Whenever I hear Rep. John Doolittle's (R-CA) name, I'm reminded of an old advertisement hanging in Public Campaign's office during my intern days. It said something along the lines of "Tell Congress that when it comes to HR 1234, you expect them to do more than DeLay and Doolittle," with pictures of the two men who apparently were holding up the legislation.
One thing Doolittle was quite busy with, however, was his relationship with Jack Abramoff. From the Politico:
Doolittle, according to news reports, helped direct appropriations to Abramoff's clients, weighed in on their behalf in disputes, used Abramoff's skybox for a fundraiser, [and] received over $130,000 in political donations from Abramoff, his clients and associates.
And now, amid whispers that he's under investigation by the Justice Department for his ties to Abramoff, he's got something else to worry about - his former Legislative Director, Kevin Ring, has resigned from his position at the law firm of Barnes & Thornburg:
Ring, 36, was an aide to Doolittle for five years and later worked for Abramoff at Florida-based law firm Greenberg Traurig. He often served as an intermediary between Abramoff's clients and Doolittle's office, according to news reports, and has remained close to Doolittle and his wife, Julie, who did consulting work for Abramoff.
Doolittle has denied any wrongdoing. But, there's speculation:
"It's typical prosecutorial methodology to work their way up the ladder, put pressure on underlings, cut a deal with them to save their skin and to bring in the bigger fish," said Kenneth A. Gross, an ethics expert at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom.
Uh oh. That doesn't sound too good for Mr. Doolittle.
Remember, this isn't the first lawyer from Barnes & Thornburg to resign recently; Neil Volz, Bob Ney's former staffer, pleaded guilty to various charges and cooperated with prosecutors in the months leading up to Ney's own eventual plea.
"This is very much like the conversations that were being had when the early indictments came around Bob Ney," said Marc Erik Elias, an ethics and campaign finance lawyer at Perkins Coie. "He said, `Not me, not me, not me,' but when people who worked for you are getting indicted and the condition for the plea is that they cooperate against you, you know you're in the crosshairs. Whether that will happen in this case only time will tell."
