While many Democrats are calling for the Democrats to head back to Congress aandpressure the GOP on gun control today it became clear that isn't going to happen. Hoyer along with 41 other Democrats touched down on an all expenses paid trip to Israel. This AIPAC-affiliated junket violates the spirit as well as the letter of the law.
Here’s why —
So how do they get around this limitation and still sponsor trips that cost around $10,000 per person with AIPAC staffers on the trip? Simple use an affiliated organization, in this case AIEF — over the past decade, AIEF has spent $12.9 million on the trips for 363 lawmakers and 657 congressional staffers, Alex Kane and Lee Fang reported for The Intercept last December.
AIEF not engage in lobbying, thereby technically allowing it to organize week-long congressional travel. But, this is nothing but a shell game when you dig into the tax returns of both organizations. In the latest year publicly available return, AIEF reported on page 57 that it does not pay its employees; instead, AIPAC compensates them. And AIPAC duly noted on page 65 that it paid tens of millions of dollars to AIEF.
In other words, AIPAC and AIEF admit that the former pays the salaries of the employees of the latter in part to organize congressional delegations that AIPAC is not allowed to organize. This arrangement is designed to allow AIEF to organize lobbying trips that would otherwise violate congressional ethics.
Hoyer has been pressuring members to go on this trip. Hoyer strong-arms Representatives to go. “Hoyer, according to former members of Congress who have resisted the pressure to join AIPAC’s delegation, uses his power over the House floor agenda to coerce participation. A member who refuses an invitation can find it difficult to have their bills brought to the floor for a vote.
So while we have a renewed focus on gun control and a need for representatives in the house to hear from voters on impeachment where does Hoyer think it's most important for members to be? Overseas to on a trip sponsored by lobbyists in a way that allows the expenses and the duration to violate ethics rules through a shell game.
And these trips aren’t cheap and they travel with lobbyist making this for all intents and purposes a lobbyist funded trip in violation of the ethics rules:
The trips cost around $10,000 per person, and lawmakers are allowed to bring one family member. AIPAC staffers attend the trips as well. Over the past decade, AIEF has spent $12.9 million on the trips for 363 lawmakers and 657 congressional staffers, Alex Kane and Lee Fang reported for The Intercept last December.
This is why the House Democrats need new Leadership.
This diary has been edited from it’s original version to remove a “banned” source from some unpublished “banned sources” list that I unknowingly included. There’s ample other sources telling exactly the same story so I’ve linked them instead.
If someone could point me to a published list of banned sources I’d appreciate it since I don’t see it anywhere when I search.