Janet Nguyen Hits Back On Commie Allegations

Janet Nguyen held a press conference today to refute the allegations that have been lodged against her by Assemblyman Van Thai Tran (Boss Tweed of Little Saigon) through his puppets Dina Nguyen, Andy Quach, Truong Diep, Hoa Van Tran, and just about anyone else who will take his money, that she associates with communists.

Basically, Janet pointed the Red Finger of Hypocrisy back at him. Pointing out his, and Dina Nguyen’s misrepresentations about Janet and her staff. In addition to refuting allegations that have been circulating for weeks, Supervisor Nguyen took aim at the financial support that Van Tran and Dina Nguyen have received from the very people they accuse of being communists. My guess is that with enough digging we’ll find that everyone is a communist in Little Saigon.

The press conference was conducted entirely in Vietnamese so it was a bit difficult to follow what was being said.

Supervisor Nguyen assembled a number of posters to display the evidence of hypocrisy on the part of Van Tran. The information included campaign reports for Van Tran since his first run for Assembly in 2004 and numerous photos.

It seems that the Assemblyman protests a bit too much about communist affiliations. He has as many if not more than Supervisor Nguyen. Assemblyman Tran is not the only one.  Apparently Dina Nguyen, Lan Nguyen, and Trung Nguyen, to name a few of Van Tran’s acolytes, have the same connections.

Nick Lecong called out Garden Grove School Board Members Lan Nguyen and Trung Nguyen as members of Assemblyman Tran’s Mafia or something to that effect. This was followed by the crowd yelling at the two to “Get Out!”

Lan Nguyen was none too happy with the accusation and later stormed off in a huff after being heckled by the crowd.

Trung Nguyen on the other hand just stood there like he wasn’t sure why he was ordered to be there by his master Van Tran. He should have just Photoshopped himself into a picture to show he was there.

Trung really seemed a bit confused about what he was supposed to do. So much so, that at one point he picked up a microphone and stood in front of a camera acting like he was a television news reporter.

Allegations of communist ties are serious business in Little Saigon’s Vietnamese community. At one time they could make or break a political career. I doubt this stuff plays as significant outside that community, and there is debate as to whether it even has an impact on voters within the Vietnamese community.

Lan and Trung Nguyen did look a bit embarrassed, or ashamed, to be there after being called out as members of Van Tran’s gang.

And to add to the spectacle, Truong Diep was there too, I think the guy on the right is also on Van Tran’s staff. So nice of them to step away from Dina’s campaign to be there.

Here is a summary of the press conference I received from Supervisor Nguyen’s campaign.

In the past few weeks, instead of focusing on her own accomplishments to the campaign, Dina Nguyen has used a group of people who claim to represent the Committee to Oppose Resolution 36 to make baseless claims against Supervisor Janet Nguyen, accusing her of being a communist sympathizer.  Even though Supervisor Nguyen has attended events throughout the United States to join in the fight against political oppression and violation of human rights violations in Vietnam, Assemblyman Van Tran and supporters of Dina Nguyen ignored all these efforts and continued their attack in the media.  This relentless spurious attack, designed to entrench the Van Tran political machine, accuses both Supervisor Nguyen and her staff of being accomplices to the government of Communist Vietnam.

The most outlandish accusation from Van Tran, Dina Nguyen, and their cohorts is that Nick LeCong, Supervisor Nguyen‚ Special Assistant, is related to a big Vietnamese businessman simply because his name is Tru Le Cong.  Tru Le Cong’s English name is Eric Le.  Aside from the outrageous nature of the claim, Nick is from the Central region of Vietnam, and Tru Le Cong is from the South.

Van Tran and Dina Nguyen also accused Supervisor Nguyen of collaborating with Eric Le to conceal the visit of Vietnamese Chairman (President) Nguyen Minh Triet.  As evidence, Van Tran, et al. presented only pictures of Eric Le being at a community event at some point in the past where Supervisor Nguyen also attended.  Eric Le has donated only one time to Supervisor Nguyen’s campaign and has never been a member of Supervisor Nguyen’s staff.

At this Press Conference, Supervisor Nguyen presented evidence that Van Tran was, in fact, connected to an organization, the Vietnamese American Entrepreneurs Association (VAEA), which was responsible for sponsoring Vietnamese Chairman Nguyen Minh Triet to the U.S.A.  The evidence includes the following:

1. VAEA is recognized and heavily promoted within Vietnam as an organization, formed in Northern California solely for the purpose of promoting business between the U.S. and Vietnam;
2. As recently as April, 2008, VAEA has sponsored events here in the U.S. on behalf of the Vietnamese Consulate Office;
3. Four members of the Board of Directors and Advisors for VAEA have contributed thousands of dollars to Van Tran, dating back to as far as 2003.  The General Secretary for VAEA is a lawyer, Vu Ngoc Truc,  that Van Tran’s wife, Cyndi Tran (aka Cyndi Xinh Nguyen), worked for up to the time she quit in the past couple of years.  One of these contributors, with Van Tran’s help, landed the waste management contract for the City of San Jose in 2007.  This, no doubt, was made possible because Van Tran actively campaigned for San Jose Councilwoman Madison Nguyen.  Therefore, despite the tenuous nature of his connection between Supervisor Nguyen and Eric Le, Van Tran tried to deceive the community by trying to divert attention away from his complicity in courting support from businesses close to the Vietnamese Government;
4. Even though former Westminster Councilman Tony Lam was a strong supporter of Van Tran, Ta Duc Tri, Andy Quach, and others, Van Tran and Dina Nguyen accuses him, now that he supports Supervisor Janet Nguyen, of being a communist sympathizer.  Supervisor Nguyen produced a picture of Tony Lam at a reception with Van Tran; this picture was posted in Van Tran’s official Assembly website as of the date of the Press Conference.  This raises the question of how sincere Van Tran is in making this accusation of Tony Lam and Supervisor Nguyen;
5. In order to impute guilt to Supervisor Nguyen, Van Tran accuses Orange County of actively hiding Chairman Nguyen Minh Triet’s visit to the Dana Point, Van Tran did this by claiming that a person in a picture of the reception was Joanne Sokolski from the Office of Protocol.  This is patently untrue.  First, the Office of Protocol is a private office and not under the control of the Board of Supervisors.  Secondly, the person in the photograph was Jackie Ellis of Irvine Chamber of Commerce.  Van Tran’s and Dina Nguyen’s accusation was either reckless or malicious. ###