AM Feed - May 11: Secret Service Records Reveal Abramoff Meeting with Rove
Hot Topics
- The Bush administration – after being forced by a federal judge to do so – has turned over Secret Service visitor logs from the White House that show confessed influence peddler Jack Abramoff visited on two occasions. On one trip, he met with none other than powerful presidential adviser Karl Rove. The two visits don’t tell the whole story of Abramoff’s connections to the Bush White House, however. Associates from his firm, Greenberg Traurig, made another two dozen visits to the White House’s Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, and Abramoff’s team had hundreds of contacts to the administration within its first year. Additionally, Abramoff was a Pioneer for Bush’s reelection efforts in 2004. [link]
- A 15-member Judicial Screening Committee of the American Bar Association (ABA) has taken the unusual step of rating one of President Bush’s judicial nominees as “unqualified.” This marks the first time the ABA has bestowed this rating in nearly 25 years. The nominee in question, Michael Wallace, is a former aide to Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS) who was nominated by Bush in February. The last time the ABA gave an “unqualified” rating, the nomination in question was withdrawn. [link]
- Federal investigators have begun a probe into Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA), the powerful chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, over his ties to former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham. This new movement signals that Cunningham’s guilty plea for bribery has led to a widespread investigation into congressional corruption. Lewis has taken in more than $60,000 in contributions from Brent Wilkes, a contractor identified as a “Co-conspirator” in the Cunningham case. [link]
Quote of the Day
“Let me know if there is anything I can do to help with damage control.” – Former Bush administration top procurement official David Safavian, in a 3/22/04 email to Jack Abramoff
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