Former Justice official charged in Abramoff lobbying probe

[maddezmom]

Source: AP

WASHINGTON - A former high-ranking Justice Department official was accused Monday of criminal conflict of interest in the latest case stemming from the investigation of disgraced GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Robert Coughlin was deputy chief of staff of the Justice Department's criminal division — the same division handling the Abramoff probe — before resigning a year ago, citing personal reasons. He was due in federal court in Washington on Tuesday for a plea hearing.

Prosecutors accused Coughlin in court papers Monday of providing assistance from 2001-2003 to a lobbyist and the lobbyist's firm while receiving gifts from the firm and discussing prospective employment there.

The lobbyist isn't named but The Associated Press has previously reported that Coughlin was lobbied during the period in question by Kevin Ring, a member of Abramoff's lobbying team who also is under investigation. At the time Coughlin worked for the Justice Department's office of legislative affairs and Ring worked for Abramoff's Greenberg Traurig firm.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080421/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/abramoff_doj_2

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Ex-Justice Dept. Lawyer Under Scrutiny in Probe
Ties With Abramoff Associate in Question

By Susan Schmidt
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, April 28, 2007; A06



A federal task force investigating the activities of disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff has in recent weeks been looking into whether one of Abramoff's colleagues improperly traded favors with a Justice Department lawyer, sources familiar with the Abramoff investigation said yesterday.

The lawyer, Robert E. Coughlin II, resigned on April 6 as deputy chief of staff in the Criminal Division, citing personal reasons, a department spokesman said.

"Bob gave a personal reason for his resignation," said spokesman Bryan Sierra. He stressed that Coughlin "had no involvement" in the department's investigation of Abramoff.

Coughlin had worked in the criminal division since 2005 but was recused from the Abramoff inquiry because of a longtime personal friendship with Kevin A. Ring, one of Abramoff's lobbying colleagues whose actions are under investigation, a law enforcement source said. Investigators are looking into dealings between the two in 2001 and 2002, when Coughlin worked in the Justice Department's Office of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs, the sources said.

more:http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/27/AR2007042702228_pf.html

[Supersedeas]

1. interesting -- will this even register as a blip on the Media Establishment radar?

[SpiralHawk]

2. Move along. It's only the UMPTEENTH case of republicon corruption

Meanwhile, the Pope plans to clip his fingernails sometime soon...

[gratuitous]

3. Yeah, Republican corruption doesn't qualify as news anymore

But for some reason, the major news outlets can't get enough of the dirty fucking hippies and the 1960s and the clear and present danger they pose to our American way of life. Hardly worth mentioning Republicans bought off in the Criminal Division of the AG's office.

[Ian David]

4. Robert Coughlin Coughlin Coughlin's going to jail jail jail! n/t

[hootinholler]

5. Heey John McDoseO'Clap anything about this in those emails?

You know the 900 or so you are sitting on?

-Hoot

[Usrename]

6. Does this mean that bribery is going to be illegal from now on?

Or just certain cases?

[jamesinca]

7. I don't see the conflict

I see a hard working individual that was trying to improve his position in life. Think about it, he applies for a job with Abramoff's firm, gets the job, then has the boss thrown in jail. Immediate promotion!! This was just a man trying to provide for his family as best as he could. :sarcasm:

[Supersedeas]

8. hmmm....wasn't the Torture Memo reviewed by the Criminal Division?

[suffragette]

9. The blatant injustice of DOJ corruption by the Republicans

Can't get much clearer than this.

K&R

[Supersedeas]

11. how deep does it go -- were their other partisan issues the Criminal Divison rolled over on--Muck?

[struggle4progress]

10. Ex-Official Linked to Abramoff Pleads Guilty

By James V. Grimaldi
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, April 23, 2008; Page A04

A former high-ranking official in the Justice Department pleaded guilty yesterday to accepting thousands of dollars worth of meals and sports tickets from Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff in exchange for helping a variety of Abramoff's clients.

Robert E. Coughlin II, the former deputy chief of staff of the Justice Department's criminal division, became the latest of more than a dozen public officials, lobbyists and congressional staff members to be convicted or to plead guilty in the wide-ranging federal investigation of Abramoff's activities.

As part of his plea agreement, Coughlin, 36, agreed to cooperate with investigators, making him a potentially important witness in the ongoing scrutiny of Rep. John T. Doolittle (R-Calif.). Coughlin acknowledged performing a variety of official acts for Kevin A. Ring, a key member of Abramoff's lobbying team at Greenberg Traurig and a former legislative aide to Doolittle. Coughlin and Ring are longtime friends who worked together on Capitol Hill a decade ago ...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/22/AR2008042202430.html