Yesterday, Trevor Blackann, a former aide to Missouri Republicans Sen. Kit Bond and Rep. Roy Blunt, pleaded guilty to concealing thousands of dollars in illegal gifts he received from lobbyists who were part of Team Abramoff.
Exactly who were those lobbyists? Today, Rollcall fingers Todd Boulanger and James Hirni as the top suspects:
According to documents provided by the Justice Department, Blackann received the majority of gifts — valued at more than $3,100 — in 2003 from an individual identified only as “Lobbyist D,” a close Abramoff associate.But details provided about “Lobbyist D” match the career trajectory of Todd Boulanger, a former aide to then-Sen. Bob Smith (R-N.H.), who later worked for the firm Preston Gates and then Greenberg Traurig.
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Although unnamed, details about “Lobbyist E” match those of James Hirni, a former Senate aide who at one time worked for Greenberg Traurig with both “Lobbyist D” and Abramoff.
Boulanger has long been known as a key member of Team Abramoff. In 2006, TPMmuckraker published a 2002 email he sent to fellow lobbyists, asking them to contribute to the re-election camapign of Mississippi GOP senator Thad Cochran, whose office, wrote Boulanger, had “never said ‘no’” to the Choctaw Indians, a casino-owning Abramoff client.
Both Boulanger and Hirni are still in the lobbying game. Boulanger works for Cassidy and Associates, while Hirni is a “director of Republican outreach” for Wal-Mart, according to Roll Call. Neither returned the paper’s calls for comment.
Perhaps ominously for both, Blackann is said by his lawyer to be cooperating with prosecutors as they seek to build other cases.
As for Bond and Blunt themselves, the office of the former said yesterday he had “no knowledge” of Blackann’s ilegal activities. Blunt’s office has not yet commented publicly on the matter.