By Paul Kiel - October 6, 2006, 5:03 PM
Whoops. Karl Rove threw a party for dozens of White House staffers at Jack Abramoff's restaurant in January 2004, but was not charged, according to a new story in the
National Journal (not available online).
Snip...
Approximately 50 operatives from Rove's office attended the party, for which Rove was ultimately charged $995. NJ's Peter Stone says they "munched on pricey hors d'oeuvres" as they listened to Rove give a pep talk. Rove made the reservation for the private room through Susan Ralston, his personal aide who resigned earlier today because of her ties to Abramoff.
An unnamed administration spokesperson told Stone that they tried to pay for the room -- they really did -- but somehow they were never charged:
When Rove’s office contacted Signatures the next day to inquire about the cost, the office was told that the bill came to $995.81, according to an administration spokesman. Rove and five of his deputies sent over their credit card numbers and assumed that the tab would be paid. But last May, more than two years later, after Abramoff had already pleaded guilty to three felonies, including fraud and conspiracy to bribe public officials, Rove’s office belatedly decided to double-check the status of the restaurant bill and learned that the credit cards had never been charged. With Signatures in liquidation, White House lawyers have in recent days found a way for the debt to be paid, a spokesman said: Rove will take care of it out of his own pocket.
Ethics rules bar White House officials from accepting gifts worth more than $20. The restaurant appears to have charged Rove $19.92 per event attendee.
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