Jack Abramoff

File:Abramoff-ap.jpg

Jack Abramoff (right) talking to his lawyer (left)

Jack A. Abramoff (born February 28, 1958) is an attorney and lobbyist who, on January 3, 2006, pled guilty to three criminal felony counts in federal court[1] and, on January 4, 2006, pled guilty in a separate matter to two criminal felony counts in a different federal court.[2]

Abramoff is a central figure in a series of high-profile political scandals directly linked to many members of Congress.

Although Abramoff himself has long been an ardent Republican activist, Republican individuals or groups received US$2,912,088 from sources linked to Abramoff since 1999, while Democrat groups and individuals took in US$1,541,673 during that period, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan group that tracks money in politics. [3]

Abramoff has been under investigation:

• By federal grand juries for his involvement in the Abramoff-Reed Indian Gambling Scandal,[4].
• By a grand jury in Guam over a separate matter.
• He has also been indicted on August 11, 2005, by a third grand jury in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for bank fraud arising out of an unrelated business deal, the purchase of SunCruz Casinos
• Regarding the Jack Abramoff lobbying and corruption scandal, on January 3, 2006, Abramoff pleaded guilty to three felony counts, conspiracy, fraud, and tax evasion. In addition, Abramoff and other defendants must make restitution of at least $25 million that was defrauded from clients, most notably 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. The agreement alleges that Abramoff bribed public officials, including a person identified as "Representative #1" whom many believe to be Bob Ney, a Republican congressman from Ohio. 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. [5] Ney has established a legal defense fund for himself to defend against possible charges related to Abramoff.[6] Abramoff's guilty plea was part of a plea deal that requires him to cooperate in the ongoing investigation of his role in congressional corruption. [7]
• Regarding the SunCruz Casinos case, on January 4, 2006, Abramoff pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit wire fraud and mail fraud, and of a separate charge of wire fraud.

He is also linked to a scandal involving a troubled multibillion-dollar Homeland Security contract.[8] Further, he made multiple payments to Doug Bandow, former Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute, and at least one other think tank expert, Peter Ferrara, [9] to write opinion pieces favorable to his clients.[10]

The investigations and indictments of Abramoff have taken on significant national importance because of the lobbyist's close political connections with leading national politicians.

Abramoff was Senior Director of Government Affairs for the Greenberg Traurig legal and lobbying firm [11] and was College Republican National Committee National Chairman from 1981–85. He is also a Director of the National Center for Public Policy Research, a conservative think tank that critics say was used as a conduit to funnel money that could be legally given by a non-profit organization but not by a business or lobbyist.

Early years

Abramoff was born to a Jewish American family in Atlantic City, New Jersey, where his father was a businessman. In 1968 his family moved to Beverly Hills, California and Abramoff would later attend Beverly Hills High School. He was raised in a secular Jewish household, but at the age of 12 changed his life: "I made the decision that I would become religious in order to preserve the faith in our family," he said. He immediately bought books on Judaism with his own savings. Early on in his life he would wear a Yarmulka but in his later years he did without any head covering in order to appeal to a broader range of clients.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Abramoff had an early political setback in 1972 when he "ran for student council president at the Hawthorne School, a Beverly Hills elementary and middle school, in 1972. Heading into a runoff election, Abramoff was disqualified for exceeding the spending limit. The principal, Herbert recalled, penalized Abramoff for holding a party, stating it amounted to a campaign expenditure that pushed him over the limit." [12]

College years

In college, Abramoff organized Massachusetts campuses for Reagan's 1980 presidential campaign. He graduated from Brandeis University in 1981 and earned his JD at the Georgetown University Law Center in 1986.

After a campaign managed by Grover Norquist and aided by Ralph E. Reed, Jr., Abramoff was elected chairman of the College Republican National Committee. "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".[13] Abramoff "changed the direction of the committee and made it more activist and conservative than ever before," notes the CRNC.

At the CRNC in the 1980s, Abramoff developed political alliances with College Republican chapter presidents across the nation, many of whom went on to active roles in state and national politics and business. Some of these long-standing alliances are the subject of various federal investigations into Abramoff and his political and business dealings.

In Hollywood

Abramoff spent ten years in Hollywood, producing such movies as Red Scorpion, an anti-communist film made in 1988 just after his term with the College Republicans ended. This movie was filmed in South-West Africa (now Namibia) and was funded by the apartheid regime in South Africa through the International Freedom Foundation.

Abramoff joined Citizens for America, a pro-Reagan group that helped Oliver North build support for the Nicaraguan contras and staged an unprecedented meeting of anti-Communist rebel leaders in 1985 in Jamba, Angola. His membership ended on a sour note, however, when the group's millionaire founder, Lewis Lehrman, a former New York gubernatorial candidate, concluded that Abramoff had spent his money carelessly.

Legal work

In the second half of the 1990s, Abramoff was employed by Preston Gates Ellis & Rouvelas Meeds LLP, the lobbying arm of Preston Gates & Ellis LLP, based in Seattle WA. Abramoff joined the law firm of Greenberg Traurig, which once described him as "directly involved in the Republican party and conservative movement leadership structures and is one of the leading fund raisers for the party and its congressional candidates." With the move to Greenberg Traurig Abramoff took as much as $6 million dollars worth of client "work" from his old firm.

In early 2003, Timothy Flanigan was Abramoff's day-to-day supervisor. Among the work his team did for Tyco International, Abramoff listed lobbying the White House.

Abramoff is founder and former chairman of the International Freedom Foundation (IFF)[14] (a group that was bankrolled by the then-apartheid South African army [15]) and serves on the Board of Directors of the National Center for Public Policy Research.

Saipan connection

Congressman Tom DeLay, former Majority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives, once called Abramoff one of his "closest and dearest friends", during a New Year's trip to the Northern Mariana Island of Saipan in 1997: "When one of my closest and dearest friends, Jack Abramoff, your most able representative in Washington, D.C., invited me to the islands, I wanted to see firsthand the free-market success and the progress and reform you have made," DeLay said at a benefit dinner for Willie Tan of Tan Holdings Corporation (one of Abramoff's clients) in the islands' garment industry. After the trip, Abramoff helped DeLay craft policy that extended exemptions from federal immigration and labor laws to Saipan industies. Brian Ross at ABC News for 20/20 on March 13, 1998 pointed out that factories in Saipan have forced their workers to have abortions in order to keep their jobs.

Eshkol Academy

In 2002 Abramoff founded the Eshkol Academy, an orthodox Jewish school in Maryland. David Lapin served as the dean. According to emails revealed during the US Senate hearings into the Abramoff-Reed Indian Gambling Scandal, Lapin was paid $20,000 a month, through Abramoff's Capital Athletic Foundation. The Eshkol Academy closed in 2004 after questions were raised in the press about Abramoff's financial dealings with Indian tribes. In 2004, thirteen former Eshkol employees sued the Academy, demanding nearly $300,000 in back salary. The teachers' complaint claims that the Capital Athletic Foundation "was used to launder funds from the tribes to Eshkol." Federal tax records show that various Indian tribes donated more than $1 million to the foundation, which in turn benefited the school.

SunCruz Casinos fraud indictment

On August 11, 2005, Abramoff and his partner, Adam Kidan, were indicted by a federal grand jury in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on fraud charges arising from a 2000 deal to buy SunCruz Casinos, a firm that ran "cruises to nowhere", where gambling was permissible. Kidan and a third associate, Ben Waldman, as yet unindicted, are accused of using a fake wire transfer to defraud Foothill Capital Corp. and Citadel Equity Fund Ltd that had agreed to lend $60 million to purchase the casinos on condition that Abramoff and his partners made a cash contribution of $23 million. The indictment alleges that the transfer was counterfeit.[16] Kidan has since pleaded guilty in a deal which may require him to testify against Abramoff.

Arrested in Los Angeles

A warrant for Abramoff's arrest was issued by federal authorities on August 11, 2005; the next day he was was released on bail of $2.25 million and ordered to return to Florida to face a preliminary hearing there on August 16, 2005. As part of his bail arrangements, Abramoff also was forced by a Los Angeles federal judge to surrender his passport, restrict his travel, and continue treatment for stress. FBI Special Agent in Charge Michael S. Clemens said Abramoff's high-level political contacts would not deter the FBI, stating that the Florida grand jury's decision to indict Abramoff "demonstrates that regardless of position, status, wealth, or associations, fraudulent activity will not be tolerated."

If convicted, Abramoff faces up to five years in prison on the SunCruz fraud charges; he may also face other criminal charges and extensive civil fines on the various counts. Abramoff's legal counsel announced shortly after his arrest that he intended to plead "not guilty" and to mount a vigorous defense against the charges. On January 6, 2006 he pled guilty to conspiracy and wire fraud in a plea agreement that calls for a maximum sentence of just over seven years.

The murder of Konstantinos Boulis

In September 2005 murder charges were brought against three men for the murder of Konstantinos "Gus" Boulis, the seller of the Sun Cruz Casino. Anthony Moscatiello, a former bookkeeper for the Gambino crime family and Anthony Ferrari were charged with murder, conspiracy and solicitation to commit murder. James Fiorillo, was charged with murder and conspiracy. Moscatiello had previously received $145,000 from Kidan through SunCruz for services that were allegedly never rendered. Ferrari had received $95,000 as payment for security services and further sums in casino chips.

Boulis owned the SunCruz business, which offered 'cruises to nowhere', taking passengers into international waters out of reach of the Florida state gambling laws. Florida state made several attempts to shut the business down, finally succeeding in 1999 when federal prosecutors charged Boulis with violating shipping laws over the ship's registration. Boulis agreed to pay a $1 million fine, sell the business, and never work in the gaming industry. He then sold the business to Kidan and Abramoff, who were to pay $23 million immediately. Boulis alleged that the $23 million payment was never made. Boulis also alleged that Kidan had links to organized crime. [17] Kidan had hired Anthony Moscatiello as a business advisor despite a previous indictment as an associate of the Gambino crime family led by Mafia crime boss John Gotti. In February 2001, Boulis was shot to death five months later in what police called "a gang style hit". A suit brought by Boulis' estate alleges that Adam Kidan made three payments of $10,000 to Moscatiello immediately prior to the murder.[18]

The casinos were subsequently auctioned off to new management in a bankruptcy action brought by Foothill Capital. Foothill settled with Abramoff for an undisclosed sum and continue litigation against Kidan.

Press accounts have suggested that Abramoff used his political connections to gain support for the deal in Washington [19].

Tom DeLay, then House minority whip gave Boulis a flag that had flown over the capitol building. Abramoff brought his lead financier in the deal to a fund raiser for DeLay in Abramoff's box at FedEx Field.

Ohio Republican Representative Bob Ney promoted the Kidan/Abramoff in the House on several occasions. In March 2000, before the deal was closed, Ney accused the SunCruz management of cheating passengers. On October 26 2000, praised the change of ownership. Ney has since accused Abramoff of duping him.

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.

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) was listed as a financial reference for Abramoff's purchase of the Suncruz casino cruise line. He was also quoted as saying, "I don't remember it, but I would certainly have been happy to give him a good recommendation", and "He's a very honest man." by the Washington Post[20]

Kidan enters guilty plea

On December 15, 2005 Kidan entered a guilty plea in a Miami federal court to one count of conspiracy and one of wire fraud, each of which carries a possible sentence of five years in prison. U.S. District Judge Paul Huck accepted the plea and set sentencing for March 1.[21]

Saleh Kamel, Terrorism, Abramoff & money laundering

Prior to the events of September 11th, 2001 chief hijacker Mohamed Atta and several of the other 9/11 hijackers were reported to have made multiple visits to the SunCruz casino cruise ship off the Gulf coast in Florida. [22] This has led some to speculate that Mohamed Atta was using the casino to launder money for al-Qaeda and that possibly Atta was involved in a scheme with Abramoff and the mob to smuggle heroin. [23] To date none of these allegations has been confirmed or investigated.

In 2002 Abramoff worked for the Global Council of Islamic Banks, whose chairman, Saleh Abdullah Kamel, was under investigation for allegedly funding terrorism and terrorists, including Osama Bin Laden. [24]

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.

The $324,000 was paid to Abramoff through a Laguna Beach, California, lawyer by means of 36 checks of $9,000 each. If done to avoid the federal reporting requirements for payment transfers this would constitute illegal 'structuring' under 31 USC 5324(a). The form of payment might also be illegal if it was used to evade federal contracting rules requiring an open tender for contracts over $10,000.

On Nov. 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 Nov. 19, 2002, U.S. Atty. 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 May 2003 Black was succeeded by Leonardo Rapadas at the recommendation of the Guam Republican Party. He was confirmed without any debate. "Fred Radewagen, a lobbyist who had been under contract to the Gutierrez administration, said he carried that recommendation to top Bush aide Karl Rove in early 2003."

In 2005, Public Auditor Doris Flores Brooks initiated a new investigation of the Abramoff contract which is continuing.

Indian tribes grand jury investigations

Main article: Abramoff-Reed Indian Gambling Scandal

Abramoff and his partner Michael Scanlon are accused of conspiring with Ralph E. Reed, Jr., Grover Norquist to bilk Indian casino gambling interests out of an estimated $85 million in fees. The lobbyists are accused of orchestrating lobbying against their own clients in order to force them to pay for lobbying services.

In the course of the scheme, the lobbyists are accused of illegally giving gifts and making campaign donations in return for political favors to several politicians. For example:

Senator Conrad Burns (R-Montana) is an alleged recipient of illegal favors and $136,000 in campaign contributions from Abramoff. As the chair of the Interior Subcommittee on Appropriations, Burns received over $136,000 in campaign contributions through Abramoff and then directed $3 million to the Saginaw Chippewa Tribe of Michigan, an Abramoff client and one of the wealthiest tribes in the country from a program intended to help the neediest tribes fix dilapidated schools.

After initially claiming credit for the appropriation, Burns subsequently denied knowledge of it. "A lot of things happened that I didn't know about. It shouldn't have happened, but it did."

Although intially refusing to return Abramoff's donations,[25] Burns ultimately said that he would return or give away $150,000 he received from Abramoff and his clients.

In December, 2005, a leader of a tribe which gave $22,000 in campaign contributions to Burns in 2002 stated that they had done so solely at the request of Abramoff and believed the senator was part of “Abramoff's group.” [26]

On January 3, 2006, Abramoff pleaded 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, mostly the notably 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 a person identified as "Representative #1," but who is confirmed to be Bob Ney, a Republican congressman from Ohio.[27] 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. [28]

Senator Byron Dorgan, the senior Democrat on the Senate committee investigating Abramoff, advocated for programs pushed by Abramoff's clients around the time he accepted tens of thousands of dollars from associates and clients of Abramoff (though not directly from Abramoff). According to the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Dorgan received at least $79,300 from Indian tribe clients and lobbying associates of Abramoff. [29] However, Dorgan did not receive any contributions from Abramoff, who has donated exclusively to Republicans.[30] Dorgan strongly denies any connection, saying that he never met Abramoff and that he had long supported funding for Indian tribes.[31] Despite this, Dorgan announced in December 2005 that he would return donations totaling $67,000, in order to remove any remote possibility of a connection to the felonious lobbyist.[32]

Tyco Allegation

Tyco Inc. claimed in August 2005 that Abramoff had been paid $1.7 million for an 'astroturf campaign' to create a 'grass roots' campaign to oppose proposals to penalize US corporations registered abroad for tax reasons. Timothy Flanigan, Tyco general council, stated to the Senate Judiciary Committee that Abramoff bragged that he could help Tyco avoid tax liability aimed at off-shore companies because he "had good relationships with members of Congress."

Tyco then paid Abramoff almost $2 million to lobby against laws aimed at taxing domestically centered businesses which had moved their headquarters out of the United States to avoid tax liability. The work was allegedly never performed, and most of the fee Tyco paid Abramoff to lobby against the legislation was "diverted to entities controlled by Mr. Abramoff". [33]

Connection to Israel-Palestine

In May, 2005, Michael Isikoff reported in a Newsweek article entitled "Fund-Raising: Take It to the (West) Bank," that Abramoff--" 'a super-Zionist,' one associate says"--had, apparently, diverted "money meant for inner-city kids" to Jewish settlers illegally occupying the Palestinian West Bank in order to help them "fight the Palestinian intifada." Investigators believe that more than $140,000 of Capital Athletic Foundation funds were actually used for "purchases of camouflage suits, sniper scopes, night-vision binoculars, a thermal imager and other material described in foundation records as 'security' equipment."[34] The Hill reported that it was revealed in US Senate Indian Affairs Committee hearings that the Capital Athletic Foundation "also paid a monthly stipend and Jeep payments to a high-school friend of Abramoff who conducted sniper workshops for members of the Israeli Defense Force in Israel’s (sic) West Bank."[35] The "high-school friend" is, apparently, "Abramoff's connection" to the Jewish West Bank settlement of Beitar Illit, "Schmuel Ben-Zvi, an American emigre who, the lobbyist told associates, was an old friend he knew from Los Angeles."[36] However, "the Israeli army does not need shooting lessons from [Ben-Zvi]. The sniper lessons were for the colonists, practice for shooting Palestinians."[37]

Connection to Malaysia

Abramoff's firms also represented the government of Malaysia, and worked toward improving Malaysian relations with the United States, particularly with trade relations. Because Grover Norquist worked with a lobbying firm that represented Anwar Ibrahim, some have alledged a connection between the two, and theorized that Abramoff and Norquist were running a scam in which Norquist's firm would create issues that Abramoff's firm would then take care of. Abramoff also reportedly wanted to spread his influence deep into the Muslim world through a front group called the Lexington Group. [38]

David H. Safavian

A former top procurement official in the Bush administration, David H. Safavian, has been charged with lying and obstruction of justice in connection with the Abramoff investigation. Safavian, who traveled to Scotland with Ney on a golf outing arranged by Abramoff, is 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. Safavian was then GSA chief of staff.[39]

Access to the White House

An article published in the New York Times on November 10, 2005 alleged that 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 a Maryland company now under federal scrutiny. 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 Mr. Bush's meeting with President 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 Mr. Abramoff in the arrangements. Officials at Gabon's embassy in Washington did not respond to written questions.[40]

Expansion to other members of Congress

On Friday, November 25, 2005, the Wall Street Journal reported the expansion of the investigation to four members of Congress: in addition to Ney and DeLay, the story mentioned Rep. John Doolittle (R., Calif.) and Sen. Conrad Burns (R., Mont.) [41] On December 2, 2005, the New York Times reported that federal prosecutors are considering a plea bargain arrangement that would let Abramoff off easy if he provides evidence that would implicate members of Congress and their senior staffers in receiving job offers in return for legislative favors. On January 3, 2006, Abramoff agreed to the plea bargain and to apparently reveal which politicians and lawmakers were paid, how much they were paid, and what they understood was required of them in return. If political action was expected in return for cash, a number of politicians may have committed crimes that warrant jail time. [42]

References

• Abramoff's secret 20 mil
• Some of this article was originally derived from material at Sourcewatch, and released to Wikipedia under the GFDL license

• Jack Abramoff at IMDb
• Front for Apartheid
• Abramoff may strike deal with prosecutors; Plea could mean lobbyist would implicate members of Congress, MSNBC, December 21, 2005
• www.jackinthehouse.org
• "A Lobbyist in Full" New York Times, May 1, 2005.
• Transcript of PBS NOW episode with snippets of Senate Indian case testimony
• Abramoff's associations with various organizations
• Sen. Ben Nighthorse Campbell's statement on Abramoff
• Committee on Indian Affairs hearing transcript
• A Look at Jack Abramoff's Ties to the South Pacific Island of Saipan... from Democracy Now
• "Committee Asks Justice Dept. To Broaden Inquiry of Lobbyist" New York Times.
• "Democrats Also Got Tribal Donations" Washington Post
• List of Jack Abramoff’s top six associates
• "Lobbyist, rabbi talk of tricking the Cosmos"
• "Abramoff in Court on Charges of Fraud", Financial Times, August 12, 2005.
• Abramoff's Federal Campaign Contributions, NewsMeat.com
• Abramoff Tied to Dorgan Donation, Tribe Says, Yahoo News
  • Dorgan's Response
• Abramoff, Scanlon and the Influence of Money -- on Fresh Air/NPR with Terry Gross
• Op-Eds for Sale, Business Week
• The Jack Abramoff Story collected news and analysis from the Washington Post
• "The Fast Rise and Steep Fall of Jack Abramoff". December 29, 2005. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |org= ignored (help)
• Copy of January 4, 2006, plea agreement
• Copy of January 3, 2006, plea agreement
• Abramoff and al-Arian: Lobbyist's "Charity" a Front for Terrorism