Delaygate: Abramoff Faced Earlier Billing Inquiry

[paineinthearse]

Received by email from American Progress.

DELAY ALLY PART OF ANOTHER INQUIRY: Already under investigation for extorting millions of dollars from Indian tribes - http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58703-2004Nov17.html - in return for access to prominent conservative politicians, AP reports Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff "was at the center of an earlier inquiry that said his firm hadn't justified roughly $1.2 million it charged the Northern Mariana Islands." - http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4900671,00.html

Abramoff, who has traded on his ties to President Bush and House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX), was the lead lobbyist for Seattle-based Preston Gates & Ellis when it worked on behalf of the islands to keep them free from certain federal labor and immigration laws during the last half of the 1990s. One audit concluded that about $1.2 million in government payments to Preston Gates was "not adequately supported." The charges included travel, telephone, photocopy, computer research, outside-professional fees and "$2,000 for a June 1996 golf tournament."

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4900671,00.html

Abramoff Faced Earlier Billing Inquiry

Wednesday March 30, 2005 3:16 AM
By SHARON THEIMER

Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - A lobbyist under investigation for billing Indian tribes tens of millions of dollars was at the center of an earlier inquiry that said his firm hadn't justified roughly $1.2 million it charged the Northern Mariana Islands. Jack Abramoff, who has ties to President Bush and House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, is the lobbyist being investigated. He was the lead lobbyist for Seattle-based Preston Gates & Ellis when it worked on behalf of the U.S. territorial islands to keep them free from certain federal labor and immigration laws during the last half of the 1990s, according to reviews conducted by the Pacific islands' public auditors.

One audit concluded that about $1.2 million in government payments to Preston Gates was ``not adequately supported.'' The charges included travel, telephone, photocopy, computer research and outside-professional fees. Auditors said Preston Gates improperly billed the government $2,000 for a June 1996 golf tournament. The auditors said some payments to Abramoff's firm were made illegally, the documents show. Andrew Blum, a spokesman for Abramoff attorney Abbe Lowell, said Abramoff ``worked tirelessly'' on behalf of the Mariana Islands and fees paid to Abramoff or his lobby firms were ``more than justified.'' ``Due to the efforts of Mr. Abramoff and his team, (the commonwealth) realized substantial benefits for its economy,'' Blum said.

Preston Gates partner Jonathan Blank, speaking for the firm, declined to address the specific audit findings except to say they mostly addressed internal government procedures. ``Looking quickly at the report, it would seem we did our job,'' Blank said. Abramoff, a major Bush fundraiser, now is under investigation by a federal grand jury for deals under which he and an associate received at least $66 million from six Indian tribes to lobby for their casinos and other issues. The tribes question whether some charges were excessive.

Democrats in Congress also are exploring Abramoff's ties to Rep. DeLay, R-Texas, citing foreign trips DeLay took that were arranged by the lobbyist and questioning whether the congressman made legislative decisions based on the relationship. DeLay denies wrongdoing.

more.......

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58703-2004Nov17.html

Papers Show Tribe Paid to Try to Sway Bill

By Susan Schmidt
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, November 18, 2004; Page A01

A Texas Indian tribe desperate to reopen its shuttered gambling casino paid two Washington insiders $4.2 million to try to persuade Sen. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.) and Rep. Robert W. Ney (R-Ohio) to slip crucial language into a bill, according to documents released at a congressional hearing yesterday. The language did not end up in the 2002 Election Reform Act, but the tab for doing business in Washington came due anyway for the Tigua tribe of El Paso. The millions went to lobbyist Jack Abramoff and public relations executive Michael Scanlon, who are embroiled in investigations by Congress and a federal grand jury over the $82 million in lobbying and public relations fees they collected from six tribes that operate gambling casinos.

The documents also show that the Tiguas paid $25,000 into Ney's political action committee, gave $300,000 to the two political parties and signed on to a plan to enlist the vice chairman of the Democratic National Committee to approach Dodd on their behalf. Yesterday, Tigua representatives told the Senate Indian Affairs Committee that it is unclear what Abramoff and Scanlon did in return for the multimillion-dollar payment. Dodd issued a statement saying he never agreed to help the Tiguas. Ney, who has been close to Abramoff but now says he was duped by him, said he agreed to help the Tiguas only because Abramoff told him it was something Dodd wanted. The two men were chairmen of a House-Senate conference committee finalizing the election reform bill.

Scanlon, 34, a former aide to House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.), was subpoenaed to appear before the committee. Like Abramoff, who appeared at a hearing in September, he declined to answer questions on the grounds that they could incriminate him. Yesterday's hearing was the first time that details emerged of how Abramoff and Scanlon planned to carry out their promise to help a tribal client win favors on Capitol Hill. The documents and testimony provided an unusually stark look at the way Indian gambling riches have become part of Washington lobbying and fundraising.

The Washington Post previously reported that Abramoff and Scanlon quietly worked with conservative religious activist Ralph Reed to help persuade the state of Texas to shut down the Tigua casino in 2002, then persuaded the tribe to pay the $4.2 million to try to get Congress to reopen it. As they had in September, committee members struggled to express their disdain for the way the pair treated the tribes, with Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) branding their efforts "incredibly, deeply cynical." Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who is leading the investigation, vowed to pursue it wherever it leads -- a path that increasingly is heading into the halls of Congress.

more.......

[Warpy]

1. Abramof had better start singing like a little birdie

or they're going to make him the fall guy and allow Delay to skate.

[paineinthearse]

2. Paine prediction

Abramof will be given limited immunity in exchange for a reduced sentence.