author: H. Raymond
Senate Committee votes to release Abramoff investigation report
The report is primarily available on the committee website at  link to indian.senate.gov. Under the AGENDA heading, click on REPORT and follow instructions for downloading. The report is titled, "'GIMME FIVE'— INVESTIGATION OF TRIBAL LOBBYING MATTERS FINAL REPORT BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS ONE HUNDRED AND NINTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION JUNE 22, 2006"
The scandal surfaced in February 2004, when the Washington Post newspaper broke a story alleging payments of more than $45 million over three years from four tribes to Abramoff and an associate, Michael Scanlon. Ultimately the number of tribes entangled in Abramoff's schemes grew to six, and their fees and "donations" to something north of $66 million. The number of Abramoff's associates also grew to include members of Congress and their staff.
"Unfortunately we now know that these allegations were true, and much worse," said Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., just before the June 22 vote.
Abramoff and Scanlon have plea-bargained on charges of bribery and fraud; several associates have been indicted and one convicted; a number of congressional members and staff remain under federal investigation; and further indictments are widely anticipated.
The investigation's staggering work-load included tracking down and poring over tens of thousands of pages of documents to establish factual records on the tribes that paid Abramoff and Scanlon, the organizations Abramoff ginned up or convinced to channel tribal donations, and the host of individuals who came into Abramoff's and Scanlon's orbit.
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Media glossed over White House ties to Abramoff
Thursday, June 22, 2006
"You wouldn't know it from the coverage of David H. Safavian's conviction yesterday for lying and obstructing justice, but some of his criminal activity actually took place while he was working at the White House.
Safavian managed to avoid being frog-marched out of the White House by resigning three days before his arrest.
And it's true that the underlying acts in his case -- helping to assist corrupt super-lobbyist Jack Abramoff in acquiring some properties and accepting a lavish weeklong overseas golf trip -- took place while Safavian was the Bush-appointed chief of staff at the General Services Administration.
But as so many others in Washington have learned before him, it's not the crime, it's the cover-up. And for Safavian, some of that cover-up was carried out from his White House office.
Oddly, Safavian's White House connection is barely mentioned in most of the coverage today, even though one of the pieces of evidence introduced against him was actually a note he wrote out on White House stationery.
Astonishingly, in fact, the words "White House" are missing entirely from at least two widely-published stories: The Associated Press article by Pete Yost and the Knight Ridder Newspapers article by Marisa Taylor."
FULL STORY:
Where Did Safavian Work Again?
By Dan Froomkin
Special to washingtonpost.com
link to www.washingtonpost.com
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