Tony Rudy
Tony Rudy, formerly Deputy Chief of Staff for Tom Delay, was part of Team Abramoff at Greenberg Traurig.
On March 31, 2006 Rudy pled guilty to one count of conspiracy in connection to the Jack Abramoff case. Rudy faces up to five years in prison but could receive much less, based on the extent that his plea agreement will aid in the broader investigation.
Rudy's career on the Hill began with Rep. Dana Rorbacher, (R-CA). He left to attend George Mason University Law School, and was hired by Delay after he graduated. Prior to being DeLay's Deputy chief of staff, Rudy served him as General Counsel, Policy Director, and Press Secretary.
In 2000, Jack Abramoff left Preston Gates to create Team Abramoff at competitor Greenberg Traurig and urged Rudy to join him. Rudy left Delay in December 2000.
In 2002, Rudy went on to work for Alexander Strategy Group under Ed Buckham. There have been suggestions that there was a falling out between Abramoff and Rudy - for his part, Rudy has said that he preferred being courted by Abramoff to working for him.
ASG has since closed their doors as a result of bad press associated with the Abramoff affair. While they will maintain a small business development division, Rudy will be leaving the company.
See Rudy's Grand Ole Docket entry for ongoing court dates.
Key Points:
Rudy is mentioned in the Abramoff plea indictment.
"Staffer A" in the Abramoff plea deal has been confirmed to be Tony Rudy. According to the plea, he helped Abramoff solicit a $25,000 donation to CAF in 2002 which was used for purposes other than those which the client/donor intended, including paying for a golf junket to Scotland.
Rudy used his power in DeLay's office to assist Abramoff clients in exchange for payments to his wife.
Tony's wife, Lisa Rudy, was employed by a group called Toward Tradition while her husband was Deputy CoS for Delay. Her salary, $5,000/month, was paid for by two $25,000 checks from Abramoff clients. One was from eLottery and was sent to Toward Tradition by Abramoff. He was lobbying on their behalf to squash legislation called the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act (IGPA) that would have regulated online lotteries. The Magazine Publishers of America (MPA), who had hired Abramoff to lobby against a postal rate hike, provided the other check for Ms. Rudy's salary.
According to Abramoff's plea agreement, Tony Rudy used his influence to help Abramoff's clients in exchange for the $50,000 payments to his wife. To satisfy eLottery, he sunk the IGPA, which had majority support in the Congress, by introducing it under expedited rules thereby requiring two-thirds support for the measure to pass. He appeased the MPA by ensuring a smaller rate hike than the 15% that was initially floated.
Rudy joined in Abramoff junkets while working for DeLay.
Tony and Lisa Rudy joined Tom DeLay and others on a golf trip to Scotland in 2000. The Rudys were present from May 29 to June 3. Rudy's tickets and expenses for that trip were charged to Abramoff's American Express card. But the trip was underwritten by two Abramoff clients: the Choctaw Indians and eLottery. ELottery is the group that hired Abramoff to scuttle IGPA. Just 6 weeks after the trip, on July 17, 2000, IGPA failed to pass the House at least in part due to Rudy's interference.
According to The Hill, Rudy also accompanied Abramoff on a trip to Pebble Beach to watch the US Open Golf Tournament in 2000 while he was on Delay's payroll.
In 2001, after Abramoff had already hired Rudy away from DeLay, Rudy, Delay CoS Tim Berry and two Conrad Burns staffers flew on a corporate jet to the Superbowl in Tampa, FL. They spent the night gambling on SunCruz casinos. Abramoff footed the bill.
Rudy was in close contact with Abramoff while still working for DeLay.
In possible violation of House ethics, Rudy was in close contact with Abramoff regarding several of Abramoff's lobbying issues toward the end of his tenure with DeLay and immediately preceding his tenure with Greenberg Traurig. One of the issues he was assisting Abramoff with was a Congressional Resolution on POWs. He was emailing with Abramoff on that issue as late as December 15, 2000 - six days before he was hired by Greenberg Traurig.
Furthermore, during the period in which Abramoff and Rudy worked to prevent the IGPA from passing in mid-2000, Rudy explicitly referred to the duo as "we" in emails, suggesting he was acting as if he was part of Team Abramoff already, though he was still on DeLay's payroll.
Research by Ryan Chiachiere
return to the homepage
