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Trip To "Gentleman's Club" Leads To Guilty Plea For Married Abramoff Crony
The wide-ranging probe into the activities of disgraced GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff has netted another conviction.
Trevor Blackann, a former aide to two Missouri Republicans, Rep. Roy Blunt and Sen. Kit Bond, pleaded guilty today to making false statements on his tax returns, concealing thousands of dollars in illegal gifts he received from Team Abramoff, reports The Hill.
What were those gifts? Only a free trip to Game 1 of the 2003 World Series in New York, a junket that included:
- airline travel to and from New York City.
- a ticket to the game.
- admission to, and entertainment at, a "gentleman's club" for the married aide.
- one-night accommodations in an "upscale" hotel.
- transportation in a chauffeured SUV.
- a souvenir baseball jersey.
- free meals and drinks.
All in all, not a bad haul.
In return, court filings allege, Blackann got Bond to write a letter of support for someone who wanted a political appointment to the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
According to the Associated Press, Blackann said in court documents Blackann that he knew "the lobbyists gave these things of value for or because of official actions they were seeking from him or had obtained from him."
Abramoff has been cooperating with prosecutors as they build cases against others in his circle.
Josh
Zachary
FYI, Trevor's wife was Rep. Doolittle's spokesperson during the 2006 race. I am unclear if she still works for him and when exactly she started. She used to work for Tom DeLay.
November 20, 2008 5:30 PM | Reply | Permalink
Where's the rest of it? Who's appointment to Indian Affairs?
Abramoff wanted someone appointed to Indian Affairs badly enough to bribe for it and nobody cares who that someone was?
Are our journalists still in Bush mode? No who, what, when, where, why? Just let the reader make up a guess answer on his own.
November 20, 2008 5:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
The story is based on court documents, including statements by the defendant -- which not only don't name the appointee, they don't name the two lobbyists who did the actual bribing.
The prosecutors aren't divulging any further information, but there's a reason for that.
Like Abramoff himself, Trevor Blackann's plea deal clearly involves his co-operation with investigators.
We'll no doubt learn the names of the appointee and the lobbyists when they too face charges.
Meanwhile, journalists can't report what they don't yet know. Cut them a bit of slack.
November 20, 2008 6:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm merely trying to protect their hands from arthritis since they've enjoyed eight long years of slack.
The AP is headed towards finger amputation.
Here's an RX:
www.firedupmissouri.com/club_abramoff
November 21, 2008 9:10 AM | Reply | Permalink