From The Associated Press, 3/23/07:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20070323/griles-abramoff
Ex-Deputy Pleads Guilty in Abramoff Case
JOHN HEILPRIN | AP |
WASHINGTON —
Former Deputy Interior Secretary J. Steven Griles on Friday became the
highest-ranking Bush administration official convicted in the Jack
Abramoff influence-peddling scandal, pleading guilty to obstructing
justice by lying to a Senate committee.
The former No. 2 official in the Interior Department admitted in
federal court that he lied to investigators about his relationship
with convicted lobbyist Abramoff, who repeatedly sought Griles'
intervention at Interior on behalf of Indian tribal clients.
Griles, an oil and gas lobbyist who became an architect of President
Bush's energy policies, is the ninth person convicted in a continuing
Justice Department probe.
The government is still actively investigating other public officials
linked to Abramoff, said officials who spoke on condition of anonymity
because of the sensitivity of the issue.
Abramoff's ties to at least three other current or former Republican
lawmakers have come under scrutiny in the criminal probe: Rep. John
Doolittle of California, former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of
Texas and former Sen. Conrad Burns of Montana.
None of them has been charged; all have denied wrongdoing.
One former House member, Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, already is serving a
jail term on a guilty plea.
Griles pleaded guilty to a felony charge of obstruction, admitting in
a plea agreement that he lied in testimony before the Senate Indian
Affairs Committee on Nov. 2, 2005, and during an earlier deposition
with the panel's investigators on October 20, 2005.
"I am sorry for my wrongdoing. I fully accept the responsibility for
my conduct and the consequences it may have," he said in a statement.
"When a Senate committee asks questions, they must be answered fully
and completely and it is not my place to decide whether those
questions are relevant or too personal."
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Naughty, naughty Republicans
Harry
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