U.S. Congressman Robert Pittenger’s Communications Director reponded to a query by HFP’s György Lázár, in connection to two articles that appeared on our site about Sebastian Gorka’s ties to the far-right in Hungary and the participation of Jobbik MP Márton Gyöngyösi at an Intelligence, Terrorism and Cyber Security Forum organized by the Congressman. We received the following response.
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Robert Pittenger (R-North Carolina)
Good afternoon,
Congressman Pittenger was not aware of any participant in the Parliamentary Intelligence-Security Forum having any pro-Iranian, anti-Semite, neo-Nazi, or related connections.
Please be aware of the invitation process: Congressman Pittenger sends invitations to the Speaker (or equivalent) of the Parliament, who then puts together a delegation of foreign affairs-related MPs who would best represent their country and learn from the panelists. We are aware that in 2015, for example, that Hungary sent a 4 person delegation representing 4 different political parties, but Congressman Pittenger is not specifically involved in picking the delegates. The majority of each forum is focused on listening to and/or interacting with expert panelists, so an individual delegate’s political views would not necessarily be part of the open discussions.
Jamie Bowers
Communications Director
Congressman Robert Pittenger
In other words: we prefer to remain ignorant.