Ohio U.S. House Candidate Issues Press Release on Sibel Edmonds’
‘Revealing’ Testimony
David Krikorian campaign notes Google’s removal of ads by Turkish
lobby group denying Armenian genocide
Announces open-to-public preliminary hearing tomorrow in his Ohio
Election Commission case against Ohio Rep. Jean Schmidt…
The BRAD BLOG
By Brad Friedman on 8/12/2009
As we continue to wait for the release of the video/transcript of
long-gagged FBI whistleblower Sibel Edmonds’ deposition last Saturday,
the campaign of David Krikorian, Ohio’s Democratic candidate for the
U.S. House seat in the 2nd Congressional district, has just issued a
press release relating to it. (Complete release posted below.)
In the statement, they re-iterate some of the information which The
BRAD BLOG covered during our live-blogging of the event over the
weekend, including Edmonds’ allegations under oath that "the Turkish
Lobby in the United States was under the direction of the Turkish
Government and engaged in operations including bribery, espionage and
blackmail with certain members of the US House of Representatives to
further its objectives in the United States including one of which is
the denial of the Armenian Genocide."
Some of those current and former House reps, such as Dennis Hastert
(R-IL), Dan Burton (R-IL), Bob Livingston (R-TX), Dick Gephardt
(D-MO), and Stephen Solarz (D-NY), were said to have been specifically
named during the 5-hour-long deposition. One female Representative,
said to be a Democrat and still serving in the House, was described,
but not named, as having been "hooked" by Turkish agents into
participating in a lesbian affair which is said to have been
videotaped for potential blackmail use against the sitting
Congresswoman….
Krikorian’s statement also repeats his allegations against his
opponent, Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-OH), that she "took more money from the
Turkish lobby in the 2008 election cycle than any other member of the
House or Senate and has already booked thousands in contributions from
the Turkish despite there being almost no Turkish people or interests
in Ohio’s 2nd congressional district."
He goes on to allege that "Jean Schmidt has displayed a pattern of
taking money from groups in exchange for pushing their agendas."
Edmonds’ testimony arose out of a "false statements" complaint filed
by Schmidt against Krikorian, who is of Armenian descent, in the Ohio
Election Commission over his claim that she has accepted "blood money"
from Turkish interests who deny the 1915 Turkish genocide of ethnic
Armenians. Edmonds herself is a Turkish-born U.S. citizen. Schmidt is
the co-chair of the Congressional Turkish Caucus.
A preliminary hearing in the case will be conducted by the Ohio
Elections Commission in Columbus tomorrow. It will be open to the
public, beginning at 9:30am, according to the Krikorian press release.
The press release also cites a story on the Fox "News" website today,
highlighting a complaint from the Turkish Coalition of America (TCA),
against Google, charging that they inappropriately removed ads which
deny the Armenian Genocide. Fox quotes "a person familiar with
Google’s policies" likening the ads to "a Nazi group that said the
Holocaust is a myth."
On Saturday, Krikorian told The BRAD BLOG, during a break in Edmonds’
testimony: "From my opinion, if I’m some of the current members of
Congress, I’d be very very worried about the information that’s going
to come out of this. There are current members of Congress that she
has implicated in bribery, espionage.
It’s not good. It’s crazy, it’s absolutely crazy. For people in power
situations in the United States, who know about this information, if
they don’t take action against it, in my opinion, it’s negligence."
Video of his reaction on Saturday, as well as that of Edmonds and
several of the attorneys involved in the deposition, is now posted
here.
The Krikorian campaign’s press release, issued within the last hour
today, follows in full below…
—————————————- —————-
Krikorian For Congress Press Release
FBI Whistleblower Provides Revealing Testimony In Schmidt v. Krikorian
Case
Ohio Elections Commission To Hold Preliminary Hearing Tomorrow
Cincinnati, OH – August 12, 2009 – FBI Whistleblower Sibel Edmonds,
testified on Saturday to her knowledge of Turkish Government
infiltration of US Department of State and the US House of
Representatives. The testimony was revealing and will be used in David
Krikorian’s defense against frivolous false statement claims brought
by his 2010 opponent Representative Jean Schmidt.
Ms. Edmonds testified that the Turkish Lobby in the United States was
under the direction of the Turkish Government and engaged in
operations including bribery, espionage and blackmail with certain
members of the US House of Representatives to further its objectives
in the United States including one of which is the denial of the
Armenian Genocide.
Representative Schmidt took more money from the Turkish lobby in the
2008 election cycle than any other member of the House or Senate and
has already booked thousands in contributions from the Turkish lobby
in 2009 despite their being almost no Turkish people or interests in
Ohio’s 2nd congressional district.
FOX News is reporting today that the Turkish Coalition of America,
whose political action committee is a large contributor to the Schmidt
campaign, had its Armenian Genocide denial ads pulled by Google. A
Spokesman for Google said the company does not allow ads for Web sites
"that suggest revisions to history or attempt to revise history
against the interests of a protected group."
"Jean Schmidt has displayed a pattern of taking money from groups in
exchange for pushing their agendas" said David Krikorian "Whether it
be taking money from the trucking industry to raise the federal weight
limit on tractor-trailer trucks despite the public safety hazard and
road damage concerns or taking money from the banking lobby to push
for bailouts for the banking industry or in this case taking money
from the Turkish lobby in exchange for pushing it
f the Armenian Genocide, Jean Schmidt has shown that she is for sale
in the US House.
The Ohio Elections Commission will conduct a preliminary hearing
tomorrow in Columbus. The hearing is open to the public and begins at
9:30 AM. Mr. Krikorian is confidant that the facts of the case will
support his defense against Schmidt’s outrageous claims.
Krikorian For Congress
[email protected]
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