Feds: Abramoff Misleadingly Sought Credit (AP)

[Eugene]

Feds: Abramoff Misleadingly Sought Credit

By MARK SHERMAN, Associated Press Writer

Friday, June 30, 2006

(06-30) 12:56 PDT WASHINGTON, (AP) --

Lobbyist Jack Abramoff wanted the credit for getting rid of the chief federal
prosecutor for U.S. territories in the Pacific Ocean, but he actually played no role,
a Justice Department report said Friday.

<snip>

Nevertheless, Abramoff instructed his colleagues to impress clients on Guam that he
influenced the pick of Leonardo Rapadas "when he clearly understood that he had no
involvement," Fine said.

Fine's investigation also found no evidence that Frederick Black lost his job as the
interim U.S. attorney on Guam because he had been looking into Abramoff's work for
local judges.

<snip>

The report also contained evidence of Abramoff's strong ties to the Bush White House.
One White House political official, Leonard Rodriguez, told Fine's investigators
he kept Abramoff aware of information relevant to Guam "at the behest of Ken Mehlman,
the White House Political Director," the report said.

<snip>

Full article: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2006/06/30/national/w125649D63.DTL

[MidwestTransplant]

1. Is this different than the Mariana Islands business?

[Eugene]

2. This is the Justice Dept. report on the Guam and Marianas business.

The details of the article are too big to fit in the 4 paragraph copyright limit.
Jack Abramoff was partly scamming his clients about his influence in the Marianas,
but the invesigation shows a curious link between Jack and the White House.

[MagickMuffin]

3. Ken in the thick of it again!

More from the article

The report also contained evidence of Abramoff's strong ties to the Bush White House. One White House political official, Leonard Rodriguez, told Fine's investigators he kept Abramoff aware of information relevant to Guam "at the behest of Ken Mehlman, the White House Political Director," the report said.

There was no explanation of why Mehlman would have wanted the information shared with Abramoff.

Mehlman, now chairman of the Republican National Committee, often received and passed on such information in his White House role, said Tracey Schmitt, spokeswoman for the RNC.

Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., who has authored legislation to extend those laws to the islands, said, "We don't consider this issue a closed book. We still have concerns about political influence over the handling of the Marianas, both in Congress and in the administration. The reference to Ken Mehlman, a Republican political operative, in the IG report is a concern, for example."

I can't wait for Mehlman to claim he never met Jack! Just like he didn't have anything to do with James "the Jammer" Tolbin, when he was also working within the White House.

These ReThuglicans are the "Wine & Dine" Culture of Corruption Millionaires, who have seize control over evey aspect of our government.

And just like you can always tell it's a Friday, when news like this comes out.