| Topic: |
Politics > Politics-USA |
| User: |
"Harry Hope" |
| Date: |
28 Apr 2007 11:34:55 AM |
| Object: |
Republican convict Abramoff scandal spreads to Bush Justice Department |
From The Washington Post, 4/28/07:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/27/AR2007042702228.html?hpid=topnews
Ex-Justice Dept. Lawyer Under Scrutiny in Probe
Ties With Abramoff Associate in Question
By Susan Schmidt
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, April 28, 2007; Page A06
A federal task force investigating the activities of disgraced
lobbyist Jack Abramoff has in recent weeks been looking into whether
one of Abramoff's colleagues improperly traded favors with a Justice
Department lawyer, sources familiar with the Abramoff investigation
said yesterday.
The lawyer, Robert E. Coughlin II, resigned on April 6 as deputy chief
of staff in the Criminal Division, citing personal reasons, a
department spokesman said.
"Bob gave a personal reason for his resignation," said spokesman Bryan
Sierra. He stressed that Coughlin "had no involvement" in the
department's investigation of Abramoff.
Coughlin had worked in the criminal division since 2005 but was
recused from the Abramoff inquiry because of a longtime personal
friendship with Kevin A. Ring, one of Abramoff's lobbying colleagues
whose actions are under investigation, a law enforcement source said.
Investigators are looking into dealings between the two in 2001 and
2002, when Coughlin worked in the Justice Department's Office of
Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs, the sources said.
Coughlin and Ring were friends on Capitol Hill in the 1990s when both
worked as staffers to then-Sen. John D. Ashcroft (R-Mo.), who became
attorney general in 2001.
Coughlin's resignation and the surfacing of his name in the Abramoff
investigation were first reported yesterday by McClatchy Newspapers.
Investigators came across Coughlin's name while looking into whether
Ring improperly sought or received favors for lobbying clients from
people in government, the sources told The Washington Post.
Ring took Coughlin to sporting events with tickets provided by his
lobbying firm, according to sources familiar with the inquiry.
The task force has tracked millions of dollars in meals, trips,
tickets, gifts and campaign contributions that the Abramoff lobbying
team lavished on lawmakers and staffers.
The investigation has so far resulted in 11 convictions and guilty
pleas from lobbyists, staffers, two administration officials and a
congressman.
An attorney for Ring could not be reached for comment.
Coughlin did not answer calls to his home yesterday, and a lawyer who
is serving as his spokesman did not return phone calls seeking
comment.
Coughlin is the second Justice Department official whose name has
surfaced in the wide-ranging Abramoff investigation.
Earlier this year, Sue Ellen Wooldridge, deputy assistant attorney
general for environment and natural resources, abruptly resigned when
her boyfriend -- now her husband -- was notified that he was a
criminal target.
J. Steven Griles, former deputy secretary of the Interior Department,
has since pleaded guilty to lying to Congress about Abramoff.
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Lots more where that came from.
Harry
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