Senators Call for Abramoff Special Prosecutor Over Island Security Report:

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Two Senate Democrats, Jeff Bingaman (NM) and Ken Salazar (CO), wrote a letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales asking him to appoint a special prosecutor to “investigate lobbyist Jack Abramoff’s activities in two Pacific island territories,” according to the Los Angeles Times. The Senator’s concern revolves around a Justice Department report that highlights security risks posed by immigration from the Northern Marianas Islands and Guam. Abramoff “bragged in a 2001 e-mail to his clients in Saipan that he would use his connections in the attorney general’s office to block the anticipated report lest it fuel congressional efforts to place new immigration restrictions on the Northern Marianas.” The letter also asks for the special prosecutor to probe “Abramoff’s role in the demotion of Frederick Black, the former acting U.S. attorney for the two Pacific island territories,” who was demoted in the midst of an investigation into Abramoff’s activity.