Ethics panel extends review of Azerbaijan trip while scolding the press

The House Ethics Committee said Monday that it is extending its review of nine members of Congress who went on a 2013 trip paid for by Azerbaijan’s state oil company.

The announcement included a swipe at the media for reporting on the details of the trip, which was first uncovered by The Washington Post last month. The country’s state oil company allegedly paid $750,000 to cover the trip’s expenses, even though House rules prohibit lawmakers from taking trips paid for by foreign governments.

The six Democrats and three Republicans involved have said they received clearance from the House Ethics Committee for the trip and the gifts they received.

{mosads}The Washington Post reported off of documents from the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE), an independent entity that investigates ethics cases and refers matters to the Ethics Committee. However, the Ethics Committee did not authorize public release of the documents regarding the Azerbaijan trip.

In a joint statement, House Ethics Committee Chairman Charlie Dent (R-Pa.) and Ranking Democrat Linda Sanchez (Calif.) criticized media reports that didn’t come from direct access to the OCE documents.

“In these matters, a newspaper obtained materials transmitted by OCE to the committee. The newspaper then published a story about aspects of the materials and related allegations. Other news outlets then reported on the newspaper story, apparently without having access to the materials transmitted by OCE to the committee,” Dent and Sanchez said.

They further indicated the leak to the Washington Post without authorization from the House Ethics Committee violated the chamber’s rules.

“Such an unauthorized release may have violated House Rules and other standards of conduct. Moreover, the unauthorized disclosure of the materials has directly impacted the committee’s investigation, which began well before OCE transmitted the materials to the committee,” they said.

The panel will provide its next update about the Azerbaijan review by Aug. 6.