Report Links White House and Lobbyist
Pete
Report Links White House and Lobbyist
By PHILIP SHENON
WASHINGTON, Sept. 28 - A bipartisan Congressional report documents
hundreds of contacts between White House officials and the corrupt
lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his partners, including at least 10 direct
contacts between Mr. Abramoff and Karl Rove, the president's chief
political strategist.
The House Government Reform Committee report, based on e-mail messages
and other records subpoenaed from Mr. Abramoff's lobbying firm, found
485 contacts between Mr. Abramoff's lobbying team and White House
officials from 2001 to 2004, including 82 with Mr. Rove's office.
The lobbyists spent almost $25,000 in meals and drinks for the White
House officials and provided them with tickets to numerous sporting
events and concerts, according to the report, scheduled for release
Friday.
The authors of the report said it was generally unclear from available
records whether the aides reimbursed Mr. Abramoff for the meals or
tickets. Ethics rules bar White House officials from accepting
lobbyists' gifts worth more than $20.
A White House spokeswoman, Dana Perino, said Thursday that while White
House officials had not seen the report, earlier evidence showed that
Mr. Abramoff had exaggerated his ties to the administration and was
"ineffective in terms of getting government officials to take
actions."
Ms. Perino added, "It's a real shame that so many of his clients
were taken advantage of, lied to and ripped off."
The report describes several instances in which Mr. Abramoff, who
pleaded guilty in January to conspiring to bribe public officials,
failed to get the action he desired from the White House, and described
his overall record in lobbying the White House as "mixed." But it
also suggests that Mr. Abramoff's lobbying resulted in Bush
administration actions that benefited Abramoff clients, including
decisions to distribute millions of dollars in federal money to Indian
tribes with large gambling operations.
After an especially aggressive lobbying campaign in 2001 and 2002
involving 73 contacts with White House officials, Mr. Abramoff claimed
credit for an administration decision to release $16.3 million to a
Mississippi tribe for jail construction despite opposition from the
Justice Department, the report found.
A copy of the bipartisan report was provided to The New York Times by
Congressional officials who were granted anonymity because the document
had not been released publicly.
Mr. Rove has described Mr. Abramoff as a "casual acquaintance," but
the records obtained by the House committee show that Mr. Rove and his
aides sought Mr. Abramoff's help in obtaining seats at sporting
events, and that Mr. Rove sat with Mr. Abramoff in the lobbyist's box
seats for an N.C.A.A. basketball playoff game in 2002.
After that game, Mr. Abramoff described Mr. Rove in an e-mail message
to a colleague: "He's a great guy. Told me anytime we need
something just let him know through Susan." The message was referring
to Susan Ralson, Mr. Abramoff's former secretary, who joined the
White House in February 2001 as Mr. Rove's executive assistant.
Ms. Ralston, who did not return phone calls seeking comment Thursday,
was lobbied scores of times by Mr. Abramoff and his partners, the
report found, and was instrumental in passing messages between Mr.
Abramoff and senior officials at the White House, including Mr. Rove
and Ken Mehlman.
Mr. Mehlman, now chairman of the Republican National Committee, was
then a senior White House political strategist. A national committee
spokeswoman, Tracey Schmitt, said Thursday that in Mr. Mehlman's
White House job, "it was not unusual" that he "would be in
contact with supporters who had interest in administration policy."
In October 2001, the report said, Mr. Abramoff asked the White House to
withhold an endorsement from a Republican candidate for governor of the
Northern Marianas Islands, an American commonwealth in the western
Pacific where Mr. Abramoff had clients; Mr. Abramoff was backing
another candidate.
On Oct. 31, 2001, the report said, Ms. Ralson sent an e-mail message to
Mr. Abramoff that read: "You win :) KR said no endorsement."
In March 2002, the report said, Mr. Abramoff contacted Ms. Ralson to
offer tickets to Mr. Rove and his family for use of a skybox during the
N.C.A.A. tournament at the MCI Center in Washington.
"Hi Susan," Mr. Abramoff wrote in an e-mail message." I just saw
Karl and mentioned the N.C.A.A. opportunity, which he was really jazzed
about. If he wants to join us in the Pollin box, please let me know as
soon as you can."
Ms. Ralston replied: "Karl is interested in Fri. and Sun. 3 tickets
for his family?"
Mr. Abramoff responded: "Done. Does he want to go Friday night or
Friday afternoon or both?" The report said that Mr. Rove offered to
pay for the tickets, prompting Mr. Abramoff to propose that Mr. Rove
pay $50 per ticket "payable to me personally."
The report cited numerous e-mail messages in which Mr. Abramoff
referred to Mr. Rove and his visits to Signatures, a Washington
restaurant owned by Mr. Abramoff.
On learning in July 2002 that Mr. Rove planned to dine at Signatures
with a party of 8 to 10 people, Mr. Abramoff wrote to a colleague: "I
want him to be given a very nice bottle of wine and have Joseph whisper
in his ear (only he should hear) that Abramoff wanted him to have this
wine on the house." In another e-mail message, Mr. Abramoff directed
his restaurant staff to "please put Karl Rove in his usual table."
Ms. Perino, the White House spokeswoman, said the offer of a free
bottle of wine was actually proof of how little acquainted Mr. Abramoff
and Mr. Rove were because "Karl doesn't drink alcohol."
Disclosure of the report's findings came as a federal judge in Miami
agreed on Thursday to delay Mr. Abramoff's imprisonment, but not for
as long as the Justice Department wanted.
In court papers this week, the department asked that Mr. Abramoff, who
has been sentenced to nearly six years in prison, not have to surrender
for three months because of the need for his continued cooperation in
the influence-peddling investigation in Washington that is said to
involve several members of Congress.
But the judge, Paul C. Huck, agreed to allow Mr. Abramoff to remain
free only until Nov. 15, saying "there comes a time when people have
to pay the piper." Mr. Abramoff pleaded guilty in Miami as part of an
agreement with the Justice Department in which he confessed to
corruption charges in Washington, and to fraud charges in Florida
involving his purchase of a casino-boat fleet there. ***
Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company