On October 26, 2011, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a complaint with the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) alleging Representative Jean Schmidt (R-OH) lied in an effort to thwart investigations by the OCE and the House Ethics Committee into her failure to pay almost $500,000 in legal bills. CREW also asked the FBI to investigate. Earlier this year, the House Ethics Committee cleared Rep. Schmidt of lying on her financial disclosure forms and violating House gift rules after she failed to report free legal services she received from lawyers working for the Turkish American Legal Defense Fund (TALDF), who were paid by the Turkish Coalition of America (TCA). The congresswoman claimed her lawyers had never discussed fees with her and that she had not paid the bills because she had never received any. One of Rep. Schmidt’s lawyers, Bruce Fein, disputes this account.