Abramoff buys himself more time by cooperating
By Kirstin Ellison
Posted on Wed May 23, 2007 at 03:02:46 PM EST
Good news for Abramoff, bad news for Tom DeLay and John Doolittle? From The Hill:
On Monday, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia postponed the sentencing dates for Abramoff and [Michael] Scanlon yet again. Abramoff and Scanlon were convicted of conspiring to bribe public officials more than a year ago, but the court has postponed the sentencing of each several times....
..."Mr. Abramoff has been cooperating with government agents and prosecutors," Justice Department prosecutors wrote. "The government anticipates that Mr. Abramoff's cooperation will continue for the foreseeable future."
In addition to Abramoff and close friend Michael Scanlon, the court has also delayed sentencing hearings for Tony Rudy and Neil Volz. What might this mean? Well, if prosecutors are continuing to gather information from the key players in the Abramoff scandal, it may strengthen their investigations and potential charges of players not yet under indictment, such as DeLay and Rep. Doolittle. And the willingness of the court to continue to postpone sentencing indicates that the information they are receiving from these men is valuable. DeLay and Doolittle can't be feeling very safe right now.
Former Abramoff associate's resignation may do a lot to Doolittle
By Kirstin Ellison
Posted on Tue Apr 17, 2007 at 12:27:23 PM EST
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.
Another Abramoff casualty
By Kirstin Ellison
Posted on Tue Feb 27, 2007 at 04:26:28 PM EST
Well, the Abramoff circus isn't quite over; in fact, it appears to have a lot of life left in it. The latest name to surface is Will Heaton, Bob Ney's former chief of staff, who just agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud.
Heaton was involved in the scandal, according to The Hill, from August 2002 through August 2004.
Over those two years, Heaton accepted numerous favors from Abramoff and other members of his lobbying firm, including a now-infamous all-expense-paid golf trip to Scotland. Heaton was also was one of several recipients of a number of other trips abroad, concert and sporting-event tickets, meals and gambling chips, all taken with full knowledge the gifts were in exchange for official favors from Ney.
During one of those trips, Heaton and another staffer helped Ney conceal $5,000 brought into the country through customs and stored the money in a safe inside Ney's congressional office. Court documents said Heaton "open[ed] the safe as requested so that Ney could make repeated withdrawals."
Heaton knowingly falsified his 2002 and 2003 financial disclosure forms and assisted Ney in misrepresenting his travel disclosure form about the receipt of gifts from Abramoff and others.
Follow me inside for what this may mean for other members of Congress and their staffers...
Safavian conviction has dire implications for Ney
By Kirstin Ellison
Posted on Fri Jun 23, 2006 at 01:30:15 PM EST
Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH) can't be feeling very safe right now. We told you about the conviction of David Safavian on obstruction charges. What was lost in some of the hubbub about the conviction was that a star witness for the prosecution was Neil Volz, who left his position as Chief of Staff for Ney to become a lobbyist at Abramoff's firm.
The Columbus Dispatch has a good story on the legal implications of Volz's testimony for Ney. It seems that Volz provided much testimony on the 2002 golf trip to Scotland that Ney and Safavian took with Abramoff, and furthermore, the jury believed him and convicted Safavian.
USA Today editorializes on lobby reform
By Kirstin Ellison
Posted on Fri Jun 02, 2006 at 11:24:01 AM EST
Today's USA Today brings us an editorial on Congress and lobbying, and the non-reform reform bills working their way through the House and Senate.
On the subject of the now-infamous golf trip Jack Abramoff, Rep. Bob Ney, and aides took in 2002, USA Today highlights some of the problem areas for Ney:
If the golf junket was legal at all, it would have been because it employed two commonly used ruses for skirting ethics rules: the special interest-funded vacation dressed up as a fact-finding mission, and the use of a private jet at a fraction of its true cost. Here's how Ney's aide, Neil Volz, described the system when he worked on Capitol Hill: "I was given tickets to sporting events, concerts, free food, free meals. In return I gave special treatment to my lobbying buddies."
The Editorial Board echoes much of what Common Cause has said about the so-called "reform" plans currently under consideration:
Another Abramoff crony pleads guilty
By Kirstin Ellison
Posted on Mon May 08, 2006 at 04:44:47 PM EST
Neil Volz, a former aide to Ohio Representative Bob Ney, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to corrupt Ney and other Members of Congress and their staff. Volz was Ney's chief of staff, and began working as a lobbyist for Abramoff less than a year after leaving his congressional job, even though doing so violated federal law. Once at Abramoff's firm, Volz used his former position to influence the voting records of key congressmen, including Ney. The Associated Press reports:
There were regular meals and drinks at Abramoff's Washington restaurant, Signatures, the unreported use of Abramoff's box suites at the MCI Center Arena, now named Verizon Center, and Camden Yards baseball stadium in Baltimore for campaign fund-raisers, the court papers added.
And:
As part of the course of conduct, Abramoff, Volz and others received Ney's agreement and that of his staff to perform official acts including halting legislation adverse to Abramoff's clients and supporting legislation that favored them, the papers stated.
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