|
Lobbyist laundered tribal funds to israel Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=a9s0nfJm4uZAhttp://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=a9s0nfJm4uZA
Abramoff Defrauded Indians, U.S. Senate Witnesses Say (Update1)
June 22 (Bloomberg) -- Jack Abramoff, a former lobbyist who is the subject of a federal investigation, diverted funds from Indian tribes into projects ranging from an Orthodox Jewish academy to an Israeli sniper school, new documents show.
Abramoff and partner Michael Scanlon inflated expenses and divided the profits from $15 million in payments from the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, according to testimony and e- mails released at a Senate Indian Affairs Committee hearing. The two men told the Indians they used the money for a lobbying campaign to prevent rival casinos from opening, said witnesses, including Donald Kilgore, the tribe's attorney general.
``This investigation has taken twists and turns we had not anticipated,'' said Senator Byron Dorgan, a North Dakota Democrat who is vice chairman of the committee. ``It has uncovered deceptions and greed that even by Washington standards are breathtaking.''
Some of the fees were funneled though a nonprofit tax-exempt organization, and much of the money went into Abramoff's own bank account -- unknown to the tribes or the nonprofit group. It was part of what Abramoff labeled his ``gimme five'' program, according to the e-mails and testimony.
Heightened Scrutiny
The use of nonprofit groups to fund lobbying campaigns and congressional travel has come under increased scrutiny since March. That's when the Washington Post reported that the National Center for Public Policy Research, a Washington-based group that witnesses today said Abramoff used to funnel at least $1 million in Choctaw money, sponsored a 2000 congressional golf trip to Scotland, which included House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and Abramoff.
According to a study by the Center for Public Integrity, non- profit groups with lobbyists on their boards paid for at least 850 congressional trips worth more than $4 million between January 2000 and mid-2004.
Neither Abramoff nor Scanlon, a former aide to DeLay, were at today's hearings. A spokesman for Abramoff said the lobbyist deserved the fees he was paid by the Indian tribes.
``Any fair reading of Mr. Abramoff's career would show that his clients benefited immensely from the hard work he and his team did on their behalf,'' spokesman Andrew Blum said in a statement. ``Mr. Abramoff hopes that those who are quick to judge him now will remember that there are two sides to every event and that the media can condemn someone before he ever has a chance to right the record.''
Blum said Abramoff can't respond to specific allegations because he's under investigation by the Justice Department.
$66 Million in Fees
Abramoff and Scanlon took in more than $66 million in fees from 2001 to 2004 from tribal clients, said Senator John McCain, an Arizona Republican who's chairman of the committee. They directed some of those funds to congressional campaigns in a bid to win influence, according to e-mails released by the committee in two hearings held last year.
A Bloomberg News analysis of Federal Election Commission and Internal Revenue Service records shows that at least 171 lawmakers got $1.4 million in campaign donations from Abramoff, Scanlon and six Indian tribe clients between 2001 and 2004.
``There are two possibilities: that Abramoff and colleagues are the sickening exception to the usual DC lobbyist rule, or that they are all too typical,'' said Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. ``If it's the latter, Katie, bar the door.''
Losing Money
Dorgan, McCain, representatives from the Mississippi tribe and the head of the nonprofit National Center for Public Policy Research alleged that Abramoff may have committed fraud.
In a Nov. 4, 2002, e-mail, Abramoff told Scanlon to tell Mississippi Choctaw legislative liaison Nell Rogers that the two were losing money representing the tribe. They actually spent only $1.2 million of the $7.7 million they charged the tribe for projects in 2001, according to McCain.
``I think you should call her and tell her that we have turned the corner but you are pouring it on to make sure we win,'' Abramoff wrote. ``Tell her as of now you are finally willing to say that we will win this, but laughingly say `I don't know how I am going to get back all the money I had to dump into this.'''
Kilgore told the committee that was ``a blatant, calculated scheme to defraud a client.''
Educating the Public
In 2002, the National Center for Public Policy Research received $1 million from the Choctaws -- the largest amount of money the group had ever received, according to Amy Ridenour, the center's president.
Ridenour said today that she was told by Abramoff -- a friend of almost 22 years -- that the money was to be for a campaign to educate the public on Indian gaming.
She said he asked her to send $500,000 to Capitol Campaign Strategies, Scanlon's public-affairs firm which she was told was doing the work for the campaign. Another $450,000 was to go to Abramoff's charity, the Capital Athletic Foundation, and $50,000 to the Washington lobbying firm Nurnberger & Associates, who she was told was coordinating the campaign, she testified.
Instead, Abramoff was paying off a personal debt owed to Ralph Nurnberger, a partner in the lobbying firm, McCain said, citing testimony to the committee by Nurnberger. Abramoff told his executive assistant to ``make up invoices'' from the Capital Athletic Foundation and Nurnberger & Associates to ``give his activities the veneer of legitimacy,'' McCain said.
`I'm Appalled'
Ridenour said that another $1.25 million the center received from Abramoff's lobbying firm in 2003 was directed to the foundation and to Kaygold LLC, which she assumed was another public-affairs firm conducting the campaign. Instead, according to testimony by Gail Halpern, Abramoff's accountant, it was a corporation solely owned by Abramoff.
``Frankly, I'm appalled,'' Ridenour said. ``It seemed perfectly consistent with our mission, and it seemed like good, legitimate work.''
The foundation used money from the Choctaws and other donors to fund a variety of pet interests of Abramoff's, McCain said. Almost 80 percent of the group's funds went to the all-boys Eshkol Academy that Abramoff set up in Maryland. The foundation also sent payments to a friend of Abramoff's who ran sniper workshops for the Israeli Defense Force.
One e-mail released by the committee today details costs for equipment needed by the sniper workshops. Abramoff's friend once suggested that he could write a letter with the workshop's logo as an ``educational entity'' when Abramoff was trying to figure out how to match the payments with the foundation's mission, McCain said, citing Abramoff's secretary.
``No, don't do that,'' Abramoff replied in the e-mail. ``I don't want sniper letterhead.''
Last Updated: June 22, 2005 17:57 EDT
|
|
