Scanlon’s former boss, Tom DeLay, also took a golf trip to Scotland arranged by Jack Abramoff and apparently paid for by his lobbying clients. DeLay recently was forced to step down from his post as House majority leader because of an unrelated indictment in his home state.
The investigation also has resulted in the indictment of David Safavian, who was the Bush administration’s top procurement official at the White House Office of Management and Budget.
In a criminal complaint filed last week, the Justice Department said Scanlon collected nearly $53 million from 2001 to 2004 from three Indian tribes, promising them lobbying and public relations services. Most of the money went instead into the pockets of Scanlon and Abramoff, the complaint said.
Abramoff was not named in the complaint, but Scanlon’s partnership with him has been revealed in a series of hearings in the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, where e-mails between the two described a financial scheme they called “Gimme five “.
Three former associates of Abramoff and Scanlon who were summoned to testify declined to do so, citing their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. They included former Greenberg lobbyist Kevin Ring, who continues to represent the Choctaw tribe as a lobbyist, and Shawn Vasell, who like Ring was a congressional aide before joining Abramoff’s lobbying team.
A third former associate, Brian Mann, was a director of the American International Center, a foundation set up by Scanlon in Rehoboth Beach, Del. Money from tribes and other clients passed through the AIC and was paid to Reed as well as to Abramoff and Greenberg Traurig.
In a 2001 memo, for example, Scanlon proposed a $3.2 million project for the Louisiana Coushatta tribe that he said would make the tribe “a politician’s best friend — or worst political nightmare.” The program was to include political research, polling and building a political database, but there is little evidence the work ever was done.
«« click on pic for article CBS
Jack Abramoff -right- listens to his
attorney Abbe Lowell, as Abramoff refused
to answer questions before the Senate
Indian Affairs Committee AP Newswire
More to follow below the fold »»
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United States vs Michael P.S. Scanlon
COURT INDICTMENT CONSPIRACY CHARGES
A business called :: Capital Campaign Strategies LLC referred to as “CCS”
Ohio Rep. Bob Ney is the person referred to as “Representative No. 1” in Scanlon’s court documents.
Jack Abramoff is referred to as “Lobbyist A”.
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
v.
MICHAEL P. S. SCANLON,
Defendant.
INFORMATION
The United States charges that:
COUNT ONE
18 U.S.C. § 371 – Conspiracy
GENERAL ALLEGATIONS:
1. From in or about March 2000 through in or about 2001, Defendant Michael P.S. Scanlon (“SCANLON”) was employed by two different national law firms in Washington, D.C., at which he worked with a lobbyist who sought and represented clients for lobbying services throughout the United States and overseas (“Lobbyist A”).
2. In or about January 2001, SCANLON established a business called Capital Campaign Strategies LLC which had its principal offices in Washington, D.C. Capital Campaign Strategies LLC was purportedly formed to provide grass roots work, public relations services, and election campaign support. Scanlon also formed other companies that were used primarily to receive money for the services and work performed by others (collectively referred to as “CCS”).
3. At all relevant times, Lobbyist A solicited and obtained business with groups and businesses operating and interested in operating gambling casinos throughout the United States, including Native American Indian governments.
THE CONSPIRACY AND ITS OBJECTS
4. Beginning in at least January 2000 through in or about at least April 2004, in the District of Columbia and elsewhere, the defendant, MICHAEL P. S. SCANLON, did knowingly conspire, confederate and agree with Lobbyist A and with other persons known and unknown to the United States to commit offenses against the United States; that is to:
(1) corruptly offer and provide things of value, including money, meals, trips and entertainment to federal public officials in return for agreements to perform officials acts benefitting SCANLON, Lobbyist A, and their clients, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 201(b);
(2) devise a scheme and artifice to defraud the clients of SCANLON and Lobbyist A of money and property through materially false and fraudulent misrepresentations, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1341 and 1343; and
(3) devise a scheme and artifice to defraud and deprive Lobbyist A’s clients of their right to Lobbyist A’s honest services, performed free from deceit, fraud, concealment, conflict of interest, and self-dealing, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1341, 1343, and 1346.
PURPOSE OF THE CONSPIRACY
5. It was a purpose of the conspiracy for SCANLON and Lobbyist A to enrich themselves by obtaining substantial funds from their clients through fraud and concealment and through obtaining benefits for their clients through corrupt means.
MANNER AND MEANS
6. The conspiracy was carried out through the following manner and means:
A. Lobbyist A would persuade clients that they needed to hire CCS exclusively to perform certain grass roots and public relations services to accomplish the goals that Lobbyist A identified for them.
B. To obtain lucrative contracts, SCANLON and Lobbyist A would also make representations to clients about work to be performed that was not in fact what they did or intended to do.
C. SCANLON, through CCS, would charge Lobbyist A’s clients prices that incorporated huge profit margins.
D. SCANLON, through CCS, would then kick-back to Lobbyist A fifty-percent of CCS’s net profits from Lobbyist A’s clients through payments to a variety of entities owned and controlled by Lobbyist A, and SCANLON and Lobbyist A would conceal these kickbacks from their clients.
E. SCANLON and Lobbyist A would falsely represent to their clients that certain of the funds requested were being used for specific purposes, when in fact, SCANLON and Lobbyist A would use those funds for their own personal benefit and not for the benefit of their clients.
F. SCANLON and Lobbyist A would offer and provide things of value to federal public officials, including trips, campaign contributions, meals and entertainment in exchange for agreements that the public officials would use their official positions and influence to benefit SCANLON’s and Lobbyist A’s clients and Lobbyist A’s businesses.
OVERT ACTS
7. In furtherance of the conspiracy and to achieve its purposes, SCANLON and Lobbyist A committed the following overt acts, among others, in the District of Columbia and elsewhere:
Fraud Scheme
Mississippi Tribe
8. In or about 1995, Lobbyist A solicited a Native American Indian tribal client based in Mississippi (“Mississippi Tribe”) to hire him to provide lobbying services on various issues, including taxation of the tribe by the Federal government as well as other issues relating to Tribal sovereignty, and the Mississippi Tribe hired Lobbyist A. As SCANLON well knew and believed, Lobbyist A used his knowledge of lobbying and grass roots work, which was superior to the Mississippi Tribe’s knowledge of these areas, to secure the trust and confidence of the Mississippi Tribe.
9. In or about early 2001, Lobbyist A recommended and advised the Mississippi Tribe to hire SCANLON’S company, CCS, while concealing the fact that Lobbyist A would receive fifty percent of the profits from the Mississippi Tribe’s payments to SCANLON.
10. From in or about June 2001 until in or about April 2004, SCANLON, through CCS, sought and received from the Mississippi Tribe approximately $14,765,000, all the while concealing from the Mississippi Tribe that fifty-percent of the profit, approximately $6,365,000, was kicked-back to Lobbyist A pursuant to their secret arrangement.
Louisiana Tribe
11. In or about March 2001, Lobbyist A and SCANLON solicited a Native American Indian tribal client based in Louisiana (“Louisiana Tribe”) to hire them to provide lobbying and grass roots services to the tribe. As SCANLON well knew and believed, Lobbyist A used his knowledge of lobbying and grass roots work, which was superior to the Louisiana Tribe’s knowledge of these areas, to secure the trust and confidence of the Louisiana Tribe.
12. In or about March 2001, after SCANLON had been paid for the first project, Lobbyist A recommended and advised the Louisiana Tribe to rehire SCANLON’s company, CCS, while concealing the fact that Lobbyist A would receive fifty percent of the profits from the Tribe’s payments to SCANLON.
13. From in or about March 2001 to in or about May 2003, SCANLON sought and received approximately $30,510,000, through CCS, all the while concealing from the Louisiana Tribe that fifty-percent of the profit, approximately $10,944,000, including money that was not passed through CCS, was kicked-back to Lobbyist A pursuant to their secret arrangement.
Michigan Tribe
14. In or about January 2002, Lobbyist A and SCANLON solicited a Native American Indian tribal client based in Michigan (“Michigan Tribe”) to hire them to provide lobbying and grass roots services to the tribe. As SCANLON well knew and believed, Lobbyist A used his knowledge of lobbying and grass roots work, which was superior to the Michigan Tribe’s knowledge of these areas, to secure the trust and confidence of the Michigan Tribe.
15. In or about June 2002, Lobbyist A recommended and advised the Michigan Tribe to expand its contract with SCANLON’s company, CCS, while concealing the fact that Lobbyist A would receive fifty percent of the profits from the Michigan Tribe’s payments to SCANLON.
16. From in or about June 2002 to in or about October 2003, SCANLON sought and received approximately $3,500,000, through CCS, all the while concealing from the Michigan Tribe that fifty-percent of the profit, approximately $540,000, was kicked-back to Lobbyist A pursuant to their secret arrangement.
Texas Tribe
17. In or about January 2002, Lobbyist A and SCANLON solicited a Native American Indian tribal client based in Texas (“Texas Tribe”) to hire them to provide lobbying and grass roots services to the tribe. Lobbyist A misrepresented to the Texas Tribe that he would work for free in anticipation of receiving a long-term lucrative contract in the future. As SCANLON well knew and believed, Lobbyist A’s representation that he would work for free was false because SCANLON intended to pay and did pay the fifty-percent kickback due Lobbyist A under the secret arrangement Lobbyist A had with SCANLON.
18. In or about March 2002, SCANLON sought and received approximately $4,200,000, through CCS, all the while concealing from the Texas Tribe that fifty-percent of the profit, approximately $1,850,000, was kicked-back to Lobbyist A pursuant to their secret arrangement.
Corruption Scheme
19. From in or about January 2000 through in or about April 2004, SCANLON and Lobbyist A, together and separately, provided a stream of things of value to Representative #1 and members of his staff, including but not limited to a lavish trip to Scotland to play golf on worldfamous courses, tickets to sporting events and other entertainment, regular meals at Lobbyist A’s upscale restaurant, and campaign contributions for Representative #1, his political action committee, and other political committees on behalf of Representative #1.
20. From in or about January 2000 through in or about April 2004, SCANLON and Lobbyist A, together and separately, sought and received Representative #1’s agreement to perform a series of official acts, including but not limited to, agreements to support and pass legislation, agreements to place statements into the Congressional Record, meetings with Lobbyist A and SCANLON’s clients, and advancing the application of a client of Lobbyist A for a license to install wireless telephone infrastructure in the House of Representatives.
All in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371.
NOEL L. HILLMAN
Chief, Public Integrity Section
__________________________ Date:_____________________
Mary K. Butler
M. Kendall Day
Trial Attorneys
PAUL E. PELLETIER
Acting Chief, Fraud Section
__________________________ Date:_______________________
Guy D. Singer
Nathaniel B. Edmonds
Trial Attorneys
PLEA AGREEMENT – 19 pages pdf file –
Former public-relations consultant and House GOP aide Michael Scanlon turned on his former business partner, Jack Abramoff, pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to bribe public officials and defraud Indian tribes as part of a plea bargain with federal prosecutors.
Scanlon, who has been cooperating with prosecutors since June, agreed to pay $19.7 million in restitution to the tribes, according to his plea agreement. He faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, though his sentencing will be deferred until Scanlon has finished helping prosecutors with their case.
Lobbyist Accuses Ex-Partner in Fraud
Jack Abramoff says Adam Kidan hid his business failures and disbarment
By Curt Anderson
MIAMI (AP) Sept. 26, 2005 — Prominent Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff and New York businessman Adam Kidan were once good friends who had known each other since their college days in the Washington area. They stayed in touch over the years and became business partners in a 2000 deal to buy a lucrative Florida fleet of gambling boats.
Extended coverage is justified, as is seen so far :: The DeLay Cartel – Abramoff – Norquist – Ney, amazing how broad the indictments went last month!
I didn’t realize the sleaze went so deep it touched SunCruz Casino and a murder wrap.
«« click on pic for story
Died - Gus Boulis, 51, was the founder of Miami Subs
and the controversial SunCruz line of casino boats.
Rep. Bob Ney inserted comments into the Congressional Record in March 2000 that were critical of Gus Boulis, the then-owner of SunCruz, a Florida casino-boat chain Abramoff wanted to buy. The insertion “was calculated to pressure [Boulis] to sell on terms favorable” to Abramoff and his partners, the document said.
So our nominees for “The Abramoff 6” are Tom DeLay (TX), Bob Ney (OH-18) Conrad Burns (R-MT), Dave Vitter (R-LA), Tom Feeney (FL-24), and Dan Rohrabacher (CA-46)
Michael Scanlon, former DeLay press aide, helped his partner, Jack Abramoff, in acquiring the floating casino company, SunCruz. He persuaded Rep. Bob Ney to tout Adam Kidan in the Congressional Record. Ney made a floor statement in the House in October 2000, praising Kidan for his “renowned reputation for honesty and integrity.” (Congressional Record, 10/26/00; Roll Call, 12/6/04)
Oversaw the Process for Awarding the Wireless Contract
WASHINGTON March 3, 2005 — A congressional committee led by Rep. Bob Ney awarded a $3 million wireless contract to a telecommunications provider that had retained and made contributions to a now-indicted lobbyist with close ties to Ney. The lobbyist, Jack Abramoff, has been charged with fraud in connection with an unrelated matter, his purchase of a Fort Lauderdale casino cruise line in 2001.
Ney, R-St. Clairsville, denied through a spokesman that there was any link between his approval, as chairman of the House Administration Committee, of a contract to install cellular antennas in a House office complex, and Abramoff’s role as a lobbyist for the recipient, MobileAccess Network.
“Ney never met with Abramoff on this matter,” his spokesman Brian Walsh said. “He was not lobbied by Abramoff.”
Federal investigators are continuing what has been described as a wide-ranging probe of other dealings involving Abramoff, including his receipt of millions of dollars in lobbying fees from tribal clients. The company that won the wireless contract, Vienna, Va. based MobileAccess, also is part of the probe.
MobileAccess, a provider of fiber-optic transmission systems, was based in Israel and doing business as Foxcom when it won the contract in late 2002. The company employed Abramoff as a lobbyist, paying his team $280,000 over two years, the Washington Post reported Tuesday. The company also made a $50,000 contribution to Abramoff’s charity, the Capitol Athletic Foundation.
When Ney approved the contract, Ney did not know that MobileAccess had given $50,000 to Abramoff’s foundation, Walsh said. Ney has known Abramoff for years. The congressman has received tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions that either were donated by Abramoff or sent to Ney at Abramoff’s request.
What great hypocrisy — May 21, 2003
Press Conference on Fight Against Waste,
Fraud, Abuse in Federal Government
“Treason doth never prosper: what’s the reason?
For if it prosper, none dare call it treason.”
1. Conspiracy Indictment Next?! – Josh Marshall TPM Agrees ¶ DoJ Press Release
2. Mr. X Is David Wurmser ME Advisor to VP Cheney ¶ Link to ISA John Bolton
3. White House Awaits Grand Jury News ¶ It’s Rove … Lawrence O’Donnell
4. DeLay :: Gotcha – Fingerprints et al! ¶ Abramoff & Bob Ney
5. Prosecutor Fitzgerald Zeroes In :: Cheney – CIA Feud!
6. CIRCLE CLOSED :: Neocons – AIPAC – Shill Reporter ¶ Laurie Mylroie – Benador Associates
7. As Time Evolves :: Neocon Think – A DEEP THROAT?
8. THIS IS MAJOR! ¶ Our Reichstag’s Fire
9. Israel and AIPAC Accused in Spy Case of Franklin, Pentagon Analyst
10. U.S. District Court Indictment Larry Franklin & AIPAC Directors
11. Judith Miller :: A Need To Know Basis
12. Judith Miller :: Libya – Gaddafi – Poindexter
Oui, this is something I am watching closely to see what is going to happen. I know that the case has close ties to the WH as well, do you think this will get into that as well? I hope it does for this is the most criminal administration ever in our history IMHO. Can you imagine the way the American Indians have got to feel towards these men for the scam they have done towards them…geez, what some wont do for money!
Again thank you so much for keepin us all informed as to what is going on, on a daily basis as to what is happening on many issues. Happy thanksgiving to you and yours.
.
Enjoy Thanksgiving Day!
Love to you and all your loved ones (((hugs))).
In The Netherlands the turkey got a rain check ’till Christmas Day.
“Worlds Apart: Indigenous People Bridging
Traditional and Modern Ways of Life”
“Treason doth never prosper: what’s the reason?
For if it prosper, none dare call it treason.”
▼ ▼ ▼ MY DIARY
It’s impossible to find many ways that these guys didn’t use their private-public network for personal gain
The key to this that doesn’t get much press yet are the database-datamining technology companies that are part of the conspiracy. One of Abramoff’s emails bragged about the system and I think he mentioned it was one DeLay used. Rove goes way back in the direct mail marketing and demographics business. Add the influence of Poindexter and the TIA for more attempted control. False positives on the terror watch lists True positives to track any threat to their control and the ability to create suspects at their fingertips.
The Ashcroft-Choicepoint connections in elections held here and in other countries are no accident either.
Also from Naperville Democrats a well known detail but an important one…
.
A Dozen Lawmakers Helped Tribes Get Federal Money
WASHINGTON (15 min. ago) – Through letters and legislation, more than a dozen lawmakers stepped in to protect a school funding program for Indian tribes while reaping political money from the tribes, their lobbyist Jack Abramoff or his firm.
The members of Congress came from both parties, including House Appropriations subcommittee Chairman Charles Taylor, R-N.C., and Sen. Byron Dorgan of North Dakota, the top Democrat on the Senate committee currently investigating Abramoff.
… and most received donations, ranging from $1,000 to more than $74,000, in the weeks just before or after their intervention. One used Abramoff’s restaurant for a fundraiser a month after a letter. As a group, they collected more than $440,000 from Abramoff, his firm or his tribal clients between 2001 and 2004, when Abramoff represented the tribes.
But ethics rules require lawmakers to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest while performing official duties. This requirement became famous a decade ago during the Keating Five scandal when several lawmakers got in trouble for pressuring regulators on behalf of Charles Keating while taking donations from the savings and loan operator.
According to a former Assistant U.S. Attorney Melanie Sloan, who runs a watchdog group:
“We’re going to see an awakened Justice Department after years of turning a blind eye to the tie between legislative action and campaign donations. Members of Congress ought to be in general quaking today and thinking a little more about what they’re willing to do for those contributions.”
“Treason doth never prosper: what’s the reason?
For if it prosper, none dare call it treason.”
▼ ▼ ▼ MY DIARY
.
Rhode – Wurmser – Larry Franklin – AIPAC – Abramoff
How close are DOJ prosecutors coming to the heart of evil:
Karl Rover and Grover Norquist?
“Treason doth never prosper: what’s the reason?
For if it prosper, none dare call it treason.”
▼▼▼ READ MY DIARY
.
By R. Jeffrey Smith – Washington Post Staff Writer
WASHINGTON (WaPo) Dec. 31 — The U.S. Family Network, a public advocacy group that operated in the 1990s with close ties to Rep. Tom DeLay and claimed to be a nationwide grass-roots organization, was funded almost entirely by corporations linked to embattled lobbyist Jack Abramoff, according to tax records and former associates of the group.
During its five-year existence, the U.S. Family Network raised $2.5 million but kept its donor list secret. The list, obtained by The Washington Post, shows that $1 million of its revenue came in a single 1998 check from a now-defunct London law firm whose former partners would not identify the money’s origins.
Two former associates of Edwin A. Buckham, the congressman’s former chief of staff and the organizer of the U.S. Family Network, said Buckham told them the funds came from Russian oil and gas executives. Abramoff had been working closely with two such Russian energy executives on their Washington agenda, and the lobbyist and Buckham had helped organize a 1997 Moscow visit by DeLay (R-Tex.).
The former president of the U.S. Family Network said Buckham told him that Russians contributed $1 million to the group in 1998 specifically to influence DeLay’s vote on legislation the International Monetary Fund needed to finance a bailout of the collapsing Russian economy.
Political Scandal for 2006 ::
Jack Abramoff with lawyer before Congress,an example for many Republicans in the coming year.
A spokesman for DeLay, who is fighting in a Texas state court unrelated charges of illegal fundraising, denied that the contributions influenced the former House majority leader’s political activities. The Russian energy executives who worked with Abramoff denied yesterday knowing anything about the million-dollar London transaction described in tax documents.
Whatever the real motive for the contribution of $1 million — a sum not prohibited by law but extraordinary for a small, nonprofit group — the steady stream of corporate payments detailed on the donor list makes it clear that Abramoff’s long-standing alliance with DeLay was sealed by a much more extensive web of financial ties than previously known.
Records and interviews also illuminate the mixture of influence and illusion that surrounded the U.S. Family Network. Despite the group’s avowed purpose, records show it did little to promote conservative ideas through grass-roots advocacy. The money it raised came from businesses with no demonstrated interest in the conservative “moral fitness” agenda that was the group’s professed aim.
● Alexander Strategy Group – Edwin A. Buckham
● ENRON – Tom DeLay and Phil Gramm
“Treason doth never prosper: what’s the reason?
For if it prosper, none dare call it treason.”
▼▼▼ READ MY DIARY ▼