Although we applaude Congressman Cartwright's honesty in refunding part of the donations back (only to those donors who were not American citizenship) Mr. Cartwright we urge you to retract the generic honor on "Gulen" and clarify what exiled Imam Muhammed Gulen has done for peace and dialogue. Gulen was not able to apply this "peace and dialogue" in Turkey and certainly is on the OUTS with Ankara.
Plea to Mr. Cartwright retract the honor of Gulen or clarify what he actually has done
WASHINGTON — A U.S. congressman, who gave a speech praising Fethullah Gülen in Congress, has returned donations worth thousands of dollars following allegations of money laundering and violations of federal regulations on campaign financing.
Matt Cartwright, a Democrat from Pennsylvania in the House of Representatives, received at least $7,500 of donations in October in a meeting that took place at the Lehigh Dialogue Center in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, which is tied to the Gülen Movement, led by retired imam Fethullah Gülen who lives in rural Pennsylvania in a self-imposed exile. Gülen is at odds with the Turkish government over the influence he wields inside Turkish police forces and top judiciary posts and has been in the spotlight since last year's December 17 operation that was believed to be organized by his disciples to topple then Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan's government.
Cartwright submitted a text to Congress "recognizing" Gülen as a "pillar of peace and humanity" and someone who promoted "a moderate blend of Islam in a time of growing radicalism" on November 10 after receiving donations. Cartwright's office declined to answer Daily Sabah's questions about the timing of the praise and the representative's opinion about Gülen's activities both in the U.S. and Turkey.
However, Cartwright's communications director finally responded to Daily Sabah's inquiry after a number of allegations regarding the state of donations came forward.
A Daily Sabah investigation revealed that an individual who donated at least $1,000 at Gülen's Dialogue Center in Bethlehem didn't have a green card. U.S. Federal Election Commission (FEC) guidelines explicitly says that any foreign nationals, except those holding green cards, are not able to make political contributions to candidates who are running for or are an incumbent of a federal office.
Although the Internal Revenue Code of the U.S. forbids a non-profit to directly or indirectly participate in any political campaign on behalf of any candidate for elective public offices, Members of the Gülen Movement used the Lehigh Dialogue Center as a venue for fundraising for Cartwright's campaign. The center describes itself as a non-profit organization and therefore it is under the danger of losing its tax-exempt status.
A source familiar with the matter also said that the movement tried to conceal the true source of the donations by giving hard money to their members and friends to make political contribution on their behalf. The FEC clearly says that reimbursing for campaign contributions constitutes illegal money laundering.
Cartwright's spokesman and campaign manager, Shane Seaver, said that their campaign was informed that there may be an issue with some contributions that they received in October. "It is unclear whether there was in fact anything improper about those donations, and we are looking into it. In the meantime, out of an abundance of caution, we have returned those donations."
This is not the first time Cartwright received donations from Gülen Movement-affiliated contributors. Apart from the refunded donations, FEC reports show that a number of Turks with close links to the Gülen Movement have contributed more than $10,500 to his campaign since 2013.
The Gülen Movement's donation strategy is nothing new for Turkey. A detailed review of donations by Turkish citizens in election files showed that Gülen has been transferring huge amounts of money to candidates from both U.S. parties since 2006. Over $1.5 million were contributed to a variety of politicians from President Barack Obama to Texas Republican Governor Rick Perry, who notoriously suggested the exclusion of Turkey from NATO and claimed that terrorists run the Turkish government.
The Gülen Movement has even organized free trips to Turkey for members of Congress and state lawmakers. A LegiStorm search showed that between 2000 and 2014 over $3 million was spent on U.S. lawmakers' trips to Turkey. Detailed inquiries have exposed that almost every journey was organized by Gülen Movement-affiliated associations.
http://www.dailysabah.com/world/2014/12/07/us-congressman-refunds-gulenist-donations-in-fear-of-violating-federal-rules
Let the moron hang himself by leaving in the permanent file an endorsement of an international organized crime figure and terrorist mastermind. The evidence is piling up in Turkey and despite claims by Gulenist dailies falsely claiming the NYT is in control of the US justice department, the extradition is going forward. Every day he waits to remove it he becomes more culpable. He needs a better criminal attorney.
ReplyDeleteYes the US Justice Department is obligated to follow regulations and procedures of extradition policies. However, with the added "red alert" added to Gulen's paperwork has the Govt. of Turkey actually demonstrated how the Gulen Minions (Networks) are a clear and present danger to Turkey and the United States of America? That would be the million dollar question and how much it might cost the Gulen Minions to get their Hocaefendi out of the doghouse.
ReplyDeleteMany of Gulen's minions are so brainwashed they are under the impression Gulen waltzed into the USA, immigrated his followers via h1-b visas and opened a network including 140 schools in under 15 years because of his charming personality.
They don't get it about his protective hand., how much more the CIA/NATO will protect them now that they have been exposed is another question to ponder. The govt, namely CIA tends to retire a project when the cover has been blown, especially since the Gulen Movement is of no further use for them with their failures in Central Asia to lure the countries away from the Russian camps.
With their schools closing and exposed, and the politicians that have naively accepted awards, trips or money out in the open its not looking too great for the minions of Gulen.
This will drag on as long as they can and expect to see a lot of drama between now and first quarter of 2015. With the worst enemy of the Gulen Movement being their own indignant and arrogant selves who feel they have every right to have schools worldwide. They panic and then the next dumb move is theirs.
Gulen dying peacefully in his sleep would save the taxpayers of the USA millions in extradition fees. If they are rounded up by their regions in the USA, dismantled and their money/power taken it's the same as death to the Gulen Movement because next to Gulen they worship money more than anything.
The rank and file worship hard work and charity. I'm freeing them. Gulen is a curmudgeon. The gladio programs sucks and is now defunct. The new program is pluralistic democracy or in practice an intellectual meritocracy. The press is pissed as the so called experts are now angry useless losers. If your whole tankful of psuedo intellects are dysfunctional and challenged you see why they lash out and attack their master. I do it for free too. check out Dep. PM Arinc 1 hr. ago.
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