Lobbyists

Wal-Mart Cans GOP Lobbyist After He's Charged in Abramoff Scheme

Zachary Roth | November 24, 2008, 3:10PM

Wal-Mart has fired James Hirni, the former Team Abramoff lobbyist who prosecutors on Friday charged with giving illegal gifts to two congressional staffers.

In a statement emailed to The Hill, a company spokesman wrote:

"Based on Mr. Hirni's [expected] guilty plea which relates to conduct occurring prior to and unrelated to his employment by the company, we terminated his employment."

Todd Boulanger, another former Abramoff team member implicated in the scheme resigned on Friday from the lobbying firm Cassidy and Associates. Boulanger has not been formally charged at this point.

Hirni had worked as Wal-Mart's "director of Republican outreach". He first represented the retail giant in 2004 while working with Abramoff at the law and lobbying firm Greenberg Traurig.

Jack Abramoff

Abramoff Lobbyists Wanted Measure Attached To Young's Transportation Bill

Zachary Roth | November 24, 2008, 12:29PM

So what did James Hirni and Todd Boulanger -- the former Team Abramoff lobbyists now in hot water for plying congressional staffers with undisclosed gifts -- want in return?

Both men were working for Abramoff at the law and lobbying firm Greenberg Traurig, on behalf of United Rentals, an equipment rental company. Court documents filed by prosecutors allege that in 2003, they wanted action on an amendment to a federal highway reauthorization bill that would have encouraged state public works agencies to rent, rather than buy, construction equipment. That would clearly have benefited United Rentals.

The documents further allege that immediately after they had paid for Blackann and another staffer (identified as Staffer D) to attend the World Series (and a "Gentleman's Club" in New York), Boulanger and Hinri sent drafts of the specific measure they wanted to Trevor Blackann, the staffer who just pleaded in connection with the scheme, and Staffer D.

Staffer D at the time worked for the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, which was then chaired by Rep. Don Young (R-AK). That committee was overseeing the larger highway reauthorization bill to which Boulanger and Hirni were seeking to attach their measure.

In November of that year, say the documents, Boulanger and Hirni prevailed on a Senate staffer to offer the amendment they wanted to the Senate version of the bill.

United Rentals hardly has a squeaky clean reputation. This September, it agreed to pay the SEC $14 million, ending a four-year probe into claims that the company fraudulently inflated its earnings and made fraudulent leasing transactions with suppliers, between 1997 and 2002. It did not admit or deny the charges.

Jack Abramoff

Another Ex-Member of Team Abramoff Charged -- And One More Could Be Next

Zachary Roth | November 24, 2008, 11:07AM

More developments in the ongoing Jack Abramoff probe...

Last week Trevor Blackann, a former staffer for Missouri Republicans Roy Blunt and Kit Bond, pleaded guilty to concealing thousands of dollars in illegal gifts he received from lobbyists who were part of Team Abramoff.

Those lobbyists were quickly identified as James Hirni, until recently a lobbyist for Wal-Mart, and Todd Boulanger, who until last week worked for Cassidy and Associates, a top DC lobby shop.

And late Friday, ABCNews.com reported that prosecutors had filed charges against Hirni, and that he's expected to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Hirni's lawyer told the site that Hirni is cooperating with prosecutors, suggesting that DOJ is working to build cases against bigger fish.

As for Boulanger, he could be next to be charged: also Friday, Cassidy and Associates announced that it had "accepted the departure" of the lobbyist that afternoon.

Todd Boulanger

Justice Docs Suggest Identities of Team Abramoff Lobbyists Who Bribed Aide

Zachary Roth | November 21, 2008, 11:09AM

Yesterday, Trevor Blackann, a former aide to Missouri Republicans Sen. Kit Bond and Rep. Roy Blunt, pleaded guilty to concealing thousands of dollars in illegal gifts he received from lobbyists who were part of Team Abramoff.

Exactly who were those lobbyists? Today, Rollcall fingers Todd Boulanger and James Hirni as the top suspects:

According to documents provided by the Justice Department, Blackann received the majority of gifts -- valued at more than $3,100 -- in 2003 from an individual identified only as "Lobbyist D," a close Abramoff associate.

But details provided about "Lobbyist D" match the career trajectory of Todd Boulanger, a former aide to then-Sen. Bob Smith (R-N.H.), who later worked for the firm Preston Gates and then Greenberg Traurig.

...

Although unnamed, details about "Lobbyist E" match those of James Hirni, a former Senate aide who at one time worked for Greenberg Traurig with both "Lobbyist D" and Abramoff.

Boulanger has long been known as a key member of Team Abramoff. In 2006, TPMmuckraker published a 2002 email he sent to fellow lobbyists, asking them to contribute to the re-election camapign of Mississippi GOP senator Thad Cochran, whose office, wrote Boulanger, had "never said 'no'" to the Choctaw Indians, a casino-owning Abramoff client.

Both Boulanger and Hirni are still in the lobbying game. Boulanger works for Cassidy and Associates, while Hirni is a "director of Republican outreach" for Wal-Mart, according to Roll Call. Neither returned the paper's calls for comment.

Perhaps ominously for both, Blackann is said by his lawyer to be cooperating with prosecutors as they seek to build other cases.

As for Bond and Blunt themselves, the office of the former said yesterday he had "no knowledge" of Blackann's ilegal activities. Blunt's office has not yet commented publicly on the matter.