As Josh noted over at TPM, Gale Norton has resigned her post as head up the Department of the Interior. Before he fell from grace, Jack Abramoff worked to influence Norton by funneling half a million dollars from his clients into a group Norton co-founded called Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy. Abramoff called CREA “our access to Norton.”
Norton has said she cannot recall “any particular influence” Abramoff had on decisionmaking at Interior.