A secret agent working for an authoritarian ex-Soviet republic who allegedly bribed Rep. Henry Cuellar also pursued ties with Oklahoma and its Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt—with U.S. federal funds helping to underwrite his efforts, The Daily Beast has found.and the Cuellar family, is Elshan Baloghlanov, a former official at the country’s Los Angeles consulate and the owner of the D.C.-area firm WCC International.
It was ostensibly for this last purpose that the nonprofit Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture , which contracts with USAID, hired WCC International to help “organize the First Oklahoma-Azerbaijan Agricultural Forum” in Nov. 2019, according tothe group filed with the federal agency that year. This report, along with all others CNFA filed referring to its work with WCC International, disappeared from the USAID website following The Daily Beast’s original story.
Then-Oklahoma National Guard Adjutant General Michael C. Thompson, right, speaks with alleged Azerbaijani bag man Elshan Baloghlanov, center, and State Agrarian University of Azerbaijan rector Ibrahim Jafarov, left.Shown the photo over text message and informed of Baloghlanov’s activities, the since-retired Thompson said he had no recollection of the discussion or knowledge of the Azerbaijani agent’s identity or agenda.
The CNFA-run Facebook page, underwritten with American foreign aid dollars, celebrated this military triumph.