10 members of Congress took trip secretly funded by foreign government

Three current and one former members of the Texas Congressional Delegation are under an ethics investigation, along with six others, in connection with an all-expenses-paid luxury trip to the Caspian Sea, financed by an Azerbaijan state-run company. The trip, and other lavish gifts, were allegedly part of an effort to influence U.S. policy.

The ethics investigation is focused on a 2013 junket in which ten members of Congress traveled on the dime of Azerbaijan state-run oil giant SOCAR. In order to pay for the travel, while concealing the nature of the funds, SOCAR allegedly funneled $750,000 through non-profit corporations in the United States, as the Washington Post reported.