John Doolittle

"Good Soldier" Doolittle Prominent in Indictment of Abramoff Ally

Kate Klonick | September 9, 2008, 1:00PM

The long awaited indictment yesterday of Jack Abramoff associate Kevin Ring contains over 100 mentions of a not-so-mysterious "Representative 5," California Republican Congressman John Doolittle, a long-known crony of Abramoff.

The indictment adds additional information to Doolittle's already thick record with Abramoff. According to the indictment, Ring expensed at least one suite for a sports event, eight concert tickets (including tickets for Dixie Chicks and Faith Hill), and five meals totaling more than $2000 for Doolittle. For Doolittle's staff and his legislative director in particular, Ring bought 29 sports tickets, four concert tickets, nine meals, and one gift from Macy's.

But Ring and Abramoff were well accommodated in return. As the indictment describes, Doolittle proved himself "a good soldier" by chairing a hearing on the Puerto Rico statehood issue for an Abramoff client and held up his opposition to an anti-gambling bill among other favors.

And Doolittle's staff was just as helpful. Doolittle's communications director helped Ring out with tax legislation to "earn [his] Sigs Sushi ;)," and his legislative director was so "tenacious on the appropriations front" that he earned an esteemed compliment from Ring in an email: "You the man."

It's been awhile since Doolittle and his wife Julie have come up, but page after page of gifts and favors in the indictment bring the happy couple back into the muck spotlight.

Julie Doolittle's involvement began when her business records were subpoenaed in 2004 after her "consulting company," Sierra Dominion, was hired by Abramoff. A few years later, in 2007, the FBI raided the Doolittle's home for additional evidence related to their investigation of Abramoff. The same day the raid occurred -- man of the hour, Kevin Ring, a Doolittle staffer prior to his work at Abramoff's Greenberg Taurig -- resigned from his subsequent job at a different lobbying firm.

Meanwhile, Doolittle was having his own problems. After the FBI raid became public, six of his aides were contacted by the feds and others testified before the grand jury related to the investigation.

Together, John paid Julie 15% of the takings from his PAC -- "payment" for money she reportedly raised herself. He also arranged for her hiring by Abramoff, requesting that she be given work, but not "too much," according to an email obtained in Ring's indictment. "Since she has responsibilities at home as a mother and wife." According to the indictment, Abramoff obliged giving Julie a $5000 a month job, as an events planner. As it turned out, all the events that she planned were canceled - but that didn't stop her from getting paid. In the end, Julie was paid $96,000 between 2002 and 2004 by Abramoff's firm.

Despite Republicans clamoring for his resignation, and the downfall of Abramoff and all those around him, Doolittle stood his ground, and until the last moment, maintained he we would run for reelection for his seat in Congress. But in January, he and Julie issued a joint statement, claiming that John would retire after this year, because they were "ready for a change."

Now that Ring pleaded not guilty to ten counts of public corruption, the big player in his indictment -- Representative 5 -- seems like the next tree to fall in the rotting Abramoff forest.

And if legal defense funds are any indication, Doolittle is playing with the big boys. In the last quarter alone he racked up $152,852 in attorney fees.

It appears that they're earning their keep. Doolittle's attorneys released a statement saying that "it is clear that portions of the Kevin Ring indictment were designed to make gratuitous references to the Congressman and his wife. This appears to have been done to titillate the public, with the foreseeable and therefore intended consequence of attempting to embarrass and pressure the Congressman."

John Doolittle

A Friend in Need...

Paul Kiel | February 1, 2008, 2:00PM

From CQ:

A House Republican under Justice Department investigation because of ties to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff has garnered help with his legal bills from a handful of colleagues, including Minority Leader John A. Boehner .

Rep. John T. Doolittle , R-Calif., reported in a filing made available Thursday that his legal expense fund had received $5,000 from Boehner’s leadership PAC. The money was part of $36,500 kicked in by GOP colleagues to Doolittle’s legal defense between June 27, when he opened the fund, and year’s end.

John Doolittle

Doolittle "Ready for A Change"

Paul Kiel | January 10, 2008, 2:12PM

Well, Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) finally made his much-anticipated announcement, and curiously enough, the ongoing federal investigation and his near-certain defeat in the Republican primary apparently didn't figure into his decision to retire. From the AP:

Republican Rep. John Doolittle of California, who is under investigation in a congressional lobbying scandal, said Thursday that he'll retire from Congress at the end of his current term.

"My wife, Julie, and I have made this decision after much prayer and deliberation. It was not my initial intent to retire, and I fully expected and planned to run again right up until very recently," Doolittle said after addressing supporters in his Northern California district.

"But it distilled upon us that we were ready for a change after spending almost our entire married lives with me in public service. We are at peace with this choice and look forward to starting a new chapter in our lives."

The criminal case is tied up in litigation right now, as he's contested a Justice Department subpoena for congressional records. But that should be wrapped up eventually, so that Doolittle really can get started with that "new chapter" in his life.

Update: The complete statement is below.

Read more »

John Doolittle

AP: Doolittle to Make It Official Today

Paul Kiel | January 10, 2008, 11:14AM

I'd hoped they were just wild rumors, but alas! From the AP:

Republican Rep. John Doolittle, who is under investigation in a congressional lobbying scandal, plans to announce his retirement from Congress on Thursday, according to a Republican official who spoke with Doolittle.

John Doolittle

From One Mucked up Pol to Another

Paul Kiel | January 9, 2008, 4:27PM

From The Hill:

According to three well-placed Republican sources, former Rep. Richard Pombo (R-Calif.) — who lost his seat amid ethics allegations — has called on longtime friend Doolittle to not seek reelection in the interest of keeping the district a GOP stronghold. In the last Congress, Pombo was a panel chairman while Doolittle was a member of GOP leadership.

Pombo could not be reached for comment.

John Doolittle

Doolittle Staffer: It's Not Over till It's Over

Paul Kiel | January 8, 2008, 11:12AM

Pretty uninspiring stuff. Here's what Rep. John Doolittle's (R-CA) staffer has for pushback of yesterday's report that he won't be seeking reelection. From the AP:

On Monday Doolittle indicated he would soon disclose his plans.

"I am writing to invite you to a Team Doolittle Briefing. Please join with our key supporters for news about our plans for 2008," Doolittle wrote in an e-mail to supporters that was posted on a political blog in his district....

Separately, Doolittle organized a staff meeting for Wednesday and invited some former aides, according to one of the people invited. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the event was not public.

Doolittle's chief of staff, Ron Rogers, said that Doolittle met quarterly with supporters and the events were nothing unusual.

"His current plans are to seek re-election," Rogers said.

"I'm not going to speculate about what's going to happen in the future," he said.

Update: Here's video of a testy Doolittle shot back in 2006, just before he narrowly won reelection in his heavily Republican district:

John Doolittle

Blog: Doolittle Won't Seek Reelection

Paul Kiel | January 7, 2008, 2:46PM

Say it ain't so, John!

The California Majority Report reports that Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA), one of the long-time subjects of the Jack Abramoff investigation, "will announce that he will not seek re-election." That could come as soon as this week, reports John Bresnahan of The Politico. Back in September, Doolittle proclaimed "I am running again. Period."

Ever since Doolittle refused to plead guilty, the Justice Department has evidently been building a bribery case against him. Doolittle, meanwhile, has made quite a pastime of demanding that the DoJ fish or cut bait. All that tough talk hasn't helped his fundraising, and his campaign has increasingly been drained by payments to his wife for her purported fundraising work. Things just aren't like they used to be during the glory days before Abramoff's downfall.

John Doolittle

Doolittle: Catch Me if You Can

Paul Kiel | December 20, 2007, 10:43AM

Take heart, California's Fourth Congressional District. Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) may be under federal investigation for taking bribes from Jack Abramoff, but he's got due process on his side. And he says he's going to litigate his way to at least one more term:

Rep. John Doolittle disclosed Wednesday that his attorney is fighting subpoenas issued to him for office records and that he believes the investigation of him will be on hiatus for one to two years while the constitutionality of the subpoena is fought out in the courts....

In a telephone news conference Wednesday, Doolittle said the legal battle is delaying the federal investigation.

"My attorney tells me that this issue alone – the constitutional issue presented by those subpoenas, which as you know is also being litigated against the Justice Department by the U.S. House of Representatives – is going to take one to two years to resolve," Doolittle said.

He was asked: "Do you see your case stretching one to two years down the road then?"

"Since the subpoenas involve me and my office, that's what I am saying – one to two years on this issue alone," he said.

John Doolittle

Doolittle Aide Leaves for Prison Gig

Paul Kiel | November 29, 2007, 2:04PM

As a spokesman for Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA), Gordon Hinkle earned his salt answering reporter's questions about whether his boss was on his way to prison. Now Hinkle will put that experience to work:

Gordon Hinkle, 34, was named deputy press secretary for the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, according to a statement issued Wednesday by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's office....

Hinkle has been Doolittle's communications director and senior field representative since February. He was among a handful of aides who received subpoenas in September from a Washington grand jury investigating Doolittle for his ties to jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff. He was asked to turn over documents but was not required to testify.

For those curious at home, if Doolittle, who is under investigation for his ties to lobbyist Jack Abramoff, were in fact convicted of bribery charges, he'd end up in a federal penitentiary, not one in the California state system, so the two aren't likely to be reunited. Oh, well.

Hinkle is the third senior Doolittle aide to jump ship in recent months.

John Doolittle

Feds Subpoena Doolittle Emails

Paul Kiel | October 26, 2007, 10:00AM

Yet another regular reminder that the investigation of Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) is churning to its conclusion.

Alan Mollohan

Lawmakers Give Back to the Legal Community

Will Thomas | October 16, 2007, 1:43PM

Recently, House lawmakers filed their third quarter campaign disclosure reports -- and you know what that means! It's time for another round-up of how much lawmakers have dropped on lawyers to defend themselves from investigation.

Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA), with nearly $1 million in total fees dating back to last year, remains the undisputed House champion, but Rep. Don Young (R-AK) is charging hard.

Here's our list of legal spending habits for the past three months, as well as an estimate of how much each lawmaker has spent in campaign funds to date and to which firms:

Rep. Don Young (R-AK): $183,785
So far, Young has spent $447,000 on the law firms Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld and Tobin O'Connor Ewing & Richard (the vast majority of which is spent on Akin Gump). He's under investigation for his relationship with Bill Allen, former CEO of oil-services firm.

Rep. Rick Renzi (R-AZ): $111,042
Renzi has paid around $148,000 to law firms Patton Boggs LLP and Steptoe & Johnson LLP (primarily on Patton Boggs). Renzi remains under investigation by the FBI for pushing legislation that would advantage political supporters and former business partners. His house was raided by the FBI this past April. Renzi has announced that he will not seek another term.

Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-WV): $55,000
Mollohan has spent $78,000 on the law firm Kellogg, Huber, Hansen, Todd, Evans & Figel. He has been under federal scrutiny since last May for earmarking funds for organizations connected to him.

Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA): $26,982
Lewis has spent over $987,000 on the law firms Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and Williams & Jensen. He is being investigated for earmarks that he provided to campaign contributors, as well as his role in the Duke Cunningham scandal.

Read more »

John Doolittle

Prosecutors Subpoena Doolittle in Abramoff Investigation

lkmcgann | September 27, 2007, 6:45PM

Prosecutors subpoenaed Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) for 11 years-worth of records as part of the ongoing Abramoff investigation, the AP reports:

Prosecutors recently demanded documents from Doolittle and five staffers, the congressman said. The subpoenas seek "virtually every record including legislative records" for the past 11 years, Doolittle's attorney David Barger said in a news release issued Thursday by the congressman's office.

"These efforts raise serious constitutional issues going to the very core of our separation of powers created by the Founding Fathers," Barger said.

The Constitution prohibits the executive branch from using its law enforcement powers to interfere with legislative business. Barger said he and Doolittle would "be vigilant" to ensure Congress' independence is "vigorously protected." Any court challenge would go before a federal judge, but the documents would be sealed.

The standoff could lead to a court battle like the William Jefferson (R-LA) case over the speech and debate clause. When a federal court called the FBI's decision to take legislative documents out of Jefferson's office unconstitutional, watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington Melanie Sloan said it was a great day for corrupt lawmakers.

John Doolittle

Doolittle: "I Am Running Again. Period."

Paul Kiel | September 7, 2007, 5:37PM

Did you think that little things like a federal investigation, a crowd of Republican challengers and dismal poll numbers would keep Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) from running for reelection?

You were wrong.

John Doolittle

Doolittle Aides Testify to Grand Jury

Paul Kiel | September 6, 2007, 11:58AM

The battle to clear Rep. John Doolittle's (R-CA) name continues! The latest combatants were a pair of Doolittle aides who testified before a grand jury Wednesday.

Doolittle's deputy chief of staff Dan Blankenburg had this upbeat takeaway from the experience:

"This morning I testified before the federal grand jury.... Overall, it was a very uneventful experience. I was questioned primarily about the operations of our office. To me, the process represents a necessary and promising step toward the truth."

It seems that Blankenburg is working for the right man. Doolittle responded to the news that half a dozen of his former aides had been contacted by investigators by saying, "I'm glad."

Note: Here's our rundown of Doolittle's entanglements with ex-super lobbyist and current inmate Jack Abramoff.

John Doolittle

Doolittle Aides Subpoenaed

Paul Kiel | September 4, 2007, 3:42PM

Just in case you'd forgotten dead-pol-walking Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) is under federal investigation for his ties to Jack Abramoff, a reminder today:

GOP Rep. John Doolittle's chief of staff and deputy chief of staff have been subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury in a federal probe into ties between Doolittle, his wife and jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

The grand jury subpoenas from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia were issued to Chief of Staff Ron Rogers and Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Blankenburg. They were announced on the House floor as Congress returned from its August recess Tuesday after the aides informed House leaders about the subpoenas, as required under House rules.

The Sacramento Bee reported back in June that the feds had contacted as many as six of Doolittle's former aides. The feds raided his Virginia home in April after he refused to plead guilty.

Abramoff may be in prison, but he's continuing to cooperate with investigators. Recently a status conference was pushed back to December, meaning that Abramoff will likely not be sentenced for his bribery conviction until 2008. Abramoff pleaded guilty way back in January, 2006, and has been cooperating with investigators since 2004. It's been quite a run, and it's not over yet.

Late Update: According to the LA Times, three of Doolittle's aides have been subpoenaed, including his Chief of Staff and Deputy Chief of Staff.

John Doolittle

Doolittle: Under Investigation and in The Red

Paul Kiel | July 16, 2007, 3:30PM

Hard times. From The Sacramento Bee:

Rep. John Doolittle's cachet with big Washington, D.C., campaign financiers seems to have plummeted in the aftermath of the FBI's April 13 raid on his Oakton, Va., house, and the eight-term Roseville Republican heads toward the 2008 election season with his campaign still in debt and receipts on the decline.

Meanwhile, the campaign of Democrat Charlie Brown, who came within 3 points of defeating Doolittle in November, is gaining steam. Brown's campaign raised almost twice as much as Doolittle's in the last three months and ended the six-month mark with a net cash balance of $251,000. Doolittle posted $32,250 in debts.

Doolittle's biggest expense during the three-month period was $50,000 in fundraising payments to Sierra Dominion Financial Solutions, a company owned by his wife and operated out of the couple's house....

Even with the hefty campaign payments to Julie Doolittle's company, Sierra Dominion still was owed more than $76,000 in commissions from the 2006 race.

The Doolittle campaign's second largest expense was $30,000 to defense attorney David Barger's law office, bringing the campaign's attorney's fees for defending the congressman in the last year to more than $130,000.

John Doolittle

Doolittle: "I'm Glad"

Paul Kiel | June 29, 2007, 2:33PM

Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA), ever the optimist, thinks it's just peachy that federal investigators have contacted as many as six of his former aides:

Doolittle said Thursday, during a weekly telephone conference with reporters, that he has no problem with his former aides talking to prosecutors because he thinks it might hasten his dismissal as a focus of the Abramoff probe.

"Why didn't they do this a year and a half ago when I wrote the attorney general, or even before that?" Doolittle said of the prosecutors.

"I finally wrote him (Attorney General Alberto Gonzales) and said please investigate," Doolittle said. "To have this dragged out for over three years is ridiculous. They've had three years to get to the bottom of this. At least they've started."

"I've always believed that the truth vindicates us," he said. "I am glad they are going to delve more into it."

It's a familiar stance from Doolittle, who's been goading prosecutors for the past couple years. In January of 2006, he announced that he'd written that letter to the attorney general, asking the Department of Justice to "come investigate me." In October of last year, his spokeswoman announced that his lawyers had been having conversations with prosecutors "which we believe have been helpful toward clearing the congressman's name." Those contacts, the spokeswoman said, had been initiated at Doolittle's request.

The thing is, prosecutors don't seem to need much encouragement (here are the reasons why). Doolittle has been in investigators' sights dating back to the very beginning of the Jack Abramoff investigation -- back in 2004, investigators subpoenaed records for Doolittle's wife's consulting firm due to her work for Abramoff. Finally, in April of this year, prosecutors offered Doolittle an opportunity to plead guilty. After he refused, FBI agents raided his Virginia home (for some reason, Doolittle wasn't happy about that).

So it's apparent the Justice Department has taken Doolittle up on his offer to "come investigate me," and they've obviously much more than just "started." But I'm sure they appreciate the support.

John Doolittle

Sac Bee: Feds Contact Six Former Doolittle Aides

Paul Kiel | June 28, 2007, 10:43AM

From the Sacramento Bee:

Federal prosecutors have recently contacted as many as a half dozen former aides to Rep. John Doolittle, seeking information from them in their investigation of the Roseville Republican's association with disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, The Bee has learned.

John Doolittle

Feds Contact 2nd Doolittle Aide

Paul Kiel | June 27, 2007, 3:47PM

And so it continues:

California GOP Rep. John Doolittle's former legislative director said Wednesday he was recently contacted by federal investigators in their probe of Doolittle's ties to jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Pete Evich, Doolittle's legislative director from 1998 to 2002 and now a lobbyist, told The Associated Press that he plans to talk to the Justice Department.

John Doolittle

Doolittle PR Campaign Demanding Justice Continues

lkmcgann | May 10, 2007, 5:29PM

Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) is marching forward with his “the-FBI-unfairly- raided-my-house” media campaign.

Doolittle, who is under scrutiny for his ties to Jack Abramoff, and has been hyping up his defense in the media recently, went on Tom Sullivan’s KFBK radio show yesterday to complain about being a victim of a political move by the Justice Department to produce another Abramoff-related indictment.

You can read the full transcript of the 40-minute interview here.

The Sacramento Bee noticed that during the interview Doolittle admits that the Justice Department approached him and his wife before the search with an apparent offer to plead guilty. But the Doolittles stood strong. And what did their courage win them? A search of their home.

Here’s that passage from the radio transcript:

And I think it's fair to ask, Well, why was this search conducted? And I would just point out to you a few weeks before the search occurred, our attorneys had a meeting with the government, and at that point, it became apparent to us that there is an attempt by the government to strongarm Julie in order to get me to admit to a crime that I did not commit. And in our mind, as a result of my refusing to admit to a crime that I did not commit, the government searched our home in what we believe was little more than an attempt to intimidate and pressure us.

...or to gather evidence?

Jack Abramoff

Today's Must Read

Paul Kiel | May 9, 2007, 9:00AM

Hell hath no fury like a lawmaker searched!

Or something like that.

Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) is furious that the FBI is thoroughly investigating him, issuing subpoenas for documents, and interviewing a number of his former aides.

For one thing, the Justice Department just won't stop asking questions about his wife's work for two organizations controlled by Ed Buckham, a lobbyist and close associate of Jack Abramoff. Here's DeLay speaking with reporters yesterday:

“They’re going after other people and they’re questioning the other people about whether they know anything I may have done. And we’ve given them all the records and that’s the problem they’re having.... [My wife] did her work and she was underpaid for the work she did and they can’t make the case. It’s a Justice Department that is running amok. Fish or cut bait. Do something.”

Yeah, bring 'em on!

It's at this point that DeLay's defense lawyer, Richard Cullen, steps in to moderate. You can hear the soothing tone: “When Tom DeLay said that [about Justice], it reflected frustration that many people feel when they are involved in an investigation... We are very comfortable that the Justice Department is proceeding properly and expeditiously."

Investigators have reportedly been probing whether DeLay's wife actually did any work at those jobs, but that's far from their sole focus. Abramoff and DeLay were key allies; a bond forged by millions of dollars. It's no coincidence that two of DeLay's former aides have pled guilty in the Abramoff scandal, and a third, Buckham, is in danger of being indicted.

But DeLay isn't the only lawmaker who's outraged (outraged!) by the FBI's tactics. Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA), who is also in investigators' sights for his ties to Abramoff, just can't believe that the FBI searched everything in his house:

“The agents systematically searched our home, removing every book, turning over every couch cushion and every pot and pan, and rummaging through every drawer, file cabinet, cupboard and closet...”

The nerve.

John Doolittle

Doolittle Resigns Appropriations Panel Seat

Paul Kiel | April 19, 2007, 2:25PM

From the AP:

Rep. John Doolittle, R-Calif., has decided to temporarily give up his seat on the House Appropriations Committee after FBI agents searched his house as part of a congressional influence-peddling investigation.

Doolittle's decision, to be announced Thursday, was confirmed by a Republican congressional staffer who spoke on condition of anonymity because the news was not yet public.

That would be the same appropriations seat which he used to help steer $37 million to Brent Wilkes (who's accused of bribing Duke Cunningham), and another $400,000 to Jack Abramoff's client, the government of the Marianas Islands.

Update: More from Roll Call:

While Doolittle is expected to voluntarily take himself off the panel while the investigation continues, knowledgeable House sources said that Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and members of the Republican Steering Committee -- which determines committee assignments -- were prepared to remove him from his post if he would not do so himself.

John Doolittle

FBI RAIDS DOOLITTLE'S HOME

Paul Kiel | April 18, 2007, 4:28PM

Breaking, from Roll Call:

The FBI has raided the Northern Virginia home of Rep. John Doolittle (R-Calif.), according to Congressional sources. No details are publicly available yet about the circumstances of the raid, but Doolittle and his wife, Julie, have been under federal investigation for their ties to the scandal surrounding imprisoned former lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

More soon, I'm sure.

Update: Remember that a former key aide to Doolittle, Kevin Ring, who'd worked with Abramoff, resigned suddenly from his job late last week. As I wrote before, that's a clear sign that Ring may be preparing to plead guilty and implicate Doolittle.

Update: According to The Hill, the FBI searched the home last Friday -- the same day that Ring resigned.

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.

John Doolittle

Doolittle: My Wife Quit before I Fired Her

Paul Kiel | January 15, 2007, 3:17PM

When we noted Rep. John Doolittle's (R-CA) conversion to ethical purity last week, we appended a loud "Sike!"* to note our skepticism.

But it didn't take long for Doolittle to take it back himself. In an interview with McClatchy newspapers Friday, he backtracked on his key reform: severing his campaign's and committee's financial relationship with his wife, who had been getting a 15% commission on funds raised.

Though Doolittle trumpeted the decision last week, now he says that she "dropped his congressional campaign as a client, rather than him firing her." And by the way, she'll still be doing fundraising for his political action committee; it just won't be in the form of a commission.

A brand new man.

*Note: Language purists are encouraged to read the comments to our last post before writing us an email on the spelling of "sike."

John Doolittle

Doolittle: I'm a New Man -- SIKE!

Paul Kiel | January 12, 2007, 2:24PM

After narrowly winning reelection in his very conservative district, Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) says he's reformed, but it sure doesn't look like he's really got religion.

He's firing his wife as his campaign fundraiser, he announced yesterday -- no longer will she, and by extension Doolittle himself, get a 15% cut of every contribution to his campaign. Not that there was ever anything wrong with this, no -- but for some reason the arrangement became a "concern and distraction to some of [his] constituents," as he wrote in an Op-Ed, revealing his reformation:

Because I believe it is proper for my wife to raise funds for my campaign, I encouraged her to step in at a critical time when her talents were desperately needed. I have appreciated her willingness to take time away from her other clients to provide a professional service to my campaign. However, because I recognize that this issue has been a concern and distraction to some of my constituents, I have retained an outside fundraiser to take over those duties.

Nope, no mea culpa there. And that "critical time when [his wife's] talents were desperately needed?" That was 2001 through the present. And during that critical, desperate time, he did not face a single credible election challenge prior to 2006. He outraised his opponent in 2004, for example, $935,907 to $2,300. Good thing his wife was there to share the pot.

Read more »

John Doolittle

Doolittle Killed Food Safety Earmark

Justin Rood | December 28, 2006, 8:19AM

Here's a morbidly quirky anecdote to the Baltimore Sun article I posted yesterday, which noted how the FDA is charged with ensuring the nation's food safety, yet doesn't have the funding to research proper regulations -- the sort which might have prevented the deadly bacteria outbreaks that contaminated spinach and lettuce earlier this year.

Reader DG points me to a September article from McClatchy Newspapers that tells an interesting tale:

Last year, for instance, California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein secured a $1 million earmark in a Senate funding bill to establish a Western Center for Food Safety and Defense at UC-Davis. It would have been the first FDA-affiliated center of its kind on the West Coast.

"(It) will play an important role in identifying potential threats and finding solutions to ensure the security of our food supply," Feinstein said at the time.

But when congressional negotiators met to craft a final spending bill, according to sources familiar with the sessions, the proposed UC-Davis food safety center lacked the support of Rep. John Doolittle, R-Calif., a conservative member of the House GOP leadership. The money was dropped.

A spokesperson for Doolittle's office could not be reached to comment.

It's not that Doolittle hates earmarks. After all, he used them to help steer $37 million to an accused felon, and another $400,000 to the Abramoff-friendly government of the Marianas Islands. (One or both of those favors likely drew the attention of the Feds, who now have Doolittle under investigation.)

Oh -- are you wondering the real cost of lax food regulation? "Overall, 76 million U.S. residents become sick annually from food-borne illness, more than 325,000 people are hospitalized and 5,000 people die," McClatchy reported.

John Doolittle

Scandal Hasn't Sunk Abramoff Ally -- Yet

Paul Kiel | December 15, 2006, 4:01PM

It was a fundraising pitch for Sen. Thad Cochran (R-MS), but in a May, 2002 email Jack Abramoff's colleague couldn't help taking time out to praise a favorite: Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA). "[N]obody," wrote lobbyist Todd Boulanger, "comes even close (except for Doolittle, maybe) to doing as much for our main clients as Senator Cochran."

While Cochran went to bat for a moneyed interest in his home state (Abramoff's marquee client The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians), however, Doolittle would help any Abramoff client in need. The Northern Mariana Islands were thousands of miles away from his California district, but they received his special attention; so did Indian tribes from Massachusetts and Iowa.

That's why Cochran has kept his name out of the headlines, while Doolittle nearly lost his recent election due to the Abramoff scandal, which has drained $100,000 from his campaign coffers to pay lawyers to fight off federal prosecutors.

The question for Doolittle now is whether the House ethics committee, following the calls from government watchdogs, will initiate an investigation of him. Despite being more mucked up with Abramoff than even Bob Ney, the former congressman who pled guilty to accepting bribes earlier this year, there have been no clear indications that the largely useless House ethics panel will move against him.

I spoke with Doolittle's office yesterday for this post. His spokeswoman did not provide a comment for the record in time for publication.

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Jerry Lewis

Legal Fees Top $860K for Rep. Lewis

Justin Rood | December 13, 2006, 12:11PM

Ouch. Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA), now the ranking member of the House appropriations committee, has paid out $861,000 in legal fees since learning in May he was under FBI scrutiny, the CREW blog reports.

Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) has run up bills totaling more than $117,000. And Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-WV) has paid more than $70,000, according to CREW.

John Doolittle

Doolittle's Legal Bills Top $100K

Justin Rood | December 9, 2006, 9:52AM

Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) narrowly defeated his Democratic challenger to win re-election last month -- but he's still fighting the Justice Department, if his legal bills are any judge.

Doolittle has spent over $100,000 of his campaign funds on legal fees, his most recent FEC filings show. (He can spend campaign funds that way as long as the legal battle is over his activities in office.) The congressman accepted tens of thousands of dollars from disgraced superlobbyist Jack Abramoff, and he did some mighty favors for the guy.

One of Doolittle's more unnerving habits, as Paul has documented, has been to give his wife a 15 percent cut of all donations as her "fundraising fee." Some view this uncharitably, calling it skimming -- or worse, if the donor knows 15 percent of his money is headed for the Doolittle's personal bank account.

But he may be reforming: according to the Sacramento Bee, Doolittle is no longer giving his wife 15 percent of the money. He's using a bit of bookkeeping magic, recording the cut as "debt" but not paying out. Perhaps he's fancying the idea that once his legal troubles are sorted out, his campaign will catch up on all those back payments?

Jack Abramoff

Doolittle: I'm Not A Target of Fed Probe

Paul Kiel | October 17, 2006, 10:34AM

New details are popping up about the Feds' interest in Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) for his ties to Jack Abramoff. But Doolittle is doing his best to put as bright a face on that as possible.

In a statement yesterday, Doolittle said that he "has no reason to believe that he is the target of an investigation."

As we've noted here before, the "not a target" line is a beloved one for mucked-up pols (Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT) used it just last month). It is, of course, a relatively meaningless statement that sounds exonerating. Subjects of an investigation typically only receive target letters from prosecutors as a prelude to indictment. So Doolittle might as well be bragging that he hasn't been indicted yet.

We've known that Doolittle was under investigation for approximately two years. In 2004, investigators subpoenaed the records for his wife's consulting company (Julie Doolittle worked for Abramoff for two years). And since last November, Doolittle has consistently made the short list of lawmakers reportedly under investigation for their ties to Abramoff (as to why, see here).

Doolittle, via his spokeswoman, also revealed to The Sacramento Bee Monday that his lawyer has spoken several times with the Justice Department.

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Jack Abramoff

New Evidence Links Abramoff, Doolittle

Paul Kiel | October 13, 2006, 6:32PM

More evidence of less-than-savory ties between Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) and Jack Abramoff.

As The Sacramento Bee noted this morning, a newly released email shows that in 2000, Abramoff and Doolittle spoke about getting Doolittle's wife, Julie, a job with a friend's nonprofit.

What the paper didn't reveal is that Abramoff had cut a similar deal for another favored contact: former DeLay aide Tony Rudy. Far from helping out a pal's wife, Abramoff appears to have used the arrangements to funnel bribes to powerful men, like DeLay and Rudy. And Doolittle.

The e-mail, released as part of a Senate report yesterday, provides even further grounds for suspicion of the relationship between Abramoff and Doolittle.

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Reform

Burns, Frist, Santorum Top List of Corrupt Pols

Justin Rood | September 20, 2006, 10:56AM

What do Sens. Conrad Burns (R-MT), Bill Frist (R-TN) and Rick Santorum (R-PA) have in common? (Hint: they're frequent subjects on TPMmuckraker.)

The three men are the most corrupt senators in Congress, according to a new list of the most corrupt lawmakers in Washington.

It's the second year now that Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) has released its list of 20 muckiest senators and congresspeople.

Although the group names the trio as "most corrupt," it doesn't rank the 17 House members they finger.

The group also identified five "members to watch" -- that is, folks with muck in their past that could be a harbinger of muck to come.

The list, in no particular order, is after the jump.

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John Doolittle

Doolittle's House Seat in Trouble?

Paul Kiel | September 12, 2006, 12:15PM

Mucked-up Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) may be in more trouble than he thinks. A poll released today by Democrat Charlie Brown's campaign shows the two in a statistical dead heat. The poll -- the first to be made public in the race -- of 400 likely 4th District voters was conducted (August 29-31) by Benenson Strategy Group for Brown and shows Doolittle leading 41-39 with a margin of error of 4.9 percent.

Despite Doolittle's connections to the Jack Abramoff and Duke Cunningham scandals, the conventional wisdom had Doolittle taking the district easily. CQ Politics rates the race "Safe Republican," and the Cook Political Report has Doolittle as the likely winner. But this poll, although partisan, are the only numbers made public so far.

So Doolittle may have a real fight on his hands. And the conventional wisdom that the drip-drip of muck stories (Abramoff called Doolittle his "hero"; Doolittle paid his babysitters out of his campaign funds; Doolittle's wife takes a cut of most big campaign donations) aren't having an effect on his campaign might just be wrong.

Perhaps most strikingly, the poll showed Doolittle, in a heavily Republican district, with just 42% of voters viewing him favorably, and 44% unfavorably. That put him behind other Republican leaders, including Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (69% favorable) and President George W. Bush (54% favorable).

Although Brown has plenty of fodder to run a campaign based on charges of Doolittle's corruption (see the full accounting here), he's also been running as an opponent of the Iraq War, where his son is serving as an Air Force captain. The poll showed that Iraq was the most important issue for voters.

Update: We'll be posting the full details of the poll soon.

Update: Here they are.

John Doolittle

Doolittle: Another Heroic Effort for Abramoff Client

Paul Kiel | August 8, 2006, 8:52AM

The Sacramento Bee went front page Saturday with the news that Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA), Jack Abramoff's "hero" for the Northern Mariana Islands, had helped Abramoff win back his lobbying contract for the islands.

Put together with our story Friday, which showed that Doolittle had delivered at least $400,000 in federal funds for the islands among other heroic deeds, the two stories show an odd dedication on Doolittle's behalf to the tiny island chain of approximately 80,000 - or rather to the garment moguls there. That dedication was rewarded with $14,000 in political donations from Abramoff over three years.

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John Doolittle

Doolittle was Abramoff Island Client's "Hero"

Paul Kiel | August 4, 2006, 12:30PM

Why did a congressman from California adopt the cause of a distant cluster of islands that his constituents most likely had never visited, much less heard of?

Two words: Jack Abramoff.

While Tom DeLay was the Northern Mariana Island's "biggest supporter on Capitol Hill," there is another congressman whose efforts for the islands deserve special mention: Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA). Doolittle, who took tens of thousands of dollars from Abramoff and his clients, was such an ardent advocate for the Marianas that Jack Abramoff referred to him in an email as the islands' "hero."

What did he do to deserve such an honor?

A TPMmuckraker investigation shows that Doolittle stayed in close touch with the island's needs through Abramoff and his team. According to billing records from Abramoff's lobbying firm in 2001, Doolittle met several times each month with members of Team Abramoff to discuss the concerns of the Northern Marianas (CNMI) government, which had been an Abramoff client since 1994*. He signed "Dear Colleague" letters praising the islands; he met a number of times with island officials; and he was responsible for earmarking at least $400,000 in federal funds for the CNMI.

Doolittle's office did not respond to my request for comment on this story.

The California lawmaker's work for the Marianas and Abramoff's other clients won him consistent and substantial support from the now-disgraced superlobbyist. Dating back to 1999, Abramoff, his associates, and their clients contributed at least $140,000 to the lawmaker's campaigns and political action committees.

Perhaps Doolittle's most significant favor for the islands was the $400,000 he secured in 2001, his first year on the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development. The money funded a study by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on possible "improvements to [the CNMI's] water infrastructure," according to the bill.

Appropriations bills do not list the sponsors of earmarks, but a story in the local paper The Saipan Tribune credited Doolittle with securing the money; and billing records from Abramoff's firm show several meetings between one of Abramoff's lobbyists and both Doolittle and his staff regarding appropriations for the Marianas that year.

"It stinks," said Keith Ashdown of Taxpayers for Common Sense of the earmark, noting that the Corps of Engineers was one of Congress’ biggest pork barrels. "It looks like pay to play."

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John Doolittle

Campaign Money Continues Flow to CA Rep's Wife

Paul Kiel | July 19, 2006, 2:42PM

Rep. John Doolittle's (R-CA) wife, who's been pocketing a 15 percent cut of contributions to his policitcal action committee for the last several years, is on pace for a banner year - if she and her husband don't get indicted first.

Roll Call's Paul Kane found (sub. req.) that "from April 1 through June 30, she collected more than $35,000 in commissions from the John T. Doolittle for Congress committee, one of her highest-grossing quarters ever, according to filings with the FEC."

John Doolittle

Doolittles: A Cut Above

Paul Kiel | July 11, 2006, 4:15PM

The Washington Post officially set its sights on Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) today.

Much of the article recaps the work of other reporters, but they did confirm one new -- and telling -- detail.

We knew that Doolittle's wife Julie got a 15 percent cut on every contribution she allegedly raised for her husband's committee. What we didn't know -- but the Post found out -- is that, according to the PAC, Julie is responsible for raising every dollar they've taken in over the past couple years. The paper analyzed the PAC's financial records, and found that Julie's commission payments totaled just about exactly 15 percent of the total take.

The Doolittles have pocketed $69,896 in this election cycle, "exactly 15 percent of the $465,973 raised." This despite the fact that the committee has had two other fundraisers on the payroll. Doolittle's people, as always, argue that she's earned every penny. It's not clear what those other fundraisers, one of them a Doolittle staffer, were doing for the money when she was working so hard.

The Post also details how the Doolittles, who are quite adept at taking full advantage of the congressman's office, use the committee as a goodie slush fund. That's slippery, but it's not why Doolittle has hired a criminal defense lawyer.

For those who need a refresher....