Who is Erik Einertson?

Erik Einertson, a.k.a. "The Viking", is a former staffer for Rep. Heather Wilson (R-N.M.). We've previously written about Rep. Wilson's appearance in the Kevin Ring indictment, concluding that she was unlikely to face any legal jeopardy in the Abramoff scandal. We also speculated that the relationship between her office and an unnamed lobbyist at Firm B [Todd Boulanger at Greenberg Traurig] described in the original Kevin Ring indictment was maintained through Mr. Einertson. To refresh everyone's memory, here are the relevant paragraphs from the original indictment:

156. On or about January 30, 2003, a lobbyist at Firm B [Todd Boulanger at Greenberg Traurig] emailed a staffer [Erik Einertson] 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]

While we speculated in the 2009 post that Rep. Wilson would not likely face legal jeopardy, we also wrote:

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 [original] trial.

He did not appear as a witness. The ACR Blog is now confident that Mr. Einertson will not face legal jeopardy, and we're now also reasonably certain that he won't be testifying in Mr. Ring's re-trial either. Our always inquisitive readers will almost certainly want to know how we arrived at this conclusion, which brings us to where we left off in last week's post - the final two paragraphs that the DoJ has decided it will NOT attempt to prove in Mr. Ring's Retyped Indictment:

Paragraph 147 makes reference to an email allegedly sent from a lobbyist (Todd Boulanger) from Firm B (Greenberg Traurig) to a staffer for a New Mexico tribe's (Sandia) House Representative (former Rep Heather Wilson, R-N.M.) thanking him and confirming he was "all set for the Clippers game."

Paragraph 151 makes reference to another email sent from a firm B lobbyist (Mr. Boulanger) threatening repercussions for the N.M. tribe with their U.S. Representative "if we (Greenberg Traurig) don't get hired."

Obviously, paragraphs 147 and 151 in the Retyped Indictment are identical to paragraphs 156 and 161, respectively, in the Original Indictment. Clearly the DoJ has no need to call Mr. Einertson to the stand if it has no intention of proving the allegations in the original indictment.

This is good news for Mr. Einertson, and we will not dwell much further on him except to point out that he is currently a CFA charterholder and a Vice President at Wilshire Associates, an investment consulting firm in Southern California. Although Mr. Einertson mentions his prior Congressional service in his Wilshire bio (he departed the Hill in 2005 in the aftermath of the Abramoff scandal), he does not mention that he worked for Rep. Wilson. Mr. Einertson also makes no mention of his days running around in an alcohol-fueled frenzy with Mr. Boulanger and various other Hill miscreants that we have previously referred to as "F Street Gangbangers". Now that Mr. Einertson is married and is a father, it appears he has "grown up". Let's hope he takes the CFA Code of Ethics and Standards more seriously than the typical F Street Gangbanger viewed Congressional ethics. We wish him the best on his new path in life.