Judd Gregg, Jack Abramoff and Barack Obama
Dengre
originally published by THE DAILY KOS)
It is not a slow news week. A lot has and is happening. It is easy for an important story to slide by quickly. That is just what happened in the last 24 hours.
On Tuesday, President Obama named Republican Senator Judd Gregg to be his Secretary of Commerce. Yesterday, it was reported that a former staffer of Senator Gregg is linked to the Jack Abramoff corruption scandal.
This story was buried in an avalanche of other news and missed by the posts and comments on Daily Kos. I guess I'll have to take care of that.
Judd Gregg brings the taint of the Abramoff Scandal with him to President Obama's Cabinet. Senator Gregg needs to answer some questions about Abramoff's influence on his staff and policy positions. The role of his staffers in this scandal must be explored in his Confirmation Hearings. Some hard questions should be asked and answered.
But more than that, we need a commitment from President Obama to fully investigate this ever expanding corruption scandal. We need a Special Prosecutor.
To the jump...
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I know that President Obama wants to hear all points of view as he considers the important issues of our times. And yes, Senator Gregg is a very conservative Republican who would bring some interesting views to any discussion. I can see how a conservative voice in the Cabinet makes sense on a number of levels. I can also see how finding the right right-wing Republican would be a challenge. After all, their political philosophy has failed and their Party is almost synonymous with corruption. Perhaps it was Jack Abramoff who explained why this effort would be so hard when he told Vanity Fair in 2006:
"Any important Republican who comes out and says they didn't know me is almost certainly lying," he says. Such lies are not just, well, lies, but dumb to boot, he adds, for, as his own humiliations suggest, old e-mails never die; they just sit on hard drives, waiting to be subpoenaed and then to be leaked to the press. "This is not an age when you can run away from facts," he declares. "I had to deal with my records, and others will have to deal with theirs."
Senator Judd Gregg is somebody who needs to deal with that record. The connection between Abramoff and Senator Gregg's office need to be explore. Frankly, this is a bigger deal than back taxes.
Sure, there could be an explanation that puts Gregg in the clear. He could explain that he had no idea that a member of his staff was taking bribes. He could work the I know nothing defense. And it might be true.
It is possible that Judd Gregg is a terrible manager and failed to control his staff and his Senate Office. He might have completely missed that he employed rogue staffers who took bribes, traded on his name and inserted favorable earmarks and legislative changes for lobbyists like Abramoff under Gregg's signature. But if that is his defense, I would like to know how he will manage the Commerce Department. If that is his defense, I hope somebody competent is appointed to actually run the place-you know, the day to day management details that Gregg was unable to do with his Senate staff (a much smaller operation by the way). If this is the case, I'm fine with him being a conservative voice in the room as long as somebody else is actually running the Commerce Department.
On the other hand, if he did know what his staff was doing, that is another issue altogether. And as Jack reminds us: "old e-mails never die; they just sit on hard drives, waiting to be subpoenaed and then to be leaked to the press."
A few weeks ago I wrote about the status of the Abramoff Investigation as 2009 began. At that time, sixteen people-including Abramoff-have pleaded guilty in the scandal and were cooperating with the DOJ. Another two have been indicted. One is awaiting trial while the other was recently found guilty again in a retrial. Others, including Abramoff, have been indicted for crimes committed on the US Territory of Guam. And then there are some indictments on the Marianas Islands that may also prove to be related to corruption in Washington when they come to trial. And that is just what is known on the surface.
There are quite a few people identified in the Court documents related to these cases-some by title, some by action and some by both. It is not unusual for persons to be identified as "Representative #1", "Lobbyist B" or "Staffer F" in these documents. And once a person has been identified as such, it is not uncommon to see charges filed against them.
Since I wrote about the status of the Abramoff Investigation there have been other developments. Last week Todd Boulanger, a key player in the Abramoff Scandal, pleaded guilty. Before joining Team Abramoff, Boulanger worked for former NH Senator Bob Smith (one of Jack's go-to Senators-think Conrad Burns). Last year Boulanger was one of those Republican talking heads populating some cable TV shows. (TPM Muckraker did a great job framing Boulanger's hilarious pop-culture moment as the brunt of the joke in a clip from the Daily Show, but I digress).
When Boulanger pleaded guilty, the factual basis of the plea and a DOJ press release detailed his criminal activity as he moved around Capital Hill bribing staffers. The AP reported on the plea mentioning that two new staffers-"Staffer E' and "Staffer F"-were named and some details about their involvement in the scandal:
Todd Boulanger admitted to U.S. District Judge Richard W. Roberts that he provided tens of thousands of dollars worth of entertainment to Capitol Hill aides who could help him get legislation favorable to his clients. Sometimes, he said, he concealed their identities in expense reports to try to keep them from being exposed for violating gift bans. [snip]
Boulanger is a native of Manchester, N.H., and was for years an aide to former GOP Sen. Bob Smith from his home state. He left Capitol Hill to work with Abramoff, who is in prison and has cooperated with the Justice Department to help convict former Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, former Deputy Interior Secretary J. Steven Griles, several lobbyists and top Capitol Hill aides. [snip]
The prosecutors said one legislative director in the Senate, identified only as "Staffer F," tried to help insert spending measures and add other amendments to legislation for Boulanger's clients. Later, the staffer asked Boulanger if he could "score some hockey tickets," and Boulanger got him front-row seats. [snip]
Later, Boulanger expressed confidence that the senator whom the staffer worked for would give them a favor. "Easy money," Boulanger wrote to Abramoff. The staffer "practically lives in our various suites. We are shady."
Another Senate staffer [Staffer E] sent an e-mail to Boulanger's colleague, Kevin Ring, asking for tickets to see Paul McCartney, Green Day, NSYNC, ice skating, the circus and a hockey game, detailing how many tickets she needed and where she would like to sit. An attorney with knowledge of the case, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation, identified her as Ann Copland, a former aide to Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., who could help with legislation benefiting a client, the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians.
The AP was able to indentify Ann Copland as "Staffer E" right away. She had been with Senator Cochran's office for a long time and recently left for a cushy job with Mississippi Public Broadcasting. From the details in the Boulanger plea and the AP story it looks like she may have some legal problems and that Senator Cochran isn't any better managing his Senate office that Judd Gregg is at managing his.
The brief mystery of the Boulanger plea was the identity of "Staffer F".
As readers of my Diaries know, tracking the Abramoff scandal and the culture of corruption is a hobby of mine. It is how I spend my idle hours. Over the years, I have made the acquaintance of other scandal hobbyists. After the AP story broke on Friday, we traded tips about the possible identity of "Staffer F". I made a list of Legislative Directors for Senators who were mentioned in an Abramoff memo about contact for one of Jack's tribal clients. There were about a dozen names. One of them was Kevin Koonce. By Sunday dozens of clues pointed in his direction.
Kevin Koonce used to work for Judd Gregg. From March 2002 to the end of 2004 he was Gregg's Legislative Director (before that he a protégée of Jesse Helms). When Koonce left Gregg he signed on as a lobbyist at Cassidy & Associates where Abramoff, Boulanger and other members of his team found a working refuge as their web of corruption was exposed. From Cassidy, Koonce went on to become an original lobbyist at Sorini, Samet & Associates, a firm that specializes in helping international garment manufactures get their goods to US markets. Among other talents, Kooce seems to have built a career lobbying on behalf of sweatshops and the race to the bottom dominating the global textile trade, but once again, I digress.
Back in 2002, Koonce was on Judd Gregg's payroll while feeding and drinking out of the hand of Team Abramoff. Boulanger seems to have been his minder. The factual basis of the Boulanger plea spells some trouble for "Staffer F" and raises some questions about his boss (Emphasis added):
Conduct Involving a Member of a Senator's Staff
21. On July 16, 2002, defendant BOLJLANGER first met a legislative director for a United States Senator ("Staffer F"). Thereafter, from July 2002 through February 2004, defendant BOULANGER provided to Staffer F numerous tickets, meals and drinks, with the value of these things exceeding $10,000, to influence Staffer F to take official action favorable to Firm B's lobbying clients, and Staffer F on repeated occasions during this same time provided and agreed to provide such official actions. The things of value and official action included, for example, the following:
- On September 27, 2002, defendant BOULANGER emailed Staffer F that it was good to see him the other night and seeking Staffer F's help in preserving a $3.5 million earmark that was favorable to one of BOULANGER's lobbying clients, which earmark had been included in the House version of a defense appropriations bill.
- On January 22, 2003, defendant BOULANGER emailed Staffer F seeking his help in defeating a proposed amendment to a defense appropriations bill which would have enabled an Alaskan entity to establish a gambling casino, thereby threatening the market share of Native American tribes represented by Firm B which already owned or operated gambling casinos. Staffer F responded to defendant BOULANGER that he would tell his Senator and that his office had the proposed amendment "flagged."
- On February 14, 2003, Staffer F emailed defendant BOULANGER asking if he could "score some hockey tickets." Defendant BOULANGER forwarded the email to one of Abramoff's assistants noting, "[Staffer F] is a priority," and requesting, "Ice seats if possible." Defendant BOULANGER then responded to Staffer F that Staffer F was getting front row hockey tickets, telling him, "This is without a doubt the most in demand game of the season.... You, my friend, are in debt to me for a while!" Several days later, Staffer F replied, "Thanks [BOULANGER] - You the man. I got something for you too...."
- On April 1, 2003, defendant BOULANGER emailed one of Abramoffs assistants, asking if he could get two baseball tickets to an upcoming Redsox/Orioles baseball game for Staffer F, along with a parking pass, noting, "[Staffer F] is important." On April 2, 2003, Staffer F emailed defendant BOULANGER, "thanks for thinking of me for the sox. Let me know if! can ..... return the favor..."
- On June 12, 2003, Staffer F emailed defendant BOULANGER requesting tickets to a July 6th baseball game in Camden Yards. When defendant BOULANGER responded that Staffer F would get four tickets in the box suite, Staffer F replied, "but could you make sure there's beer this time...? [l} mean, the red sox, crab cakes, and fillet mignon's were nice but haha."
- On October 23, 2003, defendant BOULANGER emailed Abramoff that a potential client wanted to retain him to help with favorable action from the Senator for whom Staffer F worked. Defendant BOULANGER wrote, "easy money. [Staffer F] practically lives in our various suites. We are shady."
- On December 17, 2003, Staffer F emailed Hirni that he and another were going to be at Abramoffs restaurant, Signatures, the following day, "if you're around - likewise to [BOULANGER]." After Hirni forwarded Staffer F's email to BOULANGER, BOULANGER responded to Hirni that Staffer F just should have written, "'buy me some drinks".
On Wednesday, Erica Werner of AP was the first reporter to identify Kevin Koonce as Staffer F and make the link to Senator Judd Gregg. Soon after her story went up, James Grimaldi of the Washington Post added more details to the story. Other news organizations like the NYTs followed and the link between Gregg and Abramoff was briefly mentioned on the Rachel Maddow Show.
As usual, some blogs had some great reporting as well. One leader on the scandal beat is The Anti-Corruption Republican out of Texas. I am a partisan Liberal Democrat. He is a partisan Conservative Republican. I am certain that there is a lot we disagree on, but we both feel very strongly that we must expose corruption and flush it out of Washington-regardless of Party label. His blog is must reading for tracking corruption and he has been way out in front of many others on story after story.
Another site with some decent reporting on the Koonce/Abramoff/Gregg story is Raw Story. They added some more depth to Koonce/Gregg story by pointing out the links between the New Hampshire phone jamming scandal, Jack Abramoff and Senator Gregg's office:
Gregg's former chief of staff, Joel Maioli, was reported to have been involved in another Abramoff-related shenanigan.
New Hamphire author and journalist Jack McEnany reported that "former Republican State Committee executive director, and convicted phone jammer, Chuck McGee, has claimed under oath that Sen. Judd Gregg's chief of staff, Joel Maiola, personally delivered checks totaling $15,000 from the Mississippi Choctaw and Agua Calienti tribes to the NH Republican State Committee office a week before the 2002 election."
McEnany notes that "this was the exact amount paid by the NH GOP to the now-defunct Republican Marketplace to affect the phone jamming scheme. The tribes were clients of convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff." [snip]
After 27 years of working with Gregg, Maiola left a year ago to start his own consulting firm.
In January of 2006, the Associated Press reported, "A spokesman for Sen. Judd Gregg said Wednesday the senator has never had any contact with lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who pleaded guilty to fraud, corruption and tax-evasion charges and has agreed to tell the FBI about alleged bribes to lawmakers."
"But Gregg spokesman Joel Maiola said records show donations came from two Indian tribes represented by Abramoff's firm in 2002 and 2004, totaling $12,000, which will be given to a New Hampshire-based charity," the AP reported.
At Talking Points Memo, Paul Kiel wrote that "Todd Boulanger, a lobbyist in Abramoff's shop, gave the two checks to a staffer for Sen. Judd Gregg (R-NH) to pass along, because, the staffer says, Boulanger 'wanted to help out.' Gregg wasn't running that year, mind you, but Abramoff didn't see that as a reason to stop passing money around."
I think we could guess that the staffer in Gregg's office getting checks from Boulanger was Koonce, but it could have also been Maiola. Back in 2006 Paul Kiel of TPM Muckraker reported that the money from Abramoff did not appear to be for the phone jamming scam, but that was based on a quote of one NH Democrat to a local NH paper. In light of the Boulanger guilty plea and Koonce's roll as Staffer F, it may be time to give the Abramoff to Gregg to NH GOP to Phone Jamming links a second look. There might be something there and it should be explored as part of the confirmation process. Senator Gregg should face some serious questions about the many reported links between his staff and Team Abramoff.
This is a much bigger issue than unpaid taxes. This is about being clueless about your staff taking brides, looking the other way or participating in the criminal activity. Even the best case scenario for Senator Gregg-being clueless-is pretty bad (IMHO).
This Nomination brings the Abramoff scandal to the front door of President Obama's White House. It is yet another mess left over from the Gingrich/DeLay/Bush era of corruption. It is a mess that needs to be cleaned up. There is evidence that the Bush DOJ slow walked the Abramoff scandal at best and may have actively obstructed it. One former aide to John Ashcroft and DOJ staffer (Robert Coughlin) has pleaded guilty to helping Team Abramoff and Ashcroft's former Chief of Staff, David Ayers, was Jack's guest in his skyboxes. There are many reported links between Ashcroft and Abramoff. In fact, the DOJ even buried a threat assessment report for Guam and the Marianas Islands that Abramoff wanted out of the way. Abramoff and his team had influence in the DOJ. The US Attorney from Baltimore has been called in to investigate the DOJ in Washington because of Abramoff links. And that doesn't even factor in the ways Karl Rove involved himself in the DOJ and cases from California to New Mexico to Alabama to DC.
This Culture of Corruption requires a through investigation. Without one, the toxic players spawn by the K Street Project will infect the politics of our Nation for decades to come. We need a Special Prosecutor to investigate, expose and punish this crime wave.
I hope the Judd Gregg Nomination and the taint of scandal that clings to him will inspire the appointment of a Special Prosecutor by Attorney General Holder and a commitment by President Obama to expose and end this infestation of corruption in our Nation's Capital.
It is time for the truth and way past time for justice.
Cheers
Authors Website: http://unheardnomore.blogspot.com/
Authors Bio: Back at the end of the last century, the issue of sweatshops was getting a lot of mainstream attention. By 1999 corporations were reeling from consumer pressure and it was looking like Congress was going to take some action. At that time, Dennis Greenia worked at a nonprofit in Washington DC that was involved in educating consumers, businesses and investors about the issue. One issue of concern was the sweatshops operating under the American Flag on the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands (CNMI), a US territory in the Western Pacific. In 1999 it looked like legislation to end the abuse would pass the Congress, but instead the legislation was killed.
Greenia wanted to find out why and he began researching the Lobbyists hired to protect the labor abuse. That led him to Jack Abramoff, the Culture of Corruption in Washington DC and a hobby that has consumed much of his free time over the last decade.
Over the years, he has shared his research with a number of reporters, writers and researchers. Since 2004 he has written about Jack Abramoff and the Culture of Corruption on Daily Kos under the pen name dengre. Some of these posts are now being posted on OpedNews.
www.opednews.com/articles/Judd-Gregg-Jack-Abramoff-by-Dennis-Greenia-090206-976.html