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Trevor Blackann

Don Young Aide The Latest To Be Indicted In Abramoff Scam

Zachary Roth | March 6, 2009, 3:30PM

Yet another indictment in the Jack Abramoff case...

The Justice Department has announced that Fraser Verrusio, the other Hill staffer who went on that 2003 Team-Abramoff-funded trip to the World Series -- including a trip to a strip club and a chauffeur-driven limousine -- has been charged with accepting an illegal gift, and failing to report it on his financial disclosure form.

Last November, Trevor Blackann, an aide to Sen. Kit Bond, pleaded guilty to failing to report that same trip.

Verusio was at the time a policy director on the House Transportation committee. According to the indictment, he accepted the trip in exchange for inserting into the Federal Highway bill amendments favorable to an equipment rental company, which had hired Abramoff's firm to lobby for it.

Todd Boulanger and James Hirni, two members of Abramoff's team, have already pleaded guilty in connection with the scheme.

The Transportation committee was at the time chaired by Alaska GOPer Don Young. So today's news may bring federal prosecutors closer to Young himself, whose ties to Abramoff and his firm have been amply documented.

We're guessing it won't be long before prosecutors announce a plea deal with Verrusio, in which he agrees to cooperate fully. Hope those strippers were worth it.

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Topics: Don Young, Fraser Verrusio, Jack Abramoff, James Hirni, Lobbyists, Todd Boulanger, Trevor Blackann

Jack Abramoff

Another Member of Team Abramoff Charged

Zachary Roth | January 29, 2009, 9:09AM

At last, the bell has tolled for Todd Boulanger.

In November, he quit his job as a lobbyist at Cassidy and Associates, amid the growing likelihood that he'd be charged in Jack Abramoff's corruption scheme.

And now he has been.

The Associated Press reports:

The government says Todd Boulanger gave government aides "a stream of things of value," including all-expense-paid travel, tickets to professional sports and concerts and nights out at expensive restaurants, to reward and influence actions that would benefit his clients. He was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

One of those aides, it appears, was Trevor Blackann, a former staffer for Missouri Republicans Roy Blunt and Kit Bond, who pleaded guilty last fall to having accepted an all-expenses paid trip to the 2003 World Series -- including limousine service and a visit to a strip club -- arranged by Boulanger and another member of Team Abramoff, James Hirni.

But the Associated Press has identified another of the aides who accepted gifts from Boulanger: Ann Copland, a former staffer for Sen. Thad Cochran, the Mississippi Republican.

According to the documents, in 2002 Kevin Ring, another Abramoff crony who was charged last September, forwarded to Abramoff and Hirni an email from "Staffer E" (identified by AP as Copland), above which Ring wrote: "Wow ... We already told her she was fine on McCartney, ice skating and Green Day -- although we need to let her know how many tix she can have for each. Also, please review the other requests and let me know what we can do there."

Copland was hired by Mississippi Public Broadcasting in May 2008 as deputy executive director for education.

Before working with Abramoff, Boulanager was an aide to former Republican senator Bob Smith of New Hampshire.

It looks like Boulanger will plead guilty. The AP notes:

The charge was outlined in a federal court document known as an information -- a document normally filed as part of a plea deal.

So it's possible we could we see yet more charges filed in this long-running saga...

Late Update: Boulanger says he is cooperating with the investigation. His lawyer sent the following statement to AP:

Mr. Boulanger regrets this situation and is accepting responsibility for certain past conduct.

The circumstances underlying this situation arose more than five years ago, when Todd was employed by the law firm of Greenberg Traurig as a young lobbyist working under Jack Abramoff. Mr. Boulanger is cooperating with the Department of Justice in its investigation and looks forward to its complete and swift resolution.

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Topics: Jack Abramoff, Lobbyists, Todd Boulanger, Trevor Blackann

Jack Abramoff

Guilty Plea For Another Abramoff Crony

Zachary Roth | December 12, 2008, 4:27PM

James Hirni, the former lobbyist who was charged last month in connection with the wide-ranging Jack Abamoff probe, pleaded guilty today to providing an all-expenses paid trip to the World Series in New York to two congressional staffers, including entertainment at a strip club and a chauffeur-driven SUV.

Hirni was at the time a lobbyist for an equipment rental company that was pushing legislation in Congress. He recently was fired from his job doing "Republican outreach" for Wal-Mart, after news of the charges surfaced.

One of the two staffers who received the free trip, Trevor Blackann, a former aide to GOP senator Kit Bond, pleaded guilty last month to failing to disclose the trip on his tax returns.

Hirni's lawyer last month told ABCNews.com that Hirni is cooperating with prosecutors, suggesting that the feds are still working to build cases against bigger fish.

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Topics: Jack Abramoff, James Hirni, Lobbyists, Sex, Trevor Blackann

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.

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Topics: Don Young, Jack Abramoff, James Hirni, Lobbyists, Todd Boulanger, Trevor Blackann

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.