Abramoff, Rove, Patton Boggs, OHA, Inouye

So this week, what I heard one journalist last night call the biggest scandal to hit Washington since Teapot Dome in the 1920s broke wide open, as Republican Lobbyist Jack Abramoff pled guilty to "fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy to bribe public officials in a deal that requires him to provide evidence about members of Congress." WaPo reported:

Abramoff's appearance in U.S. District Court came nearly two years after his lobbying practices gained public notice because of the enormous payments -- eventually tallied at $82 million -- that he and a public relations partner received from casino-rich Indian tribes. Yesterday, he admitted defrauding four of those tribal clients out of millions of dollars.
[...]
One of Abramoff's former associates, Michael Scanlon, a onetime press aide to [Tom] DeLay, was a secret partner in Abramoff's Indian tribal scheme. Abramoff not only charged the tribes lobbying fees but also urged them to hire Scanlon's public relations firm at hugely inflated prices. Scanlon, in turn, kicked back half of the money to Abramoff, who was thus able to conceal the funds from public disclosure and even from the lobbyist's law firm.

They spread tribal money around and sought legislative favors in return. Abramoff and Scanlon "offered and provided a stream of things of value to public officials in exchange for official acts and influence and agreements to provide official action and influence," a statement of facts attached to the plea agreement said. "These things of value included, but are not limited to, foreign and domestic travel, golf fees, frequent meals, entertainment, election support for candidates for government office, employment for relatives of officials and campaign contributions."

While most of Abramoff's entanglement is with the Republicans, and the largess (bribes) he gave directly all went to Republicans, the Advertiser reported yesterday:

Three Indian tribes that contracted with Abramoff contributed a total of $6,000 to Inouye's 2002 and 2004 re-election campaigns.

("Inouye said he had 'no interaction' with Abramoff until he appeared before the Senate Indian Affairs Committee in 2004," and that 'Those tribes have contributed to my campaigns for a number of years before they were retained by Mr. Abramoff.' Rep. Abercrombie also got campaign contributions from Abramoff's client tribes, but apparently pre-Abramoff.)

Abramoff also had extensive connections inside the Department of Interior, where Hawaiians would be dealt with under federal recognition.

Let's play a little Kevin Bacon.

Besides his close ties to former (as of today) House majority leader Tom DeLay, Abramoff was also a "pioneer" for Bush, which means a top level fundraiser ($100K+). Of course the political mastermind behind Bush fundraising was Karl Rove. Rove in his own legal troubles from the Plame leak investigation, has attorney Robert Luskin, who is a partner at Patton Boggs, the "D.C. powerhouse lobbying firm." As noted earlier, from Newsweek:

Rove has been involved in White House meetings involving at least one big Patton Boggs client: the Office of Hawaiian Affairs, which paid the firm $400,000 earlier this year to lobby for a controversial native-Hawaiian recognition bill.

(Which lobbying, by the way, produced no tangible results as of yet.)

I'm not saying there's any direct connection.

I am saying there's a pattern. Native money going to politicians and lobbyists, some 'legitimate' and some scam.

Maka'ala, OHA. Welcome to the world of federal recognition.

Update 1/8: From the Advertiser: "Gov. Linda Lingle's re-election campaign has returned $4,000 in donations linked to Jack Abramoff, the Washington, D.C., lobbyist at the center of a fraud and political corruption scandal."

Update 1/9: In the Hawaii Reporter, Don Newman of the so-called "Grassroot Institute of Hawaii" (I say so-called because they aren't really grassroots in any meaningful sense of the word, just part of a typical right-wing ploy to make it seem so - see Doug White's recent discussion of the Pacific Legal Foundation), raises questions from the other perspective, what would the passage of the Akaka bill mean for lobbying. He says "Native American tribes are not limited in the amount and timing of campaign contributions specifically because they are tribes," and ponders whether the same will apply to Native Hawaiians if the Akaka bill passes, and what the implications of that could be.

Posted: Sat - January 7, 2006 at 02:23 PM

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Abramoff, Rove, Patton Boggs, OHA, Inouye

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