem to have so much power over us. Personally I felt really bad for the Kurds who are our military's allies in Iraq to be persecuted with our nod of approval after pressure from the Turks and that after the Turks were chanting anti-American and anti-west slogans in the streets of Europe and Turkey.
Nice bit of investigative posting again, Yankee. Not too surprised about the Hildebeest. If there's a corrupt dollar to be had, she's got her grubby hands on it.

Yankee Doodle said...

Pela, some of the politicians are pretty stupid, others are "just outright crooks". Waxman is a crook.


Aurora, just to clarify: it's not "the Turks" just the same way it's not "the Albanians" or "the Kosovars".

In the case of Turkey, it's about organized crime, just like we have here in the US. If the politicians are going to be on the take, why can't they at least be patriotic about it? You know -- buy American?

What is particularly irritating is that those bribes are funded by heroin money, and guess what else? US military aid -- it goes to the Turkish military industrial complex, which gets built up at the expense of American industry. Some of the money then gets funneled through organizations like the TCA and used to bribe politicians to keep the flow of US taxpayer billions going to Turkey.

By the way, and I should have mentioned this in the original post -- it is not all Turkish lobby groups, although we have no idea which ones may be legal and legitimate. But, the ATC is specifically mentioned again and again in the Sibel Edmonds case, hence my declaration that this McCurdy character is a McCrook -- supersized, with extra fries, strings pulled by the Turkish Deep State.

Some of the other bloggers are still calling for Congressman Waxman to hold hearings. At this point, I'm calling for Congressman Waxman to be prosecuted.

Undoubtedly, some of the Congressional Representatives associated with this organization are on the up-and-up, and are doing nothing terribly wrong -- maybe cutting a few corners. After all, the TCA has some "legitimate" work that has to happen to keep up the charade. But, in this even-year election, when all of the members of the House are up, every person whose name is on that list should be explaining his or her ties to the TCA, and should be agitating for open, public hearings into the Sibel Edmonds case, as a show of good faith. Failing that, make them suffer at the polls.

Speaking of which, the news media is quite reluctant to pick up this story -- they probably smell the danger, and wisely avoid it -- but that shouldn't stop US CITIZENS. Let's take a particular interest in sending Waxman looking for some new line of work on election day this year. Maybe his Turkish Deep State friends will keep their end of the bargain, and give him an easy retirement for his obstruction of justice in the Sibel Edmonds case.

Yankee Doodle said...

Oh, by the way...

For my many readers around the US who have taken an interest in this post -- including a significant number from the Washington, DC, area...

"ATC" is "American Turkish Council", the one Turkish lobby group most mentioned in the available literature on the Sibel Edmonds case. I have links in the sidebar if you wish to look into the Sibel Edmonds case; otherwise, you've heard about Google Search?

These guys can probably sense that the situation is slipping out of their control -- as I predicted months ago that it would -- and knowing that the light is s-l-o-w-l-y beginning to shine, they appear to be retreating and regrouping under a new name: the Turkish Coalition of America.

Research the Sibel Edmonds case, research the Turkish Deep State, research heroin... it all comes together, and Congressman Waxman has some explaining to do.

If you don't know how to use Google Search, try this link here for further information.

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