Common Cause Blog

Abramoff Rides Again, Sort Of

Government Reform Committee in House releases "proposed report" on Jack Abramoff's connections with the White House:

report (pdf)

Hey, Senate: Git-R-Dun on Ethics Reform!

The Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007, also known as S. 1, or the ethics and lobbying reform bill, is not everything we had hoped it to be. And it's nowhere near what we'd like it to be despite its lofty title and low number.

That's all right.

If the Senate gives its approval to S. 1 this week, as it's expected to do, Congress will finally have produced tighter ethics and lobbying rules after being dragged through the mud of the Abramoff, Foley, Ney and Cunningham scandals of years past. And we'll soon be reminded of why we went to this trouble, when Rep. William Jefferson, D-LA, goes to trial.

Doolittle having a tough time fundraising

If you're contemplating donating to a political campaign, you'd probably be more comfortable giving to a candidate who wasn't under investigation by the FBI, right?

Then these numbers probably aren't a big surprise.

Doolittle reported raising $100,183 from April 1 through June 30, according to his quarterly Federal Election Commission report. The three-month period encompassed an FBI raid on his home in early April in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal, which forced Doolittle to step down from the House Appropriations Committee.

By contrast, the conservative nine-term congressman raised nearly $130,000 during the first three months of this year.

Meanwhile, his Democratic challenger raised $193,238 this quarter. Doolittle may also face a primary challenger, which will mean he'll need even more money.

So what do you think? Even if Doolittle isn't prosecuted before the next election, will his legal problems keep him from fundraising enough to stay competitive?

Another Abramoff-related guilty plea

No, it's not John Doolittle. Yet.

In the angle of the Abramoff story concerning the Interior Department, Jared Carpenter has pleaded guilty to tax evasion. Carpenter was the vice-president of the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy (CREA), a non-profit started by now-imprisoned Italia Federici and former Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton. CREA received large donations from Abramoff, his cronies, and their clients, at the same time he was lobbying the Interior Department on tribal gaming issues.

John Doolittle - now with twice the scandal!

Here's an interesting AP article I almost missed, laying out the strange position Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) finds himself in.

You know about the one the FBI is actively investigating him for - $5000/month from Jack Abramoff to Julie Doolittle for questionable consulting work while the gentleman from California was ushering Abramoff's pet issues and projects through Congress.

And then there's the other scandal, the bribery case that's already landed ex-Rep. Duke Cunningham (R-CA) in prison:

Abramoff buys himself more time by cooperating

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.

Susan Ralston is willing to talk

As we mentioned last week, former Karl Rove assistant and Jack Abramoff aide Susan Ralston is angling for immunity from the House Committee on Overight and Government Reform. It now appears that she is definitely willing to testify, and indeed does have information of interest...but first she wants that immunity.

During a May 10 deposition with Ralston, her attorney, Bradford Berenson, told investigators for the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform that she "has material, useful information" about contacts between Abramoff and his associates and White House officials, according to a memo sent to committee members Tuesday by the committee's chairman, Rep. Henry Waxman, D-California.

Berenson also said Ralston has useful information about the use of outside Republican National Committee e-mail accounts by White House staffers, which is also the subject of a congressional probe, according to the memo.

However, Ralston will only be "comfortable going forward" if she is given a grant of immunity, Berenson told investigators, according to the memo.

Ralston was Abramoff's executive assistant until 2001, when she went to work for Rove on Abramoff's recommendation. More than half of the contacts between Team Abramoff and the White House were made through her. I can't wait to hear what she has to say.