Sunday's Auburn Journal carried an op-ed by Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) in which he maintains his (and his wife's) innocence) and decries how the FBI search was handled. In his own words:
Next month will mark three years since the government first contacted Julie with questions about her work for Jack Abramoff. Since then, Julie has been responsive to every request that the government has made of her. Despite that fact, we have been subjected to leaks by the government, which in turn have led to irresponsible speculation and sensationalized reporting by the media, which in turn has led to the erosion of support and trust of my constituents.
All of this activity culminated in last month's unnecessary search of our home which I am convinced had much more to do with an attempt to intimidate us and garner media attention than the pursuit of the truth.
Doolittle provides details of the search to back up his claim:
The wait must be kiling Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) right about now. He may have heard about other lawmakers being raided, but he's still waiting prosecutors' next move in their investigation of his and his wife's ties to Jack Abramoff.
What that mext move is likely depends largely on what they learn from Kevin Ring, Doolitt's former legislative director.
Ring, a 36-year-old married father of two, figures prominently in his former boss' connections to Abramoff, a friend of Doolittle's who gave the congressman campaign cash and use of his sports box. Doolittle, who has denied wrongdoing, tried to advance the agendas of Abramoff's clients both in Congress and with the Bush administration.
What Ring tells prosecutors could determine Doolittle's fate.
"The incentive for the subordinate to cooperate is to save his own skin by implicating a superior," said Kenneth Gross, a political law attorney in Washington.
According to the article, Doolittle wanted Abramoff to find work for his wife Julie. In 2000, the year Ring joined Abramoff's lobbying firm, he emailed Abramoff about Doolittle's request. The Doolittles say they don't recall that happening, and in any case no job came from it. However, in 2002 Abramoff did hire Julie Doolittle for some consulting work at about $5000/month, for about a year and a half.
What else Ring can enlighten investigators about regarding his actions as a go-between for Doolittle and Abramoff remain to be seen.
Oh, man:
Two other congressmen were raided by federal authorities when his home was invaded by FBI agents in April, Rep. John Doolittle, R-Roseville, revealed Thursday.
"One's a Democrat and one's a Republican," Doolittle said during a media conference call from Washington, D.C. He said the raids were related to the ongoing federal investigation of jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who had business contacts with Doolittle's wife Julie Doolittle. She raises funds for her husband and others through her political consulting firm.
Doolittle said he would draw a page from media practice by only saying "well-placed sources" had advised him of the raids, which had not become public until his pronouncement. He said he did not know the other congressmen's names.
Oh, man, is the heat up on John Doolittle, even more than we speculated about earlier this week.
On the same day Kevin Ring, Doolittle's former Legislative Director, resigned from his law firm amid Justice Department inquiries, Rep. Doolittle's house was raided by the FBI. The Congressman's office maintains that the focus of the raid was Doolittle's wife Julie, whose ties to Abramoff have been under investigation for some time.
From Roll Call (sub. req'd.):
On Wednesday evening, Doolittle issued a statement standing behind his wife.
"My wife has been cooperating with the FBI and the Justice Department for almost three years and that cooperation is going to continue in the future," Doolittle said.
"I support my wife 100 percent and fully expect that the truth will prevail."
And this is not going to make the GOP leadership happy:
The news could present a political problem for Boehner and Cole, because the two leaders have been particularly forceful in sending the message to their colleagues that ethical and legal scrutiny will not be tolerated in the new minority. Republicans lost in 2006 due, in part, to the relentless stream of scandals coming from their side of the aisle in the 109th Congress.
To be fair, though, this really is just a continuation of the Abramoff scandal, not an entirely new one. More details inside about the Doolittle household's ties to Jack Abramoff...
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