Jack Abramoff

House Dems Want Former Abramoff, Rove Aide for Questions

Paul Kiel | March 30, 2007, 3:57PM

Much to the chagrin of the White House, House Government Reform Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) wants to hear from Susan Ralston.

Jack Abramoff's former personal assistant, Ralston became Karl Rove's assistant in 2001, where she was his "implant" at the White House.

But after a report last October by Waxman's committee (then chaired by Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA)) showed that Ralston had accepted thousands of dollars in gifts from Abramoff without compensating him, she abruptly resigned.

At the time, the White House was clear that Ralston's resignation meant the end of the issue. "She recognized that a protracted discussion of these matterrs would be a distraction to the White House and she's chosen to step down," said deputy White House press secretary Dana Perino. "We support her decision and consider the matter closed."

But it's not closed, according to Waxman, who, in a letter sent today, invited Ralston to appear before the committee on Thursday, April 5, to answer questions about Abramoff's access to the White House.

The deposition* will also be a good opportunity for Waxman to press for more details about White House employees' use of outside email accounts provided by the Republican National Committee. Ralston used such outside accounts when corresponding with Abramoff, even writing to him once, “I now have an RNC blackberry which you can use to e-mail me at any time. No security issues like my WH email.”

*Update/Correction: Ralston will appear for a deposition, not an open hearing as this post originally stated.

Jack Abramoff

Public Corruption and Matters of the Heart

Paul Kiel | March 23, 2007, 12:21PM

Boy, where Steven Griles' heart leads, trouble follows.

Here's a copy of the criminal information filed by prosecutors this morning; it lays out the facts to which Griles pled guilty this morning.

The filing reveals that Griles was romantically involved with Italia Federici (identified as Person A) from 1998 through 2003, and that it was that relationship which led to Jack Abramoff's access to Griles while he was deputy secretary of the Interior. It also says that Griles lied to the committee to cover all that up.

Here's how it worked. Federici runs a nonprofit called Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy (CREA), a conservative think tank. Since Federici was a former aide to then-Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton and was well connected in the Interior Department, Abramoff found her very useful. His clients pumped $500,00 into her organization; in return, she ensured that people inside the department knew about his clients' concerns. The person inside who was particularly helpful was Griles, the #2 there.

But Griles didn't want the Senate to know any of this. So he lied.

Read more »

Jack Abramoff

Former Admin Official to Plead Guilty in Abramoff Case

Paul Kiel | March 23, 2007, 8:58AM

From the AP:

Former Deputy Interior Secretary Steven Griles will plead guilty to one count of obstruction of justice in the Jack Abramoff corruption investigation, The Associated Press has learned.

Griles, an oil and gas lobbyist who became an architect of President Bush's energy policies while at the Interior Department between July 2001 and July 2005, is the highest ranking Bush administration official implicated in the Washington lobbying scandal.

The former No. 2 official at the Interior Department has agreed to a felony plea admitting that he lied five times to the Senate Indian Affairs Committee and its investigators about his relationship with Abramoff, people involved in the case told the AP....

And it sounds like a very good deal for Griles:

Prosecutors dropped earlier allegations that Griles did anything improper to help Abramoff or gained anything of value from the former Republican lobbyist, the AP was told. The agreement does not require Griles to help investigators with their grand jury probe....

In exchange for the plea, federal prosecutors will seek no more than a 10-month prison sentence for Griles — the minimum they could seek under sentencing guidelines — but they will agree to let him serve half that in home confinement, according to one person involved in the case.

More later. In the meantime, here's a post I wrote just after the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs released their report on Abramoff. It was immediately apparent that Griles had lied to investigators.

U.S. Attorneys

Watchdog Asks, What about Abramoff?

Paul Kiel | March 21, 2007, 12:00PM

As former U.S. Attorney Bud Cummins has written, "Once the public detects partisanship in one important decision, they will follow the natural inclination to question every decision made, whether there is a connection or not."

Today, the nonpartisan congressional watchdog Democracy 21 sent a letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and Deputy Attorney General Paul McNulty asking whether there had been political interference in the investigation and prosecution of Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

"Based on issues that have been raised in the firing of the eight U.S Attorneys , we're all in a position to want some assurance that there hasn't been political interference in the case," Fred Wertheimer, Democracy 21's president, told me. "This still remains the worse congressional corruption scandal in 30 years. There are lesser players who have been convicted. But there are still big players here, including sitting and former members of Congress whose cases apparently have not yet been resolved. "

Citing concerns about the slow pace of the investigation and high turnover of prosecutors and supervisors working on the case, Wertheimer also asks Gonzales what resources the Justice Department has committed to the investigation.

You can read the letter here.

Jack Abramoff

Abramoff: The Caged Bird Sings

Paul Kiel | March 1, 2007, 2:50PM

Even though he's in prison, Jack Abramoff will continue to cooperate with prosecutors for the forseeable future. A status conference originally scheduled for tomorrow, during which the judge would have set a date for Abramoff to be sentenced on bribery charges, has been postponed until June 5th. Abramoff is already serviing time for separate fraud charges related to his purchase of a line of casino boats.

The prosecutors and Abramoff's lawyer agreed to push the date back last week, because "Mr. Abramoff’s cooperation will continue for the foreseeable future," according to a joint motion from the two parties. Prosecutors made the same request for Michael Scanlon, Abramoff's business partner.

Abramoff and Scanlon have already helped prosecutors win guilty pleas or convictions for ex-Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH), Ney's former chiefs of staff Neil Volz and Will Heaton, ex-Majority Leader Tom DeLay's staffer Tony Rudy, and former administration official David Safavian, and prosecutors are reportedly close to indicting the former deputy secretary of the Interior Steven Griles.

DeLay, DeLay's former chief of staff Ed Buckham, Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) and former Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT) are reportedly on the shortlist of other potential targets.