It ain't over yet
By Kirstin Ellison
Posted on Thu Jan 11, 2007 at 04:05:53 PM EST
Jack Abramoff, Tom DeLay, and Bob Ney may not be hogging the headlines these days as much as they were in 2006, but that doesn't mean the scandal is over with. Several government officials are still under investigation, and federal prosecutors have recently notified another one that he is a target of the Abramoff public corruption investigation.
Ladies and gentlemen, meet J. Steven Griles, former deputy secretary of the interior:
The sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that among the possible criminal charges being investigated is whether Griles made false statements to the Senate Indian Affairs Committee in 2005 about job discussions Abramoff initiated while Griles was deputy secretary. Griles's attorneys did not return calls seeking comment yesterday.
Justice Department prosecutors met with Griles on Friday to outline possible charges. The investigation has examined donations made by Abramoff's Indian tribal clients to an environmental advocacy group run by Italia Federici, who was involved with Griles socially, the sources said. Also under scrutiny are donations made to Federici's group by energy and mining companies, the sources said.
This isn't the first time Federici's name has come up in the Abramoff scandal. She's been accused of accepting donations to her advocacy organization from Abramoff's clients in exchange for using her personal relationships with government officials, including Griles, to influence their decision-making. A good list of news articles detailing her involvement in the scandal can be found here.
But back to Griles...
Griles was a controversial figure at Interior, strongly criticized by the department's inspector general for maintaining ties to energy and mining companies that were once his lobbying clients.
That would be these clients, some of the biggest names in the industries. If there's one thing we've learned, it's that the phrase "conflict of interest" carries no meaning to Abramoff's buddies.
I don't care if it's thousands of dollars to a friend's organization or a handfull of free sports/concert tickets; any official who took an inappropriate gift from Abramoff needs to be invstigated and punished accordingly.
Wait, did I just say free tickets? I must have been thinking about Roger Stillwell, another former Interior Department employee who yesterday was sentenced to two years' probation as a result of tickets he received from Abramoff (then a lobbyist for the Northern Mariana Islands) while working in the Insular Affairs Office (which handles Marianas issues). See, it's that darn conflict of interest again...what do you think the chances are of them fully wrapping their minds around the concept before the last cellblock door slams shut?
Tags: Ethics in Government, Abramoff, Interior Department, J. Steven Griles (all tags)
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