Ney subpoenaed in investigation of lobbyist Jack Abramoff

[Algorem]

http://www.cleveland.com/newsflash/cleveland/index.ssf?/base/news-20/113113254185791.xml&storylist=cleveland

11/4/2005, 2:21 p.m. ET
By DAVID HAMMER
The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Rep. Bob Ney of Ohio has been subpoenaed by the Justice Department to provide documents related to the government's investigation of indicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff, Ney's office said Friday.

"I voluntarily provided information to the Senate Indian Affairs Committee last year and I have offered to make myself available to meet with the House Ethics Committee," Ney, a Republican, said in a statement. "I believe, however, that although the government's investigation of Mr. Abramoff has been well-publicized through other sources, it is inappropriate for my office to comment in any detail about an ongoing investigation."

Ney spokesman Brian Walsh said Friday that Ney has not been notified that he is the target of any investigation and had informed House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., of the subpoena.

[rodeodance]

1. let the flood gush forth!

[Burried News]

2. Na na nana na na nanna Ney Ney Ney Goodbye.

Dennis - how they hangin bud? Mighty low? That's a shame. Here get a grip.

[Pirate Smile]

3. Info up on the DCCC web-site "Bob Ney's Subpoena"

Bob Ney's Subpoena
Posted by Mike Disharoon
Friday, November 4, 2005 at 2:56 PM

The Justice Department has subpoened Rep. Bob Ney (OH-18) for documents related to the Abramoff probe:

Rep. Bob Ney said Friday that he has been asked by the Justice Department to hand over documents related to the government's investigation of indicted Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

A statement released by Ney's office said the Republican congressman from Heath has not been notified that he is the target of an investigation, and they do not expect that he will be a target.

...In August, Abramoff and his associate, New York businessman Adam Kidan, were indicted by a grand jury in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., on a series of wire fraud charges related to their 2000 purchase of SunCruz.

In March of 2000, while Abramoff and Kidan were trying to negotiate a deal to purchase the casino cruise line, Ney had inserted a comment into the Congressional Record criticizing owner Gus Boulis.

Later that year, after Abramoff and Kidan had successfully purchased the cruise line for $147 million, Ney praised Kidan in another statement inserted into the Congressional Record.

Ney also traveled with Abramoff on a golfing trip to Scotland in 2002, and has been connected to an Indian casino issue that Abramoff tried to get him to insert into an election reform bill.

Here's more background from Roll Call connecting Ney to Abramoff's Tigua Tribe lobbying:

It was revealed during an Indian Affairs Committee hearing last year that Ney was lobbied by Abramoff in 2002 to insert a provision into an election reform bill that would have benefitted a tribe in Texas for which Abramoff was secretly lobbying. Abramoff and Scanlon received more than $4 million from the tribe, although Abramoff never registered to lobby for it.

This came just after Abramoff had hired Ney's former chief of staff, Neil Volz, as a lobbyist for the firm Greenberg Traurig.

A month after his initial discussion with Abramoff regarding the Tigua Tribe of El Paso, Texas, who were looking for federal help to reopen a casino closed by Texas authorities, more than $30,000 in hard and soft money was donated to Ney's federal and non-federal leadership political action committees by the tribe. The donations were made in April 2002, according to Marc Schwartz, a Texas-based lobbyist hired by the tribe.

...In October 2002, after the election reform bill had been approved by Congress without the Tigua language, Ney held a conference call with members of the Tigua tribal council "and told them of his disbelief that Sen. Dodd had gone back on his word," Schwartz told the Indian Affairs Committee. Ney "further reported that he would continue to work on the issue and believed that the tribe was entitled to their gaming operation, and he would personally continue to seek a solution," Schwartz testified.

http://www.dccc.org/stakeholder/archives/003845.html

[SOS]

11. Most reports seem to mysteriously omit one item

I'll edit in the missing piece:

In March of 2000, while Abramoff and Kidan were trying to negotiate a deal to purchase the casino cruise line, Ney had inserted a comment into the Congressional Record criticizing owner Gus Boulis.

Later that year, after Abramoff and Kidan had successfully purchased the cruise line for $147 million, Ney praised Kidan in another statement inserted into the Congressional Record.

MISSING DETAIL: On February 6, 2001 Gus Boulis was gunned down by hired assasins.
SunCruz, owned by Abramoff and Kidan, paid three mafia members from NY $250,000 for "catering services" around the time of the murder.

Ney also traveled with Abramoff on a golfing trip to Scotland in 2002, and has been connected to an Indian casino issue that Abramoff tried to get him to insert into an election reform bill.

[cmd]

4. Dear Bob,

Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha,ha, ha, ha, ha,ha, ha, ha, ha,ha, ha, ha, ha,ha, ha, ha, ha,ha, ha, ha, ha,ha, ha, ha, ha,ha, ha, ha, ha,ha, ha, ha, ha.

And I'll be laughing harder when the government investigates you. Happy golfing!

[AlCzervik]

5. Oh Bob Ney you are so over.

[yellowcanine]

6. Latest Pubbie campaign slogan, "NOT YET INDICTED" We should do

T shirts for the appropriate individuals.

For the less fortunate like DeLay, Libby, and Taft we could do"

INDICTED BUT NOT YET CONVICTED


And for the rest of the pubbies not in these two categories we could do:

"NOT YET UNDER INVESTIGATION"

[Pirate Smile]

7. Wash Post article - has some details.

Ney Subpoenaed in Abramoff Probe

By James V. Grimaldi and Susan Schmidt
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, November 4, 2005; 4:17 PM

-snip-
As chairman of the powerful House Administration Committee, Ney promised to add legislation to a bill before his committee to reopen a casino for a Texas Indian tribe that Abramoff represented. Two years earlier, Ney placed comments in the Congressional Record favorable to Abramoff's 2000 purchase of the casino boat company, SunCruz Casinos.

Ney also approved a 2002 license for an Israeli telecommunications company to install antennas for the House. The company later paid Abramoff $280,000 for lobbying, according to lobbying disclosure forms. Records obtained by The Post show the firm also donated $50,000 to a charity that Abramoff sometimes used to secretly pay for some of his lobbying activities.

If statements made by Abramoff to tribal officials and in an e-mail are to be believed, Ney sought the Scotland trip after he agreed to help Abramoff's Texas Indian clients. Abramoff then arranged for his charity to pay for the trip, according to documents released by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, which is investigating the lobbyist.

The Post reported last month that Ney is under investigation by Florida federal prosecutors looking into Abramoff's acquisition of SunCruz. Abramoff and his business partner Adam Kidan were indicted in August on fraud charges related to the purchase. The grand jury that subpoenaed Ney is based in Washington.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/04/AR2005110401197.html

[NVMojo]

8. the floods' been gushing for several weeks now!!!

[UpInArms]

9. related: Grand jury orders papers from Ney

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1131187228295080.xml&coll=2

-- A federal grand jury investigating disgraced Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff has subpoenaed records from U.S. Rep. Bob Ney of Licking County, Ohio.

This is believed to be the first subpoena issued to a Congress member in the Abramoff matter -- a tangle involving a rich lobbyist with a taste for foreign travel and skill at raising campaign money from clients seeking congressional favors.

Ney's spokesman, Brian Walsh, said the Justice Department has not notified the congressman that he is a target.

<snip>

In one case, Abramoff was trying to pave the way for a client, a Texas Indian tribe, to reopen a closed casino. At Abramoff's behest, Ney was prepared to sponsor legislation that would have helped, according to testimony and records from a Senate Indian Affairs Committee investigation.

Tribal members say Abramoff told them to give Ney political contributions in return for the congressman's efforts. They also say Abramoff told them to help pay for Ney to take a trip to Scotland via private jet.

Ney in fact took such a trip to Scotland, and got $32,000 in contributions from the tribe. He has said he did not know these were part of an Abramoff plot and that he thought a charity had paid for the trip.

...more...

:bounce: :woohoo: :applause:

What a guy that Ney is! Just helping himself to the hog trough that is GOPpiggie politics.

[WCGreen]

10. I m soooo Proud he is a Buckeye.....

The Wayne Hays of the Republican Party....

[Peter Frank]

12. Kick...

:kick: