http://www.washingtonian.com/capital_comment/2006/PowerPlayers/02.html

Quote :

"Bush and Abramoff—Say Cheese? White House press secretary Scott McClellan admits that the White House has been on a search mission for any photos showing President Bush with toxic lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who is cooperating with the Justice Department on its investigation of a wide-ranging lobbying scandal. At a press conference, McClellan said if there were pictures, which officials hadn’t found, they might have been taken at a Christmas-party line, where the President poses with hundreds of people. “The President does not know him, nor does the President recall ever meeting him,” McClellan said. The comment about searching raised images in the press room of a “White House plumbers” operation looking for incriminating photos. If the White House can’t find the photos, prosecutors already know where to look. The Washingtonian has seen five photos of the President with Abramoff or his family. One photo shows the President and Abramoff shaking hands at a meeting in the Old Executive Office Building, where a bearded-Abramoff introduced Bush to several of the lobbyist’s native-American clients. Abramoff was named a “pioneer” in the Bush presidential campaign, collecting more than $100,000, in $2,000 maximum increments, for his campaign in 2004. Bush has returned $6,000 of Abramoff’s contributions, the part that would represent the legal limit for Abramoff; his wife, Pam; and a client. Sources say the photographs are being kept safe. Abramoff would tell prosecutors, if asked, that not only did he know the President, but the President knew the names of Abramoff’s children and asked about them during their meetings. At one such photo session, Bush discussed the fact that both he and Abramoff were fathers of twins."

If the DNC had any balls they'd get a hold of these pictures.

1/21/2006 9:47:29 PM

heh

we're not doing this anymore

we won

[/cheese]

but as far as the article goes
i wonder what the response will be in regards to bush saying he doesnt' remember meeting the guy if there are multiple pictures of the two of them...

1/21/2006 9:54:29 PM

Segway, Woodfoot. Segway.

Oh, and the response will be that it's amazing what you can do with photoshop. I'll give you 10:1 odds.

[Edited on January 21, 2006 at 10:08 PM. Reason : ...]

1/21/2006 10:07:54 PM

[segue]

1/21/2006 11:04:51 PM

[heh]

1/22/2006 3:33:53 AM

I think it's hilarious that they're holding press conferences to make pre-emptive excuses for evidence they haven't even found yet.

1/22/2006 3:41:47 AM

[agreed]

1/22/2006 12:30:41 PM

^^^^I just thought he was refering to the personal transport devices that will soon revolutionize our lives...

1/23/2006 9:47:01 AM

Quote :

"i wonder what the response will be in regards to bush saying he doesnt' remember meeting the guy if there are multiple pictures of the two of them..."

The president meets so many people it would be unfair to show a photo of him with someone and assume a relationship.

1/23/2006 10:09:36 AM

segway



segue

1/23/2006 10:26:30 AM

Quote :

" The president meets so many people it would be unfair to show a photo of him with someone and assume a relationship."

it would however be fair to show many photos of them at different times, which would mean they could officially be called "acquaintances," though likely not "friends," know how well everyone in washington knew who he was, and assume that bush knew he had met him

1/23/2006 10:32:54 AM

http://onegoodmove.org/1gm/1gmarchive/002800.html

Jack Abramoff and his relationship with George W. Bush is a hot topic on the late night shows. In this clip both Jon Stewart and Dave Letterman weigh in.

1/24/2006 1:40:04 PM

For fuck's sake. They posed for a painting together. Obviously they knew each other...

1/24/2006 4:04:11 PM

ludicrous! the president stands in a line and poses for paintings with several thousand people every christmas!

to be fair, you can paint a painting by looking at a photograph that was taken in a christmas line. Is that the most likely possibility? I dunno

1/24/2006 4:20:49 PM

But then there's the statue...

1/24/2006 4:23:10 PM

and the soon-to-be released animated series with voice acting by abramoff and bush themselves

and the porno

1/24/2006 4:24:29 PM

The plot thickens.

Apparently, it was Abramoff himself that's been shopping the pictures of himself with the President.

Too funny.

1/24/2006 5:45:53 PM

This is going to some hot shit when the photos get released. The white house is stonewalling, again. To this I ask those words i've heard dozens of times over the past few weeks concerning the NSA wiretapping.

"You have nothing to worry about if you've got nothing to hide."

1/24/2006 7:42:52 PM

I did not have plutonic relations....with that man.......Mr Abramofff

1/24/2006 7:52:29 PM

Y'know, I was just wondering if it was possible to ask a sentence.

1/24/2006 8:03:08 PM

Apparently the reporters asked this morning why he wouldn't release the photos, but I missed the answer. They later asked him about Abramoff in general and if he had ever been lobbied by Abramoff, and Bush said that he didn't remember ever having his photo taken with him and that he didn't know him.

1/26/2006 11:10:55 AM

Abramoff tipped off Tyco that the GSA was about to suspend its government contracts in '03:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/27/AR2006012701685_pf.html

1/28/2006 2:42:18 PM

Although truely you would need evidence that Bush benefitted from Abramoff's "gifts" to make any argument against him, I think most ppl will say "OMF THEY ARE IN THE SAME FOTO, RAWR".

1/28/2006 4:08:02 PM

I don't think that Abramoff did anything shady with Bush.

I just care because Bush is lying about it.

1/28/2006 5:35:54 PM

^ What he said.

1/29/2006 2:56:55 AM

clinton didnt get in trouble

bush won't either

1/30/2006 3:50:01 PM

In a clear "fuck you" move, Abramoff donated all of FIFTY DOLLARS to his alma mater, Brandeis University in 2002.
http://tinyurl.com/bjof2

2/5/2006 1:13:04 PM

Quote :

"Jack Abramoff said in correspondence made public Thursday that President Bush met him “almost a dozen” times, disputing White House claims Bush did not know the former lobbyist at the center of a corruption scandal. “The guy saw me in almost a dozen settings, and joked with me about a bunch of things, including details of my kids. Perhaps he has forgotten everything, who knows,” Abramoff wrote in an e-mail to Kim Eisler, national editor for the Washingtonian magazine. Abramoff added that Bush also once invited him to his Texas ranch. The messages were made public by the American Progress Action Fund, a liberal activist group. Eisler confirmed their accuracy to Reuters but said he did not intend them to become public. “They reflect the feeling of frustration he has not just with Bush but with all these guys claiming they didn’t know him,” said Eisler, who knew Abramoff through a book he wrote about the Pequot Indian tribe. Abramoff pleaded guilty to fraud charges in early January and is cooperating with prosecutors in a corruption probe that could implicate lawmakers and officials across Washington. Bush has said he never had a discussion with Abramoff and does not remember having his picture taken with him."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11261495/

“The President does not know him, nor does the President recall ever meeting him,” McClellan said.

[Edited on February 10, 2006 at 9:07 AM. Reason : ,]

2/10/2006 9:05:45 AM

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/09/AR2006020901208_pf.html

Quote :

"Abramoff Team and Reid's Office Had Frequent Contact, Records Show By John Solomon and Sharon Theimer Associated Press Friday, February 10, 2006; A08 Senate Minority Leader Harry M. Reid wrote at least four letters helpful to Indian tribes represented by Jack Abramoff, and Reid's staff had frequent contact with the disgraced lobbyist's team about legislation. The activities -- detailed in previously unreported billing records and correspondence -- occurred over three years as Reid (D-Nev.) collected nearly $68,000 in political donations from Abramoff's firm, lobbying partners and clients. Reid's office yesterday acknowledged having "routine contacts" with Abramoff's lobbying partners. Reid intervened on government matters in ways that Abramoff's tribal clients might have deemed helpful, once opposing legislation on the Senate floor and four times sending letters pressing the Bush administration on tribal issues. Reid collected donations around the time of each action. Abramoff's firm also hired one of Reid's top legislative aides as a lobbyist. The aide later helped throw a fundraiser for Reid at Abramoff's firm that raised money from several of Abramoff's lobbying partners. A Reid spokesman said none of the senator's actions were affected by donations or done for Abramoff. "All the actions that Senator Reid took were consistent with his long-held beliefs, such as not letting tribal casinos expand beyond reservations, and were taken to defend the interests of Nevada constituents," spokesman Jim Manley said. Abramoff has pleaded guilty to fraud and bribery and is helping prosecutors investigate the conduct of lawmakers, congressional aides and administration officials his team used to lobby. Abramoff spokesman Andrew Blum declined to comment on the Reid contacts. Reid has assailed Republicans' ties to Abramoff while refusing to return any of his own donations. He argues there is no need to return the money. "Senator Reid never met Jack Abramoff and never has taken contributions from him, and efforts to drag him into this are going to fail," Manley said. Although Abramoff never donated personally to Reid, the lobbyist did instruct one tribe, the Louisiana Coushattas, to send $5,000 to Reid's tax-exempt political group, the Searchlight Leadership Fund, in 2002. Reid was Democratic whip at the time. Abramoff sent a list to the tribe titled "Coushatta Requests" recommending donations to campaigns or groups for 50 lawmakers. Alongside Reid's name, Abramoff wrote, "5,000 (Searchlight Leadership Fund) Senate Majority Whip." About the same time, Reid sent a letter to the Interior Department helpful to the tribe, records show. His March 5, 2002, letter pressed the agency to reject a casino proposed by a potential rival to the Coushattas, the Jena Band of Choctaw Indians. Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.) also signed the letter. Reid also officially opposed new tribal casinos in California and Michigan, where Abramoff had tribal clients with casinos. Reid and Ensign recently wrote the Senate Ethics Committee to say their letter had nothing to do with Abramoff or the donation and instead reflected their interest in protecting Las Vegas's gambling establishments. "As senators for the state with the largest nontribal gaming industry in the nation, we have long opposed the growth of off-reservation tribal gaming throughout the United States," Ensign and Reid wrote. Reid authored the law legalizing casinos on reservations, and he has long argued it does not allow tribal gambling off reservations. Abramoff's group had earlier contacts with Reid's office over the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. territory and one of Abramoff's highest paying clients. In 2001, records show, Abramoff's lobbying partners billed for nearly two dozen phone contacts or meetings with Reid's office, mostly to discuss Democratic legislation that would have gradually applied the U.S. minimum wage to the islands. Republicans wanted to keep the islands exempt. Reid, along with his Senate counsel, Jim Ryan, met with Abramoff deputy Ronald Platt on June 5, 2001, "to discuss timing on minimum wage bill," according to a bill that Greenberg Traurig, Abramoff's firm, sent the Marianas. Three weeks before the meeting, Greenberg Traurig's political action committee donated $1,000 to Reid's Senate reelection committee. Three weeks after the meeting, Platt himself donated $1,000 to Reid. Manley said Reid's official calendar does not list a meeting on June 5, 2001, with Platt, but he also said he could not say for sure the contact did not occur. Manley confirmed Platt had regular contacts with Reid's office, calling them part of the "routine checking in" by lobbyists who work Capitol Hill. As for the timing of donations, Manley said, "There is no connection. This is just a typical part of lawful fundraising." Platt and a fellow lobbyist also reported a contact on May 30, 2001, with Edward P. Ayoob, Reid's legislative counsel. Within a year, Ayoob had left Reid's office to work for Abramoff's firm, registering to lobby for the islands as well as several tribes. Manley confirmed Ayoob had subsequent lobbying contacts with Reid's office. "

2/10/2006 9:21:47 AM

great, if he broke the law, take him down, too. I don't have any allegiance to any of those washington fucks

for clarity, however

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/007647.php

Quote :

" What did Reid do in response? That's really the key issue. Did he intervene on behalf of Abramoff's Marianas clients? The gist of the whole narrative is that Reid was Team Abramoff's go-to guy to kill the bill that would have hurt the Marianas sweatshop owners. But did he actually rise to the bait? I rung up Reid spokesman Jim Manley. He said Reid was a "cosponsor of Sen. Kennedy's bill; he spoke in favor of the bill on the Senate; he was a strong supporter of the bill." When I pressed Manley on whether Sen. Reid took any action adverse to the bill or made changes in timing that lead to the bill's demise, he said, "No." Then I got hold of Ron Platt, the lobbyist referenced in the passage above, on his cell phone while he was down at a conference in Florida. I asked him whether, to the best of his recollection, Reid had taken any action against the Kennedy bill. "I'm sure he didn't," Platt told me. According to Platt, the purpose of his contacts was to see what information he could get about the timing and status of the legislation. Reid's position on the minimum wage issue was well known and there would have been no point trying to get his help blocking it. That's what Platt says. "I didn't ask Reid to intervene," said Platt. "I wouldn't have asked him to intervene. I don't think anyone else would have asked. And I'm sure he didn't.""

http://feeds.dailykos.com/dailykos/index?m=2683

The problem exists when a lobbyist buys off an elected official. Here, let me give you an example:

Quote :

" U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., met with a Marianas official who had close ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff in the weeks before Burns received an Abramoff-related $5,000 contribution from the Marianas and reversed his earlier position on a bill about the islands [...] 8 percent of the island's population were noncitizen immigrants, drawn to the island's garment manufacturing jobs, government reports show. At the time, workers in the factories earned a minimum of $3.05 an hour, below the U.S. minimum wage of $5.15. Burns voted against a bill in May 2001 that would have strengthened U.S. oversight over the commonwealth's labor and immigration laws. A little more than a year before Burns had not opposed an identical measure."

Reid didn't just support the increase in the island's minimum wage, but he co-sponsored it.

And the AP piece, penned by John Solomon and Sharon Theimer, conveniently omits that crucial bit of information.

2/10/2006 9:37:28 AM

agreed...take them down

but just cause this guy talked to the president some...to me that doesnt mean anything...i talked to that joker who was in charge of student tickets and got caught giving them out to friends....that doesnt mean that i had anything to do with that

2/10/2006 9:50:05 AM

you're either missing or ignoring the point. abramoff says bush KNOWS abramoff, that he even knew his kids' names, but bush says he doesn't. I'm not saying knowing him means he's guilty of any crimes, I'm saying he's lying. AGAIN

2/10/2006 12:04:24 PM

see...my problem is that you are willing to believe abramoff but not bush...what the heck is some lobbyist to the president??...nothing....the prez meets hundereds of people a day....

and even i kno the presidents daughters names...so what??

so im saying that abramoff is lying. AGAIN

2/10/2006 1:12:56 PM

Quote :

"what the heck is some lobbyist to the president??"

A major campaign contributer.

[Edited on February 10, 2006 at 1:16 PM. Reason : with ill-gotten funds, I might add]

2/10/2006 1:15:57 PM

You know the president's daughters' names. Great. But does the president know YOUR daughters' names? Because that's what's being claimed here, not only by Abramoff but by at least one White House staffer.

2/10/2006 1:17:59 PM

^ right

Quote :

"see...my problem is that you are willing to believe abramoff but not bush."

I'm not necessarily saying that he's telling the truth, I'm just pointing out the consequences if he is.

2/10/2006 1:19:55 PM

First it was the dems and the reps fighting over the definition of "sexual relations" between Clinton and Lewinsky. Now they are at it again. Did Bush know Abramoff. See how the two party system hurts America. All these years and they still can't decide on a definition for sex.

[Edited on February 10, 2006 at 1:37 PM. Reason : -]

2/10/2006 1:35:54 PM

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/n/a/2006/02/10/national/w190422S92.DTL&type=printable

Quote :

"Lobbyist Confirms Talks With Reids Office Friday, February 10, 2006 One of Jack Abramoff's ex-colleagues confirmed Friday he contacted Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid's office on behalf of the influential lobbyist but said he doesn't believe Abramoff's billing records accurately reflect the extent of his work. Ronald Platt, a lobbyist who worked with Abramoff at the Greenberg Traurig firm between 2001 and 2004, said he contacted Reid's office in 2001, as the billing records show, about the timing of minimum wage legislation affecting Abramoff's Northern Mariana Islands client. "When Abramoff first arrived at Greenberg Traurig, I did a new colleague a favor by simply asking Reid staffers about when the minimum wage legislation affecting the Mariana Islands would be voted upon by the Senate. I communicated this to Abramoff," Platt said in a statement e-mailed to The Associated Press. AP reported Thursday that lobbying firm billing records obtained under public records law from the Northern Mariana Islands showed Abramoff billed the islands for 21 contacts in 2001 with Reid's office. The records listed the minimum wage as the issue and Platt as the point of contact for most of those contacts. Platt had formally registered with the Senate in 2001 to lobby for the Marianas as well as some Abramoff tribal clients. Reid's office confirmed this week it had "routine contact" with Platt over the years on lobbying issues such as the Marianas, tribes and other issues but said it could not verify all the contacts listed in the billing records. In his statement, Platt sought to minimize the extent of his lobbying of Reid's office on behalf of Abramoff, who has pleaded guilty in a fraud and bribery case. "These contacts were incidental, insofar as I simply bumped into Reid staffers at Democratic Party functions or occurred incidental to discussions regarding my clients, not Abramoff's," Platt said. "Any contacts that I may have had in regards to Abramoff's tribal clients would have been similarly incidental." As for the 21 contacts listed in the billing records, Platt noted Abramoff has pleaded guilty to defrauding clients and said the references in the AP story were inaccurate. He was not more specific. Audits of Abramoff's work for the Marianas during the 1990s, when he worked for the Preston Gates lobbying firm, concluded more than $1 million in expenses could not be substantiated. However, the 2001 Marianas billing records cited by AP were similarly audited and the island's government raised no concerns. In fact, the island's auditor concluded Greenberg Traurig had provided "more lobbyist services ... in terms of time spent" for less money than had been seen in earlier years. Platt also said the AP did not attempt to reach him for comment before its story moved Thursday. AP contacted Platt's new lobbying firm in late December seeking to interview him about the billing records and was referred to Greenberg Traurig. Platt also did not return two phone messages Friday renewing a request for an interview, sending an e-mail statement instead. Greenberg Traurig declined to comment. "Consistent with our ethical obligations to clients, our firm continues to cooperate fully with ongoing government investigations," the firm said."

2/11/2006 5:09:39 AM

Quote :

"In November 2005 the Associated Press reported that Senate Minority Leader Reid had accepted tens of thousands of dollars from an Abramoff client, the Coushatta Indian tribe, after interceding with Secretary of the Interior Gail Norton over a casino dispute with a rival tribe. Reid "sent a letter to Norton on March 5, 2002," the AP said. "The next day, the Coushattas issued a $5,000 check to Reid's tax-exempt political group, the Searchlight Leadership Fund. A second tribe represented by Abramoff sent an additional $5,000 to Reid's group. Reid ultimately received more than $66,000 in Abramoff-related donations between 2001 and 2004." "

2/11/2006 5:43:16 AM

Right. So lobbyist Jack Abramoff was paying Senator Reid to speak in favor of and then vote for legislation that his clients opposed. Sounds to me like you've succeeded in making Jack Abramoff look like a dumbass in addition to being a crook, and have done nothing but show Reid to be interested in receiving money strictly for access (read: an ear in Congress)--not for favors.

If you can find a single Congressman who isn't, let me know. Then you might have something.

2/12/2006 2:18:04 AM

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/12/politics/12lobby.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

[Edited on February 12, 2006 at 9:56 PM. Reason : b]

2/12/2006 9:56:12 PM

Quote :

"see...my problem is that you are willing to believe abramoff but not bush...what the heck is some lobbyist to the president??..."

How is that WMD search going for you?

2/13/2006 8:41:07 AM

http://www.vanityfair.com/pdf/pressroom/advance_Abramoff.pdf

3/8/2006 3:05:04 PM

From the original post:

Quote :

"not only did he know the President, but the President knew the names of Abramoff’s children and asked about them during their meetings. At one such photo session, Bush discussed the fact that both he and Abramoff were fathers of twins.""

In the President's defense (and I am not a bush fan), this is not proof that he knows Abramoff. When I work at our Embassy in Bosnia, we reviewed bios of nearly everyone that we were meeting with. Most of the people that I met, I did not know but I still asked about their families, business, hobbies, etc.

3/8/2006 5:00:48 PM

Gale Norton just resigned because she was caught in a photo with Abramoff. This is the sound of a mess being swept under the rug.

3/11/2006 6:55:27 PM

And in related news...

3/11/2006 7:43:43 PM

I'm sure it was totally unrelated.

3/11/2006 9:16:34 PM

^^ most awsome show about a cave-dwelling jet-powered stealth helicopter ever.

3/11/2006 10:48:33 PM

hahaha, too bad Jan-Michael Vincent liked to hit the sauce a bit too much and they had to cancel the show

3/11/2006 11:12:59 PM

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/03/11/MNGFDHML0V1.DTL&feed=rss.news

Quote :

"Interior chief Gale Norton to step down Washington -- Interior Secretary Gale Norton, who led the Bush administration's efforts to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and other public lands to drilling, announced Friday that she will resign to pursue a career in the private sector. Norton, 52, the first woman to run the agency, helped push through the president's "Healthy Forests" plan to increase logging to reduce the threat of wildfires, which passed Congress after the devastating Southern California fires in 2003. She was best known, and intensely criticized by Democrats and environmentalists, for acting as the administration's top spokesperson for promoting energy development on federal lands and in offshore waters. She leaves office as her agency faces scrutiny over lobbyist Jack Abramoff's attempts to influence decisions affecting his tribal clients. President Bush is seen as likely to choose a replacement who shares Norton's pro-development philosophy. But the Senate confirmation hearings, taking place in an election year, could renew the fiery debate over the president's environmental record. The new secretary will take over the agency as Congress starts to debate major changes to the Endangered Species Act, new proposals to increase offshore drilling and a renewed push to open the Arctic refuge in Alaska to oil development. In a resignation letter to Bush, Norton said she is ready to leave government for a private sector job, which is likely to prove much more lucrative. After five years in Washington, the former Colorado attorney general from Denver said she and her husband hope to "end up closer to the mountains we love in the West." "Mr. President, this department has climbed the mountaintop in terms of achieving the goals we set out to accomplish," wrote Norton, whose resignation takes effect at the end of March. "Now I feel it is time for me to leave this mountain you gave me to climb, catch my breath, then set my sights on new goals to achieve in the private sector." Several names of possible replacements were already circulating, including Idaho Republican Gov. Dirk Kempthorne, who was considered by the White House to head the Environmental Protection Agency; Colorado Republican Gov. Bill Owens; and Interior Deputy Secretary Lynn Scarlett, who previously ran the Reason Foundation, a libertarian think tank in Los Angeles. The president, in a statement, praised Norton as a "strong advocate for the wise use and protection of our nation's natural resources." "She was instrumental in establishing my Healthy Forests initiative that has helped make communities safer from catastrophic fire, while improving wildlife habitat," Bush said. "Gale played an influential role in shaping the nation's offshore and onshore energy policies to help enhance America's domestic production." Environmentalists cheered Norton's departure, saying she was a driving force in decisions that accelerated mining and oil and gas leasing on federal lands across the West and opened national parks to snowmobiles and other motorized vehicles. "Gale Norton was a Category 5 storm that destroyed millions of acres of public land over the last five years," said Sharon Buccino of the Natural Resources Defense Council. "Her goal was to give away as much of our publicly owned land as she could to the energy, timber and mining industries, and by that measure, she was very successful." Norton was one of Bush's most controversial nominees and faced a bitter confirmation fight in which critics labeled her "James Watt in a skirt" -- a reference to former President Ronald Reagan's interior secretary who argued for weakening environmental rules and boosting logging and mining on public lands. Norton was a Watt protege, serving under him as a top lawyer at the Interior Department. She also worked with Watt at the Mountain States Legal Foundation, a Denver-based conservative group that championed private property rights and challenged environmental regulations. Norton shared Watts' suspicion of environmental regulation and mandates, but she employed a softer approach. Instead of urging the repeal of federal rules, she spoke of fostering cooperation and partnerships with private land owners to protect threatened wildlife and habitat. "She learned a lesson from her experience working for Watt, which is to keep a low profile and do not make it into a big political crusade because those policies are not popular in the West anymore," said Phil Clapp, president of the National Environmental Trust. "She has been far less controversial than Watt. You could call her a stealth James Watt." Norton, an avid hiker and skier, describes herself as a conservationist and a pragmatist. She said she was drawn to the environmental movement in the 1970s watching smog envelop downtown Denver. But her work as a young lawyer representing farmers and ranchers made her a defender of property rights. "I began to see that they had their own dreams, their own desires to live their lives, and found governmental regulation as a distant and heavy-handed bureaucracy standing in the way," Norton said in a speech at Kansas State University in 2002. Norton created the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy in 1998 to counter the idea that Democrats are better at protecting the environment. Critics called it a front group for industry because it received money from the National Mining Association, the Chemical Manufacturers Association and companies such as Shell Oil and Ford Motor Co. Norton's ties to the group have pulled her into the widening Abramoff investigation. Norton attended a private dinner with Abramoff, his tribal clients and other Interior officials organized by the advocacy group's president, Italia Federici. Investigators believe Abramoff steered $500,000 in tribal donations to the group to get access to top Interior officials, including Norton. Steven Griles, who was Norton's top deputy, was accused by the agency's top lawyer of meddling in decisions affecting Abramoff's tribal clients, including the Coushatta tribe of Louisiana -- a charge Griles denies. Norton has said she did no favors for Abramoff or the tribes, and has tried to distance herself from Federici and the advocacy group she created."

[Bye]

3/12/2006 5:51:27 PM