New revelations surface in Abramoff probe

updated 6:56 p.m. ET April 11, 2006

WASHINGTON - A Republican Party official and Jack Abramoff’s lobbying team bluntly discussed using large political donations as a way to pressure lawmakers into securing federal money for a tribal client, according to e-mails gathered by prosecutors.

The e-mails detail how Abramoff’s team worked to leverage assistance from the White House, Congress and the GOP to get a reluctant federal agency and a single Republican congressional aide to stop blocking school construction money for the Saginaw Chippewa tribe. The e-mails were obtained by The Associated Press.

Abramoff’s team ultimately prevailed when the congressional aide was overruled, several lawmakers pressured an Interior Department agency and Congress itself set aside the money for the tribe. Lawmakers who helped got thousands of dollars in fresh donations from Abramoff’s team.

Federal bribery law prohibits public officials from taking actions because of gifts or political donations and bars lobbyists from demanding government action in exchange for donations.

Taking care of ‘the Rs’
Abramoff’s team repeatedly discussed donations as the reason Republican leaders should intervene for the Saginaw, the e-mails show.

“The tribes that want this (not just ours) are the only guys who take care of the Rs,” Abramoff deputy Todd Boulanger wrote in a June 19, 2002, e-mail to Abramoff and his lobbying team, using “Rs” as shorthand for Republicans.

“We’re going to seriously reconsider our priorities in the current lists I’m drafting right now if our friends don’t weigh in with some juice. If leadership isn’t going to cash in a chit for (easily) our most important project, then they are out of luck from here on out,” he wrote, referring to political donation lists.

The e-mails have become evidence in a federal corruption probe into whether lawmakers, congressional aides and administration officials helped Abramoff’s clients in exchange for gifts and donations.

‘Circumstantial evidence’
A former federal prosecutor who specialized in fund-raising cases said the e-mails are “circumstantial evidence that the money may have a relationship to certain legislative action” and would be useful in criminal prosecution if bolstered by other evidence.

“It memorializes what a lot of people suspect: that money buys access,” said Charles La Bella, who oversaw a 1990s investigation into Clinton-era fundraising. “Politicians, because of the way the system is set up, need money. And money is used as a carrot and a stick by lobbyists to encourage or discourage legislative action.”

Abramoff’s spokesman, Andrew Blum, declined comment Tuesday on the e-mails.

Abramoff’s lobbying began when the Interior Department initially opposed giving the Saginaw — a wealthy tribe with a casino — federal school construction aid.

Lobbying Congress, GOP
Abramoff’s team turned to Congress, getting Michigan Democratic Sens. Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow to persuade their party’s leaders to request the money in a spending bill. Democrats controlled the Senate in 2002.

Abramoff then turned to Republicans, including Sen. Conrad Burns of Montana, to overcome the administration’s objections and secure $3 million specifically for the Saginaw when the GOP regained control of the Senate the next year.

The plan hit a snag in summer 2002 when a single GOP House appropriations staffer, Joel Kaplan, objected. An angry Abramoff team frantically reached Republican leaders.

A staffer for the National Republican Congressional Committee, Jonathan Poe, suggested Abramoff’s team compile a list of tribal donations, comparing Republicans with Democrats, to help make the case for lawmakers to overrule Kaplan, the e-mails state.

Poe’s “suggestion for me was to have a list of money contributed by tribes broken down r to d so that I can make the cleanest argument that we are about to let the Senate Democrats take credit for the biggest ask of the year by the most Republican-leaning tribes,” Abramoff lobbying associate Neil Volz wrote.

Abramoff’s team obliged, creating a tally that showed his tribal clients overwhelmingly donated to Republicans — $225,000 compared with $79,000 for Democrats.

Poe declined to be interviewed for comment. NRCC spokesman Carl Forti said he didn’t know if the NRCC ultimately helped but that NRCC staff routinely suggest strategy for lobbyists and others.

“We talk to groups and people all the time and recommend strategy. We do that with campaigns. It’s part of what we do,” Forti said.

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