Former Rep. Heather Wilson (R-N.M.)
Part I -- Kevin Ring Indictment: ED BUCKHAM!
Part II -- Kevin Ring Indictment: MASHPEE WAMPANOAG
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Shortly after the indictment of Kevin Ring, I drafted a post that observed that the office of former Rep. Heather Wilson (R-N.M.) was mentioned in the document:
Rep. Heather Wilson (R-N.M.) earns some indictment ink, too. I'll have to digest the indictment a little more before I conclude whether or not Rep. Wilson faces any jeopardy.
More than six months have passed and I finally have more to say about this. Let's look more carefully at the references to Rep. Wilson's office found in the Ring indictment:
156. On or about January 30, 2003, a lobbyist at Firm B [Greenberg Traurig] emailed a staffer for the New Mexico tribe's [the Pueblo Sandia] U.S. Representative [Rep. Heather Wilson (R-N.M.)], "Sorry I couldn't hangout last night. I greatly appreciate your taking the time to han[g]out with the [New Mexico tribe]. It meant a lot to [K]evin and I [sic]. BTW, you should be all set for the [Los Angeles] Clippers [basketball] game."
158. On or about February 14, 2003, a lobbyist at Firm B forwarded an email from the staffer for the New Mexico tribe's U.S. Representative to defendant RING in which the staffer had written, "How did Kevin's meeting s with the [New Mexico tribe] go? If you guys lose that contract I would be disappointed.
161. On or about March 4, 2003, a lobbyist at Firm B emailed defendant RING, "I'm going to kill [the New Mexico tribe] with [its U.S. Representative] if we don't get hired."
162. On or about March 7, 2003, a lobbyist at Firm B emailed defendant RING, "[The staffer for the New Mexico tribe's U.S. Representative] is going to be in the meeting with [the New Mexico tribe] when they come to town. He's going to give the 'are you guys staying with [Firm B] this cycle? They did a great job on ... legislation ... and really cleared the path for you guys.....yadda yadda.' He's gonna gather as much intel as possible for us."
[Bracketed comments in original]
[Bolded bracketed comments added]
All four of the above paragraphs include actions by an unnamed lobbyist at Greenberg Traurig (Firm B). Zachary Roth at TPMmuckraker thinks this person is "most likely Abramoff himself, but certainly a member of Abramoff's team at Greenberg". I think if is more likely Todd Boulanger because it appears to me that Rep. Wilson's staffer and the unnamed Team Abramoff member are personal friends.
Mr Roth goes on to succinctly describe the situation at hand:
It's clear from identifying details in the indictment -- which refers to a New Mexico Indian tribe that hired Abramoff's firm, Greenberg Traurig around March 2002 -- that the tribe is the Sandia Pueblo Indians, who are represented in Congress by Wilson. So in other words, a staffer for Wilson was actively involved in helping Ring and Greenberg Traurig (Firm B, where Ring worked at the time), retain their contract to represent the Sandia Indians.
So who was this staffer "actively involved in helping Ring and Greenberg Traurig"? Here is a list of staffers working for Rep. Wilson in the first quarter of 2003. My considered opinion is that the Rep. Wilson staffer highly interested in Mr. Ring's clients is Erik Einertson. Mr. Einertson, known among his friends as "The Viking", ran in the same social circles as Team Abramoff members Mr. Ring and Mr. Boulanger.
Furthermore, I believe that this section of the indictment was intended to demonstrate that the Department of Justice understood the web of relationships among Mr. Ring and his friends. Mr. Boulanger has since pleaded guilty and is undoubtedly cooperating. I'd be surprised if Mr. Einertson faces any legal jeopardy, the Los Angeles Clipper tickets notwithstanding. Mr. Einertson may, however, appear as a witness in Mr. Ring's trial.
Because I think that these paragraphs of the indictment were intended to rattle the "F Street Gang", the role of former Rep. Wilson in this corner of the scandal has diminished in my opinion. So six months after Mr. Ring's indictment, I feel confident enough to say that former Rep. Wilson is not likely to face legal jeopardy.
2 comments:
There is a lot about Kevin Ring and Heather Wilson that should have the former Congresswomen and some of her staffers quite worried.
In the heat of the campaign last September, I wrote a Dairy on Daily Kos about Wilson, Ring and Abramoff. As you know, I am a partisan Dem, but we share a distaste for corruption in our political system. Heather Wilson is implicated in that corruption.
The public record of the Abramoff scandal includes many documents that point to New Mexico and Heather Wilson.
This is an area of the scandal that the DOJ seems to be focused on as part of the Kevin Ring indictment. It also links Kevin up with Michael Scanlon and other co-conspirators who are now cooperating with the Government.
Cheers
Erik - aka The Viking - and his brother Jason - Little Viking - were from Minnesota if I remember correctly, and ran around the Hill with many others drinking, smoking cigars, etc. I was among the crowd at the time, but grew out of it when I got home late one night and decided I'd puked my guts out for the last time.
In its heyday it was like one big giant frat party, complete with kegs, and all about scoring with the opposite sex (sometimes the same sex too). It was mostly GOP, but there were a few Dems as well. Erik got married a few years back and left DC - last I heard he was living in LA somewhere and had a kid. When the Abramoff scandal started heating up, many of these guys left the Hill in fear of getting indicted. I think his brother Jason moved back to MN to go to school - again I'm not 100% sure.
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