Abramoff Probe Grows...
In the first trial connected to the scandal surrounding lobbyist Jack Abramoff, a jury has found former top Bush administration aide David Safavian guilty on four counts of lying and obstructing justice. In January Abramoff pleaded guilty to fraud, tax evasion and bribing public officials in return for political favors. And newly released documents in the investigation shed light on how the lobbyist secretly routed his clients' funds through tax-exempt organizations with the acquiescence of those in charge, including prominent conservative activist Grover Norquist, who may now want to get a lawyer. Abramoff is now helping prosecutors in the ongoing inquiry which has reached the highest levels of government.Safavian resigned last year from his post as Chief Procurement Officer. The jury's guilty verdict was the culmination of eight days of testimony and e-mails to support the prosecution's case that Safavian had lied about his links to Abramoff. Safavian was one of the officials who travelled on a now infamous golfing trip to Scotland, paid for by Abramoff. Safavian has yet to be sentenced.
The Abramoff probe has brought a string of bribery-related charges and plea deals. The possible misuse of tax-exempt groups is also receiving investigators' attention, sources familiar with the matter said.
E-mails connecting money with access in Washington show that Norquist facilitated some White House contacts for Abramoff's clients in exchange for large donations to Norquist's tax-exempt group.
Among the organizations used by Abramoff was Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform. According to an investigative report on Abramoff's lobbying released last week by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, Americans for Tax Reform served as a channel for funds that flowed from Abramoff's clients to secretly finance local lobbying campaigns. As the money was funneled through, Norquist's organization kept a small cut, e-mails show.
A second group Norquist was involved with, the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy, received about $500,000 in Abramoff client funds, and the council's president has told Senate investigators that Abramoff often asked her to lobby a senior Interior Department official on his behalf. The committee report said the Justice Department should further investigate the organization's dealings with the department and its former deputy secretary, J. Steven Griles.
Those who were solicited or landed administration introductions included foreign figures and American Indian tribes, according to some of the e-mails gathered by Senate investigators and federal prosecutors or obtained independently by the Associated Press.
"Can the tribes contribute $100,000 for the effort to bring state legislatures and those tribal leaders who have passed Bush resolutions to Washington?" Norquist wrote to Abramoff in one such email in July 2002.
"When I have funding, I will ask Karl Rove for a date with the President. Karl has already said 'yes' in principle, and knows you organized this last time and hope to this year."
Developing...
- June 25, 2006
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