US Senator Scores $500,000 Contract to Lobby for Cambodia

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US Senator Scores $500,000 Contract to Lobby for Cambodia

Post by CEOCambodiaNews »

Washington state senator will lobby for Cambodia
By THEODORIC MEYER

04/05/2019 01:18 PM EDT
WASHINGTON STATE SENATOR WILL LOBBY FOR CAMBODIA: Doug Ericksen, a sitting Washington state senator, has registered to lobby for the Cambodian government. Ericksen, a Republican, registered as a foreign agent along with Jay Rodne, a former Washington state representative who left office earlier this year, through a company called PacRim Bridges LLC. Ericksen and Rodne will meet “with US Officials, electeds at both the federal and state levels, and administrative officials to promote improved relations between the USA and the Kingdom of Cambodia,” according to a Justice Department filing.

— The work will include arranging “visits by Cambodian officials to the US and visits by US officials to Cambodia” as well as setting up meetings with American business leaders, according to the filing. The contract, which was signed March 25, is worth $500,000 a year.

— State lawmakers aren’t typically involved in foreign affairs. But Ericksen visited Cambodia twice last year, including a trip in July with other state lawmakers, to observe the country’s elections, according to The Seattle Times. The elections were widely considered illegitimate, and the White House criticized them at the time as “neither free nor fair and failed to represent the will of the Cambodian people.” But Ericksen told The Seattle Times that the voting process was “amazingly transparent” and “incredibly well conducted” and that he planned to submit a report to Cambodia’s National Election Committee saying so. Neither Ericksen nor Rodne immediately responded to requests for comment.
https://www.politico.com/newsletters/po ... dia-421936
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Re: US Senator Scores $500,000 Contract to Lobby for Cambodia

Post by CEOCambodiaNews »

Backstory article from July 2018 questioning the senator's motives for previous visits to Cambodia.

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From left, Vincent Buys, Doug Ericksen and the Cambodian Prime Minister HE
What on Earth Is Doug Ericksen Doing In Cambodia?
By Elisabeth Britt and Michael Riordan • On Jul 28, 2018 • In Whatcom County, Washington State, USA & World

Just as hard-working Whatcom County voters are returning their primary ballots, State Senator Doug Ericksen and Representative Vincent Buys are half a world away in Cambodia on another unofficial junket, supposedly to witness the sham Cambodian elections on Sunday, July 29, 2018.

This is Doug’s third trip to Cambodia in two years. He traveled on his own to its capital city in June 2016, spending $1236 from his surplus campaign funds to stay at the Sofitel Phnom Penh Phokeethra, a lavish five-star hotel on the banks of the Mekong River. Then he returned to the city in May 2018 with Buys, retiring State Senator Michael Baumgartner (R-Spokane) and Washington State University football coach Mike Leach. Buys was no penny-pincher, spending $508 from his surplus funds in Phnom Penh and another $280 at the Sokha Beach Resort in the seaside town of Sihanoukville.

According to Ericksen, the first two visits were goodwill trade and cultural-exchange missions, but it is hard to identify what U.S. products might be sold to penurious Cambodians — especially from Whatcom County. Our dairy products are of little interest there, as the Cambodians rely on coconuts, not cows, to produce the “milk” in their diet. Given his political leanings, maybe Ericksen and company were just scouting a good site for a Trump hotel in Sihanoukville.

According to the Asia-Pacific journal The Diplomat, Ericksen claims that he and Buys returned “to view the [election] process and meet with members of the National Election Committee, government members, majority and minority party leaders, other election observers and members of the public.” But a U.S. Embassy spokesman in Cambodia countered, “No official election observers from the United States government will observe the July 29, 2018, national election.”
https://nwcitizen.com/entry/what-on-ear ... n-cambodia
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Re: US Senator Scores $500,000 Contract to Lobby for Cambodia

Post by CEOCambodiaNews »

An article from local Cambodian news two weeks ago shows the warm relations between the US senator and the Cambodian PM:

March 25, 2019
US politician lauds progress during meet with HE
Image Photo Facebook

Washington State Senator Doug Ericksen on Friday met with Prime Minister HE at the Peace Palace, where he lauded last year’s national election as “free, just and non-violent” and a reflection of the will of Cambodian people.

Last year, Mr Ericksen led a delegation of US officials to observe the national election on July 29.

Eang Sophalleth, assistant of Mr HE, on Friday said Mr Ericksen congratulated the government for last year’s peaceful election.

Mr Sophalleth said Mr Ericksen also noted Cambodia’s rapid development under the CPP-led government.

“Mr Ericksen congratulated the CPP for receiving its victory and lauded the government under the leadership of Samdech HE that garnered peace and development,” Mr Sophalleth said.

Mr HE’s Facebook page last week said Mr Erickson’s visit to Cambodia is intended to build a better relationship with the US.

“It is to expand the betterment of the relationship and cooperation between Cambodia and the US,” it said. “Samdech HE expresses gratitude and welcomes Mr Ericksen for his purpose in strengthening relations.”
https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50589795/u ... hun-sen-2/
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Re: US Senator Scores $500,000 Contract to Lobby for Cambodia

Post by SternAAlbifrons »

I must be doin' OK today - I can't stop myself laughing at these reports.
Usually, I murder the cat.
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Re: US Senator Scores $500,000 Contract to Lobby for Cambodia

Post by CEOCambodiaNews »

More questions...
Cambodia and the half-million-dollar question
8 April 2019
Late last week, The Seattle Times reported that Doug Ericksen, a Washington state senator, is to be paid US$500,000 over a 12-month period to lobby US lawmakers on behalf of the Cambodian government, especially “to promote improved relations between the USA and the Kingdom of Cambodia and legislation that promotes improved relations.”
---

News of the lobbying deal sparked invective from political analysts and social-media pundits. Some called Ericksen’s acceptance of the money unethical and perhaps even illegal. “Washington State Sen. Doug Ericksen is precisely what ‘pay to play’, dictatorship supporting scumbags look like. Praising #Cambodia PM #HE as a ‘democrat’ and then taking $500,000 US from him. If you like him so much, Doug – move to Phnom Penh!” tweeted Phil Robertson, of Human Rights Watch. Others noted the irony; the Cambodian government has for months been saying it doesn’t care about the thoughts of foreign capitals but it is now paying good money to change their opinions.

There are suggestions making the rounds that the $500,000 Ericksen received is actually compensation for the panegyrizing comments he made about Cambodia’s general election last year, and not a payment for actual lobbying work. If true, it would raise the question of whether the dozens of other foreign lawmakers who visited Cambodia during last year’s general election have also received some reimbursement from Phnom Penh.

The US has strict laws on its lawmakers receiving money from abroad, which must be disclosed under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. But the likes of Russia, Turkey and Britain, from which other politicians arrived last year to “inspect” (or, rather, erect) the election, don’t expect such transparency from their own lawmakers. So is Ericksen’s payment just the tip of the iceberg, and how much money has the Cambodian government paid out to other ingratiating foreign politicians?

On the other hand, the $500,000 payment to Ericksen could simply be for his lobbying. But this raises its own questions, such as why would the Cambodian government pay this sum to a mere state senator, rather than to a national-level lawmaker or a professional and experienced lobbying firm on K Street? And why would it pay this amount to a lobbyist who is so blatantly in bed with the Cambodian government, something that will surely affect any of his lobbying efforts?
Full article: https://www.asiatimes.com/2019/04/opini ... -question/
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Re: US Senator Scores $500,000 Contract to Lobby for Cambodia

Post by Brody »

CEOCambodiaNews wrote: Sun Apr 07, 2019 3:40 pm What on Earth Is Doug Ericksen Doing In Cambodia?
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Re: US Senator Scores $500,000 Contract to Lobby for Cambodia

Post by Phnom Poon »

Brody wrote: Mon Apr 08, 2019 6:46 pm
CEOCambodiaNews wrote: Sun Apr 07, 2019 3:40 pm What on Earth Is Doug Ericksen Doing In Cambodia?
I wonder if he was caught with his pants down

.

monstra mihi bona!
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Re: US Senator Scores $500,000 Contract to Lobby for Cambodia

Post by CEOCambodiaNews »

State Sen. Doug Ericksen’s $500,000 contract with autocratic Cambodian regime draws scrutiny, condemnation
May 6, 2019 at 6:00 am

By Jim Brunner
and Joseph O’Sullivan
Seattle Times staff reporters

In late March, before they revealed a $500,000 contract from the government of Cambodia, state Sen. Doug Ericksen and former state Rep. Jay Rodne traveled to Phnom Penh and met with Prime Minister HE at the country’s Peace Palace.

They posed with HE for photos and Ericksen, R-Ferndale, reportedly praised the country’s widely condemned 2018 elections, which took place amid a crackdown that included shuttering independent media outlets and dissolving the main opposition party.

Ericksen called the vote “free, just, and nonviolent, expressing the wills of the Cambodian people,” according to a March 22 report by Fresh News, a pro-government Cambodian news site, which said the comments were relayed through a government spokesman. The comments echoed earlier remarks Ericksen had made about the elections, which he observed at the invitation of the HE government.

On April 3, Ericksen and Rodne, who had not publicized their March visit, registered as foreign agents in filings with the U.S. Justice Department, disclosing the $500,000-a-year contract given to their company, PacRim Bridges.

Ericksen’s parlaying of his elected position into a business relationship with the authoritarian HE regime is attracting condemnation from human-rights activists, local Cambodian Americans, exiled leaders of Cambodia’s opposition party and even a Republican congressman.

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-ne ... -scrutiny/
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Re: US Senator Scores $500,000 Contract to Lobby for Cambodia

Post by CEOCambodiaNews »

Sen. Doug Ericksen should break his Cambodia deal or step down
May 14, 2019 at 2:08 pm
By The Seattle Times editorial board

On the heels of a narrow re-election last fall, state Sen. Doug Ericksen blew through a gauntlet of warnings in March to ink a $500,000-a-year consulting contract with the Kingdom of Cambodia.

Despite his apparent ability to shrug off criticism from so many quarters, he should end his relationship with the controversial nation or step down from the Senate.

The Ferndale Republican said the firm he co-owns with ex-Rep. Jay Rodne works internationally to reduce human- and drug-trafficking, and bolster anti-terrorism efforts. He has also said his role is boosting trade, not politics, and that he will not work for Cambodia within Washington.

Despite these disclaimers, the situation continues to raise more questions than Ericksen has satisfactorily answered.
https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/ed ... step-down/
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Re: US Senator Scores $500,000 Contract to Lobby for Cambodia

Post by CEOCambodiaNews »

Long read from The Diplomat:

Why Is a Washington State Senator Lobbying for Cambodia?
Ericksen argues that the United States should forge closer ties with Cambodia. Critics cringe at a legislator lobbying for a foreign government.
By Cristina Maza
December 24, 2019
In the humid month of July, 50-year-old Washington State Senator Doug Ericksen checked into the Raffles Hotel Le Royal, a luxury hotel in Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh, just a 15-minute walk from the edge of the Tonle Sap River.

His business partner, the 53-year-old lawyer and Republican Party politician Jay Rodne, was with him. The men spent a little over $900 each for their stay in the nearly 100-year-old building replete with swimming pools and private garden courtyards.

Despite the hotel spa and tropical surroundings, this wasn’t a summer holiday for the two longtime political operatives.

Ericksen and Rodne jointly launched a lobbying firm called Pac Rim Bridges in November 2017. Since then they have visited Cambodia at least three times to meet “clients,” according to documents filed with the Justice Department. The trips are part of their effort to “promote improved relations between the USA and the Kingdom of Cambodia.” The men registered as foreign agents to represent the Kingdom of Cambodia in April 2019.

Photographs of their visits show high-level meetings with Cambodian Prime Minister HE, Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn, Minister of Commerce Pan Sorasak, Minister of Transport Sun Chanthol, and Ministry of Agriculture official Eng Cheasan, among others. The men are seen smiling in boardrooms and shaking hands with politicians in the lobbies of government offices.

Cambodia’s strongman Prime Minister HE is paying Ericksen and Rodne’s company $500,000 a year to help improve relations with the United States. The decision to hire the two men appears to be based on the erroneous assumption that Ericksen’s role as a state senator working from Olympia, Washington would grant him access to decision-makers in the power center of Washington, D.C. on the other end of the country. Cambodian media have repeatedly referred to Ericksen as a senator, ignoring the fact that he operates at the state and not the federal level.

The Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs did not respond to requests for comment from The Diplomat.
Full article: https://thediplomat.com/2019/12/why-is- ... -cambodia/
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