17 Again

While waiting for "Monsters vs. Aliens" to start Friday afternoon, Jr. Anti-Corruption and I agreed we wanted to see the upcoming Zac Efron film "17 Again".



Watch the video and listen to the music. Can you identify the song? Jr. Anti-Corruption could. You should be able to, also.

So you need a hint? OK. Your hint is "Jessica Boulanger".

Two Places at Once!

OK, so this may not be terribly newsworthy since it involves a scandal figure who has already pleaded guilty, but I still find it interesting.

I'm trying to recreate the travel of former Rep. Bob Ney (R-Ohio) in January 2003. According to a travel disclosure filed by Mr. Ney, he traveled to Antigua and Barbuda and Barbados on a trip sponsored by the Inter-American Economic Council. The trip occurred January 15-19, 2003, and an itinerary is attached to the travel disclosure. I'm most interested in what was going on January 17-19:

Friday, January 17. 2003
Spent the night at The Colony Club, a luxury hotel on Barbados

Saturday, January 18, 2003
8:30 a.m. Roundtable Breakfast hosted by the Inter-American Economic Council at The Colony Club, in conjunction with Eastern Caribbean American Chamber of Commerce.

8:30 p.m. Dinner at The Cliff

Sunday, January 19, 2003
10:00 a.m. Leave Airport

1:00 p.m. Arrive in Washington, DC

Strangely, Rep. Ney filed another travel disclosure to attend the Boich Companies 2003 Energy Conference held in Miami, Fla. during January 18-19, 2003. (The Boich conference was held January 16-18, 2003, but Rep. Ney clearly indicates that he arrived at the conference on January 18, 2003.):

Saturday, January 18, 2003
10:00 a.m. - 12:00 noon: Energy Panel featuring: US Representative Tom DeLay¹; Industry Representatives.

Discussion topics include Energy Legislation in the 108th Congress; The Bush Administration's Clear Sky Initiative; the future of the coal market; New Source Review rules and their effect on the coal-based energy market.

12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.: Break out luncheon session with various industry experts.

6:00 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.: Dinner with industry representatives.

I suppose that Mr. Ney could have left Barbados early to catch the last day of the Boich conference, but he certainly doesn't make that clear in his disclosures. In fact, in his disclosure, Mr. Ney reported lodging expenses of $1,659.15, which is what the Inter-American Economic Council reported as the lodging expenses for the entire trip. This suggests to me that Mr. Ney reported in his financial disclosure that he spent the night of January 18, 2003 in Barbados. Mr. Ney also reports lodging expense of $254 for January 18, 2003 for the Boich Group trip in Miami.

Others have noticed that Inter-American Economic Council is associated with alleged Ponzi-scheme operator Allen Stanford of Houston-based Stanford Financial. (Interestingly, openly Democratic-leaning TPMmuckraker plays this angle straighter than the ostensibly non-partisan Sunlight Foundation.) Certainly, the Allen Stanford angle is worth pursuing, but others are doing that.

The ACR Blog stumbled on this story independently because this blog is more interested in the Boich Group. Several Congressmen and Congressional staffers traveled on the Boich Group's dime. Can you spot which name the ACR Blog finds interesting?

::::

¹ Travel disclosure forms submitted by former Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Sugar Land) do not include the Boich Group trip to Miami. Three possible, though in my opinion unlikely, explanations exist for this. Either Mr. DeLay (1) did not actually attend this conference; (2) paid for the trip himself; or (3) the trip was an official Congressional trip.

Good Tony Rudy

Admitted criminal Tony Rudy was scheduled to have a status hearing into his sentencing today. Long time readers know that I credit Mr. Rudy's Factual Basis for Plea for bringing clarity to me as to how the whole Abramoff scandal worked. Anyway, Mr. Rudy's status hearing today didn't occur:

NOTICE OF HEARING as to TONY C. RUDY; Status hearing set for 3/26/09 is hereby vacated. New Status Conference set for 7/10/2009 at 10:00 AM in Courtroom 14 before Judge Ellen S. Huvelle.

I infer good news from this development. To me, this means that the Justice Department is satisfied with Mr. Rudy's cooperation. Sentencing is deferred and the matter will be revisited in July. Mr. Rudy's case is listed as a related case on the first page of Kevin Ring's indictment. I also am concluding that Mr. Rudy is helping the Department of Justice build its case against Mr. Ring.

Mr. Rudy has long held himself accountable for his actions.

Bad Fraser Verrusio

Fraser Verrusio is under indictment for charges related to Team Abramoff corruption. I am hopeful that Mr. Verrusio will eventually plead guilty and help prosecutors, but up to this point, Mr. Verrusio has given no indication that he will change his "Not Guilty" plea.

The US District Court for the District of Columbia allowed Mr. Verrusio to be released on a personal recognizance bond. There were several conditions attached to his release though. We've already discussed some. Mr. Verrusio is prohibited from contacting three former co-workers on the House Transportation Committee: Graham Hill, Levon Boyagian and Elizabeth Megginson. Furthermore, while Mr. Verrusio is allowed to contact his former boss on the committee, Lloyd Jones, he is prohibited from discussing this case.

It appears to me that Mr. Verrusio's conditions of release include yet another unique condition. My reading of this document leads me to believe that Mr. Verrusio must submit to a narcotics evaluation.

I've read plenty of these kinds of court documents. I don't recall seeing any other scandal participant being required to submit to a narcotics evaluation.

Part IV -- Kevin Ring Indictment: JENNIFER FARLEY

Part I -- Kevin Ring Indictment: ED BUCKHAM!

Part II -- Kevin Ring Indictment: MASHPEE WAMPANOAG

Part III -- Kevin Ring Indictment: REP. HEATHER WILSON

:::::

Yesterday, in "Part III -- Kevin Ring Indictment: REP. HEATHER WILSON", we reviewed page 29 of the Kevin Ring Indictment. Let's stay on that page for a minute:

153. On or about March 27, 2002, defendant RING emailed other Firm B [Greenberg Traurig] employees that he had given two tickets to opening-day at Camden Yards to a certain executive-branch official involved in intergovernmental affairs.

154. On or about April 4, 2002, defendant RING emailed other lobbyists at Firm B informing them that the executive-branch office on intergovernmental affairs had called the DOI [Department of the Interior] in support of a settlement agreement benefiting the New Mexico tribe [Sandia Pueblo].

155. On or about July 17, 2002, defendant RING emailed the New Mexico tribe's governor and others to inform them that the executive branch official had called a U.S. Senator to support the settlement agreement.

You know where we're going with this. We're going to try to identify the unnamed "executive branch official involved in intergovernmental affairs".

The Washington Post tells us of two employees of the Bush White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs who are also sports fans:

Matt Kirk, special assistant to the president in the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, got tickets to two basketball games -- one Washington Wizards outing and an NCAA tournament game.

Jennifer Farley, associate director of the office, attended two Baltimore Orioles games and a Yanni concert. On occasion, Farley apparently used a code word -- "fruit" -- to refer to tickets when conversing with Abramoff lobbyist Kevin Ring, who is under investigation in the matter.

Ms. Farley seems to be a good candidate for our Intergovernmental Affairs official. But my prime piece of evidence is a July 17, 2002 email from Mr. Ring that seems to fit the description (p. 95) of paragraph 155:

From: Ring, Kevin (Shld-DC-Gov)
Sent: Wednesday, July 17, 2002 4:05 PM
To: Governor Stuwart Palsano (E-mail); David Mielke (E-mail); Tom Susman (E-mail); Mark L. Lezell (E-mail); Reid Chambers (E-mail)
Subject: WH[Redacted]

Jennifer Farley at White House Intergovernmental Affairs Office called [redacted] in [redacted]'s office last week at our urging. Jennifer did not get a return call. She tried again today and [redacted] wasn't taking the call, so Jennifer said that she would hold and told the receptionist that is was urgent matter. Receptionist came back on line and said that [redacted] said the Chief of Staff was person to talk to and that he would call her back.

FYI: Jennifer is calling to tell [redacted]'s people that the President is planning to go to NM for [redacted] again and wants to know if the mountain issue will be completed by time of visit. Will be interesting to hear Bell's response. Goal here obviously is to show NM delegation that there is some interest from parties other than Pueblo.

I will keep you posted.

[Emphasis Added]

It seems to me that there was a sloppy redaction job here. Mr. Ring knows that Ms. Farley is waiting for a response from a Senator's Chief of Staff. The Senator is likely a member of the "NM delegation", and we know that Mr. Ring expects a response from "Bell".

Conveniently, we know that a S. Bell was Chief of Staff for Sen. Pete Dominici (R-N.M.) in July 2002. I believe that it was Sen. Dominici's office that frustrated Team Abramoff's plans for the Sandia Pueblo.

Therefore, I am concluding that Ms. Farley called Sen. Dominici's office to discuss the Sandia Pueblo mountain issue.

::::

Who is Jennifer Farley?

Jennifer Farley Gass arrived in Washington, DC from Arizona in 1995. Her first political job was a staff assistant for Anti-Corruption Republican Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). She also worked for (Frank) Luntz Research, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, and the lobbying shop of Barbour, Griffith & Rogers before being hired by the White House Intergovernmental Affairs office in 2001. Ms. Farley remained at the White House until 2005.

Since then, Ms. Farley has created her own lobbying firm, the Farley Group. According to Senate lobbying disclosures, Ms. Farley had two clients: the Micosukee Tribe of Indians and the Pasuca Yaqui Tribe. It is not clear to me whether or not these tribes remain clients of the Farley Group. While most lobbyists filed their 4q2008 disclosures in January 2009, the Senate lobbying database doesn't show any disclosures filed by the Farley Group since the 2q2008 reports. The lobbying database indicates that Ms. Farley filed over two years worth of disclosure reports on September 4, 2008. That is exactly one day before Kevin Ring was indicted.

Ms. Farley is a savvy woman. On the day Kevin Ring "abruptly resigned" from his lobbying job at Barnes and Thornberg, we learned that Ms. Farley had advised Mr. Ring not to email her on her official government email account because "it might actually limit what they can do to help us, especially since there could be lawsuits, etc." This behavior sounds similar to the Bush White House e-mail controversy of 2007.

In her deposition for the House oversight committee, Ms. Farley admitted to socializing with lobbyists:

Q: When you had contact with Kevin Ring, was it generally for official business, or was it social contact?

A: Well, as with Kevin and other lobbyists and people I worked with, I'm a friendly, social person. That's my personality. So when I would meet with someone, most of the time, since I was working with these people and meeting with them a lot, you know, Kevin and everyone else I met with, I would learn if they were, you know, married, had children, if they went on vacation, and of course, we would talk about that. I know at the time Kevin and I were meeting, they had just had a baby. Sometimes he would talk about the baby and that kind of thing. So did we have social interaction? Yes, of course.

Q: Was the purpose of your contacts generally for official business, or was it generally for social purposes?

A: It was both.

Page 25

We know Mr. Ring socialized with the F Street Gang, but he was not an active member. It doesn't appear that Ms. Farley was an active member, either.

:::::

Criminal Liability

Ms. Farley's attorney doesn't think his client has violated the law. Nevertheless, there are some items that he wouldn't let his client address without a grant of immunity:

We also want to make a record for the committee on subjects on which she does not currently feel that she can testify without a grant of immunity based on concerns that the testimony on those subjects may reasonably form some link in a chain of evidence that someone could regard as inculpatory to her.

The subjects this morning that she will unable to testify about on those grounds are, first, what benefits she may or may not have been offered; and, two, any communications between Ms. Farley and any member of the so-called Abramoff team.

Page 6

The ACR Blog does not know if Ms. Farley was ever offered a grant of immunity.

Part III -- Kevin Ring Indictment: REP. HEATHER WILSON

Former Rep. Heather Wilson (R-N.M.)

Part I -- Kevin Ring Indictment: ED BUCKHAM!

Part II -- Kevin Ring Indictment: MASHPEE WAMPANOAG

::::

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.

Fraser Verrusio Arraignment Update

The only media organization that had any interest whatsoever in the arraignment of indicted scandal participant Fraser Verrusio was Roll Call ($):

Federal prosecutors indicated Wednesday that a cadre of former House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee aides will be called to testify in the corruption trial of Fraser Verrusio.

Roll Call names four staff members of the Transportation Committee that prosecutors said may be witnesses in Mr. Verrusio's trial:

Graham Hill - Counsel for the Subcommittee on Highways, Transit and Pipelines

Levon Boyagian - Staff Director for the Subcommittee on Highways, Transit and Pipelines

Elizabeth Megginson - Chief Counsel

Lloyd Jones - Chief of Staff

The ACR Blog profiled Levon Boyagian two weeks ago.

While readers of the ACR Blog anticipated that Mr. Verrusio would have court appointed counsel, we now have a name to report. Mr. Verrusio's attorney is public defender A.J. Kramer.

The facts are out of the way ... analysis to come this weekend (hopefully).

==

Back in January, I observed that an on-line profile for Mr. Verrusio stated that he worked as Director, Government Relations at Jacobs Engineering. The same on-line profile now says that Mr. Verrusio is Managing Director at Sounthside (sic) Investment Group, whatever that is.

Jim Hirni and the Dairy Farmers of America

So I'm reviewing the former clients of admitted criminal James Hirni. I know, I know. A good blogger would have done this long ago. Face it. You read the blogger you've got, not the one you want.

We've long known that another admitted criminal, Trevor Blackann, lobbied for the Dairy Farmers of America (DFA). But I just learned tonight that Mr. Hirni also lobbied for DFA when he worked at Cassidy & Associates. (Cassidy & Associates is the same firm at the center of a lobbying controversy in the State of Texas.)

"Dairy Farmers of America" sounds like such a wholesome group. In reality, it is a huge cooperative that flexes its corporate muscle in order to manipulate dairy prices. Three months ago, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission fined DFA $12 million for attempting to manipulate milk futures contracts.

A Chicago Tribune article from February 2006 shines a light on DFA's lobbying interests. Dutch immigrant Hein Hettenga became "too efficient" at his business. Structuring his business so that it didn't fall under Great Depression era regulation, Mr. Hettenga was able to supply milk to consumers at a significantly lower price. DFA didn't like it:

The intense lobbying effort to curb Hettinga showcases what many, including lawyers in the Justice Department, say is an antiquated, unfair system for regulating milk. These critics question why the federal regulations are still needed, given an oversupply of milk and a burgeoning international dairy marketplace that bears little resemblance to the 1930s.

Furthermore, they argue that the rules of the federal order have allowed the giants of the dairy industry to tighten their grip on the marketplace by forcing competitors to comply with rules that favor larger outfits. Allegations that DFA was trying to monopolize the raw-milk market have prompted an ongoing antitrust investigation by the Justice Department...

"These laws have been in effect 60 years, 70 years, and they are changing the law just to do me in," said Hettinga, who has spent nearly $1.5 million on legal fees during the past four years, about $1,000 a day. "If I've got such a better system, why don't they deregulate everyone?"

Mr. Hettenga did find a better system. But the American people won't be able to benefit from lower dairy prices. DFA and its lobbyists won; free markets lost. Not exactly the outcome an economic conservative like me wanted to see.

James Hirni lobbied for DFA in 2004 and 2005. It is quite possible we'll hear about DFA again.

==

We've also mentioned another 2004-2005 client of Mr. Hirni, New Media Strategies. Recall that Jessica Boulanger, wife of admitted criminal Todd Boulanger, works at New Media Strategies.

Cash or Check? (Part II)

Cash or Check? (September 1, 2008)

==

As we all know, former Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle caused a politically inspired indictment to be filed against former Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Sugar Land). Among other things, Mr. DeLay is charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Back in August 2008, the Texas Third Court of Appeals issued a controversial opinion declaring Texas' pre-2005 money laundering statute as unconstitutionally vague in a case related to Mr. DeLay's case. Jim Ellis and John Colyandro were affiliated with TRMPAC, a political action committee designed to elect the first GOP majority in the Lone Star State since Reconstruction. The court opined that prior to a revision of the law in 2005, money laundering could not be consummated when the instrument passed was a check drawn on a bank. Money laundering could only involve cash:

[W]e find that checks and other negotiable instruments were added to the description of the term "funds" in section 34.01 in 2005 precisely because they were not included in the prior version of the statute. We find that the term "funds" in the pre-2005 money laundering statute did not include checks or other negotiable instruments that are not the functional equivalent of cash.

Since we hold that checks and other negotiable instruments such as those added by the amendments to section 34.01 in 2005 were not included within the definition of the term "funds" as it was defined in the statute at the time of the acts at issue here, Ellis and Colyandro's contention that the statute under which they have been charged is unconstitutionally vague on its face fails.

Footnote eliminated

Because the opinion favoring Mr. DeLay's associates was issued by three Republicans, Democrats howled partisanship.

We looked at Texas case law involving the pre-2005 money laundering statute. At least three people (Lee, Thomas and Davis) in Texas were convicted under the pre-2005 law when the "funds" laundered were in the form of a check. Either these defendants were unjustly convicted under a unconstitutionally vague law or the Third Court of Appeals erred. The State of Texas owes an explanation to Lee, Thomas and Davis if they were convicted under an unconstitutionally vague law. The other alternative is that Mr. DeLay's indictment should stand.

Today, a blog at the Austin American-Statesman reports that the full Court of Appeals will not revisit this case. Quoting from the Quorum Report, the Austin American Statesman reports:

In a 3-2 ruling earlier today, Republican Justices Pemberton, Puryear and Waldrop prevailed over Democratic Justices Patterson and Henson. At issue was whether or not to have the full Court of Appeals rehear a controversial decision late last year that ruled, among other things, that the Texas money laundering statute was unconstitutionally vague. Their argument was the statute used the term ‘funds’ rather than ‘check.’

Three Republicans vs. two Democrats. Ugh. The partisan divide remains. And it is the Republicans that seem to ignore established case law.

We can hope that the Court of Criminal Appeals (the "Supreme Court" of Texas criminal cases) reverses this decision. If not, what do we do with Lee, Thomas and Davis?

Look, I don't think Mr. DeLay is guilty of the trumped-up charges. But the rule of law must be respected even though Mr. Earle didn't respect it.

Of course, just because Mr. DeLay isn't guilty of the partisan charges brought by Mr. Earle, don't think for a minute that Mr. DeLay doesn't face serious legal jeopardy in the case being investigated by our heroes at the Justice Department.

==

Update
March 20, 2009

The Austin American Statesman published an editorial on this matter today. The editorial doesn't mention precendential case law, but does notice that Republican judges are applying tortuous logic:

Perhaps now Democrats will more fully appreciate the long-standing Republican complaint that too often the courts let criminal defendants skate away on absurd legal technicalities.

Indeed. But I'd take this thinking a slightly different direction.

Democrats seem not to like judicial activism when it impedes their desired outcome. As for me, I don't like judicial activism ever. Period.

March 18: Fraser Verrusio to be Arraigned

From PACER:

NOTICE OF HEARING as to FRASER C. VERRUSIO Arraignment set for 3/18/2009 09:30 AM in Courtroom 9 before Judge Richard W. Roberts.

I don't expect to learn much from this hearing. The only thing I realistically expect to learn is who is representing Fraser Capone Verrusio. Recall that Mr. Verrusio filed a form commonly used to get court-appointed counsel.

Devlin Barrett of the AP reported that Mr. Verrusio had recently changed lawyers:

A lawyer who had previously represented Verrusio said he no longer did, and his current lawyer could not immediately be determined.

Does this mean that Mr. Verrusio previously retained his own lawyer but now has court appointed counsel? Or maybe Mr. Verrusio somehow acquired the means to pay for his own lawyer after filling out the paperwork for a court-appointed attorney. (Recall that ne'er-do-well defendant Shane Tessimond was somehow was able to hire high-profile counsel for his criminal defense.)

Check back to see what we learn tomorrow.

New Kevin Ring Court Documents

Government's Fourth Notice of Status of Discovery (.pdf)

Consent Motion to Disclose Certain Grand Jury Transcripts (.pdf)

Other related document: Kevin Ring Indictment (.pdf)

==


Kevin Ring
July 1, 2000

Click on the picture for the full photograph featuring Mr. Ring sitting next to an admitted criminal!¹

==

Last week, two documents related to the prosecution of Kevin Ring were filed with the US District Court for the District of Columbia. The first one I want to look at is basically an update the Government provided to the Court on how it is complying with its discovery obligations (Fourth Notice of Status of Discovery, link above):

III. Seized Evidence

The government has not completed its review of the material seized from Ring's home and so cannot say with certainty exactly which seized items it will seek to offer at trial. However, based on material already reviewed, the government is fairly certain that it will seek to introduce certain seized material, including but not limited to (1) various versions and drafts of Ring's book and emails about the book, including its publication, (2) notes Ring took about the Senate investigation at play in the obstruction counts, and (3) emails between Ring and Representative 5 [Rep. John Doolittle, R-Calif.].

I briefly wrote about the FBI search of Mr. Ring's house back in December 2008. The Justice Department says it intends to introduce a draft of a book written by Mr. Ring at the trial. Even though the Fourth Status of Discovery doesn't tell us anything interesting about Mr. Ring's book, we already know a little something about the tome. In it, Mr. Ring hints at his own guilt:

The Justice Department even seized drafts of an unfinished book by Ring when FBI agents searched his home. Ring allegedly admitted in these drafts “that he had taken certain actions as a lobbyist with a corrupt intent,” according to a DOJ legal filing.

To me, the most interesting item we learn is item (3). The FBI discovered emails between Mr. Ring and Rep. Doolittle during their search of Ring's home. Because one of Mr. Ring's former employers, Greenberg Traurig, has been extremely responsive when it comes to the Abramoff scandal, I suspect that the emails in question here were written to Rep. Doolittle on one of Mr. Ring's personal accounts ('ringke' and/or 'kerrieandkevin') mentioned on page 2 of the Fourth Status of Discovery. I can't wait until September when Mr. Ring's trial begins so I can learn the substance of these emails to/from Rep. Doolittle.

Former Rep. Doolittle probably isn't as eager as I am, though.

==

We don't learn much in the Motion to Disclose Grand Jury Transcripts. Here is the most important paragraph:

4. The defendant has now requested transcripts of witnesses who testified before the grand jury relating to DOJ-OIG (Department of Justice Office of Inspector General) portion of the case, arguing that certain of these transcripts may contain exculpatory material. The government does not concede that any such transcripts not already produced contain exculpatory material, but nevertheless has agreed to produce transcripts of non-law-enforcement grand jury witnesses, subject to this Court's approval.

Nothing in this passage is crystal clear to me, but of course that never stops me from speculating. I believe the DOJ-OIG portion of the case refers to the favors done by DOJ official Robert Coughlin and others to help Team Abramoff. This includes helping secure funding for a $16.3 million jail for the Choctaw Indians and accelerating the decision-making process of the Immigration and Naturalization Service with respect to some students desiring to attend Abramoff's Eshkol Academy school.

The DOJ indicates that it has already provided relevant grand jury transcripts to Mr. Ring's attorneys (Consent Motion to Disclose; Paragraph 3). Of course I have no insight into what has already been provided to Mr. Ring's attorneys and what the DOJ is seeking to give them. But here is a partial list of names of people who may have provided testimony to the grand jury:

Robert Coughlin - Dep. Director of the Office of Intergovernmental and Public Liaison
Mr. Coughlin earns a lot of ink in Mr. Ring's indictment. For several pages beginning on page 31, we learn of a number of items of value Mr. Coughlin received from Mr. Ring as well as official actions performed by Mr. Coughlin that benefited Mr. Ring's clients. These official actions include securing funding for a jail for the Choctaw Indian tribe, accelerating the decision-making process of the INS with respect to visas for students at Jack Abramoff's Eshkol Academy and interpreting portions of the PATRIOT Act for one of Mr. Ring's clients.

David Ayers - Chief of Staff (COS) for AG John Ashcroft
Paul Clement - Principal Deputy Solicitor General
In a September 2008 court hearing, DOJ lawyers said they planned to turn over email correspondence between Mr. Ring and Mr. Clement and between Mr. Ring and Mr. Ayres to the defense team. The AP report of the court hearing did not disclose the content of the emails. Mr. Ayers' name appears on a list of people to receive NCAA basketball tournament tickets from Team Abramoff. In addition, an October 1, 2001 email from Mr. Abramoff to one of his CNMI contacts says, "We had the COS of the Justice Department in our box at today's Redskins game and it seems that there might be a classified document floating in the department which deals with this matter." Clearly, Team Abramoff had contact with Ayers, and he may well have received "gifts" from them. On the other hand, I have no evidence that Mr. Clement received anything of value from Team Abramoff.

Lori Sharpe Day - Head of the Office of Intergovernmental and Public Liaison
We know that Mrs. Day's name appears on a list of people to get tickets from Team Abramoff to a U2 concert in the MCI Center. Mrs. Day's role in the Choctaw jail or Eshkol Academy episodes is not clear.

Tom Sansonetti - Assistant Attorney general of the Environment and Natural Resources Division
While trying to force through the $16.3 million Choctaw jail, Mr. Ring emailed Mr. Abramoff suggesting that Mr. Sansonetti could be helpful. We know that Mr. Sansonetti has enjoyed a meal or two at Mr. Abramoff's Signatures restaurant. We don't know who paid for the meals, and we don't know if Mr. Sansonetti used his official position in any way to help Team Abramoff. In fact, in 2008, Mr. Sansonetti specifically denied that he had any contacts with Team Abramoff with respect to his "official duties".

David Israelite - Deputy Chief of Staff to Attorney General John Ashcroft
Team Abramoff member Tony Rudy suggested that Mr. Israelite could help them with the Choctaw jail. We don't know what, if anything, Mr. Israelite did to help Team Abramoff.

Tracy Henke - Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Office of Justice Programs
Ms. Henke was a major headache to Team Abramoff. She did not want to fund the full $16.3 million for the Choctaw jail. Personally, I'd like to learn her take on who in the DOJ felt the full $16.3 million was critical.

Carl Thorsen - Deputy Assistant Attorney General
If the DOJ-OIG portion of the investigation is far wider than I think, Mr. Thorsen may be a witness. Team Abramoff operative Tony Rudy communicated with Mr. Thorsen regarding nominees for a US Attorney post in Guam. Mr. Thorsen is also a former member of Team DeLay. He was present at the Homewood Resort fundraiser that got Tom DeLay in trouble with the House Ethics Committee. Someone ought to write a post entitled "Who is Carl Thorsen" sometime.

Update -- August 14, 2009
Mr. Thorsen was involved in the Choctaw jail according to the government's Exhibit List for the trial of Kevin Ring (Exhibit 536). Mr. Thorsen's involvement on the Choctaw jail issue is much more direct than I originally thought.

==

Believe me, I read way too much about this scandal. And my head is too little to keep track of all the facts I see. I do keep reading the same documents over and over, and sometimes I see something significant that I originally missed. Today is no exception. I want to draw your attention to page 43, paragraph 12 of Mr. Ring's Indictment. In it, we read:

Outside counsel [hired by Greenberg Traurig] specifically informed defendant RING that there were pending investigations by Congress and the DOJ into Abramoff's employment of [Rep. John Doolittle's] wife.

Be aware that these interviews with Mr. Ring began in Spring 2004. This, I believe, is the earliest evidence we have that the DOJ was investigating activities of the Wives' Club.

(Congress, to my knowledge has never investigated Wives' Club activities. I don't like it, but I understand that Congress is loathe to hold itself accountable. Chairman John McCain of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee took this investigation as far as he could. Congress simply would never investigate itself outside of the ethics process.)

==

¹ In the full picture, Mr. Ring is sitting with admitted criminal Todd Boulanger. Photo courtesy of webarchive.org, an online compendium of the internet that preserves content, even when the original publisher attempts to delete it.

"As an amateur photographer, I am always taking pictures -- sometimes, to the chagrin of others." - Robert Turner

'Mr. Hirni has been cooperating with government agents'

Federal prosecutors and counsel for Jim Hirni have asked the US District Court for the District of Columbia to defer sentencing for James Hirni. Of course you know what that means:

Mr. Hirni’s case is not yet ready for sentencing. As part of his plea agreement, Mr. Hirni has agreed to cooperate with the government in any and all matters where required. In conformity with this agreement, Mr. Hirni has been cooperating with government agents and prosecutors. The government anticipates that Mr. Hirni’s cooperation will continue for the foreseeable future.

The joint motion suggests the court revisit Mr. Hirni’s sentencing status on June 12, 2009.

This isn’t unexpected. The only thing not spelled out is who Mr. Hirni is providing evidence against. I’ll offer two guesses.

FRASER VERRUSIO
Mr. Verrusio is under indictment for failing to report a trip to NYC in 2003 to watch the World Series. Lobbyists, including Mr. Hirni, paid for the trip, and Mr. Hirni admitted to his role in his Factual Basis for Plea (.pdf). Personally, I kind of expect Mr. Verrusio to plead guilty instead of going to trial, but at this point Mr. Verrusio has not indicated that a plea deal is in the works.

KEVIN RING
Court documents filed in Mr. Hirni’s case never mention Mr. Ring. Nevertheless, the two had a close working relationship. Together, they worked on Team Abramoff at Greenberg Traurig and shared several clients. Best I can tell, neither Mr. Hirni nor the shared clients appear in Mr. Ring’s indictment. Nevertheless, Mr. Hirni may be able to provide prosecutors with color on how Mr. Ring did business.

According to documents reviewed by the ACR Blog, the following clients were shared by lobbyists James Hirni and Kevin Ring while both were at Greenberg Traurig:

Agua Caliente
Colorado Railcar
Municipal Leasing
Ross Schools
United Rentals
Viacom

Since we're optimistic people, let's hope that Mr. Hirni is providing evidence against Mr. Ring. Mr. Ring is far more valuable to the Justice Department than Mr. Verrusio. As I’ve said before, Mr. Ring can deliver Rep. John Doolittle (R-Calif.) and Ed Buckham.

Ann Copland: GUILTY

Ann Copland (AP)

We've known it was coming for a week, but Ann Copland, an aide to Sen. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), has pleaded guilty. As usual, the Associated Press was the first to report this. From Nedra Pickler:

A former longtime aide to Mississippi Sen. Thad Cochran pleaded guilty Tuesday to swapping legislative favors for event tickets and other gifts from disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff's firm.

Ann Copland wiped away tears as she admitted to U.S. District Judge Richard Roberts that she took $25,000 to $30,000 in gifts in exchange for helping one of Abramoff's top clients, the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians.

Copland, 52, pleaded guilty to conspiring with Abramoff and his associates to commit honest services fraud over a two-year period beginning in 2002. The charge carries a sentence of up to five years in prison, but Copland told the judge that she understood that the guidelines would be 10 months to 16 months under her plea deal. She was released pending her sentencing, which has not yet been scheduled.

Ms. Copland earned the codename of 'Staffer E' in documents produced by the Justice Department. 'Staffer F' is Kevin Koonce, and he has not yet been charged.

More from the AP on Ms. Copland's former boss:

Copland worked for Cochran for 29 years, then abruptly left his office last spring. Her attorney said she didn't know at the time she left that she was a target of the investigation.

Cochran said in a statement that he is not a subject or a target of the investigation. "I am very disappointed that this case has involved a former member of my staff," he said.

I have no evidence that the Justice Department is interested in Sen. Cochran at all.

::::

Copland Factual Basis (.pdf)

Copland Information (.pdf)

I really don't have a lot to say about the Factual Basis, but here are a few bullets:

1. Ms. Copland signed the Factual Basis on February 12. Notice that this a full week before the Justice Department dated her "Information" (February 19). This probably isn't a big deal, but I do find it counterintuitive. I would have expected the "Information" to precede the "Factual Basis".

2. We don't have a plea agreement yet, but it will appear on this blog when we do. Expect Ms. Copland to be obligated to help prosecutors as part of any plea agreement.

3. The Factual Basis is intended, in part, to get Kevin Ring's attention. Ms. Copland repeatedly asserts that Mr. Ring (along with Jack Abramoff and Mr. Boulanger) provided things of value to Ms. Copland in exchange for Ms. Copland taking "a variety of official actions" (See: Paragraphs 4-5, 7-10, 14-17). Mr. Ring is under indictment on similar charges. Mr. Ring rejected a plea bargain and has pleaded not guilty. His trial is scheduled to begin in September 2009.

4. Ms. Copland identified a few official actions related to the conspiracy to commit honest services fraud that I don't recall seeing before. On March 11, 2002, Mr. Ring asked Ms. Copland to get her boss, Sen. Cochran, to sign a letter to the Small Business Administration on behalf of the Mississippi Choctaw (Paragraph 8). On December 9, 2002, Mr. Boulanger asked Ms. Copland to find another staffer to "facilitate" an extra $2 million appropriation to the Mississippi Choctaw (Paragraph 11)¹. Lastly, on March 9, 2003, Mr. Ring e-mailed 2004 appropriations requests for the Choctaw (Paragraph 15).

¹ The ACR Blog does not know if Ms. Copland actually identified another staff member to "facilitate" the $2 million appropriation. If she did, we obviously don't know who facilitated the appropriation. While the ACR Blog is very curious about this episode and would like to know more about it, unfortunately it is rather low priority.

Who is Levon Boyagian?

Levon Boyagian is one of those nominal Republicans who doesn't seem to hold very conservative values. Not content with the myriad of bailouts proposed over the past six months, Mr. Boyagian spends time and effort imagining even more bailouts:

"The highway trust fund is facing a serious crisis," said Levon Boyagian, a former House Highways and Transit Subcommittee Republican staff director and now head of Boyagian Consulting, LLC. "They're probably going to need another bailout this year." Lawmakers last year approved an $8 billion fix to the Highway Trust Fund, which reimbursed an $8 billion transfer from the trust fund to the general Treasury a decade earlier.

In that excerpt, we learn more about Mr. Boyagian. He indeed was the staff director for the House Highways and Transit Subcommittee from 2002-2004. That subcommittee is part of the House Transportation Committee that was chaired by scandal figure Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska). But Mr. Boyagian's relationship with Rep. Young predates 2002 by a few years.

Also, we learn that Mr. Boyagian has created his own lobbying firm, Boyagian Consulting, LLC. Here are some of the clients of Boyagian Consulting:

American Maglev Technologies of Florida
Association of Metropolitan Planning Organizations
Atlanta Beltline, Inc.
HTNB
Mayors and Commissioners Coalition
TKC Aero ¹

Half of those clients followed Mr. Boyagian after he left his previous lobbying firm, Dutko Worldwide, LLC less than a year ago in late summer 2008. I have no clue why Mr. Boyagian left Dutko. Maybe he figured he could make more money heading up his own firm. Maybe there was another reason. Who knows?

Lastly, Mr. Boyagian seems to have a storied history of contributing to campaigns and PACs of politicians who routinely make the pages of the ACR Blog including:

ARMPAC (Tom DeLay's PAC)
Midnight Sun PAC (Don Young's PAC)
Keep our Majority PAC (Dennis Hastert's PAC)
Rep. Don Young's Campaign
Former Rep. Richard Pombo's Campaign

===

¹ TKC Aero is owned by an entity known as a Alaska Native Regional Corporation. This may or may not turn out to be significant. A regular Alaskan correspondent has been trying to teach me about Alaska Native Regional Corporations for several months. Unfortunately for him, I'm not very smart. I still don't understand these organizations. But I have come to appreciate that they are very influential entities in the Last Frontier.

Fraser Verrusio: INDICTED

Link to the Fraser Verrusio Indictment.

The most important thing to notice is that Fraser Verrusio has been indicted; he wasn't charged by an "Information" like Trevor Blackann, Jim Hirni, Todd Boulanger, Ann Copland and others. An "Information" is typically followed by a guilty plea. Because Mr. Verrusio is on the receiving end of an indictment, I infer that there is no plea deal currently in the works. That said, a plea deal could come later. Recall that Shane Tessimond was indicted, and he eventually pleaded guilty.

Here are some of my other thoughts regarding the indictment.

1. "Others"

Count 1 is a conspiracy to obtain illegal gratuities. Here is how the Justice Department describes the conspiracy (Paragraph 8)

During 2003 and 2004, in the District of Columbia and elsewhere, the defendent,
FRASER C. VERRUSIO
did knowingly combine, conspire, confederate and agree with Trevor Blackann, Todd Boulanger, James Hirni, Person #1, and others, known and unknown to the grand jury, to commit offenses against the United States ...

Wouldn't you like to know who the others (known and unknown to the grand jury) are? Obviously, this conspiracy was one on a grand scale. I suppose the DoJ will let us know on their own timetable, and I'm content with that.

Here's a little more color on what the conspirators, including the "others", are accused of doing:

8. b. Boulanger, Hirni, Person #1, and others ... [gave, offered, and promised] things of value to defendant VERRUSIO and Blackann for and because of official acts performed and to be performed by these public officials.

10. It was a further purpose of the conspiracy for Boulanger, Hirni, Person #1, and others to obtain favorable official action for themselves and Equipment Rental Company [United Rentals].

2. Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.) and an Unnamed Senate Staffer

Admitted criminal Trevor Blackann, an alleged co-conspirator of Mr. Verrusio, worked for Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.). According to paragraph 22 of the indictment, Mr. Blackann told Messrs. Boulanger and Hirni that he had falsely attributed the amendments mandating new regulations on his boss. Remember from the James Hirni's Factual Basis for Plea that Sen. Bond had promised not to offer any amendments, including the United Rentals amendments, to the Highway Bill (Hirni Factual Basis; Paragraph 18).

Also from Paragraph 18 of the Hirni Factual Basis, we learn that Messrs. Hirni and Blackann "indentified and convinced another staff member on the EPW Committee to offer the [United Rentals] amendment and Liability Insurance Amendment." We don't know who this staffer is, but we do know the Senators on the EPW Committee in 2003:

James Inhofe, R-Oklahoma John W. Warner, R-Virginia Kit Bond, R-Missouri George V. Voinovich, R-Ohio Michael D. Crapo, R-Idaho Lincoln Chafee, R-R.I. John Cornyn, R-Texas Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska Craig Thomas, R-Wyoming Wayne Allard, R-Colorado

James Jeffords, I-Vt. Max Baucus, D-Montana Harry Reid, D-Nevada Bob Graham, D-Florida Joe Lieberman, D-Conn. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon Thomas Carper, D-Delaware Hillary Clinton, D-New York

We don't know which staffer inserted the United Rentals amendments. We don't know which Senator the staffer worked for. And we don't even know if the Justice Department is interested in either the staffer or the Senator. It could be that the United Rentals amendments were inserted as a favor to Mr. Blackann and the persons involved knew nothing of the conspiracy.

3. Person #1

The Verrusio indictment isn't the first time we've seen Person #1 appear in court documents. Person #1 first appeared in the Hirni Information. I also believe that Person #1 was named "Lobbyist F" in Trevor Blackann's Factual Basis for Plea. ABC News has previously identified United Rentals to be the employer of Person #1/ Lobbyist F.


4. Washington Native?

Congressional Quarterly says that Mr. Verrusio is from Washington ...

Verrusio, a native of Washington, D.C., began working for [Rep. Don] Young [R-Alaska] in 2001. At the time, Young was House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee chairman. Verrusio left the committee in 2007. Verrusio, who has an unpublished number, could not be reached for comment. The indictment did not list a defense attorney.

Information in my possession indicates that Mr. Verrusio is from New Jersey. I really don't know what to make of this conflicting information, and, in the grand scheme of things, it really isn't a big deal. But I want to take this opportunity to clarify a statement I made on Thursday. When I said that Mr. Verrusio appears to be a "product of Washington, DC", I meant that in a figurative sense. We can tell from Mr. Verrusio's behavior that he is not a fiscal conservative and does not have faith in the free market. After all, in the case at hand, Mr. Verrusio was an enthusiastic supporter not only of the New York Yankees, but of intrusive government regulation, too.

From the Hirni Factual Basis for Plea we know that "Various staff and Senators opposed [United Rentals'] amendment because, among other reasons, they did not 'like forcing people to rent'" (Paragraph 19; Hirni Factual Basis). If Messrs. Verrusio, Blackann, Hirni and Boulanger had actually been faithful to conservative values, they wouldn't be in trouble today. Instead, they took a different route. They embraced big government regulation.

:::::

The best MSM coverage of the Verrusio indictment comes from a somewhat unlikely source. Be sure to read Richard Mauer's article in the Anchorage (Alaska) Daily News.

FLASH ~ Fraser Verrusio Indicted

Press release from Department of Justice.

More to come ....

::::::::

UPDATE
March 6, 2009
5:56 p.m. CST

A helpful emailer has provided the ACR Blog with Fraser Verrusio's indictment. It still isn't out on PACER yet, but I'll try to post it along with some commentary tonight or tomorrow.

:::::::

Here's the Verrusio Indictment.

Fraser Verrusio Pleads Poverty

The readers of the ACR Blog are much smarter than its author. Of course, that probably doesn't surprise any of you. Here is the evidence:

A month ago, I noticed that Fraser Verrusio (a.k.a. "Staffer D") had filed a Financial Affidavit with the US District Court for the District of Columbia. I didn't know why Mr. Verrusio would file such a Financial Affidavit with the court. I offered a guess that it was in response to pressure from federal prosecutors.

CJA 23 Financial Affidavit as to FRASER VERRUSIO. This document is unavailable due to E-Government Act. Signed by Magistrate Judge Alan Kay on 2/4/09.

One of the ACR Blog's readers suggested that Mr. Verrusio filed the Financial Affidavit in order to get court-appointed counsel due to indigent status.

Demonstrating an utter lack of curiosity, I procrastinated a full month before looking at Form CJA 23. It turns out that the commenter was absolutely right. Form CJA 23 is a Financial Affidavit that appears to be primarily used as a means to get court-appointed counsel.

This is surprising to me. Mr. Verrusio earned in excess of $150,000 during his last year as a Congressional staffer. Presumably, Mr. Verrusio got a increase in pay after he left Congress to become Director of Government Relations at Jacobs Engineering. In Mr. Verrusio's Congressional financial disclosure, he reports owning two properties in Florida with mortgages near the value of the property. He also reports a lot of credit card and personal debt.

In addition to placing himself in legal jeopardy, Mr. Verrusio seems to have spent his earnings prodigiously. Mr. Verrusio is obviously no fiscal conservative. He spends as extravagantly as former Rep. Tom DeLay, Sen. Ted Kennedy or President Obama. Mr. Verrusio looks like a product of Washington, DC to me.

*** SPECIAL THANKS to my anonymous commenter. You were right!

==

Mr. Verrusio worked on the Transportation Committee staff for Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska). While we're on the topic of paying for counsel, it is worth noting that another Young staffer isn't paying for his own lawyers. Steve Dougherty, Rep. Young's campaign manager, has received $90,000 toward legal representation paid by Rep. Young's campaign.

The ACR Blog needs an Alaskan affiliate. The corruption in the Last Frontier could fill a dozen blogs.

Former Rep. Tom Feeney now a Lobbyist!

Isn't this special?

From the Associated Press.

Former U.S. Congressman Tom Feeney is back in Tallahassee but this time as a lobbyist for two Florida cities.

The Oviedo Republican was defeated last November by Democrat Suzanne Kosmas, who criticized Feeney for his ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Feeney went on a 2003 golfing trip to Scotland that was paid by Abramoff.

While battling for re-election, Feeney aired a television ad apologizing for the trip and calling Abramoff a "corrupt lobbyist."

Of course, former Rep. Feeney (R-Fla.) knows a thing or two about lobbying. Who can ever forget this campaign commercial from 2008?

March 10: Ann Copland to Cop Plea

From PACER:

NOTICE OF HEARING as to ANN M. COPLAND Plea Agreement Hearing set for 3/10/2009 11:30 AM in Courtroom 9 before Judge Richard W. Roberts.

Hopefully, we'll get a Factual Basis for Plea at that time. Be sure to check back in.

Payments to Julie Doolittle "Were at the Heart of the Fraud"

John and Julie Doolittle

Over the weekend, Wendy at Unheard No More! examined the Government's Opposition to Kevin Ring's Motion to Dismiss. Unheard No More! places this document in context of Mr. Ring's indictment. Be sure to check out her post.

Like Wendy, I'm going to avoid getting caught up in the immense amount of case law found in the Opposition. I'll leave that to lawyer types, and I'm not one of those. I find the facts regarding former Rep. John Doolittle (a.k.a. Representative 5) and his wife to be the most interesting parts of the Opposition. Since I didn't cover these items in detail when the grand jury handed down Kevin Ring's indictment, I'll take this opportunity to review the role of John and Julie Doolittle in this matter.

==

[Mr.] Ring even went so far as to facilitate a job at a company Abramoff controlled for [Julie Doolittle]. The public officials never disclosed any of this.

Page 3

From the very first month of my original blog, it was clear to me that Mrs. Doolittle's "employment" would be of great interest to federal prosecutors. Christine DeLay, wife of our former Congressman Tom DeLay (R-Sugar Land) had similar no-show job(s). In that April 2006 post, I noted that the San Diego Union Tribune reported that Julie Doolittle's company had four "clients" and this Washington Post story adds a fifth:

1. John Doolittle's PAC
2. Jack Abramoff's lobbying firm, Greenberg Traurig
3. Jack Abramoff's restaurant, Signatures
4. The Korea-U.S. Exchange Council (a shady organization created by scandal figure Ed Buckham)
5. Jack Abramoff's "charity", Capitol Athletic Foundation (CAF)

Given that the only entities controlled by Mr. Abramoff was his restaurant and CAF, I suspect that Mr. Ring did something to "facilitate a job" at one of those two organizations for Julie Doolittle.

==

Representative [John Doolittle] and his office helped Ring and his clients in so many ways that Representative [John Doolittle] remarked that he felt like a "subsidiary" of Ring's lobbying firm.

Page 3

'Nuff said. There's nothing I can add to make this more damning.

Paul Kiel originally reported the "subsidiary" comment back in September, 2008. But it is worth mentioning again.

==

Specifically, knowing that his statements would be communicated to federal officials, Ring lied to outside investigators for his lobbying firm about his involvement in arranging a job for [John Doolittle]'s wife and about his receipt of a kickback from Abramoff and Michael Scanlon after they successfully won the New Mexico tribe's [the Pueblo Sandia tribe's] business.

Page 4

The Government's Opposition accuses Mr. Ring of lying to investigators hired by Greenberg Traurig. In order to determine which "job" Mr. Ring discussed with Greenberg's investigators, we have to go to Kevin Ring's Indictment.

On page 43, we find this: "The internal investigation examined, among other things, defendant RING's and Abramoff's role in Firm B's employment of [Julie Doolittle]."

Of course, Firm B is Greenberg Traurig.

==

As for the wire based on the deposit in Count VIII, the payments to [Julie Doolittle] were an important thing of value that Ring, Abramoff, and the other coconspirator lobbyists provided to [Rep. John Doolittle] in return for favorable official acts. Her deposit of the check and the interstate wiring required to execute the transfer or [sic] funds were reasonably foreseeable to Ring, otherwise she would not have received the payment. As in Turner, the payments to [Julie Doolittle] "were at the heart of" the fraud.

Page 20; citation omitted

I'd like to think that individuals receiving payments "at the heart of the fraud" will eventually be on the receiving end of an indictment.

Referring to Count VIII in the indictment (page 40), we learn that this paragraph refers to payment from Greenberg Traurig to Julie Doolittle for her suspicious "job".