Reed Helped Abramoff Get Rove MeetingYet another addition to the Ralph Reed and Jack Abramoff chronicles, this one from The National Journal’s Peter Stone.
In this episode, the newly installed Bush administration was staffing the Department of Interior, and Jack really wanted to place his flunky high up. So he calls up Ralph, who’s close to the White House…
On January 11, 2001, Abramoff e-mailed Reed. “I was thinking about this appointment” to the Office of Insular Affairs at Interior, Abramoff wrote. “I know it is perhaps a bizarre request, but considering how quickly I was named to the transition advisory team thanks to your request, perhaps it would be possible to ask Karl [Rove, the president’s chief political adviser]… that they should appoint Mark Zachares to head the Office of Insular Affairs…. Do you think we could get this favor from Karl? It would be my big ask for sure.”Reed replied quickly: “It never hurts to ask. What’s the next move?” Later that day, Reed sounded even more eager. “Just let me know who to call, when to call, and what to say. And while you’re at it get me another client! NOW!”
On March 6, Abramoff met with Rove for about half an hour and pushed for Zachares, according to Abramoff’s former lobbying colleagues at the firm Greenberg Traurig and to Secret Service logs released earlier this year. But Rove didn’t come through, and Zachares didn’t get the job.
N.B. In a statement, continuing his streak of bold denials, Reed denies ever getting Abramoff this meeting.