'It's A Simple Question': McCormick Grills State Dept Official On Detainment Of His Constituent

6 months ago

During a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing Thursday, Rep. Rich McCormick spoke about the detainment of one of his constituents in Nigeria.

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Transcript

00:00Thank You Mr. Chair and thank you for the witnesses for being here today. I'm

00:05here to address a very serious issue about one of my constituents, Mr.

00:10Carsons. I sent you as well as the President and Secretary of State a letter

00:13on June 4th requesting that the matter of Tigran Gambarian detainment be

00:19transferred to your office. I also wrote and received a response regarding

00:24Deputy Secretary Kurt Campbell's trip to Nigeria asking whether he discussed

00:27Tigran's case with their government. Tigran is my constituent, his wife and

00:32his two kids, and previously he served as an IRS agent taking high-level cases

00:38before working as a compliance executive at Binance. As you know, while on travel

00:44to Nigeria by invitation by their government, he was arrested, had his

00:50passport seized, and has received appalling treatment with his rights

00:52continually being violated. He wasn't even charged for a month. He now has

00:56malaria, should be in the hospital, not. He's been lied about. We do have people

01:02in contact with him, but absolutely appalling circumstances as an American

01:05citizen. Most recently, Tigran contracted malaria while there. Despite a court

01:12order to the contrary, he has received less than adequate treatment and it's

01:16time for him to come home. Special Envoy Carstens, in your view does Mr. Gambarian

01:22meet the criteria of a U.S. citizen wrongfully detained by a foreign

01:26government, pursuant to the Robert Levinson Hostage Recovery and Hostage

01:31Taking Accountability Act? Congressman, I hope you don't mind, I'll start off and

01:35then Assistant Secretary Bitter may want to jump in or maybe even Raj, but I would

01:39say that these cases are, they might from the outside seem opaque, that

01:46it's hard for people to figure out where we are in the

01:49map sheet as we go through this and a lot of that's because the cases are not

01:53static. We keep finding information out over time. Let me interrupt because I

01:57won't have so much time, I have three more minutes, because I'll cite your own

02:00code and that way you can tell me if it applies or not. I'll probably just tell you

02:05because it's pretty obvious to me. Mr. Chairman, I ask for unanimous consent to

02:09submit to the record section 1741 of Title 22 of the United States Code,

02:14please. Without objection. Thank you. Let's go through section 1741 of Title 22,

02:18which you guys are pursuant to. Answer the questions to Mr. Gambrian's case if

02:24it falls under these eight criteria listed. Clause 1a, do the United States

02:31officials receive or possess credible information indicating the innocence of

02:35the detained individual? Yes. Clause 5a, is the individual being detained in

02:40violation of laws of the detained country? Yes. We know that for a fact.

02:46Clause 6a, are independent non-government organizations or

02:49journalists raised legitimate questions about the innocence of the detained

02:53individual? Yes. Clause 7a, is the individual or the United States mission

02:58in the country where the individual is being detained receive credible reports

03:02that detention is a pretext for an illegitimate purpose? Yes. Clause 8a, has

03:09the individual detained in a country where the Department of State has

03:13determined in its annual human rights reports that the judicial system is not

03:19independent or impartial, is susceptible to corruption, or is incapable of

03:24rendering just verdicts? Mr. Chairman, I ask unanimous consent to insert this

03:28report, 2023 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, Nigeria, for the record.

03:34Without objection. This report finds that Nigeria has arbitrary arrests or

03:41detention, serious problems with independent of judiciary, and a lot more

03:45than that. That's just one more section. Clause 9a, is the individual being

03:50detained in inhumane conditions? Yes. Not only is he not receiving adequate

03:55treatment for malaria, but in prison he's being held in a place that was held built

04:00to behold Boko Haram and ISIS people, terrorists basically, as a basically a

04:06businessman who is coaxed there under false pretense. Clause 10a, has due

04:13process of the law been sufficiently impaired so as to render the detention

04:16arbitrary? Yes. Held for a month, passport confiscated, no charges, no medical

04:24treatment. This is a US citizen. Clause 11a, is the United States diplomatic

04:30engagement likely necessary to secure the release of the detained individual?

04:35Absolutely. Absol-freaking-lutely, as they say in the military. If he was your

04:40parent, or your son, I would make the case this would have already been elevated. If

04:46it was somebody of interest to the president, or the secretary, this would

04:52have already been elevated. He is a US citizen. If I was in Rome, back in Roman

04:58times, and I was Paul, the Apostle, I'd say, I am a Roman citizen, and all of a

05:02sudden it goes where? To the Emperor. Because I'm a citizen. This guy deserves

05:08better. Secretary Bitter, with the being established that Mr. Gambarian meets the

05:14criteria of wrongfully detained US person according to this whole code,

05:17that's eight sections of the code, can I ask for your

05:22advocation to elevate this to where it belongs so we can actually get something

05:26done for this poor guy who is coaxed in under false pretense to be charged

05:31illegitimately after waiting for a month? Please. Thank you so much,

05:37Representative McCormick, and I also just want to acknowledge that the statement

05:43that you read the other day on behalf of his wife was very moving, and I appreciate

05:47your reading that into the record, and it was really very meaningful to hear. I

05:50think we are watching this case closely. We talk about this case quite frequently,

05:54and just to back up a little bit, two things to be aware of. We are aware of

05:59his medical condition. We've asked for humanitarian release based on his

06:04malaria, and also just so you know, our colleagues in Nigeria have visited him

06:10I think at least nine times since he was arrested just a couple of months ago. We

06:14know that there's a hearing upcoming that we will certainly be attending, so

06:18just to assure you and to assure Mrs. Gambarian as well, that this is something

06:24we are tracking really, really closely. We're watching the proceedings, and we're

06:28watching very carefully his health. So I'm gonna ask you again, will you

06:34advocate to elevate this to Special Envoy Carstens? Thank you again. It is the

06:43way that we work together is that we talk about these cases all of the time.

06:47Are you advocating to elevate this, ma'am? It's a simple question. No, I

06:50appreciate that. I understand what you're saying, and I I just want to be clear

06:53that this is something... I know you're concerned. Mr. McCormick, your time has

06:56expired, but there will be another round coming up here. You will have an

06:59opportunity if you wish to continue your line of questioning. Chair now recognizes

07:05ranking member of the full committee, Ranking Member Meeks. Thank you, Mr.

07:09Chairman. Let me start by thanking our...

'It's A Simple Question': McCormick Grills State Dept Official On Detainment Of His Constituent

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