“Ohio Rep. Robert Ney personally lobbied the then Secretary of State Colin Powell to relax U.S. sanctions on Iran. Who asked him to? A convicted airplane broker who had just taken the congressman and a top aide on an expense-paid trip to London, Newsweek has learned. Ney’s lawyer confirmed to Newsweek that federal prosecutors have subpoenaed records on Ney’s February 2003 trip paid for by Nigel Winfield, a thrice-convicted felon who ran a company in Cyprus called FN Aviation. Winfield was seeking to sell U.S.-made airplane spare parts to the Iranian government – a deal that would have needed special permits because of U.S. sanctions against Tehran.”
It’s not hard to understand why an increasing number of citizens treat the political process with contempt.