| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"Enkidu the Atheist" |
| Date: |
26 Nov 2005 05:47:35 PM |
| Object: |
Investigation of lobbyist intensifies, shifts to Congress |
Investigation of lobbyist intensifies, shifts to Congress
- Susan Schmidt, James V. Grimaldi, Washington Post
Saturday, November 26, 2005
Washington -- The Justice Department's wide-ranging investigation of
former lobbyist Jack Abramoff has entered a highly active phase as
prosecutors are beginning to move on evidence pointing to possible
corruption in Congress and executive branch agencies, lawyers involved in
the case said.
Prosecutors have already told one lawmaker, Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, and his
former chief of staff that they are preparing a possible bribery case
against them, according to two sources knowledgeable about the matter who
spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The 35 to 40 investigators and prosecutors on the Abramoff case are
focused on at least half a dozen members of Congress, said lawyers and
others close to the probe. The investigators are looking at payments made
by Abramoff and his colleagues to the wives of some lawmakers and at
actions taken by senior Hill aides, some of whom went to work for
Abramoff at law firm Greenberg Traurig LLP, said lawyers and others
familiar with the probe.
Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, now facing separate
campaign finance charges in his home state, is one of the members under
scrutiny, the sources said. Others include Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont.,
Rep. John Doolittle, R-Rocklin (Placer County), and several other members
of Congress involved with Indian affairs, one of Abramoff's key areas of
interest.
Prosecutions and plea deals have become more likely, the lawyers said,
now that Abramoff's former partner -- public relations executive Michael
Scanlon -- has agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy and to testify about
gifts that he and his K Street colleagues showered on lawmakers,
allegedly in exchange for official favors.
An attorney for DeLay, whose wife worked for a lobbying firm that
received client referrals from Abramoff, said there was no connection
between her work and congressional business. A spokesman for Doolittle,
whose wife received payments from Abramoff's lobbying firm, also said
there was no connection with her husband's position. Burns' office has
said his actions were consistent with his support for improving
conditions for Indian tribes.
Ney is the congressman whose name has surfaced most prominently in the
Abramoff investigation. His spokesman and attorney have said for weeks
that Ney has not been told he is a target of the inquiry, even while
acknowledging that his office has received a grand jury subpoena and that
his activities were mentioned in Scanlon's plea agreement.
However, the sources said that during the third week of October
prosecutors told Ney and his former chief of staff, Neil Volz, that they
were preparing a bribery case based in part on activities that occurred
in October 2000. Abramoff and another business partner, Adam Kidan, were
also told that they are targets in that case, the sources said.
The events in 2000 that interest investigators are connected to the
purchase by Abramoff and Kidan of SunCruz Casinos, owner of a fleet of
Florida gambling boats. Ney twice placed comments in the Congressional
Record about SunCruz, first criticizing its former owner when Abramoff
and Kidan were in difficult purchase negotiations, then, in October,
praising Kidan's new management. Abramoff and Kidan are facing trial in
January on charges they defrauded lenders in their purchase of the casino
boats.
A 2001 Super Bowl trip sponsored by SunCruz is also under review. The
Washington Post reported earlier this year that aides to Burns and DeLay
were ferried to Tampa, Fla., on a SunCruz corporate jet arranged by
Abramoff. Ney and his sons were invited to the 2001 Super Bowl outing,
former Abramoff associates said, but did not go.
The Hill aides were treated to the game and a night of gambling on a Sun
Cruz ship. They were offered $500 in gambling chips, sources
knowledgeable about the trip said.
The Post has reported that Burns, who received $137,000 in contributions
from Abramoff lobbyists and their tribal clients, obtained a
controversial $3 million school construction grant for one of Abramoff's
wealthy tribal clients after pressuring the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Investigators are also gathering information about Abramoff's hiring of
several congressional wives, sources said, as well as his referral of
clients to Alexander Strategy Group, a lobbying and consulting firm run
by former senior aides to DeLay. Financial disclosure forms show that the
firm employed DeLay's wife, Christine.
Former Abramoff lobbying associates have said that Abramoff shared some
of his high-paying clients with the group, including Malaysian interests,
the Mississippi Choctaw Indian tribe and online gambling firms. Federal
investigators have questioned some former Abramoff associates about
whether those referrals were related to Christine DeLay's employment
there, sources said.
Alexander Strategy Group is run by former DeLay senior staffers Edwin
Buckham and Tony Rudy. Rudy served as DeLay's deputy chief of staff until
2001, when he took a job with Abramoff, and later moved on to join
Buckham.
Investigators are looking into whether Rudy aided Abramoff's lobbying
clients while he was working on the Hill, the sources said, and are
reviewing payments from Abramoff clients and associates to Liberty
Consulting, a political firm founded by Rudy's wife, Lisa. The Post
reported last month that Rudy, while on DeLay's staff, helped scuttle a
bill opposed by eLottery Inc., an Abramoff client, and that Abramoff had
eLottery pay a foundation to hire Liberty Consulting.
Abramoff's connections to Doolittle are also of interest to
investigators, sources said. Doolittle's former chief of staff, Kevin
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.
The Justice Department investigation is also looking into Abramoff's
influence among executive branch officials. Sources said prosecutors are
continuing to seek information about Abramoff's dealings with then-Deputy
Interior Secretary J. Steven Griles, including a job offer from the
lobbyist at a time when he was seeking department actions on behalf of
his tribal clients.
The former top procurement official in the Bush administration, David
Safavian, has already been charged with lying and obstruction of justice
in connection with the Abramoff investigation.
--
Enkidu AA#2165
http://www.musings.leaddogs.org/
EAC Chaplain and ordained minister,
ULC, Modesto, CA
PGP ID: 0xC4CE8CF0
If Christ were here there is one thing he would not be -- a Christian.
-- Mark Twain
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| User: "Ike" |
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| Title: Re: Investigation of lobbyist intensifies, shifts to Congress |
27 Nov 2005 05:45:19 AM |
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"Enkidu the Atheist" <enkidu@leaddogs.org> wrote in message
news:Xns971AA0BB867CF255229@130.133.1.4...
Investigation of lobbyist intensifies, shifts to Congress
- Susan Schmidt, James V. Grimaldi, Washington Post
Saturday, November 26, 2005
Washington -- The Justice Department's wide-ranging investigation of
former lobbyist Jack Abramoff has entered a highly active phase as
prosecutors are beginning to move on evidence pointing to possible
corruption in Congress and executive branch agencies, lawyers involved in
the case said.
Prosecutors have already told one lawmaker, Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, and his
former chief of staff that they are preparing a possible bribery case
against them, according to two sources knowledgeable about the matter who
spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The 35 to 40 investigators and prosecutors on the Abramoff case are
focused on at least half a dozen members of Congress, said lawyers and
others close to the probe. The investigators are looking at payments made
by Abramoff and his colleagues to the wives of some lawmakers and at
actions taken by senior Hill aides, some of whom went to work for
Abramoff at law firm Greenberg Traurig LLP, said lawyers and others
familiar with the probe.
Wait a minute.. a crazy Jew gave mone to their WIVES?
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