On Wed, 07 Feb 2007 17:31:56 -0800, Howard Kveck
<
[email protected]> wrote:
>Anyway, Jack, can you seriously dispute what the Prospect
>study turned up or their methodology?
What can you dispute with the Washington Post story. Here's another
more detailed story of Harry Reid's dealings with Abramoff from the
AP. I see no difference between Democrats and republicans in terms of
corruption. They're all corrupt. If you want to live in a fantasy
land and think that the Democrats are not corrupt, then go ahead.
"Reid Aided Abramoff Clients, Records Show
By JOHN SOLOMON and SHARON THEIMER
Associated Press Writers
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid wrote at least
four letters helpful to Indian tribes represented by Jack Abramoff,
and the senator's staff regularly had contact with the disgraced
lobbyist's team about legislation affecting other clients.
The activities _ detailed in billing records and correspondence
obtained by The Associated Press _ are far more extensive than
previously disclosed. They occurred over three years as Reid collected
nearly $68,000 in donations from Abramoff's firm, lobbying partners
and clients.
Reid's office acknowledged Thursday having "routine contacts" with
Abramoff's lobbying partners and intervening on some government
matters _ such as blocking some tribal casinos _ in ways Abramoff's
clients might have deemed helpful. But it said none of his 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.
Reid, D-Nev., has led the Democratic Party's attacks portraying
Abramoff's lobbying and fundraising as a Republican scandal.
But Abramoff's records show his lobbying partners billed for nearly
two dozen phone contacts or meetings with Reid's office in 2001 alone.
Most were to discuss Democratic legislation that would have applied
the U.S. minimum wage to the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S.
territory and Abramoff client, but would have given the islands a
temporary break on the wage rate, the billing records show.
Reid also intervened on government matters at least five times in ways
helpful to Abramoff's tribal clients, 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.
Ethics rules require senators to avoid even the appearance of a
conflict of interest in collecting contributions around the times they
take official acts benefiting donors.
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 donations from several of his lobbying
partners.
And Reid's longtime chief of staff accepted a free trip to Malaysia
arranged by a consulting firm connected to Abramoff that recently has
gained attention in the influence-peddling investigation that has
gripped the Capitol.
Abramoff has pleaded guilty in a fraud and bribery case and is now
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's 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. "Abramoff is a convicted felon and no one has
suggested the other partners we might have dealt with have done
anything impermissible."
While Abramoff never directly donated to Reid, the lobbyist did
instruct one tribe, the Coushattas, to send $5,000 to Reid's tax-
exempt political group, the Searchlight Leadership Fund, in 2002.
About the same time, Reid sent a letter to the Interior Department
helpful to the tribe, records show.
Abramoff sent a list to the tribe entitled "Coushatta Requests"
recommending donations to campaigns or groups for 50 lawmakers he
claimed were helpful to the tribe. Alongside Reid's name, Abramoff
wrote, "5,000 (Searchlight Leadership Fund) Senate Majority Whip."
Following a pattern seen with Abramoff and Republicans, Abramoff's
Democratic team members often delivered donations to Reid close to key
events.
Reid himself, along his Senate counsel Jim Ryan, met with Abramoff
deputy Ronald Platt on June 5, 2001, "to discuss timing on minimum
wage bill" that affected the Marianas, 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 re-election committee. Three
weeks after the meeting, Platt himself donated $1,000 to Reid.
Manley said Reid's official calendar doesn't list a meeting on June 5,
with Platt, but he also said he couldn't say for sure the contact
didn't 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."
The Marianas, U.S. territorial islands in the Pacific Ocean, were one
of Abramoff's highest-paying clients and were trying to keep their
textile industry exempt from most U.S. laws on immigration, labor and
pay, including the minimum wage. Many Democrats have long accused the
islands of running garment sweatshops.
The islands in 2001 had their own minimum wage of $3.05 an hour, and
were exempt from the U.S. minimum of $5.15.
Republicans were intent on protecting the Marianas' exemption.
Democrats, led by Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts and Rep. George
Miller of California, wanted the Marianas to be covered by the U.S.
minimum and crafted a compromise.
In February 2001, Kennedy introduced a bill that would have raised the
U.S. hourly minimum to $6.65 and would have covered the Marianas. The
legislation, which eventually failed, would have given the islands an
initial break by setting its minimum at just $3.55 _ nearly $3 lower
than any other territory or state _ and then gradually increasing it.
Within a month, Platt began billing for routine contacts and meetings
with Reid's staff, starting with a March 26, 2001, contact with Reid
chief of staff Susan McCue to "discuss timing and status of minimum
wage legislation," the billing records say.
In all, Platt and a fellow lobbyist reported 21 contacts in 2001 with
Reid's office, mostly with McCue and Ryan.
One of the Marianas contacts, listed for May 30, 2001, was with Edward
Ayoob, Reid's legislative counsel. Within a year, Ayoob had left
Reid's office to work for Abramoff's firm, registering specifically to
lobby for the islands as well as several tribes. Manley confirmed
Ayoob had subsequent lobbying contacts with Reid's office.
Manley cast doubt on some of the contacts recorded in the billing
records, saying McCue was out of Washington for a couple of the dates.
But he acknowledged the contacts could have occurred by cell phone.
In January 2002, McCue took a free trip, valued at $7,000, to Malaysia
with several other congressional aides. The trip, cleared by Senate
ethics officials, was underwritten by the U.S. Malaysia Exchange
Association, a group trying to foster better relations between the
United States and Malaysia.
The trips were part of a broader lobbying strategy by Malaysia, which
consulted with Abramoff and paid $300,000 to a company connected to
him, according to documents released by Senate investigators. The
arrangements included a trip by then-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay
and his wife to Malaysia in October 2001.
While Abramoff worked behind the scenes, the Alexander Strategy Group
run by two former DeLay aides, Ed Buckham and Tony Rudy, publicly
registered to lobby for the U.S. Malaysia Exchange Association.
Rudy, who was cited in Abramoff's court case, had worked temporarily
for Abramoff before joining Buckham at Alexander Strategy, and the
three men were friendly. In January 2002, Alexander Strategy arranged
two congressional trips to Malaysia underwritten by the association.
One trip took a delegation of Republican congressmen. A Democratic
consultant hired by Alexander Strategy, former Clinton White House
aide Joel Johnson, invited McCue and went on the second trip with
congressional staffers.
Johnson said he invited McCue on behalf of Alexander Strategy and went
on the trip with her but said he knew of no connections to Abramoff.
"My interest was in getting Democrats to travel to the country and to
learn more about Malaysia," Johnson said.
Reid intervened on other matters.
On March 5, 2002, he sent a letter to the Interior Department pressing
the agency to reject a proposed casino by the Jena band of Choctaw
Indians in Louisiana. Fellow Nevada Sen. John Ensign, a Republican,
also signed.
The Jena's proposed casino would have rivaled one already in operation
in Louisiana run by the Coushattas, and Abramoff was lobbying to block
the Jena. The day after Reid's letter, the Coushattas wrote a $5,000
check to Reid's Searchlight group at Abramoff's suggestion.
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' 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 has long
argued it does not allow tribal gambling off reservations.
On Nov. 8, 2002, the Nevada Democrat signed a letter with California
Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein urging Interior Secretary Gale Norton
to reject a proposal by the Cuyapaipe Band of Mission Indians to
convert land for a health clinic into a casino in southern California.
The casino would have competed with the Palm Springs gambling
establishment run by the Agua Caliente, one of Abramoff's tribes.
Two weeks later, Reid went to the Senate floor to oppose fellow
Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow's effort to win congressional approval
for a Michigan casino for the Bay Mills Indians, which would have
rivaled one already operating by the Saginaw Chippewa represented by
Abramoff.
"The legislation is fundamentally flawed," Reid argued, successfully
leading the opposition to Stabenow's proposal.
The next month, Reid joined six other Democratic senators in asking
President Bush in mid-December 2002 to spend an additional $30 million
for Indian school construction. Several Abramoff tribes, including the
Saginaw and the Mississippi Choctaw, were seeking federal money for
school building.
Six weeks after that letter, three Abramoff partners _ including Platt
and Ayoob _ donated a total of $4,000 to Reid's Senate re-election
campaign. Later in 2003, the Agua Caliente contributed $13,500 to
Reid's political groups while the Saginaw chipped in $9,000.
Reid sent a fourth letter on April 30, 2003, joining Ensign a second
time to urge Interior to reject the Jena casino.
Two months later, Abramoff's firm threw a fundraiser for Reid at its
Washington office that netted the Nevada senator several more
donations from Greenberg Traurig lobbyists and their spouses. Ayoob
was instrumental in staging the event, Reid's office said.
___
Associated Press Writer Erica Werner in Washington contributed to this
story."
What more do you want?