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Lawmakers Under Scrutiny in Probe of Lobbyist
Ney and DeLay Among the Members of Congress Said to Be a Focus of
Abramoff Investigation
By Susan Schmidt and James V. Grimaldi
Washington Post Staff Writers
11/26/05 "Washington
Post" -- -- The Justice Department's
wide-ranging investigation of former lobbyist Jack Abramoff has
entered a highly active phase as prosecutors are beginning to move
on evidence pointing to possible corruption in Congress and
executive branch agencies, lawyers involved in the case said.
Prosecutors have already told one lawmaker, Rep. Robert W. Ney
(R-Ohio), and his former chief of staff that they are preparing a
possible bribery case against them, according to two sources
knowledgeable about the matter who spoke on the condition of
anonymity.
The 35 to 40 investigators and prosecutors on the Abramoff case are
focused on at least half a dozen members of Congress, lawyers and
others close to the probe said. The investigators are looking at
payments made by Abramoff and his colleagues to the wives of some
lawmakers and at actions taken by senior Capitol Hill aides, some of
whom went to work for Abramoff at the law firm Greenberg Traurig LLP,
lawyers and others familiar with the probe said.
Former House majority leader Tom DeLay (R), now facing separate
campaign finance charges in his home state of Texas, is one of the
members under scrutiny, the sources said. Sen. Conrad Burns
(R-Mont.), Rep. John T. Doolittle (R-Calif.) and other members of
Congress involved with Indian affairs, one of Abramoff's key areas
of interest, are also said to be among them.
Prosecutions and plea deals have become more likely, the lawyers
said, now that Abramoff's former partner -- public relations
executive Michael Scanlon -- has agreed to plead guilty to
conspiracy and to testify about gifts that he and his K Street
colleagues showered on lawmakers, allegedly in exchange for official
favors.
An attorney for DeLay, whose wife worked for a lobbying firm that
received client referrals from Abramoff, said there was no
connection between her work and congressional business. A spokesman
for Doolittle, whose wife received payments from Abramoff's lobbying
firm, also said there was no connection with her husband's position.
Burns's office has said his actions were consistent with his support
for improving conditions for Indian tribes.
Ney is the congressman whose name has surfaced most prominently in
the Abramoff investigation. His spokesman and attorney have said for
weeks that Ney has not been told he is a target of the inquiry, even
while acknowledging that his office has received a grand jury
subpoena and that his activities were mentioned in Scanlon's plea
agreement.
But the sources said that during the third week of October
prosecutors told Ney and his former chief of staff, Neil Volz, that
they were preparing a bribery case based in part on activities that
occurred in October 2000. Abramoff and another business partner,
Adam Kidan, were also told that they are targets in that case, the
sources said.
The five-year statute of limitations for filing charges based on
those events expired last month; the prosecutors sought and received
a waiver of the deadline from all four men while they continue their
investigation, the sources said. Prosecutors are often able to
obtain such waivers by giving the targets a choice of being indicted
right away or granting more time to see if information might surface
that exonerates them.
Ney's attorney, Mark H. Tuohey, did not return calls seeking comment
on the waiver. Ney spokesman Brian Walsh said the office had no
comment, as did a lawyer for Volz.
The attorneys of Abramoff and Kidan did not return calls seeking
comment.
The events in 2000 that interest investigators are connected to the
purchase by Abramoff and Kidan of SunCruz Casinos, owner of a fleet
of Florida gambling boats. Ney twice placed comments in the
Congressional Record about SunCruz, first criticizing its former
owner when Abramoff and Kidan were in difficult purchase
negotiations and then, in October, praising Kidan's new management.
Abramoff and Kidan are facing trial in January on charges of
defrauding lenders in their purchase of the casino boats.
The statute of limitations may also soon run out on a 2001 Super
Bowl trip sponsored by SunCruz that sources said investigators have
reviewed. The Washington Post reported earlier this year that aides
to Burns and DeLay were ferried to Tampa on a SunCruz corporate jet
arranged by Abramoff. Ney and his sons were invited to the 2001
Super Bowl outing, former Abramoff associates said, but did not go.
The Hill aides were treated to the game and a night of gambling on a
Sun Cruz ship. They were offered $500 in gambling chips, sources
knowledgeable about the trip said.
The Post has reported that Burns, who received $137,000 in
contributions from Abramoff lobbyists and their tribal clients,
obtained a controversial $3 million school construction grant for
one of Abramoff's wealthy tribal clients after pressuring the Bureau
of Indian Affairs.
Investigators are also gathering information about Abramoff's hiring
of several congressional wives, sources said, as well as his
referral of clients to Alexander Strategy Group, a lobbying and
consulting firm run by former senior aides to DeLay. Financial
disclosure forms show that the firm employed DeLay's wife,
Christine, from 1998 to 2002.
Former Abramoff lobbying associates have said that Abramoff shared
some of his high-paying clients with the group, including Malaysian
interests, the Mississippi Choctaw Indian tribe and online gambling
firms. Federal investigators have questioned some former Abramoff
associates about whether those referrals were related to Christine
DeLay's employment there, sources said.
Alexander Strategy Group is run by former DeLay senior staffers
Edwin A. Buckham and Tony C. Rudy. Rudy served as DeLay's deputy
chief of staff until 2001, when he took a job with Abramoff, and
later moved on to join Buckham.
Investigators are looking into whether Rudy aided Abramoff's
lobbying clients while he was working on the Hill, the sources said,
and are reviewing payments from Abramoff clients and associates to
Liberty Consulting, a political firm founded by Rudy's wife, Lisa.
The Washington Post reported last month that Rudy, while on DeLay's
staff, helped scuttle a bill opposed by eLottery Inc., an Abramoff
client, and that Abramoff had eLottery pay a foundation to hire
Liberty Consulting.
Richard Cullen, an attorney for the DeLays, said Christine DeLay was
hired by Buckham, an old family friend, to determine the favorite
charity of every member of Congress. She was paid $3,200 to $3,400 a
month for three years, or about $115,000 total, he said.
"It wasn't like she did this 9 to 5, but it was an ongoing project,"
Cullen said. He said Christine DeLay's work was commensurate with
the project and had nothing to do with her husband or any official
congressional business. "This was something that she found to be
very interesting, very challenging and very worthwhile," Cullen
said.
Rudy and Buckham and their attorneys did not return calls seeking
comment.
Abramoff's connections to Doolittle are also of interest to
investigators, sources said. Doolittle's former chief of staff,
Kevin A. Ring, went to work with Abramoff. Doolittle's wife, Julie,
owned a consulting firm that was hired by Abramoff and his firm,
Greenberg Traurig, to do fundraising for a charity he founded. Two
sources close to the investigation said that Ring, while working for
Abramoff, was an intermediary in the hiring of Julie Doolittle's
firm, Sierra Dominion Financial Solutions Inc., which last year
received a subpoena from the grand jury investigating Abramoff.
Julie Doolittle's attorney, William L. Stauffer Jr., said Sierra
Dominion Financial was hired by Greenberg Traurig to provide "event
planning, marketing and related services, as requested by Mr.
Abramoff" for Abramoff's Capital Athletic Foundation and his
Signatures restaurant. Sierra Dominion received a monthly retainer
from Greenberg Traurig from January 2003 until February 2004, at a
rate similar to that paid by other Sierra Dominion clients, Stauffer
said.
Abramoff frequently used the athletic foundation as a pass-through
organization to run lobbying efforts and to pay for expenses,
records show. Julie Doolittle was hired to put on a fundraiser for
the foundation at the International Spy Museum, but the event was
canceled because it had been scheduled to take place just at the
Iraq war was commencing, Stauffer said.
"Sierra Dominion primarily performed public relations and other
event planning services for the Spy Museum event," Stauffer said in
an e-mail reply to questions. "This included responding to all
individuals calling the Capital Athletic Foundation concerning the
Spy Museum event, identifying (and contacting) possible attendees
for the event, and assisting in fund raising strategy and letters."
Doolittle's office denied any connection between the firm's work and
official acts.
"In no way did Sierra Dominion's business services work for
Greenberg Traurig have any relationship to Congressman Doolittle's
official duties as a member of the House of Representatives," said
Doolittle spokeswoman Laura Blackmann.
"Congressman Doolittle has never received a subpoena regarding this
matter, nor has he ever been contacted by the Justice Department to
provide information or be questioned," she said.
The Justice Department investigation is also looking into Abramoff's
influence among executive branch officials. Sources said prosecutors
are continuing to seek information about Abramoff's dealings with
then-Deputy Interior Secretary J. Steven Griles, including a job
offer from the lobbyist at a time when he was seeking department
actions on behalf of his tribal clients.
The former top procurement official in the Bush administration,
David H. Safavian, has already been charged with lying and
obstruction of justice in connection with the Abramoff
investigation. Safavian, who traveled to Scotland with Ney on a golf
outing arranged by Abramoff, is accused of concealing from federal
investigators that Abramoff was seeking to do business with the
General Services Administration at the time of the golf trip.
Safavian was then GSA chief of staff.
© 2005 The Washington Post Company
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