Billy Long

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Member of the US House of Representatives since 2011.

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Azerbaijan tried to bribe the US Congress

A group of leading US lawmakers and their employees flew business class for an excursion to Baku at the end of last autumn and stayed in luxury hotels. The guests visited the sights of the capital of Azerbaijan and held “briefings” on issues of bilateral relations. This is written by A. Raufoglu in an article published by the Azerbaijani news agency Turan.

“According to the records of the US Department of Justice, a fully paid visit, apparently, was one of 36 trips of congressmen to Azerbaijan only in 2013, with a total expenditure of $260,000,” the author notes.

According to the article, the delegation included Democratic Congressmen Jim McDermott and Donald Payne, Republican Billy Long and several others. In Baku, they praised the “rapid pace of development” of Azerbaijan.

The trip, which took place on November 21-26, 2013, was held at a time when the leadership of Azerbaijan criticized the US administration for the negative assessment of the presidential elections in the republic.

According to official data, which was provided in Washington to the correspondent of the agency “Turan”, in New York, the group “Humpty Dumpty Institute” and the Azpod company connected with Baku spent about $ 40 thousand for the congressmen’s trip in November.

“Legislators who traveled to Baku do not disclose the details of their trip, while only annual financial forms are reported, which will be released no earlier than June. The offices of congressmen also declined to comment on this topic,” the article notes.

At the same time, a Washington lobbyist, who is aware of the details of the trip, in an interview with news agency “Turan” on condition of anonymity reported that the visit cost the Azerbaijani taxpayers a “reasonable price”. According to him, such trips had the goal of “getting to know the facts”.

“Such types of foreign trips are often organized by lobbyists, who are working for foreign countries, and have specific agendas on this basis,” said the Washington lobbyist.

Critics of such trips in the US capital say that it is “unacceptable” for members of the House of Representatives and the Senate to carry out visits financed by authoritarian countries, not paying attention to their realities.

“This is nothing more than an attempt by the Azerbaijani government to use oil to bribe the Congress and its members,” the former American diplomat said.

Meanwhile, according to the agency, Humpty Dumpty Institute is preparing another delegation of congressmen to Azerbaijan. The trip will take place on March 14-19.

“The program of this visit has not been made public yet, but based on previous similar visits, lawmakers and their employees are likely to get pleasure from another pleasant trip to Baku, thanks to Azeri petrodollars,” the author concludes.

Source: panorama.am