A few dozen major retired officials of both Republican and Democratic administrations have reportedly received speaking fees from the group to give speeches in which they have urged the State Department to remove the Mojahedin-e Khalq from the official list of Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO). Those speeches date back to 2010.
But The Washington Times reported on its website Sunday that the Treasury Department has only now begun an investigation and is, so far as the newspaper could find out, only investigating Edward G. Rendell, a former Democratic governor of Pennsylvania.
Rendell differs from most of the others who have been calling for de-listing the Mojahedin in that he never held a federal position.
The Washington Times said Rendell told it that Treasury investigators last week subpoenaed records related to payments he has accepted in exchange for speaking engagements before the group.
Rendell and others argue the group should be removed from the FTO list because it has not engaged in violence in the last decade and shares a common enemy with the United States.
A Treasury Department spokesman said the Mojahedin-e Khalq “is a designated terrorist group. Therefore, US persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with or providing services to this group.”
Rendell told The Washington Times he has done nothing illegal, and he is “absolutely cooperating 100 percent” with the investigation. “I’ve instructed my agent not to hold back on any emails or any documents. There’s nothing to hide.”
The newspaper said Rendell is apparently the only person to be subpoenaed among about two dozen former officials calling for the group’s removal from the terrorist list.
The group includes Democrats such as former Vermont Governor Howard Dean and former US Ambassador to the UN Bill Richardson and Republicans such as former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge and former Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey. The speakers also include several retired generals.
David Cole, a professor at the Georgetown University Law Center, told The Times that “any group that’s on the State Depart-tion, on the Treasury Depart-ment’s list for specially designated global terrorists.”
“Anyone in the United States is prohibited from engaging in any transaction with such an entity,” he said.
While Cole stressed his personal belief that individuals have a “First Amendment right to speak out freely” for an organization like the Mojahedin, he said “it is a crime to engage in any transaction, which would certainly include getting paid to do public relations for them.”
Rendell and Ridge acknowledged to The Times last week that they have accepted payment in exchange for making media appearances and speeches calling for the Mojahedin-e Khalq’s removal from the terrorist list.
Both defended their actions.
“I’ve been in politics 34 years, and I can tell you right now that I would not jeopardize my reputation for any amount of money,” Rendell said. “I did my research extensively on this issue before I ever agreed to speak on it, and I am 100 percent convinced that it shouldn’t be on the Foreign Terrorist Organization list.”
As to the extent to which accepting payments for such advocacy may or may not be legal, Ridge said it is a “moot question.”
“Assuming there may be a question, and we don’t think there is, the bigger question is: Does the [Mojahedin-e Khalq] belong on the list?” he said. “It’s kind of curious that those who don’t like our advocacy are suggesting that we might be doing something wrong.”
Neither man would say how much he has been paid for his speeches, although Rendell called it “substantial” and said his expenses have also been covered in full.