Jack Abramoff

NJ: Prosecutors Looking at Ex-GOP Rep

Paul Kiel | April 27, 2007, 1:43PM

The Jack Abramoff investigation continues to burst with renewed vigor. Now, it's ex-Rep. J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ) -- who was defeated back in November due in large part to his ties to Abramoff -- who might be in trouble.

In the current issue of the National Journal (not available online), Peter Stone reports that "two sources say that the Justice Department is making new inquiries into Hayworth’s past links to Abramoff."

Put Hayworth together with Reps. John Doolittle (R-CA) and Tom Feeney (R-FL), ex-Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT), and ex-Rep. Tom Delay (R-TX), and you have five current and former members of Congress who are reportedly under scrutiny by investigators.

Jack Abramoff

Paper: Investigators Bear Down on Former DeLay Aide

Paul Kiel | April 25, 2007, 2:49PM

The Jack Abramoff investigation has certainly come roaring out of its hibernation.

Next on the list, apparently, is Tom DeLay's former right-hand man, Ed Buckham. From The Houston Chronicle:

...prosecutors could decide within weeks whether to bring charges against former DeLay staff chief Edwin Buckham, according to sources close to the investigation who spoke on the condition that they not be identified. The decision should give a clear signal on whether DeLay remains in legal jeopardy, the sources said.

As we've noted before, Buckham was the main cog in DeLay's operation and a close associate of Abramoff.

And he also -- to further burnish his status as a distinguished muckrakee -- acted as the lobbyist for Brent Wilkes, the defense contractor who was recently indicted for bribing Duke Cunningham and CIA #3 Dusty Foggo.

Jack Abramoff

Feeney: Jack Who?

Paul Kiel | April 25, 2007, 9:21AM

Congrats to Rep. Tom Feeney (R-FL) for issuing the boldest denial of the Jack Abramoff scandal.

A lot of lawmakers have said they never met Abramoff, or they never met him in their office, or when they met him, they didn't like him, or they wouldn't recognize him if they saw him, etc. But Feeney has gone above and beyond:

Rep. Tom Feeney (R-Fla.) says he is not worried that the Justice Department is looking into his ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, and is voluntarily cooperating with the investigation....

...Feeney denied having any kind of relationship with Abramoff.

“There’s no relationship,” he said flatly.

Feeney, remember, was one of seven people Abramoff took on a golf junket to Scotland in 2003. He flew over on a private jet. He played golf with Abramoff twice a day there.

Now, even though a sham charity covered the cost of Feeney's trip, Abramoff was not someone who, when it came to lawmakers, was interested in charity. Consider some of the others who joined Abramoff on his junkets: ex-Rep. Bob Ney (jail), Mark Zachares (pled guilty), Neil Volz (pled guilty), David Safavian (convicted), ex-Rep. Tom DeLay (under investigation), etc., etc.

Feeney, no doubt, was not an exception. Here's McClatchy on Abramoff's strenuous efforts to cooperate with prosecutors:

"He's talking so much he doesn't have time to eat," one lawyer involved in the matter quipped, insisting upon anonymity because the investigation is ongoing. "Everybody who had business dealings with the guy should be nervous."...

Feeney is among those who might be nervous over the ex-lobbyist's chatter, said the knowledgeable lawyer.

Jack Abramoff

Former Aide to GOP Rep To Plead Guilty

Paul Kiel | April 23, 2007, 4:09PM

Yet another shoe drops in the Jack Abramoff investigation. A former aide to Rep. Don Young (R-AK), Mark Zachares, looks set to plead guilty to corruption charges.

The Justice Department filed a criminal information today on Zachares, laying out the facts to which he'll be pleading guilty. You can read it here. A plea hearing has been scheduled for tomorrow.

According to the document, Zachares and Abramoff had what they called their "two year plan": Zacheres would work for Abramoff on the inside, taking advantage of his congressional position to throw business Abramoff's way, and eventually, when Zachares left Congress, Abramoff would reward him. As the information reads: Abramoff "would 'credit' Zachares with the 'business' Zachares... referred or developed for Abramoff's firm, and would ultimately employ Zachares as a lobbyist credited 'with business,' warranting a high annual salary."

In addition to the usual stream of junkets, meals, and sports tickets, Abramoff also funneled $10,000 to Zachares through one of his phony charities. In return, Zachares referred clients and provided a number of favors for Abramoff's various clients.

The document does not implicate Rep. Young, but it does mention that in 2002, Abramoff "assisted Zachares in obtaining his position as a staffer on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee," which Young chaired. And Young has come up often in the course of the Abramoff scandal.

My call to Young's office was not immediately returned.

Update: Some background on Zachares, courtesy of The Washington Post last year below.

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Conrad Burns

Burns Legal Fees Near $300,000

Paul Kiel | April 18, 2007, 5:15PM

Since we're on the subject of the Jack Abramoff investigation...

Conrad Burns, the senator from Montana who narrowly lost re-election last November due in large part to his association with Abramoff, continues to spend big money on his lawyer.

According to his recently filed campaign disclosure report, Burns paid more than $160,000 in legal fees to the law firm Powell Goldstein between January and March of this year. That means Burns' campaign has doled out more than $264,000 since he hired Ralph Caccia of that firm last April.

Burns is one of four lawmakers consistently reported to be in the sights of investigators. The other three are: ex-Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH), who's in jail; Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA), whose home was searched by the FBI last week, and ex-Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX).

Burns went to work as a lobbyist earlier this year.

Jack Abramoff

Former Doolittle Aide Resigns from Lobby Firm

Paul Kiel | April 16, 2007, 2:51PM

It's a bad, bad sign when a subject of the Jack Abramoff investigation suddenly and without explanation resigns from his job. And that's what Kevin Ring did Friday, according to The Politico.

Ring, who worked as a lobbyist with Abramoff from 2000 until Abramoff was forced to close up shop in 2004, has come up again and again over the course of the Abramoff investigation. But he had a singular and important role in Abramoff's organization -- he was Abramoff's access to Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA), for whom Ring had been a senior staffer. Whenever Abramoff wanted Doolittle's help with anything -- and that happened often --, Ring was the man.

But Abramoff, being Abramoff, didn't expect help for nothing. And so it was Ring who served as the intermediary when Abramoff hired Doolittle's wife for consulting work, an arrangement that lasted for approximately two years. The payments suspiciously align with actions Doolittle took on behalf of Abramoff's clients.

Doolittle has been in investigators' sights since 2005. But it looks like they're finally closing in -- because if anyone could deliver Doolittle, it would be Ring.

As The Politico notes, Ring seems poised to follow the path of other aides who've pled guilty in the Abramoff scandal -- pleading guilty to lesser charges in return for delivering their former bosses to investigators. Ex-Rep. Bob Ney's (R-OH) former chief of staff Neil Volz, who also worked with Ring with Abramoff and then later at Barnes & Thornburg, resigned abruptly from that firm in January last year. He pled guilty to corruption charges in May, agreeing to cooperate and implicating Ney.

Jack Abramoff

Paper: Conservative Think Tanker Is Investigation Target

Paul Kiel | April 3, 2007, 9:34AM

And another one of Gale Norton's former colleagues falls. This time, it's Italia Federici, the founder of a conservative environmental group that served as Jack Abramoff's gateway to the Interior Department.

Legal Times reports that Federici received a target letter from investigators in January. Target letters are frequently a warning of an indictment.

Federici's ex-boyfriend, Steven Griles, formerly the #2 at the Interior Department, also received a target letter in January. And he pled guilty last month to lying to Congressional investigators about his relationship with Federici and Abramoff.

Federici ran a nonprofit called the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy (CREA), a conservative think tank, which she founded with Gale Norton, who became Bush's Secretary of the Interior. As a result, Federici was well connected in the Interior Department. So she and Abramoff had a deal. Abramoff's clients pumped $500,000 into her organization; in return, she ensured that people inside the department knew about his tribal clients' needs.

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