Jack Abramoff

Infobox Criminal
subject_name = Jack A. Abramoff

---

image_caption = Jack Abramoff testifying before the Senate Indian Affairs Committee.
date_of_birth = Birth date and age|1959|2|28|mf=y
place_of_birth = Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
date_of_death =
place_of_death =
conviction = fraud, conspiracy, tax evasion
penalty = 5 years and 10 months imprisonment
status = Imprisoned
occupation = businessman, lobbyist
spouse = Pam Alexander
parents =
children =

Jack Abramoff (born February 28, 1959) is a former lobbyist, [Nir, Ori. [http://www.forward.com/articles/3097/ "House Sets Limits on Palestinian Aid As DeLay Defies Calls of Bush, Rice."] "The Forward". March 18, 2005] and a businessman who was a central figure in a series of high-profile political scandals. He is serving time at a minimum security federal prison in Maryland.

Abramoff pled guilty on January 3, 2006, to three criminal felony counts in a Washington, D.C., federal court related to the defrauding of American Indian tribes and corruption of public officials. [Forsythe, Michael and Jonathan D. Salant. [http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=aDq6Gy_i0shA&refer=top_world_news "Abramoff Pleads Guilty, Will Help in Corruption Probe."] "Bloomberg News Service". January 3, 2006.] The following day he pled guilty to two criminal felony counts in a separate federal court, in Miami, related to his fraudulent dealings with SunCruz Casinos. [ [http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/01/04/politics/main1176617.shtml "Abramoff Pleads Guilty, Will Help in Corruption Probe."] "CBS News". January 4, 2006.] On September 4, 2008, a Washington court found Abramoff guilty of trading expensive gifts, meals and sports trips in exchange for political favors and he was sentenced to a four year term in prison which will be served concurrently with his previous sentences. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7599249.stm "US lobbyist jailed for corruption"] , "BBC News", September 4 2008.] cite news |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/04/AR2008090402321.html?hpid=topnews |title=Abramoff Sentenced to 4 Years in Prison for Corruption |work=The Washington Post |author=Wilber, Del Quentin |coauthors=Carrie Johnson |date=2008-09-04 |accessdate=2008-09-04]

The extensive corruption investigation has led to the conviction of White House officials J. Steven Griles and David Safavian, U.S. Representative Bob Ney, and nine other lobbyists and Congressional aides. Abramoff was a top lobbyist for the Preston Gates & Ellis and Greenberg Traurig firms and a director of the National Center for Public Policy Research, a conservative think tank, and Toward Tradition. He was College Republican National Committee National Chairman from 1981 to 1985. He was a founding member of the International Freedom Foundation.

Early life

Abramoff was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey. His father, Franklin Abramoff, was president of the franchises unit of Diners Club.cite news | [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/28/AR2005122801588.html ] | title = The Fast Rise and Steep Fall of Jack Abramoff | publisher = Washington Post|date = 2005-12-29 | accessdate = 2006-08-17 | author = Schmidt, Susan and Grimaldi, James V. | page = A01 ]

In 1968, when Abramoff was 10, his family moved to Beverly Hills, California. Abramoff attended Beverly Hills High School.Associated Press. [http://www.sptimes.com/2006/01/04/Worldandnation/As_Congress_sweats__A.shtml "As Congress sweats, Abramoff will tell all."] "St. Petersburg Times". January 4, 2006. Accessed December 2, 2007.] During his high school years, he managed both the Beverly Hills and Westwood United Artists movie theater; his father had left Arnold Palmer Enterprises to become president of the Diner's Club franchises. Abramoff has said that he became a Baal teshuva at the age of 12 after seeing the film version of "Fiddler on the Roof". [cite news |url=http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/features/2006/0604.morris.html |title=Bad for the Jews, Worse for the Christians |first=Rachel |last=Morris |date=April 2006 |publisher=Washington Monthly |accessdate=2007-06-28 ]

On an episode of Public Radio International's "This American Life" that aired in June 2006, journalist Jonathan Gold described Abramoff as a high school bully. "He was the sort of person who would walk across the street to be unpleasant to somebody," Gold says, going on to describe how Abramoff knocked him and his cello down a flight of stairs. [ [http://www.thislife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?episode=314 "It's Never Over."] "This American Life", Episode number 314.]

College and law school years

As an undergraduate at Brandeis University, Abramoff served as Chairman of the Massachusetts Alliance of College Republicans, which organized student volunteers for Ronald Reagan's 1980 presidential campaign. He graduated in 1981 and earned his JD at the Georgetown University Law Center, in 1986.

According to Nina J. Easton's book "Gang of Five", Abramoff gained much of his credibility in the conservative movement through his father, Franklin Abramoff. As president of Diners Club, Abramoff's father worked closely with Alfred S. Bloomingdale, a personal friend of Ronald Reagan, and Abramoff would use the name in fundraising.

College Republican National Chairman

After graduating from Brandeis, Abramoff ran for election as chairman of the College Republican National Committee (CRNC). After a campaign which cost over $10,000 and was managed by Grover Norquist, Abramoff won the election after the chief competitor, Amy Moritz (who later, as Amy Ridenour, became a founding director of the National Center for Public Policy Research, and was involved in several trips funded by Jack Abramoff), was convinced to drop out. Abramoff "changed the direction of the committee and made it more activist and conservative than ever before," notes the CRNC. "It is not our job to seek peaceful coexistence with the Left," Abramoff was quoted as saying in the group's 1983 annual report. "Our job is to remove them from power permanently." [cite news
url=http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/latimes/access/943038721.html?dids=943038721:943038721&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Dec+18%2C+2005&author=JONATHAN+CHAIT&pub=Los+Angeles+Times&edition=&startpage=M.5&desc=JONATHAN+CHAIT
title=Big on money, short on memory (commentary)
author=Chait, Jonathan
date=December 18, 2005
publisher=Los Angeles Times]

Norquist served as executive director of the committee under Abramoff. He later recruited Ralph Reed, a former president of the University of Georgia College Republicans chapter, as an unpaid intern. Reed, still a young student, was invited to sleep on Abramoff’s couch. According to Reed's book "Active Faith", Reed also introduced Abramoff to his future wife, Pam Alexander.

Long-standing college political alliances

At the CRNC, Abramoff developed political alliances with College Republican chapter presidents across the nation, many who would later hold roles in state and national politics and business, and some who would later interact with Abramoff as a lobbyist. Some of those relationships are at the core of the current federal investigation.

At the CRNC, Abramoff, Norquist and Reed formed what was known as the "Abramoff-Norquist-Reed triumvirate."Fact|date=October 2008 After Abramoff's election, the trio purged "dissidents" and re-wrote the CRNC's bylaws to consolidate their control over the organization.Fact|date=October 2008 According to "Gang of Five" (p. 142), Reed was the "hatchet man" and "carried out Abramoff-Norquist orders with ruthless efficiency, not bothering to hide his fingerprints."

In 1983, the CRNC passed a resolution condemning "deliberate planted propaganda by the KGB and Soviet proxy forces" against the government of South Africa, at a time when that country's government was under worldwide criticism for the Apartheid regime. [cite news
url=http://www.alternet.org/story/13134
title=Part III: DeLay's Godfather
date=May 14, 2002
publisher=AlterNet]

In 1984, Abramoff and other College Republicans formed the "USA Foundation", a non-partisan tax-exempt organization which held two days of rallies on college campuses around the United States celebrating the first anniversary of the invasion of Grenada. In a letter to campus Republican leaders, Abramoff claimed::"While the Student Liberation Day Coalition is nonpartisan and intended only for educational purposes, I don't need to tell you how important this project is to our efforts as [College Republicans] . I am confident that an impartial study of the contrasts between the Carter/Mondale failure in Iran and the Reagan victory in Grenada will be most enlightening to voters 12 days before the general election." [cite news
author=Kurtz, Howard and Babcock, Charles R.
title=Two 'Nonpolitical' Foundations Push Grenada Rallies
publisher=The Washington Post
date=October 4, 1984]

Citizens for America

In 1985, Abramoff joined Citizens for America, a pro-Reagan group that helped Oliver North build support for the Nicaraguan Contras. Citizens for America staged an unprecedented meeting of anti-Communist rebel leaders known as the Democratic International in Jamba, Angola. This conference included leaders of the Mujahedeen from Afghanistan, UNITA from Angola, the Contras, and opposition groups from Laos. Out of this largely ceremonial conference came the International Freedom Foundation. Abramoff helped to organize, and also attended the conference.

Abramoff's membership ended on a sour note when Citizens for America's sponsor Lewis Lehrman, a former New York gubernatorial candidate, concluded that Abramoff had spent his money carelessly.Fact|date=October 2008

Reagan appointment

In 1986, Abramoff was appointed by President Reagan as a member of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council. [cite web
url=http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1986/50386d.htm
title=Appointment of Eight Members of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, and Designation of the Chairperson, Vice Chairperson, and Executive Director
publisher=Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
date=May 3, 1986
accessmonthday=May 31
accessyear=2006]

Hollywood Producer / International Freedom Foundation

Abramoff spent 10 years in Hollywood, producing the 1988 film "Red Scorpion", a low-budget action film with anti-communist themes, just after his term with the College Republicans ended. This movie was filmed in South-West Africa (now Namibia) and was funded in part by the apartheid regime in South Africa through the International Freedom Foundation, which Abramoff founded. [cite news
url=http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=18&art_id=6701&sid=5674800&con_type=1
title=Bitten by the Red Scorpion
author=Carlson, Peter
date=November 30, 2005
publisher=The Standard (Hong Kong)] [cite web
url=http://www.seekgod.ca/cnp.a.htm#abramhoff
title=Council for National Policy (CNP) -A- Member Biographies
accessmonthday=May 27
accessyear=2006] In the early '90s Abramoff helped try to raise funds for a remake of the unreleased Jerry Lewis film, "The Day the Clown Cried", about a circus clown at Auschwitz.Fact|date=October 2008

On April 27, 1998, Abramoff wrote a letter to the editor of "The Seattle Times" rebutting an article critical of him. He claimed, "The IFF was a conservative group which I headed. It was vigorously anti-Communist, but it was also actively anti-apartheid. In 1987, it was one of the first conservative groups to call for the release of Nelson Mandela, a position for which it was roundly criticized by other conservatives at the time. While I headed the IFF, we accepted funding only from private individuals and corporations and would have absolutely rejected any offer of South African military funding, or any other kind of funding from any government — good or evil." [Abramoff, Jack. [http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19980427&slug=2747461 "Law And Politics -- Question Could Have Averted Inaccurate, Incomplete Report."] "The Seattle Times" - Letters to the Editor. April 27, 1998]

It was during his travels in South Africa that Abramoff first met South African-born rabbi David Lapin, who became his religious advisor, and David's brother and fellow rabbi Daniel Lapin, who allegedly introduced Abramoff to Congressman Tom DeLay (R-TX) at a Washington, DC dinner shortly after the Republican takeover of Congress in 1994. [cite news
title=Meet the Lapin Brothers
url=http://www.seattleweekly.com/2005-05-11/news/meet-the-lapin-brothers/
author=Anderson, Rick
date=May 11, 2005
publisher=Seattle Weekly] Lapin later claimed that he did not recall the introduction.

Lobbying

In December 1994, Abramoff was hired as a lobbyist at
Preston Gates Ellis & Rouvelas Meeds LLP, the lobbying arm of Preston Gates & Ellis LLP, based in Seattle, Washington. According to "The Seattle Times", in 1995 following the Republican takeover of Congress, partner Emanuel Rouvelas determined that the firm "didn't have a conservative, Christian Coalition Republican with strong ties to the new Republican leadership."Fact|date=October 2008 For this reason the traditionally Democratic firm extended a job offer to Abramoff, who was described in a press release as having close ties to Newt Gingrich and Dick Armey.

According to "The Seattle Times", Abramoff used Gates to access a higher pedigree of clientele. [cite news | publisher = The Seattle Times | title = How scheming lobbyist operated in Seattle firm | url = http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20060207&slug=prestongates07m|author = Postman, David and Bernton, Hal|date = 2006-02-07 | accessdate = 2006-08-17 ]

In 1995, Abramoff began representing Indian tribes with gambling interests. He became involved with the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. One of Abramoff's first acts as a tribal gaming lobbyist was to defeat a Congressional bill to tax Indian casinos, sponsored by Reps. Bill Archer (R-TX) and Ernest Istook (R-OK). According to "Washington Business Forward", a lobbying trade magazine, "Tom DeLay was a major factor in those victories, and the fight helped cement the alliance between the two men. [cite news | publisher = Washington Business Forward | url = http://www.bizforward.com/wdc/issues/2002-11/government/abramoff/ | title = Jack Doubles Down | work = Government, Inc. | first = John | last = Bresnahan |date=November/December 2002 | accessdate = 2006-08-15 ] Dead link|date=October 2008 DeLay has called Abramoff "one of his closest and dearest friends".

aipan and Northern Mariana Islands

Abramoff and his law firm were paid at least $6.7 million by the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) from 1995 to 2001, which may manufacture goods with the "Made in the USA" label but is not subject to U.S. labor and minimum wage laws.After Abramoff paid for DeLay and his staffers to go on trips to the CNMI, they crafted policy that extended exemptions from federal immigration and labor laws to the islands' industries. Abramoff also negotiated for a $1.2 million no-bid contract from the Marianas for 'promoting ethics in government' to be awarded to David Lapin, brother of Daniel Lapin. Abramoff also secretly funded a trip for James E. Clyburn (D-SC) and Bennie Thompson (D-MS). In 1999 Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) went on an Abramoff-funded trip to the Marshall Islands with John Doolittle (R-CA), Ken Calvert (R-CA), delegates of Guam, American Samoa, Virgin Islands and 8 staffers. [cite news |publisher=Talking Points Memo |url= http://talkingpointsmemo.com/docs/RMItravel.html |title=Travel Record from House Committee on Resources]

Documentation also indicates that Abramoff's lobbying team helped prepare Rep. Ralph Hall's (R-TX) statements on the House floor in which he attacked the credibility of escaped teenaged sex worker "Katrina," in an attempt to discredit her testimony regarding the state of the sex slave industry on the island. [cite news |publisher=TPM Muckraker |title=For Abramoff, Lawmaker Slandered Teen Sex Slave |url=http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/001591.php |author=Paul Kiel |date=September 25, 2006 ] "Ms." magazine also explored Abramoff's dealings in the CNMI and the plight of garment workers like Katrina in their spring 2006 article. [Clarren, Rebecca. [http://www.msmagazine.com/spring2006/paradise.asp "Paradise Lost: Greed, Sex Slavery, Forced Abortions and Right-Wing Moralists."] "Ms. Magazine". Spring 2006.]

Later lobbying efforts involved mailings from a Ralph Reed marketing company to Christian conservative voters and bribery of Roger Stillwell, a Department of the Interior official who in 2006 pleaded guilty to accepting gifts from Abramoff.

Naftasib

Executives of Naftasib, a Russian energy company, funneled almost $3.4 million to Abramoff and DeLay advisor Ed Buckham between 1997 and 2005. About $60,000 was spent on a trip to Russia in 1997 for Tom DeLay, Buckham, and Abramoff. In 1998, $1 million was sent to Buckham via his organization U.S. Family Network to "influence DeLay's vote in 1998 on legislation that helped make it possible for the IMF to bail out the faltering Russian economy." DeLay voted for the legislation. The money was funneled through the Dutch company Voor Huisen, the Bahamas company Chelsea Enterprises, and the London law firm James & Sarch Co. [cite web | title = $3,617,238. | url = http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/007739.php | work = Talking Points Memo | author = Marshall, John|accessdate = 2006-08-17|date = 2006-02-24 ] [cite news
title=A 3rd DeLay Trip Under Scrutiny
url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A28319-2005Apr5.html?nav=rss_business
author=R. Jeffrey Smith, James V. Grimaldi (staff writers)
publisher=The Washington Post
date=April 6, 2005]

The executives involved, who met DeLay during the 1997 trip, were Marina Nevskaya and Alexander Koulakovsky. Nevskaya was also involved in Abramoff's support of an Israeli sniper school, as indicated by an email sent to Abramoff by an assistant to Marina Nevskaya detailing prices of thermal vision devices. [cite news
title=You've Got Mail - A Tour of Jack Abramoff's Email Account.
url=http://www.tnr.com/doc.mhtml?i=w050620&s=crowley062305
author=Michael Crowley
publisher=The New Republic
date=June 23, 2005]

eLottery, Inc.

In 1999, eLottery hired Abramoff to block the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act, which he did by enlisting Reed, Norquist, and Tom DeLay's former chief of staff, Tony Rudy. [cite web
title=Elottery, Inc.
url=http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=ELottery_Inc.
publisher=SourceWatch
accessmonthday=May 31
accessyear=2006]

Emails from 2000 show that Susan Ralston helped Abramoff pass checks from eLottery to Lou Sheldon's Traditional Values Coalition (TVC) and also to Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform (ATR), in route to Reed's company, Century Strategies. [cite web
title=Century Strategies
url=http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Century_Strategies
publisher=SourceWatch
accessmonthday=May 31
accessyear=2006] [cite news
url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/15/AR2005101501539_3.html
title = How a Lobbyist Stacked the Deck
author=Schmidt, Susan and Grimaldi, James V.
date=October 16 2005
publisher = Washington Post
pages = 3]

Abramoff joins Greenberg Traurig

On January 8, 2001, Abramoff left Preston Gates to join the Government Relations division of the law firm of Greenberg Traurig, which once described him as "directly involved in the Republican party and conservative movement leadership structures"Fact|date=October 2008 and "one of the leading fund raisers for the party and its congressional candidates."Fact|date=October 2008 With the move to Greenberg Traurig, Abramoff took as much as $6 million dollars worth of client "work" from his old firm, including the Marianas Islands account. At Greenberg Traurig, Abramoff recruited a team of lobbyists known familiarly as "Team Abramoff". The team included many of his former employees from Preston Gates and former senior staffers of members of Congress.

Tribal lobbying

Around the time he joined Greenberg Traurig, Abramoff's choice of lobbying clients changed to focus much more on Native American tribes. While Abramoff was a registered lobbyist for 51 clients while working at Preston Gates, with only 4 being tribes, Abramoff would eventually represent 24 clients for whom he was registered lobbyist at Greenberg Traurig, of which seven were tribes.

Tyco Inc.

Former White House Deputy Counsel Timothy Flanigan left his job in December 2002 to work as General Counsel for Corporate and International Law at Tyco International. He immediately hired Abramoff to lobby Congress and the White House on matters relating to Tyco's Bermuda tax-exempt status. [cite news | url = http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/24/politics/24justice.html |title=Democrats Press Justice Dept. Nominee Anew |publisher=New York Times |first=Eric |last=Lichtblau |date=September 24, 2005 |accessdate=2006-08-17 |page=A16] Flanigan stated to the Senate Judiciary Committee that Abramoff bragged that he could help Tyco avoid tax liability aimed at offshore companies because he "had good relationships with members of Congress."cite news |title=Tyco Exec: Abramoff Claimed Ties to Administration |publisher=Washington Post |first=R. Jeffrey |last=Smith |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/22/AR2005092202204.html |date=2005-09-23 |page=A06 |accessdate=2006-08-17 ]

Tyco Inc. claimed in August 2005 that Abramoff had been paid $1.7 million for 'astroturfing', or the creation of a fake "grassroots" campaign to oppose proposals to penalize US corporations registered abroad for tax reasons. The work allegedly was never performed, and most of the fee Tyco paid Abramoff to lobby against the legislation was "diverted to entities controlled by Mr. Abramoff".

Government of Malaysia

Abramoff's team represented the government of Malaysia, and worked toward improving Malaysian relations with the United States, particularly with trade relations. [cite news
title=Think Tank's Ideas Shifted as Malaysia Ties Grew
url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59539-2005Apr16.html
publisher=The Washington Post
author=Edsall, Thomas B.
date=April 17, 2005]

Government of Sudan

Abramoff met with the government of Sudan, offering a plan to deflect criticism from American Christian groups over the regime's alleged role in the Darfur conflict. Abramoff promised to enlist Reed to assist, as well as starting a grassroots campaign to improve the image of Sudan in America. [cite news | url = http://darfur.tribe.net/thread/21564b09-d585-4737-b286-dd27c986a7e9 | title = Abramoff Offered to Aid Sudan, Envoy Says|publisher = Los Angeles Times|date = 2006-04-06 | author = Hamburger, Tom and Silverstein, Ken | accessdate = 2006-08-17 ]

Channel One News

Abramoff has been a lobbyist for the school TV news service Channel One News. From 1999 to 2003, Channel One retained him to ensure Congress did not block funds to their service. Not only did Channel One face frequent campaigns by political groups to persuade Congress to limit its presence in schools, but it also derived much of its advertising revenue from U.S. government sources, including the Office of National Drug Control Policy and military recruitment. Since Abramoff and Channel One parted ways, Channel One's advertising revenues have dropped substantially, but a cause-and-effect relationship would be difficult to establish. [cite web | title = Primedia Employed Lobbyist Abramoff for Channel One | first = Ira | last = Teinowitz | date = 2006-01-10|url = http://www.commercialalert.org/news/Archive/2006/01/primedia-employed-lobbyist-abramoff-for-channel-one|work = Commercial Alert | accessdate = 2006-08-17 ]

Telecommunications firm

On October 18, 2005, "The Washington Post" reported that Bob Ney, as chair of the House Administration Committee, approved a 2002 license for an Israeli telecommunications company to install antennas for the House. The company, then Foxcom Wireless, an Israeli start-up telecommunications firm, (which has since moved headquarters from Jerusalem to Vienna, Virginia, and been renamed MobileAccess Networks) later paid Abramoff $280,000 for lobbying. It also donated $50,000 to the Capitol Athletic Foundation charity that Abramoff sometimes used to secretly pay for some of his lobbying activities. [cite news |title=Lawmaker's Abramoff Ties Investigated |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/17/AR2005101701918_pf.html |publisher=Washington Post |date=2005-10-18 |page=A01 |name=Grimaldi, James V. and Schmidt, Susan |accessdate=2006-08-17 ] In Abramoff's plea agreement, Abramoff pleaded only to misrepresentation;Fact|date=February 2007 in Michael Scanlon's plea agreement, the above was described as public corruption. [cite web | url = http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/1121052scanlon1.html | title = Ex-DeLay Aide In Corruption Plea|work = The Smoking Gun|date = 2005-11-21 | accessdate = 2006-08-17 ]

Access to the Bush Administration

Jack Abramoff was a member of the Bush Administration's 2001 Transition Advisory Team assigned to the Department of the Interior.cite news | title = Controversial lobbyist had close contact with Bush team | url = http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-05-06-abramoff-bush_x.htm | publisher = Associated Press|date = 2005-05-06|accessdate = 2006-08-17 ] Abramoff befriended the incoming Deputy Secretary of the Interior, J. Steven Griles.

The draft report of the House Government Reform Committee said the documents — largely Abramoff's billing records and e-mails — listed 485 lobbying contacts with White House officials over three years, including 10 with top Bush aide Karl Rove. The report said that of the 485 contacts listed, 345 were described as meetings or other in-person contacts; 71 were described as phone conversations and 69 were e-mail exchanges. [ [http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/09/29/abramoff.wh.ap/index.html?section=cnn_allpolitics] "CNN". September 29, 2006.] Dead link|date=October 2008

In the first 10 months of 2001, the Abramoff lobbying team logged almost 200 contacts with the Bush Administration. He may have used these senior level contacts to assist in his lobbying for Indian tribes concerning tribal gaming. The Department of the Interior has Federal regulatory authority over tribal affairs such as tribal recognition and gaming. From 2000 to 2003, six Indian tribes paid Abramoff over $80 million in lobbying fees.

The Department of the Interior Office of Insular Affairs has authority over policy and grants to US territories such as the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI). [cite web | url = https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/cq.html | title = Northern Mariana Islands | date = 2006-08-08 | work = The World Factbook | accessdate = 2006-08-17 ] This may have assisted him in lobbying for textile interests in the islands. U.S. Senator Conrad Burns (R-MT) and DeLay also heavily lobbied the CNMI for opposing the minimum wage. [cite news | url = http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/print?id=647725 | title = DeLay's Lavish Island Getaway|publisher = ABC News|date = 2005-04-06 | first = Brian | last = Ross | accessdate = 2006-08-17 ] [cite web | title = Abramoff: The House That Jack Built | url = http://thinkprogress.org/abramoff/ | work = Think Progress | accessdate = 2006-08-17 ]

Abramoff asked for $9 million in 2003 from the president of the African nation of Gabon, Omar Bongo, to arrange a meeting with President Bush and directed his fees to an Abramoff-controlled lobbying firm, GrassRoots Interactive.cite news |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/10/politics/10lobby.html?ex=1289278800&en=3564c89497493794&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss |title=Lobbyist Sought $9 Million to Set Bush Meeting |publisher=New York Times |date=2005-11-10 |first=Philip|last = Shenon |accessdate = 2006-08-17] Bongo did meet with President Bush in the Oval Office on May 26, 2004. There has been no evidence in the public record that Abramoff had any role in organizing the meeting or that he received any money or had a signed contract with Gabon.

White House and State Department officials described Bush's meeting with Bongo, whose government is regularly accused by the United States of human rights abuses, as routine. The officials said they knew of no involvement by Abramoff in the arrangements. Officials at Gabon's embassy in Washington did not respond to written questions.

Susan Ralston, Special Assistant to the President and Assistant to the Senior Advisor Karl Rove since 2001, previously worked as an administrative assistant for both Abramoff and Reed. [cite news | title = Connecting the Dots: Abramoff and Rove | url = http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/nataffdaily/story/9130607 | date = 2006-01-09 | first = Tom|last = Dickinson|publisher = Rolling Stone | accessdate = 2006-08-17 ]

According to former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, Abramoff was paid $1.2 million to arrange a meeting between Mahathir and Bush, allegedly at the direction of the Heritage Foundation. Mahathir insisted that someone unknown to him had paid for the meeting. [cite news | url = http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,185482,00.html | title = Fmr Malaysian PM: Abramoff Was Paid to Arrange Bush Meeting|publisher = Associated Press|date = 2006-02-21 | accessdate = 2006-08-17 ]

On May 9, 2001, Chief Raul Garza of the Kickapoo tribe of Texas met with Bush, with Abramoff and Norquist in attendance. Abramoff was identified in the background of a photo taken at the meeting. [cite news
url=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/12/politics/12lobby.html?ex=1297400400&en=b3401c810fac9067&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss
publisher=New York Times
title=Photograph Shows Lobbyist at Bush Meeting With Legislators
author=Philip Shenon and Lowell Bergman
date=February 2, 2006] Days before the meeting, the tribe paid $25,000 to Norquist's Americans for Tax Reform at Abramoff's direction. According to the organization's communications director, John Kartch, the meeting was one of several gatherings with Bush sponsored by ATR. On the same day, the chief of the Louisiana Coushattas also attended an ATR-sponsored gathering with Bush. The Coushattas also gave $25,000 to ATR soon before the event.

The details of the Kickapoo meeting and a letter dated May 10, 2001, from ATR thanking the Kickapoos for their contribution were revealed to the "New York Times" in 2006 by former council elder Isidro Garza, who with Raul Garza (no relation), is under indictment in Texas for embezzling tribal money. According to Isidro Garza, Abramoff did not say the donation was required to meet the President; the White House denied any knowledge of the transaction. [cite news|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/10/politics/10abramoff.html?ex=1299646800&en=9587f3b5199aa66c&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss
title=$25,000 to Lobby Group Is Tied to Access to Bush
publisher=New York Times
author=Philip Shenon
date=March 10, 2006]

Other photos have surfaced of Abramoff and Bush meeting at the White House and Oval Office on either December 22 or 23, 2002. The photos were found on a site that published many pictures of governmental events, ReflectionsOrders.com. The owner of the site removed the photos almost immediately when the presence of Abramoff and Bush together was discovered. Some Internet users located the photos and preserved copies of some of them. [cite web | url = http://www.thedoubles.com/gwbja.html | title = Wind-Breaking News! | work = Thedoubles.com | accessdate = 2006-08-17 ] The owner of the site gave thousands of dollars to the Bush campaign and Republican National Committee, according to public FEC contribution records. [cite web | url = http://dailydelay.blogspot.com/2006/01/photograph-company-president-that.html | title = Photograph Company President that "scrubbed" Abramoff photo with Bush gave to Bush | work = The Daily Delay | date = 2006-01-26 | accessdate = 2006-08-17 ]

An NPR news report from March 2006 stated that: "...Abramoff recently granted a rare press interview to "Vanity Fair" magazine, where he asserts President Bush and other prominent figures in Washington know him very well. He called them liars for denying contact with him". [ [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5254005 NPR: Lobbyist Abramoff Says GOP Elite Know Him Well ] ]

Possible foreknowledge of the Iraq War

Jack Abramoff has indicated that he knew that the US would invade Iraq before the American public did. On March 18, 2002, Abramoff told a friend, that "I was sitting with Karl Rove, Bush's top advisor, at the NCAA basketball game, discussing Israel when [your] email came in. I showed it to him. It seems that the President was very sad to have to come out negatively regarding Israel but that they needed to mollify the Arabs for the upcoming war on Iraq. That did not seem to work anyway. Bush seems to love Sharon and Israel, and thinks Arafat [sic] is nothing but a liar. I thought I'd pass that on." [ [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_kmnew/is_200610/ai_n16942671 "Lobbyists: Sports Tickets and Springsteen—The E-Mail Trail"] ] This was written before the Downing Street memo, the Bush-Blair memo, and Niger uranium documents forgery were written. This was also before the Office of Special Plans and the White House Iraq Group were created, and before Congress authorized Bush the authority to invade Iraq with the Joint Resolution to Authorize the Use of United States Armed Forces Against Iraq.

ignatures, skyboxes, and Scotland

Abramoff maintained four skyboxes at major sports arenas for political entertaining at a cost of over $1 million a year. Abramoff hosted many fundraisers at these skyboxes including events for politicians publicly opposed to gambling, such as John Doolittle. [cite news | title = The lies of lobbygate | date = 2005-06-28|url = http://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050628/NEWS/506280307/1039|work = Rutland Herald | first = Jay | last = Bookman | accessdate = 2006-08-17 ]

DeLay, Ney and Florida Republican Representative Tom Feeney have each gone on golf trips to Scotland that were apparently arranged or funded by Abramoff. These trips took place in 2000, 2002, and 2003. Ney and Feeney each claimed that their trips were paid for by the National Center for Public Policy Research, but the group denied this. Spokespeople for Ney and Feeney blamed others for filing errors. Ney later pleaded guilty to knowing that Abramoff had paid for the trip.

A former top procurement official in the Bush administration, David H. Safavian, has been convicted of lying and obstruction of justice in connection with the Abramoff investigation. Safavian, who traveled to Scotland with Reed and Ney on a golf outing arranged by Abramoff, was accused of concealing from federal investigators that Abramoff was seeking to do business with the General Services Administration at the time of the golf trip — in particular, seeking help finding property for his private religious school Eshkol Academy and for one of his tribal clients. Safavian was then GSA chief of staff. [cite news | title = Lawmakers Under Scrutiny in Probe of Lobbyist | url = http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/25/AR2005112501423.html | date = 2005-11-26|accessdate = 2006-08-17|publisher = Washington Post | author = Schmidt, Susan and Grimaldi, James V. | page = A01 ]

Overview of criminal and political investigations

People convicted in Abramoff probe (as of June 9, 2007)

Abramoff is serving six years in prison on a criminal case out of Florida, where he pleaded guilty in January 2006 to charges of conspiracy, honest services fraud and tax evasion. For the mail fraud, conspiracy and tax evasion charges stemming from the influence-peddling scandal in Washington, Abramoff was sentenced to 4 years in federal prison on September 4, 2008 by U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle. He had faced up to 11 years in prison.

Abramoff is cooperating in a bribery investigation involving lawmakers, their aides and members of the Bush administration.

Lawmakers, lobbyists, Bush administration officials, congressional staffers and businessmen caught up in the Jack Abramoff public corruption probe: [cite web | url = http://www.wnbc.com/news/11118034/detail.html |date = 2006-06-09 | accessdate = 2006-06-09 | title = Abramoff related convictions ]
*Adam Kidan (former Abramoff business partner), was sentenced in Florida in March 2006 to nearly six years in prison for conspiracy and fraud in the 2000 purchase of the Fort Lauderdale-based SunCruz Casinos gambling fleet.
*Bob Ney, (former Rep.) R-Ohio, sentenced in January to 2 1/2 years in prison, acknowledged taking bribes from Abramoff. Ney was in the traveling party on an Abramoff-sponsored golfing trip to Scotland at the heart of the case against Safavian.
*David Safavian, (former White House official), the Bush administration's former top procurement official, was sentenced to 18 months in prison in October 2006 after he was found guilty of covering up his dealings with Abramoff. Safavian is appealing his conviction.
*Italia Federici, co-founder of the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy, pled guilty to tax evasion and obstruction of a Senate investigation into Abramoff's relationship with officials at the Department of Interior.
*Mark Zachares, former aide to Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, pled guilty to conspiracy. He acknowledged accepting tens of thousands of dollars worth of gifts and a golf trip to Scotland from Abramoff's team in exchange for official acts on the lobbyist's behalf.
*Michael Scanlon, a former Abramoff business partner and DeLay aide, pled guilty in November 2005 to conspiring to bribe public officials in connection with his lobbying work on behalf of Indian tribes and casino issues. He is cooperating with investigators.
*Neil Volz, a former chief of staff to Ney who left government to work for Abramoff, pled guilty in May 2006 to conspiring to corrupt Ney and others with trips and other aid.
*Roger Stillwell, a former Interior Department official, was sentenced to two years on probation in January after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor charge for not reporting hundreds of dollars worth of sports and concert tickets he received from Abramoff.
*Steven Griles, (former Deputy Interior Secretary) the highest-ranking Bush administration official convicted in the scandal, pled guilty to obstruction of justice. He admitted lying to a Senate committee about his relationship with Abramoff, who repeatedly sought Griles' intervention at Interior on behalf of Indian tribal clients.
*Tony Rudy, lobbyist and one-time aide to DeLay, pled guilty in March 2006 to conspiring with Abramoff. He is cooperating with investigators.
*William Heaton, former chief of staff for Ney, pled guilty to a federal conspiracy charge involving a golf trip to Scotland, expensive meals, and tickets to sporting events between 2002 and 2004 as payoffs for helping Abramoff's clients.

Indian tribes grand jury investigations

Abramoff and his partner Michael Scanlon (a former Tom DeLay aide) conspired to bilk Indian casino gambling interests out of an estimated $85 million in fees. The lobbyists also orchestrated lobbying against their own clients in order to force them to pay for lobbying services. These practices were the subject both of long-running criminal prosecution and hearings by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee.

On November 21, 2005 Scanlon pled guilty to conspiring to bribe a member of Congress and other public officials.

On January 3, 2006, Abramoff pled guilty to three felony counts, conspiracy, fraud, and tax evasion, involving charges stemming principally from his lobbying activities in Washington on behalf of Native American tribes. In addition, Abramoff and other defendants must make restitution of at least $25 million that was defrauded from clients, primarily the Native American tribes. Further, Abramoff owes the Internal Revenue Service $1.7 million as a result of his guilty plea to the tax evasion charge. In the agreement, Abramoff admits to bribing public officials, including Ney. [cite news | title = Lobbyist admits he gave Ney bribes | author = Torry, Jack and Riskind, Jonathan | date = 2006-01-04 | url = http://www.columbusdispatch.com/live/contentbe/dispatch/2006/01/04/20060104-A1-01.html | publisher = The Columbus Dispatch | accessdate = 2006-08-17 ] Also included: the hiring of congressional staffers and conspiring with them to lobby their former employers—including members of Congress—in violation of a one-year federal ban on such lobbying. [cite web | url = http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/documents/abramoff_info_010306.pdf|format = PDF|date = 2006-01-03 | accessdate = 2006-08-17 | title = Abramoff complaint ]

Later in 2006 Abramoff lobbyists Neil Volz and Tony Rudy pled guilty to conspiracy charges; in September 2006 Ney himself pled guilty to conspiracy and making false statements.

unCruz Casinos fraud conviction

On August 11, 2005, Abramoff and Kidan were indicted by a federal grand jury in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on fraud charges arising from a 2000 deal to buy SunCruz Casinos from Konstantinos "Gus" Boulis. Abramoff and Kidan are accused of using a fake wire transfer to make lenders believe that they had made a $23 million down payment, in order to qualify for a $60 million loan. [cite web | title = Abramoff will plead not guilty to fraud charges, lawyer says | url = http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2005/08/abramoff-will-plead-not-guilty-to.php | date = 2005-08-19 | first = Krista-Ann | last = Staley|publisher = JURIST|accessdate = 2006-08-17 ] Kidan received the same sentence as Abramoff — 5 years, 10 months — which he began serving at Fort Dix Federal Penetentiary, in Fort Dix, New Jersey, on October 23, 2006. Ney also was implicated in helping to consummate the deal.

After the partners purchased SunCruz in September 2000, the business relationship with Boulis deteriorated, culminating in a fistfight between Kidan and Boulis in December 2000. In February 2001 Boulis was murdered in his car in a Mafia-style attack.

The murder investigation, which presently includes three mobsters who had received payments from Kidan, is ongoing. Two of the suspects face the death penalty. SunCruz is now owned and operated by Oceans Casinos Cruises.

On March 29, 2006, Abramoff and Kidan were both sentenced in the SunCruz case to the minimum amount, 70 months, and to pay US$21.7 million in restitution. According to the "memorandum in aid of sentencing", the sentencing judge, U.S. District Judge Paul C. Huck, received over 260 pleas for leniency from various people, including "rabbis, military officers and even a professional hockey referee." [cite web | url = http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12066674/|format = HTML|date = 2006-03-29 | accessdate = 2006-09-04 | title = Abramoff gets 5 years, 10 months in fraud case ] The defendants are still cooperating with federal investigators and will be sentenced later in the Indian lobbying case.

On November 15, 2006, Abramoff began serving his term in the minimum-security prison camp of Federal Correctional Institution, Cumberland as inmate number 27593-112. The Justice Department requested that he serve his sentence there so as to be accessible to agents in Washington for cooperation as the investigation related to his associates intensifies. [ [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/15/AR2006111501159.html Jack Abramoff Reports to Md. Prison] , "AP"]

Guam grand jury investigation

In 2002 Abramoff was retained under a secret contract by the Guam Superior Court to lobby against a bill proposing to put the Superior Court under the authority of the Guam Supreme Court. On November 18, 2002 a grand jury issued a subpoena demanding that the administrator of the Guam Superior Court release all records relating to the contract. On November 19, 2002 U.S. Attorney Frederick A. Black, the chief prosecutor for Guam and the instigator of the indictment, was unexpectedly demoted and removed from the office he had held since 1991. The federal grand jury investigation was quickly wound down and took no further action. In 2005 Public Auditor Doris Flores Brooks initiated a new investigation of the Abramoff contract which is continuing.

In 2006 California attorney and Marshall Island lobbyist Howard Hills, who worked with Abramoff, and Tony Sanchez, a former administrator of the Guam Superior Court were indicted for unlawful influence, conspiracy for unlawful influence, theft of property held in trust, and official misconduct for allegedly authorizing thirty-six payments of $9,000 each written out to Hills, but funneled to Abramoff. In 2007 superseding indictments were issued against Hills and Sanchez, and in 2008 further related indictments were handed down against Abramoff and Abramoff's firm at the time, Greenberg Taurig. The charges against the Abramoff firm have since been dismissed.

Abramoff organizations

Abramoff has founded or run several non-profit organizations, including Capital Athletic Foundation and Eshkol Academy; as well as lobbying firms and political think tanks such as American International Center, GrassRoots Interactive, and the National Center for Public Policy Research. While these organizations had varying degrees of legitimate activities, it has come to light that Abramoff used these organizations to channel millions of dollars to recipients not related to the organizations.

Capital Athletic Foundation and Eshkol Academy

:

"Main articles: Capital Athletic Foundation, Eshkol Academy

Although Federal tax records show that various Indian tribes donated more than $6 million to the Capital Athletic Foundation, less than 1% of the money went to athletic programs, the stated purpose of the foundation. The majority of the funds went to the Eshkol Academy in Maryland, an Orthodox Jewish school founded by Abramoff in 2002. Hundreds of thousands of dollars from CAF were also spent on golf trips to Scotland for Abramoff, Ney, Reed, and Safavian, as well as purchases of camping and outdoors equipment sent to a high school friend. Abramoff solicited Safavian's help in looking for property deals for Eshkol Academy and tribal clients, leading to Safavian's conviction. [cite news | url = http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Jack-Abramoff | title = Indian Affairs panel hears 'tale of betrayal' | first = Josephine | last = Hearn | date = 2005-06-23 | publisher = The Hill | accessdate = 2006-08-17 ] [cite news | url = http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_kmnew/is_/ai_n14760146 | title = Fund-Raising: Take It to the (West) Bank | date = 2006-05-02|publisher = Newsweek|author = Isikoff, Michael | accessdate = 2006-08-17 ]

GrassRoots Interactive and Kay Gold

GrassRoots Interactive, now defunct, was a small Silver Spring, Maryland, lobbying firm controlled by Abramoff. Millions of dollars flowed into GrassRoots Interactive in 2003, the year it was created, and then flowed out again to unusual places. At least $2.3 million went to a California consulting firm that used the same address as the law office of Abramoff's brother, Robert. A separate check for $400,000, from GrassRoots, was made out to Kay Gold LLC, another Abramoff family company. [cite news | url = http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/1110-04.htm | title = Lobbyist Sought $9 Million to Set Bush Meeting | publisher = New York Times|date=2005-11-10 | first = Philip | last = Shenon | accessdate = 2006-08-17 ]

ee also

*
*Jack Abramoff timeline
*List of trips funded by Jack Abramoff
*Norman Hsu

Footnotes

Cited notes and references

Uncited references

*cite news |url=http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/08/08/bush_removal_ended_guam_investigation/ |title= Bush removal ended Guam investigation |date=August 8, 2005 |publisher=The Boston Globe | last = Roche | first = Walter F.
*Byrne, John. [http://rawstory.com/news/2005/New_questions_surround_multibilliondollar_Homeland_Security_1130.html Abramoff, lobbyists linked to troubled multibillion-dollar Homeland Security contract] , " [http://rawstory.com/ rawstory.com] ". Accessed February 3 2006.
* [http://mediamatters.org/items/200512210001 How many conservative columnists did Jack Abramoff rent for his clients?] , [http://mediamatters.org/ Media Matters for America] . Accessed February 3 2006.
*Kurtz, Howard and Babcock, Charles R. "Two 'Nonpolitical' Foundations Push Grenada Rallies", "The Washington Post", October 4 1984.
*Taibbi, Matt, " [http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/9519825/meet_mr_republican_jack_abramoff Meet Mr. Republican: Jack Abramoff] , "Rolling Stone", March 24, 2006
* [http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A60906-2004Feb21?language=printer A Jackpot From Indian Gaming Tribes] , "Washington Post", February 22, 2004.
* [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10553782/ Abramoff may strike deal with prosecutors; Plea could mean lobbyist would implicate members of Congress] , "MSNBC", December 21, 2005
* [http://www.jackinthehouse.org/ www.jackinthehouse.org]
* [http://www.spinwatch.org/content/view/1107/9/ "A Lobbyist in Full"] "New York Times", May 1, 2005.
* [http://www.pbs.org/now/transcript/transcript347_full.html Transcript of PBS Now episode with snippets of Senate Indian case testimony]
* [http://www.stealthpacs.org/agent.cfm?agent_id=4920 Abramoff's associations with various organizations]
* [http://indian.senate.gov/2004hrgs/092904hrg/Campbell.pdf Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell's statement on Abramoff]
* [http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=108_senate_hearings&docid=f:96229.wais Committee on Indian Affairs hearing transcript]
* [http://www.democracynow.org/2006/1/4/forced_abortions_sweatshops_a_look_at A Look at Jack Abramoff's Ties to the South Pacific Island of Saipan...] from Democracy Now
* [http://tech.mit.edu/V125/N29/long3.html "Committee Asks Justice Dept. To Broaden Inquiry of Lobbyist"] "New York Times".
* [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/02/AR2005060202158.html "Democrats Also Got Tribal Donations"] "Washington Post"
* [http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/229692_lapin23.html "Lobbyist, rabbi talk of tricking the Cosmos"]
* [http://news.ft.com/cms/s/07ca5068-0b5c-11da-9939-00000e2511c8.html "Abramoff in Court on Charges of Fraud"] , "Financial Times," August 12, 2005.
* [http://www.newsmeat.com/washington_political_donations/Jack_Abramoff.php Abramoff's Federal Campaign Contributions] , "NewsMeat.com"
* [http://dorgan.senate.gov/newsroom/record.cfm?id=249313 Statement of Sen. Byron Dorgan]
* [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5032567 Abramoff, Scanlon and the Influence of Money -- on Fresh Air/NPR with Terry Gross]
* [http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/dec2005/nf20051216_1037_db016.htm Op-Eds for Sale] , "Business Week"
* [http://www.juancole.com/2006/01/abramoff-and-al-arian-lobbyists.html Abramoff and al-Arian: Lobbyist's "Charity" a Front for Terrorism] "Informed Comment"
* [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/linkset/2005/06/22/LI2005062200936.html The Jack Abramoff Story] collected news and analysis from the "Washington Post"
* [http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1137317492188681.xml&coll=2 Cleveland Plain Dealer, January 15, 2006, "What you should know about Abramoff case"] Excellent, simplified, summary. Good intro to the situation.
*cite news|url=http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/01/15/roots_of_a_lobbyist/|title= Roots of a lobbyist|date=January 15, 2006|publisher=The Boston Globe
*cite news|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/03/AR2006010301536.html|title=Case Bringing New Scrutiny To a System and a Profession|publisher=Washington Post|date=January 4, 2006|page=A01
* [http://www.forward.com/articles/%E2%80%98dear-judge%E2%80%99-religion-tinged-letters-praise-g/ 'Dear Judge': Religion-tinged Letters Praise Good Deeds of Felon Lobbyist, "Forward" April 7, 2006]

External links

*imdb name|id=0009106|name=Jack Abramoff

Research/media

* [http://www.democracynow.org/2006/10/2/a_swashbuckling_spectacle_of_corruption_bill "A Swashbuckling Spectacle of Corruption - Bill Moyers Investigates Abramoff Lobbying Scandal"] streaming video, mp3, transcript
* [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/03/AR2006010300474.html "Abramoff Pleads Guilty to Three Counts: Lobbyist to Testify About Lawmakers in Corruption Probe] , "The Washington Post", January 4, 2006, page A1.
* [http://www.pbs.org/moyers/moyersonamerica/capitol/abramoff.html Capitol Crimes. Abramoff, Inc.] Bill Moyers PBS documentary series "Moyers on America"
* [http://foia.citizensforethics.org/browse Department of the Interior: Communications Between DOI and Jack Abramoff (2005)] - Extensive collection of materials obtained by the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington under the Freedom of Information Act.
*Barry Yeoman, [http://www.barryyeoman.com/articles/abramoff.html Fall of a True Believer, "Mother Jones"]
* [http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Interactives/News/Politics/Abramoff_Scandal_IMAX_v2.swf Jack Abramoff--MSNBC Interactive connections]
*cite web |url=http://gtlaw.com/bios/govadmin/abramoffj.htm |title=Jack Abramoff's CV |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20030612020908/http://gtlaw.com/bios/govadmin/abramoffj.htm |archivedate=2003-06-12 "Jack is directly involved in the Republican party and conservative movement leadership structures"
* [http://www.msmagazine.com/ "Ms." Magazine] Spring 2006 article [http://www.msmagazine.com/spring2006/paradise.asp "Paradise Lost: Greed, Sex Slavery, Forced Abortions and Right-Wing Moralists"]
* [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/28/AR2005122801588.html "The Fast Rise and Steep Fall of Jack Abramoff: How a Well-Connected Lobbyist Became the Center of a Far-Reaching Corruption Scandal"] , "The Washington Post", December 29, 2005, page A1.

Photograph

* [http://images.dailykos.com/images/user/1237/Abramoff.jpgThe long-denied photo of Jack Abramoff and George W. Bush]

Persondata
NAME = Abramoff, Jack
ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
SHORT DESCRIPTION = Republican lobbyist
DATE OF BIRTH = February 28, 1959
PLACE OF BIRTH = Atlantic City, New Jersey, U.S.
DATE OF DEATH =
PLACE OF DEATH =