Dolittle Defends Relations With Lobbyist

[Eugene]

Dolittle Defends Relations With Lobbyist


Tuesday January 24, 2006 2:03 AM

By ERICA WERNER

Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - In his first extensive public comments about being implicated in the Jack Abramoff
lobbying scandal, Rep. John Doolittle, R-Calif., said he has done nothing wrong and challenged the
Justice Department to investigate him.

Doolittle also criticized ethics reforms being proposed by fellow GOP leaders in the House, saying
they are being done for the sake of appearances.

"I think the system's working," Doolittle said in a prerecorded interview broadcast Monday on
Sacramento talk radio station KFBK-AM.

Doolittle disputed reports, including by The Associated Press, that he is among the handful
of lawmakers whose ties to Abramoff are being examined by federal investigators. He said he has
never been contacted by them.

<snip>

Full article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,,-5566195,00.html

Bring it on? Sure. :popcorn:

[Mz Pip]

1. Patience, my pretty

You will be contacted.

THough I do agree with him on the point that the ethics reforms proposed are being done for the sake of appearances.

THey had to do something when they got caught.

Mz Pip
:dem:

[Akoto]

2. I suspect that he can doolittle to stop this accusation.

Heheh. :D

[Pithy Cherub]

3. Gosh, Bet he wishes he could talk to the animals today.

The prosecutor; however; won't speak to the "Honorable" Doolittle until the very last minute. Too bad he didn't share his secrets with just the animals...

:popcorn:

[tmooses]

4. Ah, my former congressman who I fought against- his pet project- the

damming of the American River and creation of the Auburn dam. He always won reelection handily because of the conservative counties he represented-I wonder how they will support him after he is indicted.

[HuffleClaw]

5. he's gonna RUE the day he uttered these words

but its republican holy writ. 'attack the attackers'.

[existentialist]

6. a little bit different take on the same interview

(I was going to post separately but found your post first with a search)

GOP congressman: Abramoff a "partisan, conservative Republican activist"
Well, you can give him points for honesty.

At a time when his party and some in the press are still trying to argue that the Jack Abramoff scandal is a bipartisan affair, Rep. John Doolittle -- a California Republican said to be under investigation in the case -- says he always thought of Abramoff as "a friend" for one simple reason: "I liked him, frankly, because he was a partisan, conservative Republican activist."

As the Sacramento Bee reports, Doolittle made the comments during his first extended interview on the Abramoff case since he was implicated in it a year and a half ago. The eight-term congressman consented to talk with Tom Sullivan, a conservative radio talk show host on the Sacramento station that gave Rush Limbaugh his start, only after Sullivan offered to tape the interview in advance and let Doolittle kill it if he didn't like how it turned out.

. . .

As the Bee reports, Doolittle's campaign committees received $4,000 from Abramoff himself and almost $140,000 more from his clients and associates. The Associated Press says that Doolittle used Abramoff's luxury skybox at the MCI Center in Washington without initially reporting it, and that his wife and his former chief of staff both worked for the lobbyist. The grand jury investigating the Abramoff case has subpoenaed records from Doolittle's wife's company, and at least one House Republican has said that Doolittle has some explaining to do, especially if he wants to hold onto his spot on House Republican leadership team.

In another sign that he has slipped off the talking points, Doolittle suggested that he was unimpressed with the calls for ethics reform. "Our leaders think we have to show that we're doing something," he said in the interview. "This is about appearance. Those ethics reforms that are being proposed in my opinion have almost no bearing on whatever happened in the Abramoff matter, and I'm not sure they're terribly wise things to do."