Ethics Committee Clears Bridenstine In Foreign Trip Investigation
Bridenstine, other lawmakers cleared in probe of Azerbaijan trip
By RANDY KREHBIEL World Staff Writer
First District Rep. Jim Bridenstine and nine of his colleagues have been cleared of wrongdoing by the House Ethics Committee stemming from a 2013 trip to Azerbaijan.
In a statement released Friday, the committee said it “found no evidence that the Members and staff who participated in the trip knowingly violated any House Rule, law, regulation, or other standard of conduct.”
The committee said it is asking the Justice Department to further investigate “third parties” it suspects of “engaging in a criminal conspiracy to lie to Congress.”
The Washington Post reported in May that 10 members of Congress, including Bridenstine, had attended a seminar in Azerbaijan in 2013, and that most of their expenses had been paid by an organization that largely acts as a front for the Azerbaijani national oil company.