From The Houston Chronicle, 4/25/07:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/politics/4746052.html
DeLay associate tied to Abramoff probe
Investigation widens to include the lawmaker's former staff chief
By MICHAEL HEDGES
Lawmakers, lobbyists, Bush administration officials, congressional
staffers and businessmen caught up in the Jack Abramoff public
corruption probe:
Mark Zachares — Former aide to Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska pleaded guilty
to conspiracy.
He acknowledged accepting tens of thousands of dollars worth of gifts
and a golf trip to Scotland from Abramoff's team in exchange for
official acts on the lobbyist's behalf.
Former Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio — Sentenced in January to 2 1/2 years in
prison, acknowledged taking bribes from Abramoff.
Ney was in the traveling party on the Abramoff-sponsored golfing trip
to Scotland at the heart of the case against former White House
official David Safavian.
Former Deputy Interior Secretary Steven Griles — The highest-ranking
Bush administration official convicted in the scandal, pleaded guilty
to obstructing justice.
He admitted lying to a Senate committee about his relationship with
Abramoff, who repeatedly sought Griles' intervention at Interior on
behalf of Indian tribal clients.
Abramoff — He is serving six years in prison on a criminal case out of
Florida, where he pleaded guilty in January 2006 to charges of
conspiracy, honest services fraud and tax evasion.
He has not yet been sentenced on charges of mail fraud, conspiracy and
tax evasion stemming from the influence-peddling scandal in
Washington.
Abramoff is cooperating in a bribery investigation involving
lawmakers, their aides and members of the Bush administration.
Tony Rudy — Lobbyist and one-time aide to former House Majority Leader
Tom DeLay, R-Texas, pleaded guilty in March 2006 to conspiring with
Abramoff.
He is cooperating with investigators.
Former White House official David Safavian — The Bush administration's
former top procurement official, was sentenced to 18 months in prison
in October 2006 after he was found guilty of covering up his dealings
with Abramoff.
Safavian is appealing his conviction.
Michael Scanlon — A former Abramoff business partner and DeLay aide,
pleaded guilty in November 2005 to conspiring to bribe public
officials in connection with his lobbying work on behalf of Indian
tribes and casino issues. He is cooperating with investigators.
William Heaton — Former chief of staff for Ney, pleaded guilty to a
federal conspiracy charge involving a golf trip to Scotland, expensive
meals, and tickets to sporting events between 2002 and 2004 as payoffs
for helping Abramoff's clients.
Neil Volz — A former chief of staff to Ney who left government to work
for Abramoff, pleaded guilty in May 2006 to conspiring to corrupt Ney
and others with trips and other aid.
Roger Stillwell — A former Interior Department official, was sentenced
to two years on probation in January after pleading guilty to a
misdemeanor charge for not reporting hundreds of dollars worth of
sports and concert tickets he received from Abramoff.
Adam Kidan — Former Abramoff business partner sentenced in Florida in
March 2006 to nearly six years in prison for conspiracy and fraud in
the 2000 purchase of the Fort Lauderdale-based SunCruz Casinos
gambling fleet.
Associated Press
WASHINGTON —
The federal probe into corruption related to disgraced lobbyist Jack
Abramoff could be inching closer to former U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay of
Sugar Land as investigators focus on a former DeLay chief of staff who
later employed the Republican leader's wife.
DeLay has not been charged with any crime in the Abramoff case.
And his lawyer, Richard Cullen, said federal investigators have given
DeLay no indication that he is a target of the ongoing grand jury
probe, such as subpoenaing documents.
But prosecutors could decide within weeks whether to bring charges
against former DeLay staff chief Edwin Buckham, according to sources
close to the investigation who spoke on the condition that they not be
identified.
The decision should give a clear signal on whether DeLay remains in
legal jeopardy, the sources said.
In recent days federal prosecutors have served notice that their
sprawling Abramoff case has remained very much alive.
On Tuesday a former aide to Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, pleaded guilty
to accepting tens of thousands of dollars in gifts from Abramoff —
including a golf junket to Scotland — in exchange for giving the
lobbyist illegal help.
Mark Zachares accepted more than $30,000 in sports tickets from
Abramoff, including $10,000 through a nonprofit foundation Abramoff
controlled.
Zachares is the 11th person convicted in the scandal.
Last week, FBI agents raided the northern Virginia home of Rep. John
Doolittle, R-Calif., as part of an inquiry into whether Doolittle
performed improper favors for Abramoff in exchange for money funneled
through the lawmaker's wife, Julie.
Doolittle has denied wrongdoing and has stepped down from a key House
committee assignment.
Some similarities
The Zachares and Doolittle cases have no direct involvement with DeLay
but they echo connections between the ex-House majority leader and
Abramoff, who is in prison after pleading guilty to corruption
charges.
Like Zachares, DeLay took a golfing trip to Scotland.
Although lobbyists cannot fund such trips, the 2000 excursion was
indirectly funded by Indian gaming clients of Abramoff.
DeLay's airfare was charged to an American Express card issued to
Abramoff.
DeLay has said he believed the trip was properly paid for by a
nonprofit public interest group.
And like Doolittle's wife, DeLay's wife, Christine, received payments
from lobbyists that are now being scrutinized by investigators to
determine whether they were part of an improper granting of favors.
Investigators have looked closely at the $115,000 that Buckham's
lobbying firm, Alexander Strategy Group, paid Christine DeLay at a
rate of $3,200 a month beginning in 1998, soon after Buckham left his
job as DeLay's chief of staff.
A nonprofit company set up by Buckham, the U.S. Family Network,
received a major part of its funding from companies with ties to
Abramoff.
Then, the nonprofit paid Buckham and his lobbying firm hundreds of
thousands of dollars in fees.
Buckham's attorney did not return calls and e-mails seeking comment.
The payments to Christine DeLay resembled, at least superficially,
those Abramoff's former lobbying firm gave to Julie Doolittle's
company, Sierra Dominion Financial Solutions Inc., between September
2002 and February 2004.
Cullen has said the money for Christine DeLay was a legitimate payment
from the lobbying firm for work she did to compile a list of charities
in House members' districts.
And Cullen noted that there had been no allegation of any improper
favor done by DeLay for Abramoff — which would be a key part of
charging him with abusing his office.
"Mr. DeLay is eager for the investigation to run its course," Cullen
said Tuesday.
"He has been fully cooperative and he remains at peace — confident
that he has done nothing wrong."
Deals for testimony
Several former DeLay associates have been helping federal law
enforcement agents as they continue their investigation of Buckham and
others.
That includes Abramoff himself, as part of a plea deal with the
Justice Department in January 2006 in which he admitted to charges of
conspiracy and mail fraud.
Also taking deals for testimony were former DeLay staff members Tony
Rudy and Michael Scanlon, both of whom had close ties to Abramoff.
Scanlon left DeLay's staff to open a public relations firm, and with
Abramoff concocted a scheme to swindle Indian tribes interesting in
lobbying Congress for gaming rights out of tens of millions of
dollars.
Then, just three days before DeLay bowed out of his House race last
year, Rudy pleaded guilty to bribing public officials, including
former Ohio GOP Rep. Bob Ney.
Rudy did not implicate DeLay in court documents released in his plea
agreement but indicated cooperation to come, noting, "(The plea
bargain) does not include all of the facts known to me ... concerning
criminal activity in which I or others engaged."
Court papers in Rudy's guilty plea stated that Rudy, while working for
DeLay, arranged for the congressman to sign a letter opposing a
postal-rate increase to aid an Abramoff client and helped kill an
anti-gambling bill opposed by another Abramoff client.
At the same time, Abramoff arranged for $86,000 in consulting payments
to be made to Rudy's wife, Lisa, according to the documents.
Cullen has said that DeLay had no knowledge of improper dealings by
Rudy.
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Hail, hail, the gang's all here.
Harry
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