Some more Republican Crooks:
Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA)
Chief Deputy Majority Whip
CONTRIBUTIONS — CANTOR RECEIVED $31,500 FROM ABRAMOFF, HIS PARTNERS, AND HIS CLIENTS: Cantor “received about $31,500 from Abramoff, his lobbying partners and tribal clients between 2001 and 2004.” In Jan. 2006, he announced he will give $10,000 of the money to charity. [AP, 11/17/05; Richmond Times-Dispatch, 1/4/06]
COUSHATTA CAMPAIGN — DELAY ORGANIZED HASTERT, BLUNT, AND CANTOR TO BACK ABRAMOFF EFFORT: 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.” Abramoff lobbied DeLay’s office to organize a June 10, 2003, letter to Interior Secretary Gale A. Norton endorsing a view of gambling law benefiting the Coushattas. The letter was eventually co-signed by DeLay, House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-IL), Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Deputy Whip Eric I. Cantor (R-VA), a “group of people, who do not normally weigh in on Indian issues.” Cantor received “roughly $4,500 [from Abramoff and his clients] in the period around which the letter was sent.” [Washington Post, 9/28/04; AP, 11/17/05]
Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS)
COUSHATTA CAMPAIGN — COCHRAN RECEIVED OVER $77,000 FROM ABRAMOFF AND HIS CLIENTS: 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 June 14, 2001, Cochran became one of the first of many lawmakers to write to Norton opposing the Jena casino. “Cochran’s political committee got $6,000 from Abramoff tribes in the weeks before the letter, and an additional $71,000 in the three years after.” He will donate $8,000 to the hurricane fund. [Washington Post, 9/28/04; AP, 11/17/05; Clarion-Ledger, 1/5/06]
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX)
TIGUA CASINO — CORNYN PART OF ABRAMOFF, REED, SCANLON SCHEME TO CLOSE TIGUA CASINO: Abramoff, Scanlon, and Reed (”an avowed foe of gambling”) secretly helped then Texas Attorney General Cornyn shut down the Tigua tribe’s Texas casino. They then exploited “the financial crisis they were helping to create for the tribe” by convincing the Tiguas to pay Abramoff $4.2 million (and $300,000 they doled out in political contributions to Abramoff allies) to get Congress to reopen the casino. (”In the end, Abramoff and Scanlon failed to get the casino reopened.”) “Former Christian Coalition director Ralph Reed claimed in a 2001 e-mail to [Jack Abramoff] that he choreographed John Cornyn’s efforts as Texas attorney general to shut down” the casino. [Washington Post, 9/26/04; Associated Press, 11/12/05]
TIGUA CASINO — CORNYN RECEIVED $1,000 FROM ABRAMOFF FOR CLOSING CASINO: Cornyn knew of Abramoff’s efforts to help him. On November 12, 2001, Reed sent Abramoff an e-mail stating, “get me details so I can alert cornyn and let him know what we are doing to help him.” On January 7, 2002, Reed wrote to Abramoff, “I think we should budget for an ataboy for cornyn.” Abramoff contributed $1,000, the maximum amount legally allowed. [CREW, 4/18/05]
Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX)
CONTRIBUTIONS — DELAY RECEIVED $65,000 FROM ABRAMOFF: “Since 1997, Abramoff and his wife have contributed $40,000 to DeLay’s political action committees, and last year the Capital Athletic Foundation [Abramoff’s bogus charity] donated $25,000 to the DeLay Foundation for Kids, a charity the lawmaker founded. Abramoff has long been a member of DeLay’s Congressional Council, which DeLay describes in promotional materials as a ’special group of supporters.” In January 2006, DeLay pledged to donate $57,000 of the contributions to charity. [Washington Post, 9/28/04; Washington Post, 1/5/06]
GIFTS — DELAY ACCEPTED EXPENSIVE GIFTS FROM ABRAMOFF: “DeLay was Abramoff’s guest at skyboxes Abramoff maintained at MCI Center and the Redskins’ FedEx Field, and his staff members were flown to a Super Bowl game in Florida and to the U.S. Open in Pebble Beach, Calif.” [Washington Post, 9/30/05]
CRONYISM — ABRAMOFF HELPED RUDY OBTAIN HIGH-POWERED LOBBYING JOB: Tony Rudy, former deputy chief of staff to DeLay, left the congressional office in 2001 for a lucrative lobbying position obtained with the help of Abramoff. E-mails between Rudy and Abramoff reveal that Rudy “was in close contact with a future employer [Abramoff] about issues in which the employer had an interest.” Federal prosecutors “are examining whether he [Abramoff] brokered lucrative jobs for Congressional aides at powerful lobbying firms in exchange for legislative favors.” Rudy is now at the Alexander Strategy Group, run by Buckham, another former DeLay aide. [Business Week, 7/11/05; New York Times, 12/2/05]
COUSHATTA CAMPAIGN — DELAY ORGANIZED HASTERT, BLUNT, AND CANTOR TO BACK ABRAMOFF EFFORT: 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.” Abramoff lobbied DeLay’s office to organize a June 10, 2003, letter to Interior Secretary Gale A. Norton endorsing a view of gambling law benefiting the Coushattas. The letter was eventually co-signed by DeLay, House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-IL), Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Deputy Whip Eric I. Cantor (R-VA), a “group of people, who do not normally weigh in on Indian issues.” [Washington Post, 9/28/04]
SUNCRUZ — BURNS AND DELAY STAFFERS ACCEPTED SUPER BOWL TRIP FROM ABRAMOFF, SUNCRUZ: Two Burns staff members “traveled to the 2001 Super Bowl on the Abramoff corporate jet, along with several staffers from the office of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.).” The trip was funded by Abramoff-owned SunCruz, a Florida casino cruise line, and “staffers were taken out to a Suncruz gambling ship during the trip.” [Washington Post, 3/1/05]
MARIANA ISLANDS — DELAY ACCEPTED ABRAMOFF TRIP TO SAIPAN: Abramoff “arranged a lavish overseas trip to the island of Saipan for House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, over the New Year’s holiday in 1997. DeLay, his wife and daughter, and several aides, stayed for free at a beachfront resort.” The trip “was part of an effort by former aide Jack Abramoff to stop legislation aimed at cracking down on sweatshops and sex shops in the American territory, which is known as the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.” Abramoff was paid $1.36 million by Saipan officials. On that trip, DeLay promised a prominent factory owner that he would use his position to stop the reform laws: “[I]f they elect me majority whip, I make the schedule of the Congress, and I’m not going to put it on the schedule.” [ABC, 4/6/05]
TRIP (RUSSIA, 1997) — DELAY AND BUCKHAM ACCEPTED ABRAMOFF TRIP TO RUSSIA: Abramoff also set up a legally questionable six-day trip to Moscow for DeLay in 1997, arranged by “Ed Buckham, a lobbyist and former DeLay staffer and spiritual advisor, who also traveled with DeLay to Russia.” Abramoff eventually joined them in Moscow. The $57,000 trip was “underwritten by business interests lobbying in support of the Russian government” and allegedly paid for by a DC non-profit, the National Center for Public Policy Research. But sources involved in planning the trip revealed that an Abramoff client, Chelsea Commercial Enterprises, which was registered in the Bahamas and deeply involved with Russian oil executives, actually paid for the trip. “House ethics rules bar the acceptance of travel reimbursement from registered lobbyists and foreign agents.” [Washington Post, 4/6/05]
TRIP (SCOTLAND, 2000) — DELAY ACCEPTED ABRAMOFF TRIP TO LONDON AND SCOTLAND: In 2000, Abramoff arranged another trip for DeLay, his wife, and several congressional staff members, allegedly through the nonprofit National Center for Public Policy Research, as in the Russia trip. But DeLay’s airfare to London and Scotland was charged to Abramoff’s American Express card. While in Europe, the guests played golf at St. Andrews and attended the musical The Lion King. “House ethics rules bar lawmakers from accepting travel and related expenses from registered lobbyists.” “Multiple sources, including DeLay’s then-chief of staff Susan Hirschmann, have confirmed that DeLay’s congressional office was in direct contact with Preston Gates [Abramoff’s lobbying firm] about the trip itinerary before DeLay’s departure, to work out details of his travel.” [Washington Post, 4/24/05; New York Times, 4/25/05]
TRIP (KOREA, 2001) — DELAY ACCEPTED ABRAMOFF TRIP TO KOREA: In 2001, DeLay, his wife, and staff, including Buckham, took a “$106,921 educational and golfing trip…to Korea on the tab of a registered foreign agent — a violation of House rules.” Similar to the arrangement in the Russia trip, the funding “was funneled through a Washington tax-exempt group and the trip arranged by longtime DeLay associate Jack Abramoff.” [Salon, 4/8/05]
Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA)
CONTRIBUTIONS — DOOLITTLE RECEIVED $64,500 FROM ABRAMOFF, HIS PARTNERS, AND HIS CLIENTS: Doolittle received $64,500 in Abramoff-related donations between 2001 and 2004. [AP, 11/17/05]
GIFTS — DOOLITTLE FAILED TO REPORT USE OF ABRAMOFF SKYBOXES: Hayworth, Doolittle, and Ney “were allowed free use of Abramoff’s sports skyboxes for fund-raisers held as long ago as 1999. They didn’t declare the value of the accommodations until records surfaced in ongoing U.S. Senate and criminal investigations of suspected exploitation by the lobbyist in charging six Indian tribes $82 million for representation.” [Arizona Republic, 5/10/05]
CRONYISM — ABRAMOFF HIRED DOOLITTLE’S WIFE AND HIS CHIEF OF STAFF: “Abramoff’s connections to Doolittle are also of interest to investigators, sources said. Doolittle’s former chief of staff, Kevin A. Ring, went to work with Abramoff. Doolittle’s wife, Julie, owned a consulting firm that was hired by Abramoff and his firm, Greenberg Traurig, to do fundraising for a charity he founded. Two sources close to the investigation said that Ring, while working for Abramoff, was an intermediary in the hiring of Julie Doolittle’s firm, Sierra Dominion Financial Solutions Inc., which last year received a subpoena from the grand jury investigating Abramoff.” [Washington Post, 11/26/05]
COUSHATTA CAMPAIGN — DOOLITTLE RECEIVED OVER $30,000 FROM ABRAMOFF AND HIS CLIENTS: 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 February 27, 2002, “27 lawmakers told Norton she should reject the Jena casino because gambling was a societal blight.” Rep. John Doolittle, R-Calif., received $1,000 from Abramoff several weeks after he signed a February 27, 2002 letter to Norton then got $16,000 from two of Abramoff’s casino-operating tribal clients about two months later. By year’s end [2002], Doolittle also had used Abramoff’s restaurant to cater a campaign event and received an additional $15,000 from tribes. [Washington Post, 9/28/04; AP, 11/17/05]
TRIP (PUERTO RICO, 2001) — LOPEZ ACCEPTED ABRAMOFF TRIP TO PUERTO RICO: John Lopez – then chief of staff to Doolittle – traveled to Puerto Rico in July 2001 for what he described on a travel disclosure form as a week-long “fact finding” trip. The $1,352 trip was paid for by Abramoff’s lobbying firm, Greenberg Traurig. At the time, Lopez believed that the “firm was to be reimbursed by the sponsor.” However, five years later Lopez is unable to recall “what he did in Puerto Rico or who he thought would reimburse Greenberg Traurig.” “House rules prohibit lawmakers and staff from taking trips paid for by registered lobbyists or lobbying firms.” [Associated Press, 2/9/06]
Sen. John Ensign (R-NV)
CONCTRIBUTIONS — ENSIGN RECEIVED $16,293 FROM ABRAMOFF AND HIS CLIENTS: Ensign received $16,293 in Abramoff-related donations between 2001 and 2004. [AP, 11/17/05]
COUSHATTA CAMPAIGN — ENSIGN AND REID WROTE LETTER ON BEHALF OF ABRAMOFF CLIENT: 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.” Ensign and Reid sent a letter to Norton on behalf of the Coushatta tribe on March 5, 2002. [Washington Post, 9/28/04; Washington Post, 11/18/05]
Rep. Tom Feeney (R-FL)
CONTRIBUTIONS — FEENEY RECEIVED AT LEAST $1,000 FROM ABRAMOFF: Abramoff donated $1,000 to Feeney’s 2003 campaign for Congress. He will return an unspecified amount. [Newsmeat]
TRIP (SCOTLAND, 2003) — FEENEY ACCEPTED ABRAMOFF TRIP TO SCOTLAND: Feeney traveled in 2003 to Scotland allegedly on the bill of the DC non-profit, the National Center for Public Policy Research. But the Center denied paying for the trip and the “$5,643 bill was actually paid by lobbyist Jack Abramoff,” which is a violation of House rules. While in Scotland, Feeney seemed to have few official duties and mostly played golf, another violation of House rules. [CREW]
Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA)
COUSHATTA CAMPAIGN — GRASSLEY RECEIVED OVER $62,200 FROM ABRAMOFF AND HIS CLIENTS: 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.” Grassley, whose committee is investigating Abramoff, sent a letter to Norton on March 1, 2002, opposing the Jena casino. “Grassley got $1,000 from Abramoff’s firm the following month and a total of $62,200 in related donation by 2004.” [Washington Post, 9/28/04; AP, 11/17/05]
Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA)
CONTRIBUTIONS — HARKIN RECEIVED $21,000 FROM ABRAMOFF’S PARTNERS AND CLIENTS: Harkin received $22,000 in 2003 and 2004 from Abramoff’s partners and his clients. [USA Today, 12/3/05]
GIFTS — HARKIN USED ABRAMOFF SKYBOX: “Harkin twice used Abramoff’s skybox for fundraisers — once in 2002 and again in 2003 — without reimbursing.” Harkin reimbursed Abramoff’s clients in fall 2005. [USA Today, 12/3/05]
Rep. J. Dennis Hastert (R-IL)
Speaker of the House
CONTRIBUTIONS — HASTERT RECEIVED $100,000 FROM ABRAMOFF AND HIS CLIENTS: “Hastert ultimately collected more than $100,000 in donations from Abramoff’s firm and tribal clients between 2001 and 2004.” In Jan. 2006, Hastert pledged to give approximately $70,000 of the donations to charity. [AP, 11/17/05; CNN, 1/3/06]
COUSHATTA CAMPAIGN — DELAY ORGANIZED HASTERT, BLUNT, AND CANTOR TO BACK ABRAMOFF EFFORT: 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.” Abramoff lobbied DeLay’s office to organize a June 10, 2003 letter to Interior Secretary Gale A. Norton endorsing a view of gambling law benefiting the Coushattas. The letter was eventually co-signed by DeLay, House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-IL), Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Deputy Whip Eric I. Cantor (R-VA), a “group of people, who do not normally weigh in on Indian issues.” [Washington Post, 9/28/04]
COUSHATTA CAMPAIGN — HASTERT HELD FUNDRAISER AT ABRAMOFF RESTAURANT, SUPPORTED COUSHATTA LETTER: “House Speaker Dennis Hastert, an Illinois Republican, held a fundraiser at Abramoff’s Signatures restaurant in Washington on June 3, 2003, that collected at least $21,500 for his Keep Our Majority political action committee from the lobbyist’s firm and tribal clients. Seven days later, Hastert wrote Norton urging her to reject the Jena tribe of Choctaw Indians’ request for a new casino.” [AP, 11/17/05]
Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ)
CONTRIBUTIONS — HAYWORTH ACCEPTED $64,520 FROM ABRAMOFF AND HIS CLIENTS: “Hayworth got about $64,520…in Abramoff-related donations between 2001 and 2004.” [AP, 11/24/05]
GIFTS — HAYWORTH FAILED TO REPORT USE OF ABRAMOFF SKYBOXES: Hayworth, Doolittle, and Ney “were allowed free use of Abramoff’s sports skyboxes for fund-raisers held as long ago as 1999. They didn’t declare the value of the accommodations until records surfaced in ongoing U.S. Senate and criminal investigations of suspected exploitation by the lobbyist in charging six Indian tribes $82 million for representation.” Hayworth did not include Abramoff’s name on his updated financial disclosures, but now “has reported repayments totaling $12,880 to the Chitimacha and Choctaw tribes for in-kind contributions at 10 fundraising events.” [Arizona Republic, 5/10/05; Washington Post, 12/14/05]
SAGINAW FUNDING — HAYWORTH LOBBIED ON BEHALF OF SAGINAWS: “Senator Conrad Burns, a Montana Republican [who oversees the budget of the Bureau of Indian Affairs], helped win a $3 million government award for the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe of Michigan to build a school.” The federal funds were intended for “impoverished Indian tribal schools” and in 2003, the Interior Department ruled the Saginaw tribe, an Abramoff client, too rich to participate. Hayworth, along with several other lawmakers, wrote to the Interior Department on the Saginaws’ behalf. [Bloomberg, 11/21/05; Washington Post, 3/1/05; AP, 11/24/05]
Rep. Ernest Istook (R-OK)
COUSHATTA CAMPAIGN — ISTOOK ACCEPTED $29,000, WROTE LETTER ON BEHALF OF CLIENTS: 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.” Istook wrote Norton to “seriously urge” she reject the Jena casino. He received $29,000 in Abramoff-related donations between 2001 and 2004. Istook has pledged that “campaign contributions he or his political action committee received from [Abramoff] will be donated for Indian health research.” [Washington Post, 9/28/04; AP, 11/17/05; AP, 11/17/05; AP, 12/23/05]
Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS)
CONTRIBUTIONS — LOTT RECEIVED $92,000 FROM ABRAMOFF, HIS PARTNERS, AND HIS CLIENTS: Lott received $92,000 in Abramoff-related donations between 2001 and 2004. [AP, 11/17/05]
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.” [Washington Post, 9/28/04; AP, 11/17/05]
Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH)
House Administration Committee Chairman
INVESTIGATION — NEY DOCUMENTS SUBPOENAED FOR ABRAMOFF INVESTIGATION: In November 2005, the Department of Justice subpoenaed Ney, “requesting documents to aid in its ongoing investigation of GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff.” [The Hill, 11/4/05]
INVESTIGATION — NEY IDENTIFIED AS ‘REPRESENTATIVE 1' IN SCANLON PLEA AGREEMENT: In Scanlon’s 18-page plea agreement, “prosecutors detailed evidence against Scanlon that would have been presented had his case gone to trial. He and his lawyers agreed to all of the evidence. The new items include details on trips and other gifts made to the member of Congress and members of his staff. The documents describe the recipient as ‘Representative 1.’ Details in the plea agreement describe actions taken by Rep. Robert Ney (R-Ohio), chairman of the House Administration Committee.” Ney gave away $6,500 in donations received from Abramoff and Scanlon to the American Indian College Fund. [Chicago Tribune, 11/22/05; AP, 1/4/06]
GIFTS — NEY FAILED TO REPORT USE OF ABRAMOFF SKYBOXES: Hayworth, Doolittle, and Ney “were allowed free use of Abramoff’s sports skyboxes for fund-raisers held as long ago as 1999. They didn’t declare the value of the accommodations until records surfaced in ongoing U.S. Senate and criminal investigations of suspected exploitation by the lobbyist in charging six Indian tribes $82 million for representation.” [Arizona Republic, 5/10/05]
CRONYISM — ABRAMOFF HELPED VOLZ OBTAIN HIGH-POWERED LOBBYING JOB: Neil Volz, former chief of staff to Ney, left the congressional office in 2002 for a lucrative lobbying position obtained with the help of Abramoff. Federal prosecutors “are examining whether he [Abramoff] brokered lucrative jobs for Congressional aides at powerful lobbying firms in exchange for legislative favors.” [New York Times, 12/2/05]
FAVORS — NEY ACCEPTED GIFTS FROM ABRAMOFF, PASSED LEGISLATION IN RETURN: Prosecutors said Scanlon and Abramoff “provided a stream of things of value to Representative #1 [Ney] and members of his staff,” including a “lavish” Scotland golf trip in 2002, tickets to sporting events, and meals at Abramoff’s restaurant. “The two also allegedly provided campaign contributions to Ney’s political action committee and to other political committees on Ney’s behalf. In return, federal prosecutors allege, Ney agreed to ’support and pass legislation,’ meet with Scanlon and Abramoff clients, and place statements in the Congressional Record.” [Washington Post, 11/19/05]
FAVORS — NEY AWARDED ABRAMOFF CLIENT LUCRATIVE CONTRACT: “Ney also approved granting a 2002 license to install cellular telephone antennas in House office buildings to an Israeli telecommunications company. The company had donated to an Abramoff-controlled charity and later became Abramoff’s lobbying client.” [Washington Post, 11/19/05]
SUNCRUZ — NEY’S PRAISED ABRAMOFF ASSOCIATES IN CONGRESSIONAL RECORD: “Abramoff’s fundraising log shows an event for Ney at MCI Center on March 15, 2001. FEC records show that Abramoff and three men associated with him in a Florida-based casino cruise line called Suncruz each donated $1,000 to Ney that day. Ney had been helpful to them the year before, when Abramoff and a partner, Adam Kidan, were embroiled in acrimonious efforts to buy Suncruz. In an unusual step, Ney criticized the cruise line’s owner, Gus Boulis, in statements placed in the March 30, 2000, Congressional Record, putting pressure on Boulis to sell; he then praised Kidan as Suncruz’s new owner when the sale went through. The following year, five weeks before the MCI Center fundraiser for Ney, Boulis was slain gangland style in a case that is under investigation.” [Washington Post, 12/26/04]
TIGUA CASINO — NEY PART OF ABRAMOFF, REED, SCANLON SCHEME TO CLOSE TIGUA CASINO: Abramoff, Scanlon, and Reed (”an avowed foe of gambling”) secretly helped then Texas Attorney General Cornyn shut down the Tigua tribe’s Texas casino. They then exploited “the financial crisis they were helping to create for the tribe” by convincing the Tiguas to pay Abramoff $4.2 million (and $300,000 they doled out in political contributions to Abramoff allies) to get Congress to reopen the casino. Abramoff’s plan was simple: “He would have one or more representatives or senators slip into a conference report very discrete language allowing the Tigua to reopen their casino. After passage of such an amendment, Michael Scanlon and his company would then run a public relations campaign to beat back any attempts to repeal the language.” On March 20, Abramoff reported to Scanlon that Ney would be that representative: “Just met with Ney!!! We’re f’ing gold!!!! He’s going to do Tigua.” [Washington Post, 9/26/04; The Hill, 11/18/04]
TRIP (SCOTLAND, 2002) — SAFAVIAN, NEY, AND REED ACCEPTED ABRAMOFF TRIP TO SCOTLAND: “Travel was another major foundation [Capital Athletic Foundation] expense, totaling $240,416 in 2001 and 2002, records show. More than half of that was spent in August 2002 on the chartered jet that flew at least six people — including Abramoff, House Administration Committee Chairman Robert W. Ney (R-Ohio), lobbyist and former Christian Coalition leader Ralph Reed, and then-General Services Administration chief of staff David Safavian — to St. Andrews, Scotland, with a stopover in London on the way back. … Noam Neusner, a spokesman for Safavian — who has been nominated for a senior position at the Office of Management and Budget — said the trip was ‘primarily for golfing.’” [Washington Post, 9/28/04]
Rep. Richard Pombo (R-CA)
House Resources Chairman
CONTRIBUTIONS — POMBO RECEIVED MORE THAN $35,000 FROM ABRAMOFF AND HIS CLIENTS: “Pombo has received more than $35,000 in contributions from Abramoff and Indian tribes he represented.” He has given away more $7 he received from Abramoff. [The Hill, 12/15/05; AP, 1/13/06]
FAVORS — POMBO REFUSED TO INVESTIGATE ABRAMOFF: Rep. George Miller (D-CA), a member of the Resources committee that has sole jurisidiction over the Marianas, has continually petitioned Pombo for an investigation into Abramoff’s dealings there, to no avail. [The Hill, 12/15/05]
MASHPEE — POMBO PASSED A BILL HELPING ABRAMOFF CLIENT, RECEIVED MONEY IN RETURN: In 2004, Pombo ushered a bill through his committee helping the Mashpee Wampanoag Indians tribe — an Abramoff client — gain federal recognition and special benefits, which was approved in Sept. 2004. “Members of the tribe, the Mashpee Wampanoag Indians, have donated at least $20,000 to Pombo’s political group since he was named Committee on Resources Chairman on Jan. 8, 2003. Tribe members gave an additional $12,000 to his re-election campaign earlier this year. The first Mashpee donation - $12,000 from six members of the tribe to Pombo’s leadership political action committee, Rich PAC - came Sept. 29, 2003. That same day, Abramoff gave $5,000 to the fund. Abramoff also gave $2,000 to Pombo’s re-election campaign days after he was named resources committee chairman.” [Lodi News Sentinel, 12/5/05]
Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX)
CONTRIBUTIONS — SESSIONS RECEIVED $22,500 FROM ABRAMOFF, HIS PARTNERS, AND HIS CLIENTS: “The lawmaker received about $22,500 from Abramoff, his lobbying partners and tribal clients between 2001 and 2004, including roughly $7,500 in the period around which the February 27, 2002, letter was sent. Rep. Sessions also used Abramoff’s restaurant, Signatures, for a fund-raiser or other event, records show.” [AP, 11/17/05]
COUSHATTA CAMPAIGN — SESSIONS RECEIVED OVER $5,500 FROM ABRAMOFF AND HIS CLIENTS: 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 February 27, 2002, “27 lawmakers told Norton she should reject the Jena casino because gambling was a societal blight.” Sessions “received four donations totaling $5,500 from casino-operating tribes represented by Abramoff exactly one month and a day after he signed the Feb. 27, 2002, group letter.” [Washington Post, 9/28/04; AP, 11/17/05]
Sen. David Vitter (R-LA)
FAVORS — VITTER RECEIVED $6,000 FROM ABRAMOFF CLIENTS: “Vitter received $6,000 from Abramoff tribes from 1999 to 2001 and refunded it the day before he sent one of his letters to Norton in February 2002. He also used Abramoff’s restaurant for a September 2003 fund-raiser but failed to reimburse for it until this year.” [AP, 11/17/05]
COUSHATTA CAMPAIGN — VITTER INSERTED LANGUAGE INTO BILL HELPING ABRAMOFF CLIENT, AFTER ABRAMOFF HOSTED FUNDRAISER FOR HIM: 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.” Vitter “inserted language in the fiscal 2004 Interior appropriations bill — completed late in 2003 — requesting that the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the National Indian Gaming Commission deny an application from the Jena Choctaw Tribe of Louisiana for land for a gambling casino.” To encourage him, Abramoff had hosted a September 2003 fundraiser at his restaurant, “just two months before Vitter inserted a provision in an Interior spending bill helping one of Abramoff’s tribal clients [the Coushattas].” [Washington Post, 9/28/04; Roll Call, 3/16/05]
Rep. Roger Wicker (R-MS)
COUSHATTA CAMPAIGN — WICKER LOBBIED ON BEHALF OF ABRAMOFF CLIENT: 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.” Wicker wrote Norton to “seriously urge” she reject the Jena casino. He received $20,100 in Abramoff-related donations between 2001 and 2004. [Washington Post, 9/28/04; AP, 11/17/05; AP, 11/17/05]
Rep. Don Young (R-AK)
CONTRIBUTIONS – YOUNG RECEIVED $20,000 FROM ABROMOFF CLIENTS: Abromoff’s clients have contributed about $20,000 to Young’s Midnight Sun political action committee. [Anchorage Daily News, 2/19/05]
FAVORS — YOUNG SPONSORS BILL FAVORED BY ABROMOFF CLIENTS: “In 1997, Young sponsored a bill to hold a vote in Puerto Rico on statehood for the U.S. territory. Abramoff was a lobbyist for a group called Future of Puerto Rico that wanted the same thing.” [Anchorage Daily News, 2/19/05; Roll Call, 1/25/06]
FAVORS – YOUNG SIGNED A LETTER PUSHED BY ABROMOFF, COLLECTED CAMPAIGN CASH: “In 2002, Young and another congressman signed a letter requesting that the administration favor minority and disadvantaged bidders for the redevelopment of a historic Washington, D.C. post office. At the time Abramoff’s clients –- The Mississippi Choctaw and California Aqua Caliente — “wanted the same rules applied to the project, and [Abramoff] was seeking congressional signatures on a letter to that effect.” Young’s Midnight Sun PAC received $7,000 from the tribes on Oct. 17, 2002, just five weeks after signing the letter. [Anchorage Daily News, 2/19/05; Roll Call, 1/25/06]
GIFTS – YOUNG FAILED TO REPORT USE OF ABROMOFF SKYBOXES: “Young also used Abramoff’s skybox at the MCI Center in D.C. for two fundraisers, events he did not report to the Federal Election Commission until after the Abramoff scandal broke.” [Roll Call, 1/25/06]
MARIANA ISLANDS – YOUNG BLOCKED BILL, FAVOR TO ABRAMOFF CLIENTS: Following a trip to Mariana Islands in 2000, Young “blocked a bill sponsored by House Democrats that would have made the garment industry there comply with federal labor laws” – an action that was favored by the Abromoff-represented local government and garment industry. [Anchorage Daily News, 2/19/05]
MARSHALL ISLANDS – YOUNG LED CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATION TO ISLANDS AT BEHEST OF ABROMOFF: In 1999, Young led a congressional delegation to the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). Abromoff’s firm claims that it was responsible for “organizing a visit by a congressional delegation led by Representative Don Young (R-AK) to the RMI … and coordinating the delegation’s activities with the RMI military.” Abromoff represented the local government of the Marshalls at the time of the trip.
[Anchorage Daily News, 2/19/05] |
