ETHICS GROUP ASKS FOR FEDERAL INVESTIGATION OF ARMENIAN ORGANIZATION
By Michael Doyle

Fresno Bee
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Feb 18 2009
CA

WASHINGTON – A high-profile ethics organization on Wednesday asked
federal agencies to investigate the Armenian National Committee of
America for alleged campaign finance and lobbying violations.

In a seven-page complaint, the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics
in Washington asserts the Armenian-American group failed to register
either as a domestic lobbying group or as a foreign agent despite
its political work and its close ties to an Armenian political party.

The Armenian National Committee of America is one of the country’s most
prominent ethnic organizations, and has worked closely with San Joaquin
Valley lawmakers on Armenian genocide commemorative resolutions.

"We’re not saying they should be out of business," said Melanie
Sloan, a former federal prosecutor who heads the private Citizens for
Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. "We’re saying there are laws,
and they should be following them."

Sloan attached 161 pages of exhibits in support of the allegations.

Armenian National Committee of America officials denounced the charges
as unfounded.

"We’ve taken a preliminary look at [the] allegations, and they are
without merit and full of inaccuracies and misrepresentations,"
ANCA Communications Director Elizabeth Chouldjian said.

Chouldjian declined to undertake a point-by-point rebuttal of the
complaint, but she said "the real story is why this is being brought
up now." She noted the complaint was filed about two months before
the annual April 24 Armenian genocide commemoration; she did not
elaborate on a potential motive for the complaint’s timing.

The Armenian National Committee of America describes itself on its
web site as "the largest and most influential Armenian American
grassroots political organization." It is active in regions with
large Armenian-American populations, including New Jersey, Florida
and California.

Currently, Rep. George Radanovich, R-Mariposa, and other ANCA allies
are rallying renewed support for an Armenian genocide resolution
that collapsed last Congress. Under presidents of both parties,
the Pentagon and State Department have opposed the resolution as an
insult to Turkey, which denies that mass deaths between 1915 and 1923
amounted to a genocide.

"Circumstantial evidence indicates that ANCA and its current or former
executive directors … have lobbied Congress and the executive branch
heavily with regard to perennial congressional Armenian genocide
resolutions," the complaint states.

The complaint cites interviews and press releases, in which ANCA
leaders tout their efforts to sway Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., among
others.

The Armenian National Committee of America has not registered as a
lobbyist with either the House or Senate. Failure to register can
be a felony offense, though Sloan said potential problems are often
resolved simply by registering after the fact.

The Armenian Assembly of America, the nation’s other prominent
Armenian-American organization, is registered and reported spending
$182,000 on lobbying last year.

"These are the rules, and everybody has to follow them," Sloan said.

The complaint asks the Internal Revenue Service to review potential
tax violations and the Justice Department to open a criminal probe. The
complaint also asks the House and Senate to open "companion inquiries"
into the lobbying allegations.

Citing press accounts, a U.S. embassy study and the research of
Heather Gregg, a professor at the Naval Postgraduate School in
Monterey, the complaint contends ANCA is "an arm" of the Armenian
Revolutionary Federation. The latter is a political party that is
part of Armenia’s ruling coalition.

Agents of foreign political parties are required to register with
the Justice Department. ANCA can endorse political candidates, as a
group organized under section 501 (c)(4) of the federal tax code. The
affiliated ANCA-Western Region, based in Glendale, cannot because
it is a 501 (c)(3) organization. The complaint alleges the Western
Region office nonetheless participated in the national organization’s
candidate endorsements, in part by sharing a Web site.

Sloan said the complaint arose from a tip received late last year.

Sloan’s non-profit, six-year-old ethics group claims no partisan
affiliation and has previously filed ethics complaints about both
Democratic and Republican lawmakers. Its past targets have ranged
from former Tracy area GOP congressman Richard Pombo to former Vice
President Dick Cheney.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress