Yesterday news broke that President Bush's Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson became a lightening rod after it was reported that in a speech he stated that he believes that he should only give contracts to supporters of President Bush. Jackson made his point by telling an anecdotal story about a contractor trying to obtain a contract from HUD. The contractor, for some inexplicable reason, told Jackson that he did not like President Bush, at which point Jackson decided that he wouldn't give this man the contract because, as Jackson himself says, "Why should I reward someone who doesn’t like the president?" Now, Jackson is retracting his statement by saying that he made up the story. The HUD spokeswoman stated, "The secretary's story was anecdotal. He is not part of the contracting process. He was trying to explain to this group how politics works in D.C." Josh Marshall says, "This doesn't sound like a particularly exculpatory explanation. That story was made up. Jackson was just how explaining how he does business?" Think Progress offers two points about why this explanation is a bit unbelievable:
1) That excuse isn’t just difficult to swallow — it also contradicts the spokesperson’s first response in which she indicated Jackson was referring to a real contract: “On May 3, Tucker told the Business Journal that the contract Jackson was referring to in Dallas was ‘an advertising contract with a minority publication,’ though she could not provide the contract’s value.” It looks like Jackson is changing his story as criticism builds. 2) Bidding for a government contract isn’t ‘asking for money.’ It’s not Alphonso Jackson’s money to give away to his buddies. It is the taxpayers’ money. It should go to whoever can do the best job, regardless of their political views.So, either Jackson lied by making up his "anecdotal story" or he is lying to cover up the story. Either way the real issue is not with the factual accuracy of Jackson's story but whether he was factually representing his own belief when he stated: "Why should I reward someone who doesn’t like the president?" It seems that Jackson wanted to make this very point and then crafted a story to fit his predetermined belief/actions. Jackson needs to come clean on whether he is breaking the law by only distributing contracts to supporters of President Bush. Doesn't he know that lies make baby Jesus cry? (georgia10 at Daily Kos has more dirt on Jackson) Continue reading
White House-Abramoff Logs:
ABC's The Note reports that Judicial Watch expects to receive the White House-Jack Abramoff logs sometime before 5pm and will post them at their website (LINK). Paul Kiel notes that a Bush loyalist interviewed in the New York Daily News stated, "There are a bunch of visits, (but) he didn't get into the West Wing very often." Kiel's site TPM Muckraker is asking readers to guess how many visits Abramoff made to the White House with the winner getting Muckraker merchandise.
Continue readingMorning News:
- Roll Call reports that the House Republican caucus remains "noncommital" on whether to push Bob Ney (R-OH) to resign if he is indicted on charges related to the Jack Abramoff bribery case. Just two days ago Ney's former chief of staff Neil Volz pled guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery among other charges.
- While House Republicans are weighing their options with Ney they are urging Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to pull Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-WV) from the Appropriations Committee. Mollohan has been under fire for his earmarking of money to campaign contributors and nonprofits that he formed. He recently stepped down from his position as ranking member of the House Ethics Committee due to these allegations.
- USA Today reports that the ethics troubles of Democrats, including Rep. Mollohan, are having a dulling effect on the party's attempt to tar the Republicans as a party with a "culture of corruption." Other Democratic ethics woes include the advancing bribery probe of Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) and rehashed allegations against Rep. John Conyers (D-MI) for using his staffers as babysitters and tutors.
Goss Hill Staffer Took Money From Wilkes:
From Justin Rood at TPM Muckraker:
We've been hearing a lot about this guy "Nine Fingers," a CIA veteran who was a regular at Brent Wilkes' poker parties. On Sunday, Newsweek identified him as Brant Bassett, who had a career at the CIA before he went to work as a staffer for then-chairman Rep. Porter Goss (R-FL) at the House Intelligence Committee in 2000. Well, now here's another weird thing about Bassett: Just before he went to work for Goss at the committee, Brent Wilkes cut him a check for $5000. It's right there on his financial disclosure forms. In fact, his forms actually show two payments -- but it seems he may have reported the same check twice.Harpers.org also has more on "Nine Fingers" and Foggo. Continue reading
Senator Calls For HUD Secretary to Resign:
Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) called on HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson to resign in the wake of his comments regarding the politicization of HUD contracting. Lautenberg: "If Secretary Jackson really said this, then President Bush should ask for his resignation. Government contracts must be based on merit, not on political favoritism." UPDATE: Waxman and Frank call for hearings into HUD contracting, according to Reuters.
Continue readingHUD Secretary Only Gives Contracts to Bush Supporters:
President Bush's Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso Jackson seems to not understand the federal contracting process. You see he believes that only supporters of President Bush should get contracts. From the Dallas Business Journal courtesy of David Sirota:
After discussing the huge strides the agency has made in doing business with minority-owned companies, Jackson closed with a cautionary tale, relaying a conversation he had with a prospective advertising contractor. ‘He had made every effort to get a contract with HUD for 10 years,’ Jackson said of the prospective contractor. ‘He made a heck of a proposal and was on the (General Services Administration) list, so we selected him. He came to see me and thank me for selecting him. Then he said something … he said, ‘I have a problem with your president.’ ‘I said, ‘What do you mean?’ He said, ‘I don’t like President Bush.’ I thought to myself, ‘Brother, you have a disconnect — the president is elected, I was selected. You wouldn’t be getting the contract unless I was sitting here. If you have a problem with the president, don’t tell the secretary. He didn’t get the contract,’ Jackson continued. ‘Why should I reward someone who doesn’t like the president?’”Aside from this being a violation of federal rules as Think Progress points out:
Government business shall be conducted in a manner above reproach and, except as authorized by statute or regulation, with complete impartiality and with preferential treatment for none. Transactions relating to the expenditure of public funds require the highest degree of public trust and an impeccable standard of conduct.Jackson's most egregious statement comes when he explains his understanding of the contracting process:
“Why should I reward someone who doesn’t like the president, so they can use funds to try to campaign against the president? Logic says they don’t get the contract. That’s the way I believe.”Josh Marshall explains Jackson's "logic":
political supporters get contracts so they can pump a percentage of the profits back into the political party. Standard machine politics, at best. Organized bribery, at worst. And whatever you want to call it, the guiding principle of all contracting and government spending in the second Bush administration.Unbelievable. Continue reading
Who’s Next?:
The Washington Post article on former Bob Ney chief of staff Neil Volz's guilty plea has some key information:
Volz, who has been talking to prosecutors for three months, is providing information on other lawmakers and staff, according to a source close to the ongoing investigation.Emphasis added. So who else could Volz be dishing on? Brad Friedman at The Brad Blog has an idea. Continue reading
Murder and Corruption in Iraq:
A woman's rights advocate is slain by gunmen in post-invasion Iraq. A corrupt defense contractor dispensed large sums of money to her. The money is missing and the contractor cannot account for it. The New York Times has more on this sordid tale in Iraq ruled by the American Coalition Provisional Authority.
Continue readingWilliam Jefferson’s End Game
The Washington Post reports that a Northern Virginia investor wore a wire while meeting with Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) as part of a federal bribery investigation. The information is derived from the release of a court order by the U.S. District Court of the District of Maryland:
The woman also recorded telephone conversations, as did the FBI through court-authorized wiretaps, the document said. The woman is identified only as a "cooperating witness" in the document, but people familiar with the case previously have identified her as Lori Mody, 42.Making Jefferson's situation even more precarious is the decision by the judge to release an affidavit "for a search warrant executed Aug. 3 at the Potomac home of Jennifer Douglas, a wife of Nigerian Vice President Atiku Abubaker." According to the Post:
The judge ruled that the affidavit would be unsealed Thursday unless someone appeals his ruling. The Washington Post had filed a motion to unseal the affidavit. Jefferson's attorneys opposed it, saying the release would "taint him for life and the harm done will not be remedied by the decision of a grand jury not to indict."Paul Kiel at TPM Muckraker has more information including the potential charges being considered against Jefferson: bribery of a public official, bribery of a foreign official, two fraud charges, and a conspiracy charge. The prosecution is in the end stages of the investigation as they "did not contest the unsealing of the affidavit, admitting that they had nothing to fear from its being made public. The investigation "is no longer in its preliminary stages," prosecutors wrote, adding "any danger that the government's access to potential witnesses might be affected by the unsealing of the affidavit is minimal, if existent at all." Looks like the end of the line for Jefferson. Continue reading
Volz Factual Proffer
Oy Ney! If you're a congressman you don't want to read something like this on a Monday. Here's a link to the Neil Volz Factual Proffer (courtesy TPM Document Collection), which provides an incredibly detailed account of what Abramoff, Scanlon, and company provided to Bob Ney (R-OH) in exchange for favorable action and legislation. If I were Bob Ney I could only feel that this is the Worst. Monday. Ever.
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