Richard Pombo
Rep. Pombo (R-CA), Chairman of the House Resources Committee, which oversees Native American affairs, worked closely with Tom DeLay and Jack Abramoff in the House, pushing legislation favoring DeLay's constituents and Abramoff's tribal clients.
The congressman has a long history of anti-environmental legislation, including fighting for drilling in ANWR and fighting the Endangered Species Act's application on private property.
Key Points:
Pombo took up legislation on behalf of an Abramoff tribal client after hefty donations from tribal leaders.
The Mashpee Wampanoag tribe of Massachusetts had been seeking official recognition from the Federal government since 1975 when they hired Jack Abramoff. When Pombo became chairman of the House Resources Committee, a post DeLay helped him get ahead of several more senior Republicans, the Mashpee's luck changed quickly.
On Abramoff's suggestion, six tribal leaders, including Glenn Marshall, the tribe president and spokesman, donated $12,000 to Pombo's Rich PAC. A total of $20,000 flowed into Pombo's Rich PAC over the next several weeks, 5% of his $400,000 in fundraising for the 2003-2004 election cycle. At the same time, Abramoff himself gave $2,000 to Pombo's re-election campaign, and another $7,000 to his leadership PAC a couple months later. Soon after they hired Abramoff and made the donations to Pombo, the tribe's status was upgraded to "active consideration" for recognition. The tribe now expects to be recognized by March 2007 instead of sometime between 2012-2014, as was previously projected.
Pombo, Doolittle, and DeLay halted an FDIC investigation against Charles Hurwitz.
Pombo, along with fellow California representative John Doolittle and Tom DeLay, succeeded in stopping a federal investigation against major Republican donor Charles Hurwitz. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) was seeking $300 million from Hurwitz for his roll in the collapse of United Savings Association of Texas, a savings and loan collapse in the 1980s that cost the taxpayers of Texas around $1.6 billion. In 1999, when Delay had already submitted a letter opposing the investigation, Pombo and Doolittle subpoenaed FDIC records on the case, then leaked the documents into the public Congressional record in 2003. The FDIC claims that Hurwitz's case was bolstered substantially by having access to the information. The investigation has since been dropped.
Hurwitz has donated to Pombo in 1996 ($1,000), while giving $5,000 to Doolittle in 2002 and $2,000 in 2004. More notably, he donated $30,000 to DeLay since 2000, including $5,000 for his legal defense fund.
Pombo used committee funds to rent an RV and take his family on vacation.
Wanting to check up on national parks, which are overseen by the Resources Committee, Pombo decided that the best way to visit the parks was by RV. He also decided to take his family along for the ride. The RV cost $4,935.87 to rent while Pombo and his family visited Yosemite, Sequoia, Kings Canyon, Rushmore, and other national parks. Pombo claims he was holding meetings with park administrators the whole time, but at Sequoia and Kings Canyon, the head specialist doesn't remember the meetings.
Research by Amram Migdal
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