STATE HEARS ‘BLOOD MONEY’ ELECTION CASE

Chillicothe Gazette
20090904/NEWS01/909040315
Sept 4 2009

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Del.icio.usFacebookDiggRedditNewsvine Buzz up!TwitterCOLUMBUS —
If lawyers for U.S. Rep. Jean Schmidt sought to prove that her
congressional opponent, David Krikorian, wasn’t precise when he
claimed the Republican took campaign money directly from the Turkish
government, they did a decent job Thursday.

But if they hoped the controversy over taking $30,000 in campaign
"blood money to deny the genocide of Christian Armenians by Muslin
Turks" during World War I will go away soon, they failed miserably.

Either way, Schmidt’s "false statements" complaints against Krikorian
remain unresolved before the Ohio Elections Commission. Five commission
members heard six hours of testimony and legal debate before adjourning
the case until Oct. 1.

California attorney Mark Geragos — calling himself a "stealth
Armenian" whose family name was shortened from Geragosian — used
e-mails and other documents to show how campaign money was solicited —
and possibly laundered — via lobbyists, Turkish businessmen and other
"registered foreign agents" of Turkey.

Geragos’ team of lawyers flipped through an inch-thick file of exhibits
linking Turkish political action committees to Turkish coalitions,
corporations, a legal defense fund headed by one of Schmidt’s lawyers
and various members of Congress.

Krikorian’s lawyers argued that the Ohio commission shouldn’t have
jurisdiction over federal elections, much less make their client
prove the complex money trail.

As a free-speech issue, Geragos said, Krikorian merely has to prove
he was diligent and not reckless in claiming Schmidt took tainted
Turkish contributions.

But Donald Brey and Bruce Fein, attorneys for Schmidt, said Krikorian
was reckless and should have been able to distinguish between campaign
contributions from Turkish people and PACs versus money directly from
the Turkish government — which would be illegal.

"I called it ‘blood money,’" Krikorian testified of his 2008 campaign
claims. "I believe that it is. I stand by everything that I wrote in
the last election."

Schmidt testified that she has "never received money from a foreign
government including the government of Turkey. … I was not raising
money from the Turkish government."

If a foreign government tried to give her money, Schmidt said, "I
would not take it. It would be illegal. I would turn their action in"
to the FBI or House Ethics Committee.

Krikorian’s defense still seeks to cross-examine Barry Bennett,
Schmidt’s chief of staff, and Sibel Edmonds, a former FBI
translator-turned-whistleblower.

In her four-hour deposition Aug. 8, Edmonds described Turkish attempts
to bribe and blackmail other members of Congress. Edmonds is out of
the country, so Krikorian will get another chance to call her as a
witness on Oct. 1.

Krikorian ran as an independent against Schmidt for the 2nd
Congressional District in 2008 and plans to try again next year as
a Democratic candidate.