Kyrenia, one of the cities in Turkish-controlled North Cyprus, in July 2011. Congressman Michael Grimm (inset) and Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis traveled to the Greek Cypriot part of the island, a trip whose funding is now called into question by the NY Times. (Both photos by Brian Hedden)

Allison Leigh Cowan and William Rashbaum of the NY Times has questioned the timing of a House Ethics Committee filing by the office of Congressman Michael Grimm, amended to include a trip to the Republic of Cyprus funded by Panayiotis “Peter” Papanicolaou, the chairman of the Cyprus Federation of America (CFA) that was charged with bribery by federal attorneys in June.

Grimm took the trip twelve months ago, in August 2011, with Assemblywoman Nicole Malliotakis as the second stop in a fact-finding trip that took them first to the State of Israel. The privately-funded Cypriot visit was pre-cleared by Grimm with the House Ethics Committee, and was “timely” reported to the House Clerk via post-travel disclosure form (as reported by Colin Campbell/Politicker).

However, the Cyprus trip was not included in a financial disclosure submitted this past May. According to Grimm’s office, the House Ethics Committee notified them of the omission on June 1, 2012, and Grimm’s office filed an amended disclosure on June 6. And the NY Times notes that Papanicolaou, who paid for the trip, was arrested on June 5, just before Grimm submitted the amended disclosure. Continue reading »