The Abramoff scandal investigation

Don't they get the news where he lives? LOL

Yeah, they do. He lives on the other side of town from me, so I'm not in his district. The news is available, but I have noticed that the TV stations treat him with kid gloves, apparently aware just how vicious his supporters can be.

And there's always the money issue. Even tv stations need revenue to survive.

Emails Introduced in Lobbyist's Trial
Emails Introduced in Lobbyist's Trial
By Pete Yost
The Associated Press
Friday 26 May 2006

Washington - Two days into the first trial emerging from the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal, e-mails are speaking louder than words.

Prosecutors on Thursday introduced dozens of messages between Abramoff and defendant David Safavian, the former top procurement official in the Bush administration.

With one set of e-mails, prosecutors suggested Safavian was taking his cues from Abramoff on proposed redevelopment of the Old Post Office, a historic landmark in downtown Washington.

Safavian is accused of five counts of lying to General Services Administration investigators and a Senate committee about his relationship with Abramoff by saying that the lobbyist had no business before the agency.

Based on Safavian's representations, the GSA allowed the official to go on a weeklong golfing excursion with Abramoff to Scotland and London. Safavian was chief of staff to the GSA's administrator.

The GSA is the federal landlord, overseeing 8,000 buildings around the country including the Old Post Office on Pennsylvania Avenue, which Abramoff wanted as a redevelopment project for some of his American Indian tribal clients.

Abramoff had a luxury hotel in mind, but a campaign was under way by others to turn the post office annex into a women's history museum.

Safavian filled in Abramoff on a meeting with supporters of the museum and Abramoff minced no words in his response.

"What idiots!" the lobbyist wrote. "This would kill any five star hotel for sure."

Defense lawyer Barbara Van Gelder struggled to show that Safavian was open to all options for redeveloping the Old Post Office, but prosecution witness and career GSA employee Anthony Costa cast doubt on that assertion.

Costa said Safavian "did not seem supportive" of the women's campaign enlisting aid from Congress, a step that could have led to a congressional mandate that the Old Post Office annex become a museum, thwarting Abramoff's vision.

In the midst of the Abramoff scandal, the facility has yet to be redeveloped.

"Right now, no one is real interested in talking about the Old Post Office," Costa testified.

source

That's good news. I also read today that Abramoff's jail sentence is being delayed until after the summer, on the condition that he keeps singing, and there is a thought that it will be delayed past next year if he keeps singing. Which I have no doubt he will do.

Cycloptichorn

It's my guess Abramhoff will keep singing, because self-preservation is a strong motivator.

Abramoff Had FBI Data
Report: Abramoff Had FBI Data
By Walter F. Roche Jr.
The Los Angeles Times
Saturday 01 July 2006

The lobbyist improperly got and acted on a secret file about the Marianas, an inspector general says.

Washington - Convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff improperly obtained a top-secret FBI document and tried to use the information to aid his clients in the Pacific Island territories, according to a report released Friday by the Justice Department's inspector general.

The lobbyist feared information in the document could be damaging to his clients' interests, the inspector general said, and he used his knowledge of its contents to warn them and to devise a counterattack.

"Abramoff's e-mail records indicate that by late June 2002 he had obtained a copy of the report from an official of the Department of Interior," the report said.

The leak has been referred to the FBI and the Interior Department's inspector general for further investigation.

Abramoff earlier this year pleaded guilty to corruption charges, including conspiracy to bribe public officials and failure to pay taxes. He is cooperating in an investigation that has resulted in guilty pleas from top legislative aides and Abramoff's lobbying partners.

The revelation that Abramoff had obtained the secret document was just one finding in the 41-page report into allegations that he had improperly influenced President Bush's 2002 decision to oust the acting U.S. attorney for Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, Frederick A. Black.

The inspector general's report concluded that Abramoff actively advocated the ouster of Black, who had launched an investigation of the lobbyist and requested the FBI report. But the inspector general said the decision to appoint a new U.S. attorney, Leonardo Rapadas, had been made before Abramoff became involved.

The allegations by Black that he was pushed out of office to end the Abramoff probe were unfounded, the report said.

"We found no evidence to support a conclusion that the selection of Rapadas was the result of any retaliation against Black for raising allegations against Abramoff," the report by Inspector General Glenn A. Fine said. Instead, Fine concluded, once Abramoff learned of the impending decision, he attempted to take credit for it.

Black declined to comment Friday.

The FBI report, which focused on security concerns in the Pacific, warned of possible terrorist threats against U.S. military assets on Guam and the Northern Marianas. It was completed in spring 2002 and recently made public.

Abramoff, according to e-mails cited by the inspector general, worried the FBI report would prompt Congress to restrict immigration in the Northern Marianas - cutting off a supply of low-wage labor for garment manufacturers who had hired Abramoff to protect their interests.

After seeing the FBI report, the lobbyist suggested an attack on Black. "We have to make sure that Black guy is smeared into the ground," Abramoff wrote in an e-mail to his clients.

The inspector general's investigation, which included an interview with Abramoff and a review of his e-mails, followed a Los Angles Times report on the circumstances surrounding Black's replacement.

According to Fine's report, Abramoff became actively involved in the efforts to oust Black at the behest of then-Guam Gov. Carl Gutierrez, a Democrat who was under investigation by Black's office. Abramoff told investigators that he met with Gutierrez in February 2002 in an effort to land a $1.3-million contract with the government of Guam.

Abramoff, the report said, told investigators that the two came up with a plan to smear Black by releasing copies of a letter Gutierrez had written in 1995 to President Clinton. The letter referred to Black as "a good Democrat" and recommended he be reappointed as U.S. attorney. Black was originally appointed as acting U.S. attorney by President George H.W. Bush in 1991.

In one e-mail to Abramoff, Gutierrez referred to Black as "a total commie.... We need to get this guy sniped out of there."

In another e-mail, Abramoff wrote: "We are opposed to Black. He has been screwing us for years.... So this is good payback. I don't care if they appoint Bozo the clown, we need to get rid of Fred Black."

Although the inspector general's report said Abramoff had nothing to do with Black's ouster, it did find that the lobbyist had a pipeline into the White House through which he learned of Rapadas' impending nomination and other matters involving Guam.

Leonard Rodriguez, a Bush aide, told the inspector general's office that then-White House political director Ken Mehlman "recommended or suggested that I reach out to make Jack aware" on Guam issues.

Once informed of Rapadas' selection, Abramoff instructed his colleagues in an e-mail to take credit for the decision even though his favored candidate had lost out.

So Bumblebee, cyclops, imposter, etc. is this scandal going anywhere? Just curious what your bottom line is on this bunch of smoke, is there any real fire here and who is going to be burned in any significant manner? Frankly, I haven't seen much excitement about this for weeks upon weeks and I have not followed it. I am not being sarcastic in this post; I am truly curious what you think will happen here in the most unbiased assessment you can muster?

It seems like it has already gone places, in that Safavin has been convicted as well as Abramoff.

Last I read, they are keeping Abramoff out of jail for quite some time so that he will keep singing to the Feds about what he knows.

While I don't think this is going to bring down the govment' or anything like that, I think several other lawmakers - especially Bob Ney of Ohio - are still in jeporady.

Cycloptichorn

It's interesting to see the righties filter out all the bad news such as the admmission of guilt by Abramoff et al, the convictions, and the on-going investigation.

Thanks for the info. Actually, I am trying to update myself here, so I am not filtering it out altogether. I would just like to know where this is headed according to you guys that follow it every day. No surprise on a bureaucrat as the Safavin fellow apparently is. Bureaucracy probably full of those types. I would like to see more of them caught.

This is the latest blog out in webland:

Cost of the War in Iraq
$293,897,023,142


Thursday, July 06, 2006
Is Bush In Fitzgerald's Sites?

According to Murray Waas of the National Journal, "Bush told the special prosecutor in the CIA leak case that he directed Vice President Dick Cheney to personally lead an effort counter allegations made by former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV that his administration had misrepresented intelligence information to make the case to go to war with Iraq, according to people familiar with the president's interview."

Based on Waas' account, Dan Froomkin reasons that responsibility for the leak may go right to the top.

Any psychics out there capable of reading Fitz's mind?

The President can't be prosecuted for revealing classified information since he can declassify at will.

Whether he can be prosecuted for lying to the investigation is another matter completely. Once he leaves office, he is open to prosecution for any such lies.

parados, Remember what happened to Clinton? And it was about a personal sex issue.

If Bush did push countering Wilson, he should have, because Wilson was misrepresenting our intelligence. Wilson was involved in a vendetta against the administration by seeking to undermine it with trumped up information. Bush has full access to classified information and it is his job to share it with his staff. This is no crime. This is doing his job, hello out there. And as far as I know, Fitzgerald has yet to allege a crime was committed by somebody in the government leaking Plame's name.

Now that you guys bubble has been burst by Rove apparently being cleared, you apparently still cling to the hope there is something going to come out of this. As was apparent from the very beginning, you should give it up. It doesn't amount to a hill of beans. Fitzgerald does not have much of a case and never did. I don't know why he keeps digging a bigger hole and spending money. It is a complete waste of time.

What you have are responsible people in the administration frustrated by anti-Bush people in the CIA spreading half truths and involved in some kind of a vendetta rather than doing their jobs, and they did what any responsible person should do, try to set the record straight.

Parados, for Bush to be prosecuted for lying, he needs to have lied about something before a grand jury. Such a scenario is far fetched if not ridiculous Parados for you to even suggest the possibility.

The problem is, there is zero evidence that this is true.

What makes you think this? Who was involved with this vendetta? Why was it taking place? What evidence do you have to support this theory?

Cycloptichorn

A weak offense is somewhat of a defense, but in this case, it's a stupid one.

Lying to federal investigators is a crime and can be found here.

http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/ts_search.pl?title=18&sec=1001

Google "indicment" and "lying to fbi" to get a rather lengthy list of people charged for just this crime. Are you suggesting that the charging of so many terrorist suspects for lying to the fbi is ridiculous and far fetched?

Actually,once he leaves office he Cannot be prosecuted for anything he did in his official capacity as President.

Sorry,but thats the law.