Azerbaijan funded trip for 10 U.S. lawmakers - report

The findings by the U.S. House of Representatives’ independent Office of Congressional Ethics said the State Oil Company of the Azerbaijan Republic (SOCAR) funded the all-expenses-paid trip to a 2013 convention for the lawmakers and 32 House staff members, according to the newspaper.

The May 2013 "U.S.-Azerbaijan Convention” came one year after Azerbaijan’s oil company and several others asked Congress to exempt a $28 billion natural gas pipeline project from U.S. economic sanctions on Iran, according to the newspaper.

The company "allegedly funneled $750,000 through nonprofit corporations based in the United States to conceal the source of the funding for the conference in the former Soviet nation,” the Post said.