Travis County prosecutor Ronnie Earle, currently prosecuting former Majority Leader Tom DeLay, issued a subpoena to Primedia for records regarding their $2,500 donations to DeLay’s Texans for a Republican Majority political action committee, according to the Austin American Statesman. Primedia was represented at the time by disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. The donation may also be tied to a vote on the State Board of Education that scuttled an attempt to end the school news broadcasts that Primedia’s Channel One produces.
Continue readingReid Had Contact With Abramoff Law firm, Aided Clients:
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) had routine contacts with members of the law firm where Jack Abramoff worked. The Associated Press reports that Reid wrote four letters that were favorable to the interests of a tribal client of Jack Abramoff and received $68,000 from clients of Abramoff. Reid’s office states, “All the actions that Senator Reid took were consistent with his long-held beliefs, such as not letting tribal casinos expand beyond reservations, and were taken to defend the interests of Nevada constituents.” Most of the contacts between the law firm and the Senator were related to an Abramoff client in the Marianas Islands who opposed a Democratic bill to raise the minimum wage on the Islands.
Continue readingDeLay Receives Top Committee Spot; Denies Abramoff Friendship:
The Los Angeles Times reports that indicted former Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) has been handed a seat on the Appropriations subcommittee overseeing NASA and has received a seat on the subcommittee overseeing the Justice Department, which is investigating congressional bribery tied to Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff. The seat on the Appropriations Committee was vacated by ex-Rep. Duke Cunningham, who pleaded guilty to bribery charges. DeLay, fearing criticisms and possible charges relating to his close relationship with Jack Abramoff, sent out a nine page letter to constituents stating that accusations that the two were “close personal friends” are “absolutely untrue”, according to Roll Call. DeLay associates Tony Rudy and Ed Buckham are already being investigated for their roles in Abramoff’s influence-peddling.
Continue readingDoolittle Aide Accepted Trip From Abramoff:
The former chief of staff to Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) went on a trip to Puerto Rico paid by Jack Abramoff’s lobbying firm, Greenberg Traurig. According to the Associated Press, “House rules prohibit lawmakers and staff from taking trips paid for by registered lobbyists or lobbying firms.” The Doolittle staffer, David Lopez, went on the week-long “fact-finding” trip in 2001. Doolittle has increasingly come under the microscope for his ties to Abramoff. The congressman received tens of thousands of dollars from Abramoff’s tribal clients and $14,000 from the lobbyist himself; his wife was hired by the Alexander Strategy Group, which has since gone under due to an investigation into their dealings with Abramoff; and he and Rep. Richard Pombo have been accused of undermining a federal investigation into an Abramoff client.
Continue readingEx-Aide to Majority Leader Had Contacts with Abramoff:
The former chief of staff to John Boehner, Barry Jackson, accepted an invitation to travel to Saipan in the Marianas Islands to visit with clients of Jack Abramoff, but decided not to go. According to the Associated Press, Jackson, now chief deputy to White House aide Karl Rove, was contacted by Abramoff associate David Safavian – who is now indicted for his role in the Abramoff affair – on visiting Saipan to look at the working conditions at garment factories on the Islands. Jackson cannot remember why he did not go to the Islands. On Sunday’s Meet the Press Boehner said that Abramoff may have been in contact with “low-level employees” in his office.
Continue readingWhite House Cannot Shake Abramoff:
Despite attempts to distance itself from the Abramoff scandal the White House cannot shake its connections to the corrupt lobbyist. The Wall Street Journal reports that there are three officials who seem to be directly tied to Abramoff and unraveling scandal. Former GSA and OMB official David Safavian formerly worked as a lobbyist with Abramoff and is currently indicted for lying to the GSA, the FBI, and the Indian Affairs Committee and for obstruction of justice. Former deputy Interior Secretary Stephen Griles is under investigation for his role - as Abramoff’s “man” inside Interior – in aiding Abramoff’s tribal clients. White House aide Karl Rove is also tied to the disgraced lobbyist. Abramoff bragged to his client Tyco that he could contact Karl Rove on their behalf. Rove, when he came to the White House, took Abramoff’s top assistant Susan Ralston to be his executive assistant.
Continue readingBurns Staffer Leaves Amid Abramoff Allegations:
Roll Call reports that Sen. Conrad Burns’ (R-MT) top staffer on the Appropriations subcommittee on the Interior is leaving amid allegations that he aided clients of Jack Abramoff. Ryan Thomas was on the now-infamous plane trip to the Super Bowl in 2001. He was accompanied by staffers to Tom DeLay (R-TX), the chief of staff to Bob Ney (R-OH) Neil Volz, and then-chief of staff to Burns Will Brooke. All staffers have been implicated or are being looked at in connection to the federal bribery scandal involving Abramoff.
Continue readingFormer GSA Official Fights Back in Federal Probe:
A former official at the General Services Administration, David Safavian, is going on the offense as he faces five charges of obstructing justice and lying to the FBI, GSA, and the Indian Affairs Committee about his relationship with disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Roll Call reports that Safavian lawyers subpoenaed Bryan David Parker, an Indian Affairs Committee investigator, to obtain all documents and notes Parker made during discussions with Safavian. Safavian’s defense team claims that the Indian Affairs Committee had no jurisdiction to investigate the defendant’s dealings with Abramoff or his work at the GSA. The defense also disputes that Abramoff ever lobbied the GSA. Safavian is accused of using his post to help Abramoff purchase the old D.C. Post Office building, owned by the GSA, and for tipping off Abramoff client, Tyco, that the GSA was going to suspend their contracts.
Continue readingPreston Gates, Abramoff Lobbying Firm, Profiled:
The Seattle Times looks at the rocky relationship between Jack Abramoff and his former lobbying firm Preston Gates. Preston Gates, an old Seattle firm, whose best known members were good-government types Jim Ellis and William Gates, Sr., the father of Bill Gates, was predominantly a Democratic lobby shop in the 1980s, but after the 1994 GOP takeover was forced to hire Republicans. The new GOP majority “was brutal” in pressuring Preston Gates to hire Republicans and so they hired Jack Abramoff, who falsely claimed to have connections to Newt Gingrich and Dick Armey. Abramoff helped catapult the Seattle firm into becoming on of the biggest lobby shops in Washington, DC. He pulled in a $3.12 million contract with the Mississippi Choctaws, the most any lobbyist was paid in 1999. But despite his success he was a prima donna who did not want to hear the word “teamwork”, skipped meetings, and demanded he have his own car and driver. The Preston Gates and Abramoff relationship ended much the same way that Abramoff’s relationship with the College Republicans came to an end, with Abramoff’s ego and excesses becoming too much of a burden.
Continue readingRalph Reed Introduced Enron to Abramoff:
In e-mails examined by the Atlanta Journal Constitution former Enron lobbyist and current Republican candidate for Lt. Governor of Georgia Ralph Reed is revealed to have suggested that Enron hire Jack Abramoff to help their lobbying efforts in the House of Representatives. Reed, an ally of Abramoff who was paid $4 million from Indian gaming interests for his efforts in opposing a construction of a casino by a rival tribe of one of Abramoff’s clients, told Enron officials that they should hire Abramoff because of his close relationship with then-Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX). Reed calls Abramoff, “arguably the most influential and effective GOP lobbyist in congress … he also is very close to [then-House majority leader Tom] Delay and could help enormously.” There is no record of Enron ever hiring Abramoff – the energy giant filed for bankruptcy 12 months after Reed introduced officials to Abramoff.
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