ISSUES & CASES

October 2, 2009, Washington, DC – In an historic victory, the Turkish American Legal Defense Fund (TALDF) defeated Armenian American celebrity lawyer Mark Geragos and Armenian fringe political candidate David Krikorian in defending the good name and integrity of Congresswoman Jean Schmidt (R/OH-2).

TALDF attorneys Bruce Fein and David Saltzman with local counsel Donald Brey proved to the Ohio Election Commission by clear and convincing evidence that then Independent candidate David Krikorian made three false accusations of criminality against Congresswoman Schmidt with “actual malice.”

The first lie was that Schmidt was taking money from the Government of Turkey which, he preposterously claimed, is killing American soldiers. The evidence utterly discredited the assertion. Each of the five Commissioners concluded that Krikorian was lying.

The second malicious lie was that Schmidt received campaign contributions of from a Turkish government sponsored Political Action Committees (PAC) in exchange for her position on a congressional resolution on the Armenian allegation of genocide. The evidence also disproved this lie. It demonstrated that Congresswoman Schmidt has never accepted a campaign contribution in exchange for any official action or inaction; and, that the Turkish Government had neither an overt nor covert sponsored PAC.

The third malicious lie was that Krikorian’s intentional and reckless defamatory falsehoods could be confirmed by examining the website of the Federal Elections Commission.

The decision of the Ohio Elections Commission establishes that Members of Congress can and do reasonably dispute the Armenian thesis of World War I based on historical evidence. In fact, the majority of Congress has taken a similar position to not sponsor the pro-Armenian resolution. The Armenian argument that only people who are on the payroll of the Government of Turkey would quarrel with their view of history has been demolished.

The ruling upholds the importance of decency and transparency in American politics and scores a much-needed blow against the intimidation tactics routinely practiced by the Armenian lobby. Seeking to impose their one sided view of history on others, these activists have long sought to manipulate American policy to the detriment of the nation’s interests and its people.

About the Turkish American Legal Defense Fund

Founded in 2008, the TALDF promotes the civil rights of Turkish Americans by educating them and others regarding constitutional guarantees, especially open access to all manners to civic forum participation, politics, and free expression. The TALDF also represents before federal and state courts individuals who have suffered civil rights violations on account of their Turkish ethnicity.