Tag Archives: Jack Abramoff

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CA-04: Doolittle doing a bit too much for Abramoff

A repeat diary of WHP’s diary here, but what’s done is done, so I thought I’d put it up in the middle of the night.

It apparently doesn’t even take that much cash to convince John Doolittle that an island without labor laws that promotes forced abortions is really a great idea. 

Rep. John Doolittle helped Jack Abramoff secure a lucrative lobbying contract with the commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in 1999 and then assisted the now-disgraced lobbyist’s efforts to route federal money to the islands and defend its garment industry, newly obtained documents show.

Doolittle accepted $14,000 in contributions from Abramoff — $4,000 to his congressional re-election committee and $10,000 to his California political action committee.

The first contribution came just a few weeks before Doolittle endorsed the election of a key commonwealth politician crucial to Abramoff winning the contract. The last Abramoff contribution came just as the Mariana Islands’ lobbying contract was expiring in December 2001. (SacBee 8/5/06)


I get real sarcastic on the flip…

I guess he figured that nobody would really question why a Republican would be in favor of having a U.S. territory without labor laws that holds women in near slavery.  I mean, that’s been pretty much GOP utopia since the 60’s right?  Well, maybe forced abortions won’t play quite so well with his constituency:

The commonwealth is a U.S. territory east of the Philippines whose garment industry has been widely criticized as a collection of sweatshops employing Chinese, Filipino and other immigrant workers at subminimum wages. Clothing from these plants is sold tariff-free in the United States under a “Made in the USA” label.

Workers there have complained of living in prison-like conditions. Women have said they were shunted into the bustling sex industry. Chinese women told U.S. investigators that they were forced to have abortions after becoming pregnant.

I guess all that pro-life thing was about WHITE babies, not some dark babies in Asia.  The article chronicle’s Doolittle’s involvement with Abramoff and all of his dirty causes.  Quite a lengthy story…

Of course, you can help out Charlie Brown, Doolittle’s Dem challenger on our ActBlue page.

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Doolittle and Abramoff – It’s Official

(Bumped for visibility – promoted by SFBrianCL)

Today’s Sacramento Bee front pages Representative John Doolittle’s (CA-4) connection with Jack Abramoff. David Whitney of the Bee’s Washington bureau details the close relationship between Abramoff contributions and Doolittle’s intervention in the internal politics of the Northern Mariana Islands.

John Doolittle helped Jack Abramoff secure a lucrative lobbying contract with the commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in 1999 and then assisted the now-disgraced lobbyist’s efforts to route federal money to the islands and defend its garment industry, newly obtained documents show.

More “real” news about Doolittle and Abramoff follows:

Abramoff’s primary mission as a lobbyist was the protection of the Mariana’s garment industry from government regulation and reasonable worker protection.

The commonwealth is a U.S. territory east of the Philippines whose garment industry has been widely criticized as a collection of sweatshops employing Chinese, Filipino and other immigrant workers at subminimum wages. Clothing from these plants is sold tariff-free in the United States under a “Made in the USA” label.

Workers there have complained of living in prison-like conditions. Women have said they were shunted into the bustling sex industry. Chinese women told U.S. investigators that they were forced to have abortions after becoming pregnant. 

At the time Doolittle was a member of the House Resources Committee, which has jurisdiction over the commonwealth.  Abramoff lobbied to stop reforms from passing in the U.S. Congress that would impose U.S. immigration and wage laws. Efforts to enact those laws have been bipartisan and continue today.

Doolittle has been a leading opponent of the reforms, saying the reported abuses could be halted with aggressive enforcement of U.S. laws already on the books. He stood in lock step on the issue with his mentor, Rep. Tom DeLay of Texas, then the Republican whip and later the House majority leader, who called the Mariana Islands a “Petri dish for capitalism.”

Doolittle’s relationship with Abramoff extends far beyond the work he did for his “friend” in the Marianas, but this is the only case where Abramoff’s financial support to Doolittle was direct, not through others.

Whitney lays out the timeline of Abramoff contributions and ties them directly to Doolittle actions. It is classic pay to play politics, facilitated by Doolittle’s former chief of staff, Kevin Ring, who had direct responsibility for the Marianas account when he join Abramoff’s lobbying firm.

After he moved his operation to the Greenberg Traurig law firm and had the commonwealth contract extended for 2001, Abramoff appointed former Doolittle aide Kevin Ring to manage the account.

Over the next 10 months, according to billing records, Ring met or contacted Doolittle or his staffers 19 times to talk about Mariana Islands issues, including appropriations for the islands.

From the beginning when Abramoff needed leverage in internal Marianas politics, he turned to Doolittle. After loosing his Mariana’s lobbying contract in 1998, Abramoff used Doolittle to help get a candidate friendly to his interests, Benigne Fitial, elected to the commonwealth’s legislature.

After losing the commonwealth contract in 1998, Abramoff campaigned in 1999 to get it renewed. Key to his strategy was Benigne Fitial, a supporter and former legislator who for the last decade had been vice president of Tan Holdings Group, operator of garment plants and publisher of the Saipan Tribune, according to published reports.

On Oct. 3, 1999, Doolittle received a $1,000 contribution from Abramoff, the first from the star lobbyist. Three weeks later, Doolittle wrote a letter to Fitial praising his entry into the race and endorsing his election to the commonwealth’s Legislature.

One of Benigne’s first acts after his election was to push “through the commonwealth’s house legislation directing the government to hire Abramoff’s firm, Preston Gates.”

Doolittle was in Abramoff’s pocket and from 1999 on could be counted upon to provide support to Abramoff’s interests in the Marianas.

This is the issue that is going to begin to dismantle Doolittle’s house of corruption.

For more background check with Dump Doolittle and this story over at TPM Muckraker.

California

Charlie Brown to Doolittle: Give Abramoff Money To Charity

(Ah yes, voters really hate when their candidates demand transparency and honesty. – promoted by SFBrianCL)

Before I get into the story: what’s up with the Sacramento Bee? “Doolittle’s Foe Focuses on Cash”. What kinda headline is that? Foe? Last I heard Charlie Brown was the opponent of Congressman Doolittle in a democratic election. The whole headline implies something that is just not the story. The first picture I had in my mind after reading the headline was that Charlie Brown was on a mad fundraising hunt for his campaign. So, I say to the Bee’s headline writers: read the story before you make up a headline. Geez.

Now to the important stuff. Doolittle won’t give back the money he received by Abramoff. So, it’s a clever step by Charlie Brown to ask him to donate it to charity. It’s hard to argue against charity. At least anyone in his right mind would think so.

In today’s article by the Sacramento Bee Charlie Brown is quite clear that keeping Abramoff’s money is just wrong:

But Brown, a retired Air Force officer, said the report leaves unanswered the question of whether Doolittle engaged in a “pay-to-play” relationship with the lobbyist in which political contributions resulted in official actions.

“With public disdain for Congress at an all-time high, it’s time for John and Julie Doolittle to finally do the right thing,” Brown said. “Give back the dirty money, or better yet, give it to a charity.”

While there was no immediate comment by Doolittle’s office the Bee still managed to insert a nice anti-Pelosi quote:

Richard Robinson, Doolittle’s chief of staff and a top campaign strategist, said Brown should have learned from the last election that “adopting Nancy Pelosi’s phony ‘culture of corruption’ campaign isn’t a winning strategy.”

“The voters have already rejected these smear tactics,” he said, “and they will continue to reject them no matter how many times Brown tries to recycle them.”

Well, I believe the voters in California’s 4th Congressional District can see right through that pesky rhetoric. After all, what’s worse? A corrupt congressman or a liberal Italian Grandmother from San Francisco?

You can help Charlie here.

Cross posted from Turn Tahoe Blue

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Doolittle’s Rat PAC

Representative John Doolittle (CA-4) is, by all reports, a devote Mormon. He doesn’t drink. He doesn’t smoke. And, he is vehemently anti-gambling. Except, apparently, when being pro-gambling helps out his friend Jack Abramoff’s clients.

Why would a straight-laced guy like Doolittle hold a Republican Party fund raiser in Las Vegas? Why do people rob banks? That’s where the money is says Doolittle in the Sacramento Bee.

According to Doolittle, Las Vegas “is a place that our target audience, namely these $5,000 donors, would like to go.”

More from the Strip follows.

The Bee focuses on a major Doolittle fund raising event held at the exclusive and expensive Venetian Resort Hotel Casino on the Las Vegas Strip. The 2005 event was designed to haul in big bucks for Doolittle and the Republicans.

Behind the need for fundraisers such as Doolittle’s is the increased demand for money to fuel political campaigns. As a member of the House leadership, Doolittle is required to raise $250,000 for House Republicans each year.

When asked about that, Doolittle said he had just been told he needed to raise an additional $100,000 for an upcoming House Republican dinner.

So, in essence Doolittle was sent out by his party’s leadership to raise money so that the crew in Washington could have a nice meal.
We don’t know what kind of deals had to be struck to insure that congressional Republicans were able to eat filet mignon instead of hamburger, but we do know that Doolittle’s event featured a stellar cast of co-conspirators and potential government witnesses.

…the biggest draw of all for the Doolittle event – then-House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas.

DeLay, now facing a trial in Texas for campaign finance irregularities, knew them all. Under pressure from House Republicans worried about the growing Abramoff scandal, DeLay permanently surrendered his commanding leadership job in December.

Former DeLay staffers who started the now-infamous Alexander Strategy Group lobbying firm were there with DeLay.

The firm, which closed its doors last month as a result of the scandals, employed DeLay’s wife. Among its clients were those connected both to Abramoff and to defense contractors whose cash payments to Cunningham brought down the Vietnam War hero.

DeLay flew into Las Vegas on the private corporate jet of Group W, one of the companies owned by Brent Wilkes. Doolittle’s PAC paid $358.50 for DeLay’s privileged seat.

Doolittle pays the standard commercial airfare and DeLay rides out to Vegas on Brent Wilkes’ private jet. Just business as usual for Doolittle. But, not only did Wilkes provide DeLay with a $20,000 private jet ride, Wilkes also had some sugar for his pal Doolittle.

Wilkes also attended Doolittle’s event, giving Doolittle $10,000 in personal and PAC checks, almost certainly unaware that his businesses would be raided about two months later as federal agents built their bribery case against Cunningham.

Also attending was Ed Buckham, DeLay’s former chief of staff and a founder of the Alexander Strategy Group. Buckham was Wilkes’ lobbyist.

Doolittle said it may have been Buckham who first introduced him to Wilkes, setting up a relationship that the congressman says he still cannot believe was tainted by corruption.

Karl Gallant, another Alexander Strategy Group lobbyist, was there. He also ran DeLay’s political action committee, Americans for a Republican Majority.

Not since the days of Sinatra has Vegas seen a “rat pack” to equal this crowd. Although, now days the “pack” has been replaced by “PAC”. And speaking of PACs, Julie Doolittle was in attendance with her husband.

By the time of the fundraiser – Doolittle’s second at the Las Vegas complex – his wife, Julie, already had been subpoenaed by the Justice Department for business records related to work she had done for an Abramoff interest, the Capital Athletic Foundation.

John Doolittle continues to insist that he has done nothing wrong. Yet, it is hard to understand how a man who claims to have such a strong moral compass could surround himself with so much corruption and remain untainted by it.

Doolittle’s personal morality may not have been compromised by his association with Abramoff, Wilkes, DeLay and their retainers, but his public morality certainly seems to have been sold to the highest bidder.

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Abramoffitis is insidious in the California GOP

Yes, that most terrible of disease, Abramoffitis, has beset the California GOP once again.  And this time it’s one of our favorites around here: Rep. Richard Pombo (R-Tracy).  The LA Times has a profile on Pombo in today’s paper, and it has some very illuminating passages:

A Massachusetts tribe and client of Abramoff’s that donated $20,000 to Pombo received the congressman’s help seeking federal tribal recognition. Pombo supported the resumption of commercial whaling while accepting thousands of dollars in international travel from a private foundation funded by the seafood industry and a whaling association.

Also interesting is the data on the special interests from which Pombo has taken money…lots of money.

According to data compiled by the Campaign Finance Analysis Project, Pombo has, during his congressional career, collected more than $800,000 from agriculture, timber and fishing interests. The building industry has given him $205,000; oil and gas, $169,000; mining, $55,000; and casinos and gambling, $147,000.

Don’t forget that Pombo is being challenged by Republican former Congressman Pete McCloskey as well as the favorite for the Democratic nomination Jerry McNerny.  For more information on Pombo, see Say No to Pombo.  While not a prime Congressional target due to gerrymandering, taking Pombo out should be a priority.  His corruption combined with the efforts he has put in to allowing ecological harm should be enough to clue the voters of CA-11 in.  Mr. Pombo does not represent California nor his district.

A few more choice tidbits on the flip…

Well there were so many, it’s hard to choose.  But, choose I must.  Pombo certainly needs to go

Pombo’s critics have focused on his campaign’s reliance on donors from industries that stand to benefit from his legislation. Just months before the mining proposal made it out of Pombo’s committee, a former committee aide who once worked for Abramoff’s firm and is now a lobbyist for mining interests hosted a $1,000-a-head fundraiser for Pombo.

The Times reported earlier this year that Pombo joined forces with former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas in efforts to squelch a federal banking investigation of Texas financier Charles Hurwitz. Pombo, who had previously received a campaign contribution from Hurwitz, has contended that the investigation was unfounded and abusive.