Rep. Gregory Meeks pushed to let an Iran-backed natural-gas project dodge US sanctions — after attending an illicit junket paid for by energy companies.
The Queens Democrat and Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-Brooklyn) were among 10 members of Congress who attended a conference in the Azerbaijan capital of Baku last year.
While the Manhattan-based nonprofit Council of Turkic American Associations said it footed the bill for Meeks and Clarke, the Houston Chronicle found that the real sponsors included BP, ConocoPhillips and SOCAR, the national oil company in Azerbaijian.
Energy concerns were an important theme at the gathering, including a natural-gas project partially backed by neighboring Iran.
The lawmakers may have violated a provision of the House gift rule against corporate-sponsored travel and trips paid for by companies that employ lobbyists.
Rep. Charles Rangel (D-Harlem) was forced to give up his powerful chairmanship of the House Ways and Means Committee after The Post found he accepted trips to the Caribbean financed by companies that employ lobbyists.
The Chronicle found that lobbyists, the Azerbaijian government and energy companies had a role in the event.
Photos from the Baku gathering show participants, including Meeks, standing in front of a backdrop with corporate logos.
The pols were supposed to disclose the sponsorships in filings with the House Ethics Committee, which were due 15 days after they returned. But the Chronicle found no one in the 10-member delegation made the disclosures.
Clarke, a Democrat who sits on the Ethics Committee, filed her form on July 16, 2013 — six weeks after she got back. Meeks did not file his until nearly a year after his May 30, 2013, return date, records show.
“Congressman Meeks went on a 2013 Congressional trip to Baku, Azerbaijan, subsidized in part by corporate interests which lobby Congress — a violation of House rules. Shortly after he returned, Meeks sponsored a resolution wanted by those same corporations,” said Ken Boehm, chairman of the National Legal and Policy Center, a watchdog group.
Former Sen. Richard Luger spoke at the conference and urged Congress to exempt the $28 billion natural-gas project from economic sanctions against Iran, the Chronicle reported.
In September 2013, Meeks supported a resolution backing the gas venture that included the Iranian national oil company.
A spokeswoman for Meeks said the congressman’s office had only recently realized that the travel report had not been filed and that “the filing was then made promptly.”
The spokeswoman maintained that Meeks did not know about any issues with House ethics rules until last month’s Chronicle article.
“We knew of no claim regarding the trip’s compliance with the rules, or any basis for such a claim,” she said.
Clarke’s office did not return requests for comment.