GOP's best friend could be its nightmare
By Jeff Shields
WASHINGTON — Lobbyist Jack Abramoff was not at the Senate Indian Affairs Committee hearing two weeks ago, but he was the central topic, as Congress continued to probe what some call one of this generation's most outrageous political scandals.
It was J. Steven Griles' turn to testify Nov. 2, but it could have been any number of people.
Griles, a former Interior Department deputy, was called to address suggestions that Abramoff had improperly influenced his federal work. Griles, who denies wrongdoing, is just the latest in a line of Republican officials and conservative leaders to be linked to Abramoff, who has been accused of mocking the laws that govern money and influence in American politics.
The hearing was a sharp reminder that while White House aides Karl Rove and I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby dominate the headlines, Abramoff remains — according to some observers — the Republican Party's most dangerous problem.
"I don't think we have had something of this scope, arrogance and sheer venality in our lifetimes," Norman Ornstein, resident scholar at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, wrote recently. "It is building to an explosion, one that could create immense collateral damage within Congress and in coming elections."
Abramoff's Circle
Lobbyist Jack Abramoff is under investigation by at least three federal agencies and two Senate committees for his dealings with members of Congress, their staffs and his clients. Here are some of the main characters in the Abramoff inquiry:
Rep. Tom DeLay: DeLay, former House majority leader, called Abramoff "one of my closest and dearest friends" and was allied with Abramoff in populating the lobbying industry with former Republican staff members, including his own. The House ethics committee is looking into three trips made by DeLay that were paid for by Abramoff or his clients.
David Safavian: A former lobbying partner of Abramoff's, Safavian was chief of staff of the General Services Administration before he was arrested Sept. 19 and charged with lying to federal investigators about his dealings with Abramoff. He has pleaded not guilty.
Rep. Bob W. Ney: The Ohio Republican, who chairs the House Administration Committee, which oversees campaign finance, has been subpoenaed by the federal grand jury investigating Abramoff in Washington, D.C. Abramoff organized a golfing trip to Scotland for Ney in 2002. Ney has denied wrongdoing.
Michael Scanlon: A former press secretary for DeLay, he partnered with Abramoff in a lobbying/public-relations business that took in more than $82 million from 12 American Indian tribes between 2001 and 2003. He entered a guilty plea Monday to a charge that he and the lobbyist conspired to bribe public officials, including a senior Republican member of Congress, and defrauded Indian tribes of millions of dollars.
Ralph Reed: Former executive director of the Christian Coalition and now a candidate for lieutenant governor of Georgia, Reed was paid by a Louisiana tribe to rally Christian opposition to competing tribal casinos. Reed said he did not know his efforts were being funded by Abramoff's gaming clients, but Abramoff's e-mails indicate otherwise.
Grover Norquist: President of the anti-tax group Americans for Tax Reform and a leading conservative activist, he received a subpoena from the Senate Indian Affairs Committee for records related to his dealings with Abramoff.
The subpoena came after Abramoff's e-mails showed that he sometimes funneled money from his tribal gaming clients through Norquist's group to hide its source.
Sen. Conrad Burns: The Montana Republican helped Abramoff's client, the wealthy Saginaw Chippewas of Michigan, land $3 million in federal funds intended for impoverished tribes after the Department of the Interior determined that the tribe did not qualify. Two of Burns' staff members later joined Abramoff's lobbying team.
Timothy Flanigan: President Bush's nominee for the Justice Department's No. 2 position, he withdrew his name from consideration after questions arose about his relationship with Abramoff when he was corporate counsel for Tyco International. Flanigan testified that Abramoff bragged of his access to DeLay and Karl Rove, the White House deputy chief of staff, when Abramoff was lobbying for Tyco.
Michael Scanlon, a former partner to Abramoff, pleaded guilty Monday to conspiring to bribe public officials and agreed to cooperate in a widening criminal investigation of members of Congress. Scanlon, a former aide to former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, has been cooperating in the Justice Department probe since June, one of his attorneys said after the plea.
Abramoff and his friends are some of the biggest players in the conservative revolution that took over Congress, the White House and the lobbying industry.
DeLay, who once called Abramoff one of his "closest and dearest friends," has requested a House ethics investigation to clear his name relating to trips he took at Abramoff's expense; DeLay has said he thought other sources paid for the trips.
Christian Coalition founder Ralph Reed, anti-tax guru Grover Norquist, members of Congress, administration officials and a host of lobbyists have been drawn into Senate or Justice Department investigations of Abramoff's lobbying activities.
It goes on: Abramoff and a business partner were indicted in Florida in August on charges of fraud and conspiracy for their 2000 purchase of a gambling-boat fleet.
Former White House official David Safavian has been indicted on charges that he lied about his Abramoff ties and has pleaded not guilty. Rep. Bob W. Ney, R-Ohio, has been subpoenaed by a grand jury investigating Abramoff and is under federal criminal investigation on suspicion of taking bribes in the form of campaign contributions. Ney has denied wrongdoing.
Because Abramoff was so close to the power structure and fundraising mechanisms of the Republican Party, "he knows where a lot more of the bodies are buried," said Bill Allison, spokesman for the Center for Public Integrity, a nonpartisan ethics watchdog group.
Abramoff, who was president of National College Republicans in the early 1980s, wrote and produced a B movie and once organized a meeting of anti-communist guerrillas and mujahedeen in Africa, became one of Washington's most powerful influence peddlers when Republicans took over in 1994.
He opened a restaurant, Signatures, and leased skyboxes at sports arenas, where he held fundraisers. According to documents released by Senate investigators, he directed his clients — often unregulated entities that included U.S. territories, Indian tribes and Internet gaming clients — as to how much and where to direct their political contributions.
Abramoff also worked from 1994 to 2000 for the Seattle-based law and lobbying firm of Preston Gates Ellis & Rouvelas. The firm has not been accused of wrongdoing.
Abramoff invoked Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination when called before the Senate Indian Affairs Committee last year. Through a spokesman, he denies wrongdoing.
"Mr. Abramoff is put into the impossible position of not being able to defend himself in the public arena until the proper authorities have had a chance to review all accusations," spokesman Andrew Blum said in a statement. "Any fair reading of Mr. Abramoff's career would show that his clients benefited immensely from the hard work he and his team did on their behalf."
Thousands of e-mails subpoenaed by Senate investigators indicate a man who was publicly dedicated to conservative ideals while privately committed to enriching himself. His public descent began before the Indian Affairs Committee in September 2004, where he and partner Scanlon, DeLay's former press secretary, were found to have charged Indian tribes more than $66 million while privately referring to their clients as "monkeys" and "troglodytes."
"What sets this tale apart, what makes it truly extraordinary, is the extent and degree of the apparent exploitation and deceit," Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., chairman of the Indian Affairs Committee, said at one of four hearings he has used to shame Abramoff over the past year.
Chairman Kevin Sickey of the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana, one of Abramoff's aggrieved clients, testified last week that the e-mails also offered a rare glimpse into the legal "underworld of government affairs."
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