President Bush and Jack Abramoff meetings " reportedly have been frequent"

[L. Coyote]

The Justice Department’s On-Going ‘State Secrets’ Charade
Scott Horton - Dec 2, 2007 - http://www.harpers.org/archive/2007/12/hbc-90001814

When is information a “state secret” and thus completely exempt from disclosure in legal process, even if its exclusion will produce a manifest injustice? In previous episodes, we have gotten an array of different answers. For instance, we learned that when the Government engages in criminal violations of the FISA statute conspiring with telecommunications companies in the process, with the result that the communications of American citizens are subject to unlawful warrantless surveillance—this is a “state secret.” And likewise, when the Government picks up an innocent man, wrongfully confines him and deprives him of access to counsel and due process, then transports him overseas for the purposes of having him tortured—again a series of criminal acts—this is also a “state secret.” And today we get yet a further installment in what the Bush Justice Department considers to be a “state secret.” It appears that when a convicted felon at the heart of what Norm Ornstein and Thomas Mann have labeled the “biggest corruption scandal in American history” pays hundreds of visits to the White House, meeting with the President, the Vice President, and the President’s senior political advisor, and potentially involving them directly or indirectly in his criminal schemes, this, too, is a “state secret” and thus cannot be divulged.

I think we’re detecting a pattern here. “State secrets” it seems has nothing to do with signals intelligence, military planning or armaments—the things traditionally associated with state secrets. No, when the Bush Justice Department uses the term, it means something else: it refers to information which, if disclosed, would be politically embarrassing to the Republican Party, and as to which no other privilege is available. The “state secrets” privilege has literally emerged as the Bush Administration’s new get-out-of-jail-free card.

The AP’s Pete Yost reports:

The Bush Administration is laying out a new secrecy defense in an effort to end a court battle about the White House visits of now-imprisoned lobbyist Jack Abramoff. (Secrecy Invoked on Abramoff Lawsuits - http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jqNPqvQT05DQyiW1KlCSU0XQpPBgD8T8SKGG0)

.....

White House responses to inquiries up to this point have furnished specific evidence of intentional evasion–what in other circumstances (as for instance when it is enforcing rather than subverting the law) the Justice Department would call “obstruction of justice.” For instance, Vice President Cheney gave specific guidance to the Secret Service to destroy records of visits to his office and to stop the practice of recording future visits. President Bush made a number of statements refusing to give a specific account of his meetings with Abramoff, which reportedly have been frequent.

.... MUST READ ....

[leveymg]

1. "the President doesn’t recall meeting him and he certainly doesn’t know him."

http://thinkprogress.org/2006/01/07/abramoff-bush-2001/
Abramoff Met With Bush In May 2001

The White House maintains that Bush does not “recall” meeting Abramoff and, if they ever did meet, it was only in passing at a large gathering:

MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, I said it’s possible that they would have met at a holiday reception or some other widely attended gathering. The President does not know him, nor does the President recall ever meeting him.

Q But he has the special designation as a Pioneer, as Terry was alluding to, raising more than $100,000. And he attended, as you told us, three events, holiday receptions at the White House. How likely is it that the President would not have met him —

MR. McCLELLAN: That’s why I said it’s possible. But I just told you what I know at this point, and the President doesn’t recall meeting him and he certainly doesn’t know him.

It’s not just possible, it happened.

The Texas Observer reports that Abramoff met with Bush on May 9, 2001, with his clients, the Coushatta tribe. (The chairman of the Coushatta tribe initially denied the meeting occured, but subsequently admitted that it did.) Abramoff charged his client 25,000 to arrange the meeting.

:eyes:

[L. Coyote]

2. Press Conference of the President "There's a serious investigation that's going on."

Press Conference of the President
James S. Brady Briefing Room
Play Video (Real)
Jan. 26, 2006 - 10:15 A.M. EST - http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/01/20060126.html

THE PRESIDENT: Sorry to interrupt. (Laughter.) Thank you all very much. I look forward to answering some of your questions here in a minute. I'm also looking forward to going up to Capitol Hill next Tuesday to give my State of the Union address. I thought it probably best not to practice my speech in front of you here, so you'll pay attention to it when I deliver it. But I do want to give you some thoughts about what I'm thinking about.

President George W. Bush smiles as he listens to reporter's question Thursday, Jan. 26, 2006, during a press conference at the White House that covered several topics including economy, the upcoming election year and fiscal policy.

White House photo by Kimberlee Hewitt


First, I recognize we live in a momentous time. For those of you watching, we seem to have a mechanical flaw.

.....

Q What do you hear or your staff hear about releasing of photographs of Jack Abramoff with you, Mr. President? If you say you don't fear anything, tell us why you won't release them?

THE PRESIDENT: She's asking about a person who admitted to wrongdoing and who needs to be prosecuted for that. There is a serious investigation going on, as there should be. The American people have got to have confidence in the -- in the ethics of all branches of government. You're asking about pictures -- I had my picture taken with him, evidently. I've had my picture taken with a lot of people. Having my picture taken with someone doesn't mean that I'm a friend with them or know them very well. I've had my picture taken with you -- (laughter) -- at holiday parties.

My point is, I mean, there's thousands of people that come through and get their pictures taken. I'm also mindful that we live in a world in which those pictures will be used for pure political purposes, and they're not relevant to the investigation.

Q Do you know how many?

THE PRESIDENT: I don't have any idea.

.....

Q Mr. President, you talked about Jack Abramoff in the context of pictures, but it may not necessarily just be about pictures. He also had some meetings with some of your staff. So you remember, you ran on the idea of restoring honesty and integrity to the White House. So why are you letting your critics perhaps attack you and paint you with maybe a guilt by association? Why not just throw open your books and say, look, here is --

THE PRESIDENT: There is a serious investigation going on by federal prosecutors, and that's their job. And they will -- if they believe something was done inappropriately in the White House, they'll come and look, and they're welcome to do so. There's a serious investigation that's going on.

Q But, sir, don't you want to tell the American people look, as I promised, this White House isn't for sale and I'm not for sale?

THE PRESIDENT: It's hard for me to say I didn't have pictures with the guy when I did. But I have also had pictures with thousands and thousands of people. I mean, people -- it's part of the job of the President to shake hands and -- with people and smile. (Laughter.) And I do. And the man contributed to my campaigns, but he contributed, either directly or through his clients, to a lot of people in Washington. And this needs to be cleared up so the people have confidence in the system.

.............

Q Can I ask you again, why won't you release the photos of yourself with Jack Abramoff?

THE PRESIDENT: I just answered the question.

..............

Q Sir, back on lobbying. Never mind about the photographs, but can you say whether --

THE PRESIDENT: It's easy for a radio guy to say. (Laughter.)

Q Can you say, sir, whether you were lobbied by Jack Abramoff or other lobbyists, and what your policy is about lobbyists meeting with senior staff?

THE PRESIDENT: You know, I, frankly, don't even remember having my picture taken with the guy. I don't know him. And this investigation will -- needs to look into all aspects of his influence on Capitol Hill, and if there's some in the White House, I'm sure they're going to come and knock on the door. But I -- I can't say I didn't ever meet him, but I meet a lot of people. And evidently, he was just like you were the other day, at a holiday party -- came in, put -- the grip-and-grin, they click the picture and off he goes. And that's just -- I take thousands of -- I mean, somebody told me I maybe take over 9,000 pictures this holiday season. And he obviously went to fundraisers, but I've never sat down with him and had a discussion with the guy.

Q Do you meet with lobbyists?

THE PRESIDENT: I try not to. Have I ever met with one? Never having met with one is a -- if I ever say that, sure enough, you'll go find somebody. But, no, I don't have them come in.

Now, when, for example, people are helping on issues -- like on promoting trade -- you bet, we bring them in and I say, thank you for promoting CAFTA; or, thanks for working on the vote; or, thanks for helping on tax relief. That may be -- if you consider that a meeting, the answer is, yes, I'm sure I have, in a roomful of people as we either thank people for success in policy or thank people for going out of their way to get a piece of legislation passed on the Hill.

Listen, thank you all very much. Looking forward to Tuesday evening -- I hope you are, as well. Thank you.

[JDPriestly]

6. To Bush: Liar, liar, pants on fire -- again.

You know very well that it is not state secrets you are protecting. It's your pants on fire that you are protecting. When will we be trusted with the truth? When do we get to know the truth? Why are we being lied to as if we were children? Why is Congress allowing these lies to be told unchallenged? Doesn't Congress realize that these lies will be recorded as history? Don't they care about the terrible disillusionment that future generations will experience about our system, about this Congress, when the extent of these lies is finally revealed?

Congress and every member of Congress should be deeply ashamed at allowing these lies to go unchallenged. We, the American people, deserve better than to be lied to and duped.

And, Congress, to you: There is nothing more important than telling the truth. Let us know the truth. You have a duty to preserve and protect the Constitution. You have no higher duty. Impeach this president and vice president now.

[MADem]

5. Yeah, and Ken Lay supported his opponent! nt

[L. Coyote]

28. BUSH RECEIVED MORE THAN $100,000 FROM ABRAMOFF: Abramoff was a “Pioneer”

President George W. Bush does not remember his own "Pioneers" or the $100,000 they chip in?
http://thinkprogress.org/abramoff#bush

=====================
CONTRIBUTIONS — BUSH RECEIVED MORE THAN $100,000 FROM ABRAMOFF: Abramoff was a “Pioneer” in the Bush 2004 reelection campaign. Bush has returned $6,000. (AP, 1/4/06 http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060104/ap_on_go_pr_wh/lobbyist_fraud_43;_ylt=ArJXn1YnUwskpx4thgnuhqWGbToC;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl)

MARIANA ISLANDS — BUSH SUPPORTED ABRAMOFF CLIENT INTERESTS, RECEIVED DONATIONS: Abramoff was hired by the Saipan Garment Manufacturers Association and the Northern Mariana Islands to “stop legislation aimed at cracking down on sweatshops and sex shops in the American territory.” In 1997, “Abramoff charged the Marianas for getting then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush to write a letter expressing support for the Pacific territory’s school choice proposal, his billing records show. … Abramoff and his wife each gave $5,000 to Bush’s 2000 recount fund and the maximum $1,000 to his 2000 campaign. By mid-2003, Abramoff had raised at least $100,000 for Bush’s re-election campaign, becoming one of Bush’s famed ‘pioneers.’ … Money also flowed from the Marianas to Bush’s re-election campaign: It took in at least $36,000 from island donors, much of it from members of the Tan family, whose clothing factories were a routine stop for lawmakers and their aides visiting the islands on Abramoff-organized trips.” (ABC, 4/6/05 http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/print?id=647725; AP, 5/7/05 http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-05-06-abramoff-bush_x.htm)

GUAM — BUSH REMOVES FEDERAL PROSECUTOR INVESTIGATING ABRAMOFF: In 2002, Abramoff was the target of a grand jury investigation in Guam. On November 18, 2002, U.S. Atty. Frederick A. Black issued a grand jury subpoena issued seeking records involving a highly unusual contract between Abramoff and the Superior Court in Guam. Apparently, Superior Court officials in Guam paid Abramoff over $324,000 — funneled through a Laguna Beach attorney Howard Hills — to lobby against a bill in Congress that gave the Guam Supreme Court authority over the Superior Court. The Los Angeles Times reported this August that the day after Black issued the subpoena, “President Bush removed the supervising federal prosecutor and the inquiry ended soon after.” Black had “served as acting U.S. attorney for Guam and the Northern Mariana islands since 1991.” He was replaced by Leonardo Rapadas, the man that the Guam Republican Party recommended to Karl Rove be given the job. (Los Angeles Times, 8/7/05 http://citizensforethics.org/press/pressclip.php?view=541)

GABON — ABRAMOFF ARRANGED MEETING WITH BUSH FOR A FEE: Abramoff “asked for $9 million in 2003 from the president of a West African nation to arrange a meeting with President Bush and directed his fees to a Maryland company now under federal scrutiny, according to newly disclosed documents.” On July 28, 2003, Abramoff wrote to Gabon’s president, Omar Bongo, “Without advance resources, I have been cautiously working to obtain a visit for the president to Washington to see President Bush.” “In a draft agreement with Gabon dated Aug. 7, 2003, Mr. Abramoff and his associates asked that $9 million in lobbying fees be paid through wire transfers - three of them, each for $3 million - to GrassRoots instead of the Washington offices of Greenberg Traurig. … The agreement promised a ‘public relations effort related to promoting Gabon and securing a visit for President Bongo with the president of the United States.’” On May 26, 2004, Bongo met with Bush. (New York Times, 11/10/05 http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/1110-04.htm)

[Blue_In_AK]

3. Kick

[JDPriestly]

4. How long do we have to wait to find out what this White House has been up to?

By the time we get the information, Rove will have spread his whitewash lies and no one will be interested in hearing the truth.

It is time for Congress to start investigations and the impeachment process. That have waited too long already.

Only through an impeachment process can the record ever be set straight in time to educate the American people about the extent to which they have been duped and taken advantage of by this gang of crooks.

[L. Coyote]

7. Horton's article is a new level of rhetoric about the corruption. Times are a changin'

and quickly. A new "Junta consensus" is emerging. "This is tyranny" are words not imagined for an American presidency not long ago.

Horton's ending lines, "Such a ruler, says Aristotle, is called a tyrant, and the quality of his rule is called tyranny. So let’s be clear what the Bush Justice Department is busily constructing. The standards for a democracy are something altogether different."

[leftofthedial]

8. criminals at that level HAVE to meet

[L. Coyote]

27. Abramoff and his lobbying team logged nearly 200 contacts with the new administration

Often, it seems!!

==================
5/6/2005 - http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-05-06-abramoff-bush_x.htm

Controversial lobbyist had close contact with Bush team
WASHINGTON (AP) — In President Bush's first 10 months, GOP fundraiser Jack Abramoff and his lobbying team logged nearly 200 contacts with the new administration as they pressed for friendly hires at federal agencies and sought to keep the Northern Mariana Islands exempt from the minimum wage and other laws, records show.

The meetings between Abramoff's lobbying team and the administration ranged from Attorney General John Ashcroft to policy advisers in Vice President Dick Cheney's office, according to his lobbying firm billing records.

Abramoff, a $100,000-plus fundraiser for Bush, is now under criminal investigation ........

[KewlKat]

9. Looks like W has a memory problem?

http://images.dailykos.com.nyud.net:8080/images/user/1237/Abramoff.jpg

http://irregulartimes.com.nyud.net:8080/wp-content/uploads/2006/02/bushroveabramoffgarza.jpg

[L. Coyote]

11. Time Magazine has seven, YES SEVEN, photos of Bush with Felonious Jack.

And, the question has been posed, "Do the dates of those photos match the information from the Administration?" Or, "Do they prove they are lying?"

We are still looking for one with Bush holding his kids :rofl:

[L. Coyote]

24. TIME: First Photo of Bush and Abramoff

First Photo of Bush and Abramoff
Saturday, Feb. 11, 2006 By ADAM ZAGORIN AND MATTHEW COOPER/WASHINGTON
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1158908,00.html

Just how close was the relationship between the White House and disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff? The Bush Administration again faced questions about those ties after an e-mail Abramoff sent a journalist friend surfaced last week in which Abramoff wrote that he had met President Bush almost a dozen times over the past five years, and even received an invitation to the President's Crawford, Texas, ranch along with other large political donors. Bush "has one of the best memories of any politician I have ever met," Abramoff mused in the e-mail last month, adding that, He "saw me in almost a dozen settings, and joked with me about a bunch of things, including details of my kids." The White House, however, has continued to assert that the President had no recollection of ever meeting Abramoff.

........... the first such photo has come to light. It shows a bearded Abramoff in the background as Bush greets an Abramoff client, Raul Garza, who was then the chairman of the Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas; Bush senior advisor Karl Rove looks on. The photograph was provided to TIME by Mr. Garza. The meeting took place in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building adjacent to the White House on May 9, 2001. Told about the photograph in January, the White House said it had no record that Abramoff was present at the meeting. Shown the photograph today, White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said the White House had still found no record of Abramoff's presence but confirmed that it is Abramoff in the picture. McClellan told TIME: "The President has taken countless, tens of thousands of pictures at home and abroad over the last five years. As we've said previously a photo like this has no relevance to the Justice Department's investigation ."

This meeting, however, was a relatively small gathering attended by some two dozen people, including Garza and another Indian tribal leader who was Abramoff's client. At least two tribes, the Coushatta of Louisiana and the Mississippi Band of Choctaw, contributed $25,000 each to the anti-tax group Americans for Tax Reform, which is headed by Grover Norquist, a well-known conservative ally of the White House. Garza, who is also known by his Indian name, Makateonenodua, meaning "black buffalo," is under federal indictment for allegedly embezzling more than $300,000 from his tribe. ......

[flashl]

10. It will be interesting to watch the Abramoff saga revealed, layer by layer

What happen to his partner that made a deal in D.C. while Abramoff was tied to the murder case in Florida?

[L. Coyote]

12. HORTON: Abramoff and Kark Rove Linked to Prosecution of Ex-Alabama Governor and Campaign Finances

Horton has now also focused on the Abramoff-Rove-illegal $$$$ connections to Siegleman's campaign and persecution.
For more details on that history, start with this archived thread:

==============
Abramoff and Kark Rove Linked to Prosecution of Ex-Alabama Governor and Campaign Finances
Jun-01-07 http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1023111

Rove Linked to Prosecution of Ex-Alabama Governor
By ADAM ZAGORIN/WASHINGTON
Friday, Jun. 01, 2007
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1627427,00.html?xid=rss-nation

In the rough and tumble of Alabama politics, the scramble for power is often a blood sport. At the moment, the state's former Democratic governor, Don Siegelman, stands convicted of bribery and conspiracy charges and faces a sentence of up to 30 years in prison. Siegelman has long claimed that his prosecution was driven by politically motivated, Republican-appointed U.S. attorneys.

Now Karl Rove, the President's top political strategist, has been implicated in the controversy. A long time Republican lawyer in Alabama swears she heard a top G.O.P. operative in the state say that Rove "had spoken with the Department of Justice" about "pursuing" Siegelman, with help from two of Alabama's U.S. attorneys. ..............

---------
From June 3, 2005 by the Boston Globe
Gambling, GOP Politics Intertwine
Casino Payments Seen as Influential
by Michael Kranish - http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0603-08.htm

WASHINGTON -- George W. Bush gave the nation's gambling industry plenty of reason to fear his presidency. .... He wooed religious conservatives by boasting in a presidential debate about his ''strong antigambling record."

But as president, Bush has not spoken out against gambling. .... as Republican lobbyists and activist groups collected tens of millions of dollars from Indian tribes seeking to preserve their casinos. Now those payments are the focus of Senate and Justice Department investigations.

... White House ... annual sessions over a four-year period that were arranged by antitax crusader Grover Norquist ... After Bush dropped his antigambling rhetoric, lobbyists touted their access, and fund-raising from Indian tribes grew exponentially.

...Norquist('s) ... organization received $1.5 million from tribes and fought a tax on Indian casinos; lobbyist Jack Abramoff, a top Bush fund-raiser who earned millions of dollars in fees as a consultant to gaming tribes; and Ralph Reed ... allegedly used some money from Indian gaming tribes to fund his efforts to close down rival casinos and lotteries

.........Bush worked closely with religious conservatives, especially Reed....

..... Tiguas poured tens of thousands of dollars into the campaign of the Democrat running against Bush in 1998 .... Bush redoubled his earlier efforts to shut down the Tigua casino. ... special appropriation ... for the state's attorney general, John Cornyn, now a US senator, to take legal action against the tribe.....

Abramoff, who helped arrange for the rival tribes to give the money to Reed's group, turned around and offered his services to the Tiguas -- for $4.2 million in fees split between himself and a partner

..... Abramoff and his partner in Indian gaming consulting would receive more than $60 million in fees from six different tribes seeking to advance their gambling interests ... Abramoff also told the tribes to give money ... the tribes gave $3 million, two-thirds of it to Republicans

.... Abramoff and Norquist .. worked (for) ... candidate ... following year, Abramoff and Norquist came to Washington together to lead the Republican Party's national effort to recruit college students. Reed soon joined ...


In 1999, Don Siegelman, the Democratic governor of Alabama, proposed a lottery that would have pumped hundreds of millions of dollars into public schools and even provided free college education for most Alabama high school graduates.

Reed, rallying religious conservatives, set out to try to defeat it ... quickly raised $1.15 million .... money came from Norquist's group, Americans for Tax Reform. Norquist ... got the funds from an Indian gaming tribe ...At the time Reed raised the money, he was working for Abramoff ... and Abramoff represented the Mississippi tribe.

Siegelman ..."'I don't know how they can sleep at night taking money from the Indian casinos to deny Alabama schoolchildren...."

.... Abramoff, meanwhile, appears to be the central focus ....Bush has not spoken on the matter.


====== This thread's OP links to eight Abramoff threads =======

ABRAMOFF Scandal: J. Steven Griles Ordered to Prison, Highest-Ranked Bush Administration Convict

Former Official Ordered to Prison in Abramoff Scandal
Jun-27-07 http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1198838

NPR.org, June 27, 2007 · A federal judge on Wednesday doubled the prison sentence of the Interior Department's former number two official, sentencing him to 10 months in prison for lying to Senate investigators about the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal and refusing to accept responsibility in court.

J. Steven Griles was the Interior Department's deputy secretary and is the highest administration official sentenced in the probe. Griles had entered a plea agreement with prosecutors in which he agreed to plead guilty to obstructing a congressional investigation in exchange for a 5-month prison sentence.

But at the sentencing hearing, Griles' attorneys appeared to make excuses for their client's false statements to Senate investigators, evoking the judge's wrath and leading her to double his prison time.

"Even now you continue to minimize and try to excuse your conduct," said U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle

Griles admitted to lying to Senate investigators about his relationship with Abramoff, ......

[rockybelt]

13. How many members of Congress

do you think are involved in this mess? I would just about guarantee that there are enough involved that it will never bubble up there. They don't want this information coming out either.

[L. Coyote]

18. They are easy to identify, just like the Corrupt Bastards Club money. Just

go to opensecrets.org or the other campaign finance and lobbyist sites and follow the money trails.
It is so easy to see who is who and who pays off who for what.

AND, it is not so discouraging. There is a club of corruption, a few rotten apples really stand out, in a large Congress.

For example, Felonious Jack Abramoff had these clients:

http://opensecrets.org/lobbyists/lobbyist.asp?txtname=Abramoff%2C+Jack&year=a&txttype=l

In 2004 the COUSHATTA TRIBE OF LOUISIANA - Client Summary, 2004 - paid Greenberg Traurig LLP $380,000
http://opensecrets.org/lobbyists/clientsum.asp?txtname=Coushatta+Tribe+of+Louisiana&year=2004

Searching for candidate donation by the tribe we find:
http://opensecrets.org/indivs/search.asp?key=m6v82&txtName=COUSHATTA&txtState=(all%20states)&txtAll=Y&Order=N

COUSHATTA TRIBE OF LOUISIANA, ELTON,LA 70532,
6/29/2001, $5,000, NRSC/Non-Federal
5/29/2002, $10,000, RNC/Repub National State Elections Cmte

So, was this when Abramoff took the chief to see Bush?? Wrong Tribe! Or what happened when this $10,000 was conveyed?

Also, Abramoff client AGUA CALIENTE BAND OF CAHUILLA INDIANS
Client Summary, 2004
Greenberg Traurig LLP $500,000
Akin, Gump et al $320,000

So, who is Akin, Gump? Sound familiar? Lawyers for White House staff at hearings before Congress.

The connections are all right there in plain view.

Check out my Who's Who in the Corrupt Bastards Club posts for more ideas:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2101151

You see just who they are contributing to real quick, and its always the same corrupt few, well not so few, but relatively few.

[flashl]

23. Here's a map

The House that Jack Built

[L. Coyote]

26. Very Useful; This escaped discussion during Trent Lott's would-be resignation

There is a lot of detail on this page. Here is the Lott part:

Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS) = http://thinkprogress.org/abramoff#lott

CONTRIBUTIONS — LOTT RECEIVED $92,000 FROM ABRAMOFF, HIS PARTNERS, AND HIS CLIENTS:
Lott received $92,000 in Abramoff-related donations between 2001 and 2004.

COUSHATTA CAMPAIGN — LOTT RECEIVED MONEY FOR WRITING LETTER: One of Abramoff’s tribal clients, the Coushattas, “opposed a plan by the Jena Band of Choctaw Indians to open a casino at a non-reservation site, expected at the time to be outside Shreveport, La., not far from a casino owned by the Coushattas.” On March 1, 2002, Lott wrote Norton to “seriously urge” she reject the Jena casino. “Lott received $10,000 in donations from Abramoff’s tribal clients just before the letter and $55,000 soon after.”

[lovuian]

14. Oh a direct line to Bush ...oh wow this is getting good

and Cheney who is he to tell the secret service what to do???

[L. Coyote]

25. TIME: When George Met Jack

When George Met Jack
Sunday, Jan. 22, 2006 By ADAM ZAGORIN, MIKE ALLEN
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1151784,00.html

As details poured out about the illegal and unseemly activities of Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff, White House officials sought to portray the scandal as a Capitol Hill affair with little relevance to them. Peppered for days with questions about Abramoff's visits to the White House, press secretary Scott McClellan said the now disgraced lobbyist had attended two huge holiday receptions and a few "staff-level meetings" that were not worth describing further. "The President does not know him, nor does the President recall ever meeting him," McClellan said.

The President's memory may soon be unhappily refreshed. TIME has seen five photographs of Abramoff and the President that suggest a level of contact between them that Bush's aides have downplayed. While TIME's source refused to provide the pictures for publication, they are likely to see the light of day eventually because celebrity tabloids are on the prowl for them. And that has been a fear of the Bush team's for the past several months: that a picture of the President with the admitted felon could become the iconic image of direct presidential involvement in a burgeoning corruption scandal ..........

Michael Scanlon, who is Abramoff's former partner and has pleaded guilty to conspiring to bribe a Congressman, in 2001 told the New Times of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., that Abramoff had "a relationship" with the President. "He doesn't have a bat phone or anything, but if he wanted an appointment, he would have one," Scanlon said. ....

[donkeyotay]

15. A pattern.

from the OP:

The trail of the Abramoff investigation led several times directly into the White House, but Bush Administration Justice Department investigators, headed by Public Integrity head, Noel Hillman, consistently refused to follow any leads. Hillman was rewarded for keeping things on the right track. He’s now a federal judge.

[donkeyotay]

16. This could have been written today. Amazing how timeless truth can be.

From the OP:

One of Aristotle’s key tests in the definition of forms of government is recited in the Politics: What do you call a state whose ruler, in his conduct of the affairs of state, is enshrouded in secrecy, particularly when the facts, if disclosed, would alert the people to his lawlessness or criminality, but conversely, the same ruler spies constantly upon his people giving them no repose in the conduct of their own personal affairs? Such a ruler, says Aristotle, is called a tyrant, and the quality of his rule is called tyranny. So let’s be clear what the Bush Justice Department is busily constructing. The standards for a democracy are something altogether different.

Thank you, L. Coyote. Thank you Scott Horton. Thank you Aristotle. May the truth set us free.

[L. Coyote]

42. The rhetoric shift since january is truly impressive. Junta, tyrant, fascism,.....

Let the light shine on the crimes .......... give me truth or give me my noose.

[DCKit]

17. That there exists any doubt about the depths of corruption at the WH is beyond me.

Than again, keep talking it up folks. The sooner the sheeple get on board with the rest of us, the better. Breaking through the MSM blather is going to be a bitch though. Perhaps a whisper campaign for people to watch K.O. for "real news" might help. The writers strike needs to end soon so Daily Show and Colbert can come back too.

[L. Coyote]

29. "I come from a pretty small town, but I think I can spot a pretty big lie," Sen. Dorgan

This quote, in retrospect, could be applied to John McCain and all who helped cover up the Abramoff scandal to save the Rs.
Was there a conspiracy on the part of all the R actors to bury this scandal?
What would Sen. Dorgan say today, about Abramoff, McCain, and Bush?

============
Abramoff Witness Frustrates Panel
E-Mails Suggest She Was Lobbyist's Connection to Interior Official
By Susan Schmidt - Nov 18, 2005; Page A08
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/17/AR2005111701682.html

Federici accused McCain of conducting a "witch hunt" directed at her because her group had opposed one of his bills on oil drilling in Alaska.

.........

Federici's group was co-founded by Gale A. Norton before she joined the Bush administration as interior secretary. In one e-mail, Abramoff told a colleague that Federici's group was "our access to Norton."

.......

McCain said the committee has found no evidence that Norton knew Abramoff was trading on her name. Dan DuBray, Norton's press secretary, said she "was not aware of these activities." He added: "Mr. Abramoff's contact with the department -- both his direct contacts and those which may have been conducted by surrogates -- are being reviewed by the office of the inspector general and others."

[L. Coyote]

19. Abramoff Scandal Nets Rep. Don Young (R-AK) Aide = Mark Zachares plea bargain

Former Aide to GOP Rep To Plead Guilty
By Paul Kiel - April 23, 2007 - http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/003083.php


Yet another shoe drops in the Jack Abramoff investigation. A former aide to Rep. Don Young (R-AK), Mark Zachares, looks set to plead guilty to corruption charges.

The Justice Department filed a criminal information today on Zachares, laying out the facts to which he'll be pleading guilty. You can read it here (http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/docs/zachares/?resultpage=1&). A plea hearing has been scheduled for tomorrow.

According to the document, Zachares and Abramoff had what they called their "two year plan": Zacheres would work for Abramoff on the inside, taking advantage of his congressional position to throw business Abramoff's way, and eventually, when Zachares left Congress, Abramoff would reward him. .....

[L. Coyote]

20. Novel Defense in Abramoff Case = "may simply be an effort to run out the clock"

WH Uses Novel Defense in Abramoff Case
By Mark Impomeni - Dec 3rd 2007 - http://news.aol.com/political-machine/2007/12/03/wh-uses-novel-defense-in-abramoff-case/

Filed Under:Bush Administration, Investigations

The Justice Department, in a court filing Friday night, made a previously unheard of claim of privilege in a lawsuit seeking documents related to White House visits by disgraced Republican fundraiser Jack Abramoff. ....

......

the privilege claim by the Justice Department does raise the question of whether more meetings took place. The claim is reminiscent of a similar privilege claim made by the Clinton Administration in the midst of the Monica Lewinsky scandal. Lawyers for the White House at that time asserted a "protective function privilege" in an effort to prevent two Secret Service Agents from testifying about what they may have seen or heard in connection with Ken Starr's investigation. Starr moved to compel testimony and was successful.

It is difficult to imagine just what may be in these records that is so sensitive that the Bush Administration claims that they can't be released. National Security information is handled by the courts on a regular basis with proper safeguards and procedures. This filing by the Justice Department may simply be an effort to run out the clock on the litigation, with just over one year left in the Administration's tenure.

[L. Coyote]

21. Whitehouse on Contempt-of-Congress Fight: Bring It On

Whitehouse on Contempt-of-Congress Fight: Bring It On
By Spencer Ackerman - Dec 3, 2007, 4:24PM - http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004817.php

... Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) ... sat down with TPMmuckraker in his Senate offices this morning.

Whitehouse said that the Bush administration has "redrawn the line" for a reasonable exercise of executive privilege. And that's why he supports Senator Patrick Leahy's efforts to hold current and former White House officials in contempt ....

What's more, Whitehouse welcomes the Constitutional showdown that would result. "I'm astounded at the breadth and the scope of the privilege that they claim," the first-term senator said. "I actually hope that it comes to a point where we end up litigating it and getting a court decision and settling this question."

Asked if he was going further than other senators, who'd use a possible contempt finding as a mechanism to compel the document disclosure, Whitehouse said the Bush administration has gone so far in "grading its own papers" -- that is, deciding for itself what Congress is entitled to receive from the executive -- that it's time to return to Constitutional first principles. "I'd rather get it done," he said:

"There has not been a lot of case law on this subject. ....

Whitehouse doubted that the process -- the committee holding the White House in contempt, the full Senate following suit, the subsequent court fight and its resolution -- could be completed before the Bush administration ends. But he said he would see it through to its conclusion regardless ......

.............

[L. Coyote]

22. In Washington, Follow The Perp Walk Of Fame

There's always a ring of muck around the hog trough.

=============
In Washington, Follow The Perp Walk Of Fame
By DANA MILBANK | Washington Post | Nov 25, 2007
http://www.courant.com/travel/hc-travscandaltour.artnov25,0,553403.story


WASHINGTON - — Those who believe in the innate goodness of humankind have never walked the 100 block of D Street SE.

Let's start at 110 D St., the drab Hill House apartment complex; police were summoned here, to Apartment 215, when a woman complained that her lover, then-Rep. Don Sherwood, R-Pa., a married man, had tried to strangle her.

Walk a few doors down, and you arrive at a townhouse with a birdbath in front: 132 D St., the "Safe House" where, under artwork provided by clients of convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff, former House majority leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, and his colleagues made fundraising calls and set up a lobbying business.

Across the street at No. 137, a charming stucco house under a shade tree, is where then-Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., was reportedly visited by teenagers; from there he also sent lewd instant messages to boys.

On the corner of the block stands an appropriately whitewashed structure housing the Republican National Committee, where thousands of e-mails from Karl Rove and other White House officials mysteriously vanished. Also on the block is the former home of Porter Goss, who, as director of the CIA, hired Dusty Foggo, indicted as part of the bribery case that also imprisoned former Republican California Rep. Duke Cunningham.

..........

[L. Coyote]

30. Just before the 2004 election, the Culture of Corruption news was threatening BUSH

Before Sen. John McCain's Senate hearing began covering up the true story:

=======================================
Foundation's Funds Diverted From Mission;
http://www.citizensforethics.org/node/24744

27 Sep 2004 // The Capital Athletic Foundation's Web site portrays youths at play ... the charity has collected nearly $6 million. A gala fundraiser last year at the International Spy Museum at one point attracted the Washington Redskins' owner as its chairman and was to honor the co-founder of America Online.

But tax and spending records of the Capital Athletic Foundation obtained by The Washington Post show that less than 1 percent of its revenue has been spent on sports-related programs for youths.

Instead, the documents show that Jack Abramoff, one of Washington's high-powered Republican lobbyists, has repeatedly channeled money from corporate clients into the foundation and spent the overwhelming portion of its money on ... political causes, a short-lived religious school and an overseas golf trip.

... Abramoff attached himself to House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) and, in so doing, became a magnet for large sums of money from business interests. ....

.......expenditures by the foundation have sparked wide-ranging investigations by the Justice Department, the Internal Revenue Service and two congressional committees. A source familiar with the scope of the probes said a grand jury has asked questions concerning whether Abramoff used the foundation to conceal payments from clients and shelter income from taxation. A Senate hearing on Abramoff's lobbying activities and billing practices is planned for tomorrow.

[Indi Guy]

31. K (too late to R) n/t

[donkeyotay]

32. Here's a pretty good background article for all you Abramoffologists out there

that adds to the collection of nations Abramoff was involved with. Another WaPo article mentioned Russia, and a Weekend Standard (call's itself China's Business Newspaper) mentioned China in connection with Abramoff's Mariana activities. To these we can add Pakistan and South America:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/28/AR2005122801588_pf.html

The Fast Rise and Steep Fall of Jack Abramoff
How a Well-Connected Lobbyist Became the Center of a Far-Reaching Corruption Scandal

By Susan Schmidt and James V. Grimaldi
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, December 29, 2005; A01

...

Abramoff also worked on behalf of the apartheid South African government, which secretly paid $1.5 million a year to the International Freedom Foundation, a nonprofit group that Abramoff operated out of a townhouse in the 1980s, according to sworn testimony to the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission. . . .


Almost from the start, Abramoff struck some rival lobbyists as a strange figure who operated on the margins. He even turned up as a representative of the Pakistani military when Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto went to Washington in 1995 to seek the return of $600 million the Islamabad government had paid for 28 F-16 fighters. The sale had been blocked by the U.S. government over concerns about Pakistan's nuclear program. . . .

Abramoff's activities weren't just domestic, which makes the following remark even more damning:

Former Republican congressman Mickey Edwards (Okla.), usually a defender of lobbying and Congress, said there have always been members who get caught "stuffing money in their pants." But he said this is different -- a "disgusting" and disturbingly broad scandal driven by lobbyists whose attitude seemed to be "government to the highest bidder."

"This is at a scale that is really shocking," said Edwards, who teaches public and international affairs at Princeton. "There is a certain kind of arrogance that in the past you might not have had. They were so supremely confident that there didn't seem to be any kind of moral compass here."

Combine this with some of his domestic connections, and it's easy to see why Abramoff is a third rail that Washington won't touch. They dismiss him as "a disgraced lobbyist," as if everyone knew why, but to date no mainstream media has told the American people any where near the full story.

[Indi Guy]

33. Abramoff is representative of the entire K Street corruption...

Yes, he represents only the tip of the iceberg that still presides over DC politics.

[L. Coyote]

34. no mainstream media has told the American people any where near the full story

And, that is, Abramoff is a Bush Administration insider, a Bush Pioneer, a moneybags, and involved in numerous operations yet to be fully investigated.

One example is his role, along with Karl Rove, in illegally moving funds into the Riley campaign to defeat Siegelman.

FROM: Abramoff and Kark Rove Linked to Prosecution of Ex-Alabama Governor and Campaign Finances
Jun-01-07 http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1023111

June 3, 2005 by the Boston Globe
Gambling, GOP Politics Intertwine
Casino Payments Seen as Influential
by Michael Kranish - http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0603-08.htm

Abramoff, who helped arrange for the rival tribes to give the money to Reed's group, turned around and offered his services to the Tiguas -- for $4.2 million in fees split between himself and a partner

..... Abramoff and his partner in Indian gaming consulting would receive more than $60 million in fees from six different tribes seeking to advance their gambling interests ... Abramoff also told the tribes to give money ... the tribes gave $3 million, two-thirds of it to Republicans

.... Abramoff and Norquist .. worked (for) ... candidate ... following year, Abramoff and Norquist came to Washington together to lead the Republican Party's national effort to recruit college students. Reed soon joined ...


In 1999, Don Siegelman, the Democratic governor of Alabama, proposed a lottery that would have pumped hundreds of millions of dollars into public schools and even provided free college education for most Alabama high school graduates.

Reed, rallying religious conservatives, set out to try to defeat it ... quickly raised $1.15 million .... money came from Norquist's group, Americans for Tax Reform. Norquist ... got the funds from an Indian gaming tribe ...At the time Reed raised the money, he was working for Abramoff ... and Abramoff represented the Mississippi tribe.

Siegelman ..."'I don't know how they can sleep at night taking money from the Indian casinos to deny Alabama schoolchildren...."

.... Abramoff, meanwhile, appears to be the central focus ....Bush has not spoken on the matter.

[L. Coyote]

35. Former U.S. Rep. J.D. Hayworth says DoJ NOT investigating his Abramoff connection

Is this part of the "new" DoJ under Mukasey? More Abramoff cover-up, as the investigation connects the White House to the influence peddling? Maybe "state secrets" defense again??

===================
Former U.S. Rep. says feds won't investigate Abramoff connection
AP - Dec 6, 2007 - http://www.kold.com/Global/story.asp?S=7463057

PHOENIX (AP) - Former U.S. Rep. J.D. Hayworth says the Justice Department told his lawyers they've decided against a formal investigation into his ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Hayworth made the comments Thursday on his radio show on KFYI-AM.

On the radio, Hayworth blamed Democrats for focusing on his ties to Abramoff and said the criticism was 1 of the primary reasons he lost his seat to Harry Mitchell. ..........

[AuntPatsy]

36. kicking this thread.....I don't understand if this information is so easily available to the general

public which proves of crimes committed then how can our law enforcement be so ignorant of the facts?

[L. Coyote]

37. Can our law enforcement be so ignorant of the facts? I doubt it. Politization? YES

The history of the Abramoff investigation is one of politization and cover up. A key player in the cover up has been John McCain and his Senate "investigation," thwarting information coming out before the 2004 election. That alone may have altered the Presidential race. Another aspect is the DoJ management of the inquiry. That aspect deserves very close scrutiny. I suspect, this inquiry, related influence peddling, and like corruption is at the core of DoJ politization.

[L. Coyote]

38. William H. Seewald: Bush administration cowers behind 'national security' to cover ties to Jack Abra

William H. Seewald: Bush administration cowers behind 'national security' to cover ties to Jack Abramoff
http://www.amarillo.com/stories/120707/opi_9127474.shtml


Secrecy and a free, democratic government don't (co)exist. - Harry S. Truman

The Bush administration continues stonewalling investigations of corruption or illegal activities by asserting either the hackneyed "executive privilege," or that final refuge of all would-be despots, "national security."

Accordingly, the Bushies are pushing the most strained assertions of secrecy in the ongoing investigation of imprisoned lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Who can forget that wire photo of Jack in black trench coat, with black fedora snapped down over furtive glance, looking every bit the Hollywood-scripted Mafioso? Many a crime boss only could envy the depth of his political connections or the chutzpah of Jack's extortion schemes. ......

..........

Not surprisingly, the Bushies' primary objective has remained obscuring Dubya's ties to Abramoff. The administration agreed last year to produce all responsive records about Jack's White House visits "without redactions or claims of exemption." But the court battle continues on Abramoff's ties and the reach of his activities.

After Abramoff pleaded guilty, Bush double-talked, "I can't say I didn't ever meet" Abramoff. But then in a news conference that same month, Dubya averred, "I don't know him."

..............

[L. Coyote]

39. JURIST: Bush administration invoking secrecy defense to avoid Abramoff files release

Bush administration invoking secrecy defense to avoid Abramoff files release
Eric Firkel - Dec 02, 2007 - http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2007/12/bush-administration-invoking-secrecy.php


The Bush administration is invoking a secrecy defense known as Glomarization http://www.usdoj.gov/oip/foia_updates/Vol_VII_1/page3.htm to avoid disclosing hundreds of documents concerning White House visits by former lobbyist Jack Abramoff (JURIST news archive http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/jurist_search.php?q=abramoff), according to AP citing court papers filed Friday. The administration is relying on a 1976 US Supreme Court ruling in Phillippi v. CIA, a case which arose in the context of inquiries concerning an alleged CIA connection with the Glomar Explorer, Howard Hughes' submarine retrieval ship. Phillippi established the right of government agencies to flatly deny the existence of records pertaining to investigations, if acknowledging the existence of the records would, in itself, reveal exempt information. The Department of Justice claims in the Abramoff case that releasing the requested information would reveal sensitive information about Secret Service's protective function. The administration's denial comes despite a promise last year to produce all records concerning Abramoff.

In October, US House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) called on the White House to disclose hundreds of documents relating to Abramoff. Abramoff pleaded guilty (JURIST report http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2007/10/us-house-panel-demands-white-house-turn.php) in January 2006 to two conspiracy and fraud charges......

[SpiralHawk]

40. More bush lies and coverups

Impeach him...now.

[L. Coyote]

41. We have reached critical mass. This issue needs more exposure though.

Too many competing junta scandals. It just boggles the mind.

[L. Coyote]

43. DU Archive: ABRAMOFF Scandal: J. Steven Griles Ordered to Prison, Highest-Ranked Bush Administration

With a list of prior Abramoff threads:

Jun-27-07 http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1198838

[L. Coyote]

44. Italia Federici Sentenced four years of probation & $74,000 in restitution

Italia Federici Sentenced for Evading Taxes and Obstructing Senate Investigation into Abramoff Corruption Scandal
Posted : Fri, 14 Dec 2007 19:40:39 GMT
Author : U.S. Department of Justice
Category : PressRelease - http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/news_press_release,242773.shtml


WASHINGTON, Dec. 14 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Italia Federici, the former president of the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy (CREA), has been sentenced to four years of probation and ordered to pay more than $74,000 in restitution, Assistant Attorney General Alice S. Fisher of the Criminal Division and Acting Assistant Attorney General Richard T. Morrison of the Tax Division announced today.

Federici, 38, of Washington, D.C., was sentenced today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia by Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle. In imposing Federici's sentence, Judge Huvelle granted the government's motion for a downward departure based on the substantial assistance Federici provided in the investigation of the corruption scandal surrounding former lobbyist Jack A. Abramoff. Court documents reflect that Federici's cooperation concerned, among other things, the corrupt relationship and dealings that occurred between Abramoff and J. Steven Griles while Griles served as the Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), the second-highest ranking official at DOI.

Federici pleaded guilty on June 8, 2007, to one count of income tax evasion and one count of obstructing the U.S. Senate's investigation into the lobbying activities of Abramoff. Griles, Abramoff, and several others have pleaded guilty in connection with the government's public corruption investigation.

According to court documents, Federici admitted to obstructing the investigation of the U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs into Abramoff, which began in the fall of 2004. Federici also admitted to willfully evading her individual income taxes for the calendar years 2001 through 2003 by, among other things, failing to segregate her personal finances from CREA's, using cash to handle CREA's and her own personal finances, failing to maintain proper books and records or properly report CREA's payroll, failing to submit her U.S. individual income tax returns on the relevant due dates, and then failing to pay the income taxes owed. Federici admitted that in lieu of taking a regular salary, she and CREA's other officer, Jared Carpenter, obtained funds from CREA by direct cash withdrawals from CREA's bank account. Carpenter, who pleaded guilty on July 6, 2007, to income tax evasion, is also being sentenced today by Judge Huvelle.

Court documents reflect that Federici was the founder and president of CREA, a non-profit organization set up in Colorado in 1997 and incorporated in Washington, D.C., in 2000 as an Internal Revenue Code Section 501(c)(4) corporation. On March 1, 2001, she introduced Abramoff to Griles just before Griles was nominated to be DOI's Deputy Secretary. At the time, Federici and Griles were friends, and Griles had helped raise funds for CREA, which had operated primarily through donations.

Griles was confirmed as DOI's Deputy Secretary on July 12, 2001, and served in that position until he resigned effective Jan. 31, 2005. In her guilty plea, Federici admitted that during much of Griles' DOI tenure, she served as a conduit for information between Abramoff and Griles. In this role, she would communicate in-depth with Abramoff about his clients and the issues and concerns applicable to them, and then communicate in-depth with Griles about these issues and/or forward to Griles information and documents Abramoff supplied. Federici also admitted that she met with Abramoff and Griles in order to speak substantively and directly about these issues while Griles was DOI Deputy Secretary. Among other things, Federici's involvement as a conduit between Abramoff and Griles hindered DOI's official record-keeping about Griles' contacts with lobbyists such as Abramoff, and DOI's ability to measure the level of Abramoff's access to Griles.

Griles pleaded guilty to obstructing the Senate committee's Abramoff investigation and was sentenced on June 26, 2007, to ten months in prison and fined $30,000.

Court documents reveal that beginning soon after Federici introduced Abramoff to Griles and began serving as a conduit for information, Abramoff and certain of his Native American tribal clients became significant donors to CREA. Ultimately, Abramoff personally and through his Native American tribal clients donated a total of $500,000 to CREA between March 2001 and May 2003.

In the wake of the Abramoff scandal, Federici was interviewed by Senate investigators, and then testified before members of the Senate committee during a Nov. 17, 2005, public hearing. The Senate committee was investigating the level of access Abramoff had to Griles and the extent of the communications involving Federici, Abramoff and Griles. Federici admitted that during both her interview and her hearing testimony, she lied to and withheld material information from senators and Senate investigators in responding to questions about the extent of the communications involving her, Abramoff, and Griles during Griles' DOI tenure.

This case was prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Kartik K. Raman and Armando O. Bonilla of the Public Integrity Section, which is headed by Chief William M. Welch II, and Trial Attorneys Karen Kelly, Susan Vrahoretis, and Mark Daly of the Tax Division's Criminal Enforcement Section. The case was investigated by a task force of federal agents including Special Agents of the DOI Office of the Inspector General, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Internal Revenue Service's Criminal Investigation Division.

Abramoff is currently serving a 70-month prison sentence at the Federal Prison Camp in Cumberland, Md., for his guilty plea on conspiracy and fraud charges brought in Miami. Abramoff has also pleaded guilty to corruption, fraud, conspiracy and tax charges in the District of Columbia. The Justice Department's public corruption investigation related to Abramoff has netted a total of 11 convictions thus far, including those of Griles and former Congressman Robert Ney.

[L. Coyote]

45. federal task force investigating Abramoff's activities. "I agree she has cooperated extensively,"

Republican With Links to Abramoff Is Sentenced
Judge Insists She Serve Time, Rejects Request for Harsher Sentence for Colleague at Environmental Group
By Susan Schmidt - Dec 15, 2007; Page A07 - http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/14/AR2007121402008.html


Italia Federici ... admitted that she knowingly failed to pay income taxes on $187,000 in salary she drew over three years from the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy (CREA) and that she "minimized the extent of information I had" when she testified in 2005 about Abramoff and former Interior deputy secretary J. Steven Griles before openly skeptical members of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee.

Federici, 38, was a go-between for Griles, with whom she was linked romantically, and Abramoff, who had his tribal clients donate $500,000 to her group.

Jonathan Rosen, Federici's lawyer, told the court that Abramoff and Griles took advantage of Federici. "This young D.C. neophyte," Rosen said, was used for "pleasure and gain." He cited Federici's long involvement in public causes such as the environment as a testament to her character.

Huvelle asked Federici why anyone would "believe for a minute" that Abramoff's client contributions were unconnected to her role as an intermediary: "You didn't understand there was any quid pro quo going on?"

"It did strike me as odd," Federici said. But, she added, "at the time I viewed Mr. Abramoff as what we in the nonprofit community call an angel," explaining that she saw him as "a truly ideologically aligned Republican." CREA was founded by Gale Norton, who was later Interior secretary, and anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist.

Still, Huvelle credited Federici's aid to the federal task force investigating Abramoff's activities. "I agree she has cooperated extensively," she said.

.................