Gentle Readers and Fans of Northern CA: Today, Monday, September 8, 2008, 2 things happened in CA- 04.  Charlie Brown, the Democrat running to replace Republican John Doolittle, the Abramoff- scandal encrusted retiring incumbent, released recent polling data that showed he has a lead over the SoCal Republican imported to the district to replace him. This is great news. http://www.charliebrownforcong…

And a former staffer of John Doolittle, as you may have heard by now, was arrested at his home and indicted, and pled not guilty to many different aspects of bribing and corrupting Congressional Representative Number 5.

This is just really interesting, so we’ll do a little background refresher.

August 4, 2006. Doolittle exits Coco’s Restaurant after an Auburn Dam Council meeting, to find a sea of protestors and media questioning him about the Abramoff scandal.   photo by author

This was a long time coming. Kevin Ring, who has made silence a lifestyle choice when looking at a subpoena,  the one who pleaded the 5th against self incrimination in testimony before the Senate, has now run out the clock.

http://deepbackground.msnbc.ms…

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/hom…

Our New Abramoff Indictee Factsheet:

Who:  Kevin Ring, Rep. John Doolittle’s former legislative director, and former lobbyist

What:   Ring arrested today Mon 9/8/08 at his home in Maryland

          indicted + charged with  10 counts of bribery, obstruction of justice, and conspiracy in federal court in DC.

Reaction Now:  Ring pled not guilty.  

Possible Chain Reaction Later:  If he doesn’t want to go to jail, he may implicate others involved and plea bargain. Given the number of people Ring worked with who are already convicted in the Abramoff scandal, the case against Ring is very serious.  John Doolittle is Ring’s former boss and a known beneficiary of his lobbyist talents. John Doolittle has always claimed in public that Jack Abramoff was a friend, and that he didn’t have to give the money back.  If Doolittle were to be indicted before Bush left office, Bush would pardon him to prevent him from testifying against others.

Where:  Federal Court in DC

When:   3 days after lobbyist Jack Abramoff was sentenced to 4 more years in prison on Sept 5 for bribing government officials.  http://www.washingtonpost.com/…       Because of his cooperation with the Federal government, he received a reduced sentence in exchange for helping to convict 13 other people so far.  Abramoff pled guilty in January of 2006 to fraud and conspiracy charges in regards to his buying SunCruz floating casino ships, and was serving time in jail since then while working with federal prosecutors in the other conspiracy case against him of bribing government officials, in his job as a lobbyist for Greenberg Traurig.

Why  this matters:    Rep. John Doolittle (R, “Chevron”)  is the current  Republican Congressperson in CA- 04.  Doolittle decided not to run for re election in 2008 against Charlie Brown (D, Roseville)  after his polling numbers, campaign donations and influence abruptly nosedived after the FBI raided his Oakton, VA house April 13, 2007, as he was on his way to an Indian Casino in Oroville, CA, to give a speech to the local Oroville Chamber of Commerce.  On that same April 13, his former chief of staff, Kevin Ring, suddenly resigned without warning from the lobbying firm he was employed with.   Kevin Ring helped Julie Doolittle get a job with Jack Abramoff.

http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpoi…     That “job”  paid her $67,000 over 2 years.

What is wrong with having worked for Jack Abramoff? From Think Progress, Abramoff , the House That Jack Built     http://thinkprogress.org/abram…

CAPITAL ATHLETIC FOUNDATION – (JULIE)  DOOLITTLE RAISED FUNDS FOR ABRAMOFF’S BOGUS ORGANIZATION: “You get tired of dinners and receptions. This time we wanted to do a gala event to raise awareness for the Capital Athletic Foundation, and back that awareness up with funds,” said Doolittle in 2003. But, the Capital Athletic Foundation didn’t raise money for children, as it was advertised to do. “[T]ax and spending records of the Capital Athletic Foundation obtained by The Washington Post show that less than 1 percent of its revenue has been spent on sports-related programs for youths. Instead, the documents show that Jack Abramoff…has repeatedly channeled money from corporate clients into the foundation and spent the overwhelming portion of its money on pet projects having little to do with the advertised sportsmanship programs.” [Hollywood Reporter, 3/5/03; (Use the WAPO Link) Washington Post, 9/28/04]

From the Sept 28 2004 WAPO    Foundation’s Funds Diverted From Mission

http://www.washingtonpost.com/…

{{{ The Capital Athletic Foundation’s Web site portrays youths at play: shaking hands over a tennis net, learning how to hold a bat, straining for a jump ball. Its text solicits donations for what it describes as “needy and deserving” sportsmanship programs.

In its first four years of operation, the charity has collected nearly $6 million.    But tax and spending records of the Capital Athletic Foundation obtained by The Washington Post show that less than 1 percent of its revenue has been spent on sports-related programs for youths.

Internal records state, for example, that Abramoff and his wife, Pam — who are listed as the foundation’s sole directors — spent more than 70 percent of its revenue from 2001 to 2003, or $4.03 million, on a Jewish school that Abramoff founded in Columbia. The Eshkol Academy operated for two years and schooled two of his sons before closing this spring with unpaid bills, faculty members said.  }}}

Jack Abramoff also became a lobbyist for 3 Indian Tribes, the Saginaw Chippewa, the Mississippi Choctaw, and the Coushatta of Louisiana.  They donated more than 2 million to the same Capitol Athletic Foundation that Julie Doolittle was fundraising for.  The reason they did that was that the lobbyists and the politicians were playing them off against each other implying the other tribe(s) would get better Casino deals.  But there was something else going on, the politicians were doing money laundering of foreign funds thru these casinos.  There was also a lobbyist named Michael Scanlon doing money laundering thru these donations.

Remember this, and ask, will John Doolittle let Julie take the fall for him?

Julie Doolittle worked for Jack Abramoff.  Abramoff’s in jail.  Kevin Ring helped get her that job. Kevin Ring just got indicted.  All this time, she’s avoided the consequences. So did Ring.  Until Now.

Julie Doolittle also has a “business” called Sierra Dominion Financial Services.  She started it in 2001. That firm did fundraising for John Doolittle’s Superior CA LeadershipPAC.  She took a percentage. Another client was Greenberg Traurig, Jack Abramoff’s company.  Another client of SierraDominion was Abramoff’s restaurant, Signatures.  And the last client was an alleged non profit called the Korea- US Exchange Council. This was run by Tom Delay’s ex chief of staff, Ed Buckham.  (Tom Delay’s wife, Christine, also “worked” for it. ) The Korea- US Exchange was part of Alexander Strategy Group.  Brent Wilkes was a client of Alexander Strategy.  That means he hired and paid them to lobby for his business and bring him government contracts.   These are all the clients Julie Doolittle had.  Her husband. Jack Abramoff. Tom Delay’s ex COS, Buckham.

If you are writing a job resume, this would not look good.  Delay and Doolittle and Abramoff.  It’s like the Bermuda Triangle Trifecta of Tragic Lobbying Associations.  

During the fall 2006 election cycle, when Republican Doolittle, who was being challenged by Democrat Charlie Brown, had to rely on multiple visits from VP Dick Cheney, George, and even Laura Bush to prop up his sagging campaign, Doolittle repeatedly denied being under federal DOJ investigation since 2004, until it was revealed that he was paying legal defense firms thousands of dollars monthly by using his campaign contributions.  Doolittle did this in 2 ways, one, by paying his wife fees as a “fundraiser” and two, by claiming that since he needed legal counsel to give him advice on the campaign trail about answering questions about the investigation, he was entitled to use campaign funds and treat it as a campaign activity. (the advice was, of course, not to answer any questions. This is how law firms prosper).

Local Angle:  Kevin Ring was still a lobbyist for the city of Lincoln, CA, in the summer of 2006, because John Doolittle had recommended him for the job,   http://solongjohn.blogspot.com…                    and was instrumental in obtaining earmarks from John Doolittle for the fastest growing city in the state during the early years of Bush’s “War On Terror.”  (should have been called the War on Your Pocketbook )  John Doolittle gained notoriety during this time for not only telling local CA- 04 towns to “hire a lobbyist” if they wanted to talk to him, and expecting those “talks” to bear donations,  but for having his wife Julie Doolittle collect a  15%   percentage of every campaign donation as a “fundraiser’s fee”  including many from local Real Estate speculators and developers.  Many of these developers are involved in land use mitigation where they try to swap property they want to develop that contains endangered habitat or species for property to be set aside elsewhere, so properties end up being sold several times to different developers trying to get zoning and EIR approval. Zoning…  may be influenced by campaign contributions, as many cities in the district now hire lobbyists to work in the state capitol of Sacramento, as well as in Washington, DC.     Julie runs her “fund- grazing”   under the name of Sierra Dominion Financial Services.   John Doolittle, who said he was going to stop paying Julie   ” 15%”  percent of each donation after the 2006 election, instead continued to do so, according to his FEC financial filings from January 2007 onwards.  This is because he was using that portion of the family “income” to pay a team of white collar criminal defense lawyers for himself and his wife to fight his staff records being subpoenaed by the Dept of Justice.  One of those law firms was Wiley Rein & Fielding.  One of the names in that title is George W Bush’s White House Legal Counsel, Fred Fielding, who replaced Harriet Miers in January 2007. (Fielding left WR&F during this time)   Another of John Doolittle’s defense attornies, David G Barger, specializes in getting settlements between the IRS and clients in tax trouble whereby the client avoids jail time.  Barger worked for Ken Starr in the Whitewater Investigation against the Clintons.  Julie Doolittle has her own attorney, William Stauffer.  John Doolittle also established a Legal Defense Fund for his ongoing legal expenses, as he is heavily in debt.

More Local Angle: A local Defense Contractor in CA- 04 contributed money to that legal defense fund.   So did  Congressman Wally Herger(R) in neighboring district CA- 02, donating $5000 in Dec of 2007 as a ….. “neighborly gesture.”  So did Orrin Hatch’s (R, Senate, Utah) Orrin PAC, which cheerfully doubled the amount, to $10,000. OrrinPAC is heavily funded by Health Insurance lobbyists.  This is your health insurance premiums at work, folks.  Did I mention that the highest category of donation source to Doolittle’s would be Republican replacement, McClintock, is from the health insurance industry, per opensecrets?

Still More Local Angle: Do some of Doolittle’s former and current financial and political backers now support Republican Tom McClintock, who is trying to replace him after terming out of his southern California district ? You betcha.  

Gonzogate of CA:   http://solongjohn.blogspot.com…    http://www.dailykos.com/story/…    The Attorney General Firing Scandal, where 6 career prosecutors with the DOJ suddenly found themselves political targets being told to resign in , was sculpted in part by the need to keep DOJ  Southern CA district Atty General Carol Lam from filing bribery charges against Brent Wilkes, the federal Defense contractor who was bribing convicted Congressman Duke Cunningham (R), who is now in jail. Lam obtained a conviction against Cunningham in March 2006.   Atty Gen Carol Lam also did manage to indict Brent Wilkes and Dusty Foggo, ex CIA operative, on 2/13 before her forced resignation by former US Atty Gen Alberto Gonzales on Feb 15, 2007.  Gonzales would resign later over this scandal, after his underlings, such as Monica Goodling, testified before Congress.  Wilkes eventually went to trial in October of 2007 in San Diego, the trial was delayed by Southern CA wildfires, finally went to jury on Halloween, and  Wilkes was convicted on Nov 5, 2007, and sentenced in February 2008 of bribing Cunningham for a total of $46 million. http://www.signonsandiego.com/…    Other sources say the amount was closer to $80 million in government contracts in return for about $600,000 in bribes.    http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpoi…                                        SEE LINK HERE for Trick or Treat, Doolittle’s still not off the Hookergate Wilkes Trial:   http://www.dailykos.com/story/…

John Doolittle also earmarked $37 million dolllars in money for Brent Wilkes “Perfect Wave”. ( He also tried to earmark for Wilke’s “Mailsafe” technology after the anthrax contamination mail scare, but it didn’t fly.)  In return the Doolittles got donations from Wilke’s company, ADCS, totaling at least $118,000.   The San Diego Union Tribune estimated this meant $14,000 went into Julie Doolittle’s “fund grazing” business.   http://www.signonsandiego.com/…     Brent  Wilkes flew Tom DeLay, (ex Texas Congressman, used to be the Republican Majority Leader) to a Las Vegas Casino fundraiser for Doolittle at the Venetian Hotel in May 2004.   {{{{{{  see above “trick or treat” link, see also sign on sandiego link  }}}}.   John Doolittle also was subpoenaed to appear in the Brent Wilkes trial, but he had his lawyers tell them he didn’t need to show up.  http://www.dailykos.com/story/…      Mark Geragos, Wilke’s celebrity attorney, was going to try to use a defense that would claim that the defense contractors were getting abused by the Republican Congressional delegation that was shaking them down for earmarks and gifts.

Remember. Brent Wilkes hired Alexander Strategy Group as his lobbyist, which was Ed Buckhams’s company.  Buckham=Tom Delay’s ex COS.

Julie Doolittle, John’s wife, “worked” for Alexander Strategy, doing “fundraising” and “bookeeping.”

Christine Delay, Tom’s wife, also “worked” for Alexander Strategy.  Same deal. She’s a “consultant.”  1998 to 2002.

So, there is the wife of somebody on the House Appropriations Committee, a very powerful position, and the wife of the House Majority Leader, getting large monthly retainers for about 2 years for Julie, and 4 years for Christine, for “event planning” to raise money for Alexander Strategy, the Capitol Athletic Foundation, the US- Korea Exchange.  And it’s wasn’t hard work. It was barely work at all. Just show up at the lobbyist’s office and schedule opportunities to collect money from very willing donors.  And it was very lucrative.  One problem.  Not everyone in the world is allowed to give you money, when you work for the US government.

The government of Malaysia, using unsourced funny money, hires a lobbying/consulting firm called Bell Haven Consultants.

Bell Haven hires Alexander Strategy.   On September 27, 2001, only sixteen days after America’s 9/11 terror attack on the World Trade Center in NYC, this Alexander Strategy Group starts working for Belle Haven Consultants, seeking to “provide a better image of Malaysia to the USA.”  Malaysia is a predominantly Muslim country.

Belle Haven, Jack Abramoff, and Alexander Strategy share the same office in Hong Kong.

Ed Buckham of Alexander Strategy also formed another non profit called the US- Malaysia Exchange.

John Doolittle will take a trip to Langkawi, Malaysia in February of 2005.  The trip cost $29,400, and was paid by front groups paid by…. Alexander Strategy Group. (long comment I left in another diary with sources)  http://www.dailykos.com/commen…

John Doolittle hid the fact that he had stock in Chevron Oil until he revised his yearly financial statements after the FBI raid.

Malaysia has a government owned national oil company named Petronas, a huge company with projects in 31 companies, some with Chevron.  (which might have been involved in funding Belle Haven Consultants )

http://au.answers.yahoo.com/qu…

Alexander Strategy will eventually go out of business in January of 2006. http://www.washingtonpost.com/…

We may never find out completely what John Doolittle was up to.  Nor what Jack Abramoff did.   But in the aftermath of September 11th, 2001, a national tragedy…. there was something really suspicious going on.  Would that war not be seen as just another business opportunity.

Remember, when all this started to unravel, the Bush administration insisted there were weapons of mass destruction, that we were going to fight the Terrorist evildoers, that Al Queda was funded by Saddam Hussein and Iraq.  And one of Bush’s most loyal supporters and rubber stampers of policy and legislation has been Rep. John T. Doolittle.

Because so much has been written so much more eloquently about the Marianas Islands (CNMI) and John Doolittle’s involvement in blocking immigration and wage reform in these Pacific Ocean United States commonwealth territories, I will recomend Dengre’s 2006 and 2007 diaries for that storyline. http://dengre.dailykos.com/

A recent story, “Abramoff gets 4 years. McCain should not. ”    has great info on how Jack Abramoff was hired by the CNMI to lobby specifically against human rights advocate Wendy Doromal and her efforts to change the system of labor abuse  which John Doolittle was protecting in return for campaign donations from people running sweatshops… and worse:    http://www.dailykos.com/story/…

And dailykos poster leveymg has written a very good piece in June, on the relationship between Sen John McCain and Abramoff & the GOP Foreign Money Machine

http://www.dailykos.com/story/…

In that commentary, I left a very long comment concerning John Doolittle’s  2005 trip to Malaysia, which was paid for by 2 alleged “non- profits” funded by South Korea and Malaysian lobbyists(think Oil money) using Alexander Strategy Group as the front.  

http://www.dailykos.com/commen…

___

Tuesday morning update:  When I checked the online version and dead tree version of the Sacramento Bee this morning, it was edited so heavily and dumbed down enough to make it sound as if Doolittle was just taking restaurant meals and concert tickets from Ring and Abramoff in return for a few favors.  The lack of detail as to how sitting Congressmen were being bribed by lobbyists using foreign funds and defense contractors during wartime is appalling.  I am more convinced than ever that the Bush Administration (and the new management at SacBee) is handling Doolittle extremely carefully because if he testified against anyone, it would show that even the Dept. of Justice was compromised during this time period.

Links were also added.  

___

Humor Angle:  According to the AP, Abramoff has written a book in prison titled “The Perfect Villain: John McCain and the Demonization of Lobbyist Jack Abramoff, ” which blames the current Republican Presidential nominee and the WAPO for his current incarceration.  Jack, Jack, Jack…. you still don’t get it.  But thanks. Every little bit helps.

Other Humor Angle:  I just lost my electricity Monday while writing this at 4:07 pm.  Typical.  Electricity back up at 6:10 pm.  

______________

editing update: more links added. cross posting at http://www.eenrblog.com and http://www.dailykos.com/story/…

Even though John Doolittle is not on the ballot this year, his presence in a district that he dominated for years is still important for Republican branding.  Much like in Ohio, where the Tom Noe Coingate scandal spelled doom for all Republican statewide officers in 2006, the stench of scandal around Doolittle has the potential to severely tarnish the Republican brand in CA-04.  And if yesterday’s indictment of former Doolittle aide Kevin Ring is as advertised, which it appears to be, the brand isn’t just tarnished, it’s out in the dumpster:

The indictment adds additional information to Doolittle’s already thick record with Abramoff. According to the indictment, Ring expensed at least one suite for a sports event, eight concert tickets (including tickets for Dixie Chicks and Faith Hill), and five meals totaling more than $2000 for Doolittle. For Doolittle’s staff and his legislative director in particular, Ring bought 29 sports tickets, four concert tickets, nine meals, and one gift from Macy’s.

But Ring and Abramoff were well accommodated in return. As the indictment describes, Doolittle proved himself “a good soldier” by chairing a hearing on the Puerto Rico statehood issue for an Abramoff client and held up his opposition to an anti-gambling bill among other favors.

And Doolittle’s staff was just as helpful. Doolittle’s communications director helped Ring out with tax legislation to “earn [his] Sigs Sushi ;),” and his legislative director was so “tenacious on the appropriations front” that he earned an esteemed compliment from Ring in an email: “You the man.”

Doolittle is referred to (as “Representative 5”) in the indictment over 100 times.  If he’s actually indicted before the election, that will be a boost for Charlie Brown, as the culture of corruption which helped him to a near-upset in 2006 would come back into play.  And with carpetbagger Tom McClintock trying to lie his way to victory (subs. req.), his claim to the ethical high road isn’t all that firm, either.

You’d think this would be bigger news on the last night of the Republican Convention, that the guy that used to be their go-to lobbyist got sentenced today.

Disgraced former lobbyist Jack Abramoff, whose corruption scandal shook up Washington’s power elite and contributed to the Republican loss of control in Congress, was sentenced on Thursday to four years in federal prison.

Abramoff is already serving a nearly six-year term on unrelated charges and the new sentence will be served at the same time, meaning he will not spend any extra time behind bars once his original sentence ends in 2012.

Judge Ellen Huvelle issued the sentence after federal prosecutors recommended leniency due to Abramoff’s cooperation in pursuing corruption cases against lawmakers and former administration officials. He faced a maximum of 11 years under a plea deal reached in 2006.

Abramoff has major ties to John Doolittle, Ken Calvert and several other California Republicans, but the Debbie Cook campaign has been pressing the connections between this twice-convicted felon and Dana Rohrabacher.  To wit:

Abramoff Funded Trips

Rohrabacher’s ties to Jack Abramoff date from the 1980s. In 1999, Rohrabacher went on an Abramoff-funded trip to the Marshall Islands with John Doolittle (R-CA), Ken Calvert (R-CA) and eight staffers. (http://talkingpointsmemo.com/docs/RMItravel.html)

Rohrabacher Used As Reference By Abramoff

In 2000, Abramoff listed Rohrabacher as a reference on a loan application for the purchase of SunCruz Casinos. “I don’t remember it, but I would have certainly have been happy to give him a good recommendation,’ Rohrabacher said. “He’s a very honest man.” (LINK)

Another Overseas Trip Paid For By Abramoff

In 2002, Rohrabacher and his wife and campaign manager Rhonda, took a trip to Malaysia, accompanied by two Abramoff partners at the firm Greenberg Traurig. House records indicate the trip to Malaysia focused on terrorism and trade. Rohrabacher’s spokeman called the trip “very positive.” (LINK)

Rohrabacher Calls Abramoff “a fine man”

In April 2005, with Abramoff the target of a grand jury, Rohrabacher said “Jack has made some mistakes…but he is not the dishonest, malevolent, arrogant, wheeler-dealer that people are portraying. He is a fine man.”

(LINK)

Rohrabacher: Abramoff’s Crimes Are Business As Usual

Rohrabacher defended Abramoff to the Washington Post: “I think he’s been dealt a bad hand and the worst, rawest deal I’ve ever seen in my life.” Words like bribery are being used to describe things that happened every day in Washington and are not bribes.”

Abramoff pleaded guilty in January 2006 to fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy to bribe public officials. (LINK)

Rohrabacher Alone in Praising Abramoff, Despite Guilty Plea

Following Abramoff’s guilty plea for his role in the fraudulent purchase of a fleet of casino cruise boats in Florida, Rohrabacher was the ONLY member of Congress to request leniency from the federal judge sentencing Abramoff.

(LINK)

Today, Debbie Cook released this statement: “Rohrabacher’s ongoing relationship with Jack Abramoff and his willingness to excuse his crimes, even now, as Abramoff is sentenced for bribery, speaks volumes about the Congressman’s judgment and his Washington D.C. mindset.”  The words “culture of corruption,” which Democrats successfully branded in 2006, can be thrown in there as well.

Good to see some aggressiveness out of Cook.  They just released their first ad of the cycle, too, designed for local cable, which also displays some toughness against Rohrabacher.  It’s the first ad run against Crazy Dana in 20 years.  What’s more, they’re asking supporters to buy an ad through Act Blue.

The Cook campaign will be on hand at this Democrats Work event, along with me, on Saturday.

An AP story shows John Doolittle at his best:  blaming the world for his troubles.

The fact that he SAYS he's running again is wonderful news for Charlie Brown.  We can only hope that it's true.

I'm a constituent of CA-04 and have very powerfully negative feelings about Doolittle.  Only that he would go.

Story below:  Grab a hanky or a barf bag.

Doolittle attacks critics as 'weasels'

Doolittle Attacks Critics As Chief of Staff Faces Grand Jury

ERICA WERNER
AP News

Sep 07, 2007 16:58 EDT

Rep. John Doolittle, R-Calif., denounced his GOP critics as “weasels” Friday even as his chief of staff appeared before a federal grand jury investigating Doolittle's ties to jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Doolittle also told reporters on a conference call Friday that he believes the Justice Department's long-running probe “borders on harassment.”

Prosecutors are investigating connections between Doolittle and Abramoff including payments that Doolittle's wife, Julie, got from Abramoff even after a fundraiser she was paid to plan got canceled.

Doolittle's chief of staff, Ron Rogers, spent an hour and 20 minutes before a federal grand jury at U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Friday. His appearance came two days after Doolittle's scheduler and deputy chief of staff appeared before the same grand jury.

John Doolittle is in it to win it.

Despite having multiple primary challengers, plus the recent leak of a Republican poll showing him losing to his 2006 Democratic opponent, scandal-tarred Congressman John Doolittle (R-CA) has made it clear he’s not backing down from his 2008 re-election fight.

“I will not step aside,” Doolittle told reporters in a conference call today. “I am running again. Period.”

This is terrible news.  I mean, if he runs in a Republican primary with so many other contenders, surely he can pull the 30-35% needed to win.  And then he’ll face our challenger Charlie Brown in a rematch of last year, when he carried a whopping 49% of the vote!  I mean, how can we defeat an incumbent who’s being harrassed by Bush’s Justice Department and has a bunch of battle-tested staffers and aides who’ve stared down the glare of a federal grand jury?  This is terrible!!

Please don’t throw me in the briar patch…

Maybe this is the reason that every registered Republican is jumping into the Republican primary for John Doolittle’s seat:

GOP Rep. John Doolittle’s two top aides have been subpoenaed to testify before a federal grand jury investigating ties between Doolittle, his wife and jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
The grand jury subpoenas from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia were issued to Chief of Staff Ron Rogers and Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Blankenburg. They were announced on the House floor as Congress returned from its August recess Tuesday after the aides informed the House speaker about the subpoenas, as required under House rules.

Doolittle, R-Calif., said in a statement that the aides would testify before the grand jury this week “with hopes of putting the matter to an end.”

Yes, that’s exactly what will happen.  The matter will end, maybe with somebody being brought to jail and booked, but it certainly will end.  Doolittle is still trying to blame this on his wife’s payments from Abramoff in exchange for maybe/maybe-not “work,” but of course there are dozens of connections between Doolittle himself and Abramoff.  It’s unlikely that this is just about Mrs. Doolittle (who may have to spend some time in the slammer IN ADDITION to her husband).

UPDATE: Via DWT, Doollittle would lose to Charlie Brown, according to a SacBee poll, by TWENTY POINTS.

In a one-on-one match up, if the election were held today, Democrat Charlie Brown gets 51% of the vote to Congressman Doolittle’s 31%.

Those surveyed were also asked if they had a favorable or unfavorable opinion of Doolittle. Respondents came back with 28% favorable and 56% unfavorable.

In the survey, GOP primary voters were asked whether Congressman Doolittle should run for another term. 33% of those asked said he should. A staggering 50% said that the Congressman should either resign or should not run again.

John Doolittle is so corrupt, people in other countries are flipping on him:

The governor of the Northern Mariana Islands said Thursday he’s cooperating with the Justice Department’s corruption investigation around jailed GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff, which is focused in part on GOP Rep. John Doolittle of Rocklin, Calif. […]

The Justice Department’s interest in Doolittle appears to focus on payments Doolittle’s wife, Julie, received from Abramoff for fundraising work unrelated to the Marianas. But Doolittle was also heavily involved in Abramoff’s advocacy for the Marianas, endorsing Fitial for governor and pushing federal funding on his behalf.

Doolittle was lobbied on the issue by his own former legislative director, Kevin Ring, who went on to work with Abramoff and now is himself under investigation.

“Doolittle, he’s also a friend,” said Fitial.

Well, at least he called Doolittle a friend before knifing him.  Seems like Fitial wants the CNMI to get its money back from Abramoff’s lobbying shops, and if that means turning in Doolittle to do it, then that’s what has to be done.

The venue for this admission is interesting.

Fitial spoke to reporters after testifying against a Senate bill that would impose U.S. immigration laws on the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, a chain of 14 islands just north of Guam in the Pacific. A similar bill passed the Senate in 2000 but Abramoff helped block it from advancing in the House.

The pressing need for this legislation comes directly from Abramoff’s and Doolittle’s help in keeping the CNMI an island of indentured servitude, where workers are routinely imprisoned at their place of employ, threatened, forced into the sex tourism industry, given abortions against their will, and more.

This bill was stopped in the House in 2000 thanks to the work of Tom DeLay, Jack Abramoff, and John Doolittle.  That devil’s bargain appears to be catching up with Doolittle now.

Dover Bitch has more on how you can help pass this bill and restore rights to those on the CNMI.  In addition, you can contribute to Charlie Brown  as part of Blogosphere Day and make sure John Doolittle is held fully accountable for what he has done.

John Doolittle’s corruption sure is getting lots of play in the press. First, in district with the three part cover story in the Sacramento News and Review (1, 2, 3 — complete with Doolittlepoly PDF) and Doolittle’s meltdown in the Auburn Journal.

And now DC is paying attention. Tomorrow’s edition of The Hill has a story on Doolittle’s Alberto Gonzalez conspiracy. And tonight, Congressional Quarterly took a look at the race with a piece entitled, Skies Haven’t Brightened for California Rep. Doolittle Since ’06 Close Call.

Which is bad news for Doolittle, because in 2006 the inside-the-beltway crowd didn’t realize this was a race. Sure, Karl Rove could smell the fear and sent Bush out and the NRCC spent a pretty penny, yet the pundits and DCCC didn’t catch on until too late. But both the pundits and the DCCC are all over CA-04 now.

Speaking of the DCCC, check out their great new video and view their timeline of the scandal:

April 16, 2007 — The Washington Post reports that Kevin Ring is resigning from his law firm, Barnes & Thornburg. [Washington Post, 4/15/07]

April 13, 2007 — The FBI searches Doolittle’s home in northern Virginia that he shares with his wife, Julie. [The Hill, 4/18/07]

March 12, 2007 — Doolittle pays $3,500 in legal fees to Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP from his campaign account. [FEC, 4/15/07]

February 28, 2007 — Doolittle pays $3,500 in legal fees to Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP from his campaign account. [FEC, 4/15/07]

February 13, 2007 — Doolittle pays $3,016.05 in legal fees to Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP from his campaign account. [FEC, 4/15/07]

January 30, 2007 — Doolittle pays $3,500 in legal fees to Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP from his campaign account. [FEC, 4/15/07]

January 23, 2007 — Doolittle announces that he wants his wife to continue raising money for his political action committee. [Associated Press, 1/24/07]

January 12, 2007 — Doolittle writes in an op-ed that he will no longer employ his wife as his campaign fundraiser, and instead would hire an outside fundraiser. [Associated Press, 1/12/07]

December 11, 2006 — Doolittle pays $20,000 in legal fees to Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP from his campaign account. [FEC, 4/09/07]

November 15, 2006 — Doolittle pays $40,000 in legal fees to Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP from his campaign account. [FEC, 2/08/07]

October 27, 2006 — Doolittle pays $1,009.61 in legal fees to Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP from his campaign account. [FEC, 2/08/07]

October 2, 2006 — Doolittle pays $1,007.14 in legal fees to Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP from his campaign account. [FEC, 2/08/07]

September 30, 2006 — Doolittle pays $19,306.38 in legal fees to Williams Mullen from his campaign account. [FEC, 2/05/07]

August 31, 2006 — Doolittle pays $1,001.77 in legal fees to Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP from his campaign account. He also pays $10,916.10 in legal fees to Williams Mullen. [FEC, 2/05/07]

August 10, 2006 — Doolittle pays $11,002.15 in legal fees to Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP from his campaign account. He also pays $8,156 in legal fees to Williams Mullen. [FEC, 2/05/07]

July 20, 2006 — Doolittle pays $1,002.92 in legal fees to Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP from his campaign account. [FEC, 2/05/07]

May 28, 2006 — Doolittle pays $1,008.55 in legal fees to Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP from his campaign account. [FEC, 2/05/07]

May 5, 2006 — Doolittle pays $1,274.60 in legal fees to Williams Mullen from his campaign account. [FEC, 2/05/07]

April 27, 2006 — Doolittle pays $1,001.35 in legal fees to Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP from his campaign account. [FEC, 2/05/07]

April 3, 2006 — Doolittle pays $1,001.35 in legal fees to Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP from his campaign account. [FEC, 2/05/07]

March 28, 2006 — Doolittle pays $1,006.35 in legal fees to Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP from his campaign account. [FEC, 2/05/07]

March 2, 2006 — Doolittle pays $1,002.85 in legal fees to Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP from his campaign account. [FEC, 2/05/07]

February 21, 2006 — Doolittle pays $1,002.75 in legal fees to Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP from his campaign account. [FEC, 2/05/07]

January 27, 2006 — Doolittle pays $10,000 in legal fees to Williams Mullen from his campaign account. [FEC, 2/05/07]

January 3, 2006 — Abramoff pleads guilty to conspiracy, fraud and tax evasion. [Associated Press, 1/05/06]

December 6, 2005 — Doolittle pays $1,001.55 in legal fees to Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP from his campaign account. [FEC, 1/25/07]

November 10, 2005 — Doolittle pays $2,004.90 in legal fees to Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP from his campaign account. [FEC, 1/25/07]

November 2005 — Doolittle acknowledges that his wife has been subpoenaed in the grand jury investigating Abramoff’s activities. [New York Times, 11/20/05; Sacramento Bee, 11/30/05]

September 6, 2005 — Doolittle pays $1,003.05 in legal fees to Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP from his campaign account. [FEC, 1/08/07]

August 10, 2005 — Doolittle pays $1,003.05 in legal fees to Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP from his campaign account. [FEC, 1/08/07]

June 20, 2005 — Doolittle pays $1,017.35 in legal fees to Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP from his campaign account. [FEC, 1/08/07]

June 8, 2005 — Doolittle pays $1,000 in legal fees to Wiley Rein & Fielding LLP from his campaign account. [FEC, 1/08/07]

October 2003 — Doolittle writes a letter to the Interior Secretary appealing for quicker action for a Massachusetts tribe, the Mashpee Wampanoag, seeking federal recognition. The tribe is an Abramoff client. [Associated Press, 1/29/06]

June 2003 — Doolittle writes a letter to the Interior Secretary criticizing the Bureau of Indian Affairs for “undermining” a recall effort on the Meskwaki settlement. [Sacramento Bee, 2/12/06]

Early June, 2003 — Kevin Ring brings members of the Iowa Meskwaki tribe to meet with Doolittle in his office. [Sacramento Bee, 2/12/06]

November 2002 — Fred Black is demoted and told not to conduct any further investigations. [National Public Radio, 3/14/07]

November 2002 — Fred Black, U.S. attorney for Guam and the Northern Mariana islands, subpoenas Jack Abramoff. [National Public Radio, 3/14/07]

August 2002 — Doolittle’s wife Julie Doolittle begins doing fundraising work for Abramoff. [New York Times, 11/20/05; Sacramento Bee, 11/30/05]

February 27, 2002 — Doolittle signs a letter to Interior Secretary Gale Norton regarding implementation of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act of 1988. One of Abramoff’s clients, the Coushatta Tribe, opposed a plan by the Jena Band of Choctaw Indians to open a casino at a non-reservation site, expected at the time to be outside Shreveport, La., not far from a casino owned by the Coushattas. The letter signed by Doolittle tells Norton she should reject the Jena casino. [Vitter Letter to Secretary Norton, 2/27/02; Washington Post, 3/13/05; 9/28/04; AP, 11/17/05]

December 31, 2001 — Abramoff’s contract with the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Islands is terminated. [Sacramento Bee, 8/5/06; FEC Reports]

December 28, 2001 — Abramoff gives his last $1,000 contribution to Doolittle for Congress. [Sacramento Bee, 8/5/06; FEC Reports; Center for Responsive Politics, accessed 4/18/07]

July 2001 — Doolittle’s Chief of Staff, David Lopez, takes a week long “fact-finding” trip to Puerto Rico. The trip costs $1,352 and is paid for by Abramoff’s firm, Greenberg Traurig. House rules prohibit lawmakers and staff from taking trips paid for by registered lobbyists or lobbying firms. [Scripps Howard News Service, 2/9/06]

May 25, 2001 — A letter written by Doolittle is published in the Saipan Tribune. In it, Doolittle reflects on Tom DeLay’s $150,000 earmark for Northern Marianas ports in 2000 and says he will pick up the torch and work towards seeking funding for the studies. [Sacramento Bee, 8/5/06; Saipan Tribune, 5/22/01, 5/25/05]

May 23, 2001 –Abramoff contributes his third $1,000 to Doolittle’s campaign, the same amount that Doolittle had contributed to Fitial six days before. [Sacramento Bee, 8/5/06; FEC Report; Center for Responsive Politics, accessed 4/18/07]

May 22, 2001 — Fitial hails federal ‘help’ coming for Marianas Islands port projects detailed in a letter he received from Doolittle. [Sacramento Bee, 8/5/06; Saipan Tribune, 5/22/01, 5/25/05]

May 17, 2001 — Doolittle for Congress contributes $1,000 to Fitial’s campaign. [Sacramento Bee, 8/5/06; FEC Report]

March 22, 2001 — Doolittle’s “Dear Colleague” letter concludes from an Occupational Health and Safety Administration report that there has been significant improvements in the garment industry in the Northern Marinas. [Sacramento Bee, 8/5/06]

March 12, 2001 — Kevin Ring, Abramoff’s client manager for the firm’s lobbying account with the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and Doolittle’s former aide and legislative director, works with Doolittle’s office “regarding letter on OSHA report.” [Sacramento Bee, 8/5/06]

July 17, 2000 — Despite being a vocal opponent of gambling, Doolittle votes to kill a ban on Internet Gaming. The legislation is opposed by both the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and eLottery, both Abramoff Clients. [Washington Post, 3/16/05; HR 3125, #404, 7/17/00]

May 29, 2000 — Doolittle receives a $1,000 contribution from Abramoff. [Center for Responsive Politics, accessed 4/18/07]

On or About October 24, 1999 — Doolittle writes a letter to Benigne Fitial, a key Abramoff supporter and former legislator, endorsing his election to the Northern Marianas Islands legislature. [Sacramento Bee, 8/5/06]

Oct. 3, 1999 — Doolittle receives a $1,000 contribution from Abramoff. [Center for Responsive Politics, accessed 4/18/07]

1999 — Doolittle takes a trip to the Northern Marinas Islands, a major Abramoff client, where the garment industry has been widely criticized as a collection of sweatshops. Doolittle says that he saw none of the abuses or “reported inhumane working conditions.” [Sacramento Bee, 8/5/06]

February 25, 1999 — Doolittle uses a luxury box belonging to Abramoff at Washington’s MCI Center for a fundraiser. He neither paid to rent the box nor reported its value as an in-kind contribution. [Washington Post, 12/26/04]

September 16, 1998 — Doolittle gives a floor speech praising a client of Abramoff, the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians. [Sacramento Bee, 2/19/06; Congressional Record, 2/16/98]

It is great to see the DCCC so aggressive, so early, in CA-04

There are no Senate seats up in California in 2008, and no statewide offices up for election, so the biggest seats outside of the Presidency will be in the House of Representatives.  While we’re 18 months out, I thought I’d give a snapshot of what races are most inviting for a Democratic pickup.

I’m going to concern myself solely with pickup opportunities, because the only realistic possibility of a GOP pickup is in CA-11, and I’m confident that Jerry McNerney and his grassroots army can handle whatever’s thrown at him, plus he’ll have the power of incumbency and the focus of the CDP.  There may be some retirements that would make things interesting (Lantos, Stark, Woolsey), but those are very blue areas.  So let’s look at the best opportunities to add to the Democratic majority:

1) CA-04 (Doolittle): The Doolittle watch continues, and what is most clear is that the best thing for California Republicans would be for Doolittle to just go away.  Charlie Brown has a $200,000 CoH advantage and the taint of the intensifying Abramoff scandal won’t be as easy to wash off the second time around.  If it’s a fresh challenger and an open seat, Brown will still have a higher name ID, but it would be more difficult.

2) CA-26 (Dreier): Hekebolos has mentioned David Dreier’s fundraising troubles.  Plus, as a member of the GOP Leadership, he can be very much tied to their failures over the years.  And the Partisan Voting Index (PVI) in the district is only +4 Republican, comparable to McNerney’s district, and has been shrinking over the years.  It’s the third-closest PVI district in the entire state, and yet Dreier is anything but a moderate.  Russ Warner ran in the 2006 primary (losing to 2004 candidate Cynthia Matthews, who then raised almost no money for the general) and will be running again, and appears to have the right makeup to pull off this upset.

3) CA-50 (Bilbray): The replacement for the Duke-Stir has not distinguished himself (does Bilbray live in that district yet?), and Howie Klein, at least, is intrigued by the potential candidacy of Michael Wray, a former Busby campaign worker and rocket scientist.  I think he’d have a somewhat better chance than Francine Busby.  This would be tough, but not a hopeless district.

4) CA-24 (Gallegly): Elton Gallegly maintains that he’s running.  He tried to retire in 2006, and then abruptly returned to the race because California election law mandated that his name would appear on the ballot regardless.  He eventually defeated Jill Martinez with 62% of the vote.  The word is that Martinez is running again.  Ventura County Democrats have done an amazing job turning around voter registration numbers in the region of late, adding to hope that this could be winnable even against the incumbent.  The PVI is R+5.

5) CA-42 (Miller): See above.  Not hopeless but tough.  The fact that it’s more Republican than CA-50 is balanced out by the fact that Gary Miller is a thieving scumbag who is under investigation by the feds.  Unlike last year, there will be a candidate, and the race is definitely on the CDP’s radar screen.  If we win this one, it’ll be a very good year.

6) CA-25 (McKeon): Buck McKeon is always a threat to retire, and this is a R+7 PVI, so it’s not impossible.  And this is one of those seats, in northeastern LA and San Bernardino Counties, that we have to start competing in, because the job growth in the inland areas of Southern California are outstripping the coasts. Robert Rodriguez did a decent job here in 2006 (McKeon won 60%-36%).  I hope he runs again.

7) CA-52 (open seat): The only Republican open seat to date, but it’s almost not open at all, because Duncan Hunter is trying to give the seat to his son, also named Duncan Hunter, and he’s likely to be fighting in Iraq during the election.  Kind of hard to compete against someone with that circumstance.

8) CA-45 (Bono): David Roth raised a decent enough amount of money in 2006 to at least make Mary Bono sweat.  The PVI is only R+3.  But it was one of the lowest-turnout races in the entire state.  If we can excite people out in the desert, ya never know.

9) CA-41 (Lewis): The Jerry Lewis investigation has gone cold, but the fact that Debra Yang appears to have been bought off the probe by the law firm representing Lewis means that the scandal might have a different set of legs.  And again, this is a part of Southern California where we need to have a presence; eventually there will be more and more people in this region, and probably more seats.  And the fact that they are likely to be coming from liberal Los Angeles means it’s an opportunity to get some infrastructure going.

10) CA-44 (Calvert): This district has actually less of a PVI (R+6) than CA-25.  And Calvert has some earmark and lobbying problems.  And the guy was caught with a prostitute in his car back in 1993.  So the atmospherics are there.  But Democrats have done little in this district.  His challenger last year raised 8 grand.  Total.  And he STILL got 38% of the vote!  It’s time to give this guy a real challenge.

Realistically, 2 pickups would be a really good tally; 3 would be amazing.  But the goal should be getting some of these incumbents to around 55%.