AP: DeLay's staff tried to help Abramoff

[radfringe]

AP: DeLay's staff tried to help Abramoff
By JOHN SOLOMON AND SHARON THEIMER
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITERS
Wednesday, November 2, 2005 · Last updated 11:33 p.m. PT

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Tom DeLay's staff tried to help lobbyist Jack Abramoff win access to Interior Secretary Gale Norton, an effort that succeeded after Abramoff's Indian tribe clients began funneling a quarter-million dollars to an environmental group founded by Norton.

"Do you think you could call that friend and set up a meeting," then-DeLay staffer Tony Rudy wrote to fellow House aide Thomas Pyle in a Dec. 29, 2000, e-mail titled "Gale Norton-Interior Secretary." President Bush had nominated Norton to the post the day before.

Rudy wrote Abramoff that same day promising he had "good news" about securing a meeting with Norton, forwarding information about the environmental group Norton had founded, according to e-mails obtained by investigators and reviewed by The Associated Press. Rudy's message to Abramoff was sent from Congress' official e-mail system.

----snip----

The assistance to Abramoff from DeLay's staff occurred just a few months after DeLay received political donations, free use of a skybox to reward donors and an all-expense paid trip to play golf in Scotland arranged by Abramoff and mostly underwritten by his clients.

----snip---

The Gun Lake tribe of Pottawatomi, one of the rivals of Abramoff's tribal clients, said Tuesday that it believed Abramoff's lobbying stalled Interior's approval of its casino by at least 14 months.

"The more we learn about the allegedly corrupt relationship between Jack Abramoff and a key high-ranking government official, the clearer it becomes that a full investigation should be conducted," said Gun Lake Tribal Chairman D.K. Sprague.

[opihimoimoi]

1. These are the Goody Two Shoes Pubs???The family Values guys?

Do Good and do your best???

Yeah...right...

[MADem]

9. More like screw them GOOD and rip off only the BEST n/t

[Judi Lynn]

2. So Norton organized a Republican environmental group. Good grief!

From the article:

The December 2000 e-mails show DeLay's office identified - as an avenue for winning a meeting with the new interior secretary - Norton's former political fundraiser, Italia Federici, and a conservative environmental group called the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy (CREA).

Norton founded the group in 1999 with Federici and conservative activist Grover Norquist, a close ally of President Bush. When Norton was named interior secretary by Bush, Federici took over as president of CREA.
(snip)

Federici helped Norton raise money for an unsuccessful bid for a Senate seat in Colorado and she, Norquist and Norton formed CREA in 1999 as a tax-exempt organization highlighting Republican ideas for the environment.

Within a few months of the e-mail exchange, Abramoff's Indian tribal clients began sending more than a quarter-million dollars to CREA.
(snip)

"Secretary of the Interior Gale
Norton, left, and Assistant
Secretary for Indian Affairs Neal
McCaleb, left, appear before the
House Committee on Resources
to testify about Indian trust fund
accounts in Washington on Feb.
6, 2002. Blackfeet Tribal
Business Council member James
St. Goddard, center, looks on.
Scripps Howard News Service
and The Rocky Mountain News"




"Secretary Norton and President Bush hiking in the Santa
Monica Mountains National Recreation Area."

[acmavm]

8. She reminds me of Mr. Ed. n/t

[0007]

10. Me too! But I can't figure out who's riding who. n/t

I think Mr. Ed stepped on Libby foot.

[goforit]

16. Tooo funny!!!...Heee Haaaaw!!

[GoddessOfGuinness]

19. "Secretary Norton and President Bush hiking..."

Must've been a rough hike with no water.

[leesa]

28. It's what I wear when I'm hiking! Sheesh!

[GoddessOfGuinness]

31. You wear water when you're hiking?

Good trick! :D

At least they weren't wearing dress shoes...

[wishlist]

3. Headline should say "Bush Cabinet official Norton linked to Abramoff"

Very clever of Gale Norton and Grover Norquist to found a tax-exempt organization to raise money to push Republican ideas for the environment. Looks like another scheme to raise and funnel more money for the Republicans than what campaign financing laws allow. Definitely screaming out for an investigation of the money trail.

[Eugene]

4. A clear quid pro quo

and another Repug tangled in the the web.
DeLay was clearly bought, and apparently so was Norton.

Dirty tricks and dirty money. BushCo has simultaneously brought
back the worst excesses of both the Reagan and Nixon eras.

Recommended.

[annabanana]

5. k & r....n/t

[sabra]

6. kick

[Demeter]

7. Of Course He Did! But What I Like About This Is It's A Three-fer!

Abramoff, DeLay AND Norton!

"It's beginning to look a lot like Fitzmas, everywhere you go...."

By the time this is over, there won't be a GOP. Don't let the door hit you on the way out, guys.

The Xmas bargains are starting early this year.


(edit to add)Excuse me, Four-fer! Got that bastard Norquist, too! Corruption spreads like mold!

[sofa king]

11. McCain went out of his way to try to exonerate Norton yesterday.

"McCain stressed that there was 'no evidence to suggest that Secretary Norton knew of, much less sanctioned, Mr. Abramoff or anyone else using her name in seeking fees and donations from Native Americans.'"

http://www.sitnews.us/1105news/110305/110305_shns_abamoff.html

I don't know if that's old-style Senate comity or if he's trying to limit the scope of the probe. Sometimes it's tough to read McCain; he can be paradoxically relentless and forgiving at the same time.

But what I do know for certain is this. Everyone I knew and worked with in the Indian affairs community here in DC was warned in advance about the CREA greenscam and the potentially unfair and illegal influence it could have on the Department of the Interior.

It is no longer in question that this is exactly what happened.

[sofa king]

14. One more thing.

I'm out of the game now and probably can't get it myself. But if some enterprising researcher were to go back and review the comments and transcripts of Gale Norton's confirmation hearings, that person would find precisely what I said in my comments above.

Here is one example, where Sen. Murkowski deftly tries to deflate Norton's astroturf past:
____________________
http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/womenusa/01012301.htm

"Now, I've heard criticism that Ms. Norton has been identified with groups that advocate such things as more complete appreciation of the economic consequences of governmental action or a better understanding of the balance provided by the 10th Amendment to the Constitution. The issue of power of the federal government vis-a-vis the states has always been a contentious issue, and it isn't going to go away. But there has always been room for diversity and debate in the marketplace of ideas, and that includes the Department of Interior.

"Did his work as president of the League of Conservation Voters disqualify the previous secretary, Bruce Babbitt? Did George Frampton's lobbying for and his position as head of the Wilderness Society disqualify him? No, they both had strong advocacies for their point of view. I guess it depends on whether you happen to agree with their point of view. So it is a question of balance."
_____________________


Let me say it again in the most concrete terms that I can muster: The Senate was warned that Gale Norton's astroturf environmental group could have undue influence on the Department of Interior. Senate Republicans overrode those concerns, and things happened exactly as we warned they would happen.

This can be fully documented. We should not allow the Senate to wiggle out from under their culpability in this matter.

[texpatriot2004]

15. I would like to learn more about this. What resources could you

suggest?

[sofa king]

20. Hi tex,

The trick is to dig the documents out of the Senate and the Government Printing Office.

Like virtually all information outlets under Republican control, this has been made deliberately more difficult. But Google is our friend and the search string >"gale norton" nomination senate hearing< gets us headed in the right direction:

http://www.gpoaccess.gov/chearings/107scat1.html

If you scroll down that page, you'll find a the Norton hearing by the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, Jan. 18-19, 2001. I don't know if this link is going to work or not:

http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=107_senate_hearings&docid=f:72291.wais

Unfortunately, it looks like the Republicans stacked the deck in that hearing report and included only the favorable comments on Norton. (One of the things the researcher will have to do is read that entire tedious report for clues as to whom objected, etc.) So we'll probably have to look elsewhere for the real goods.

The next thing I would do is contact the minority staff of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, to ask them where the negative comments went. I would also check the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, since I happen to know for a fact that at least one memo on the subject was sent there (because I wrote it, dammit).

It's important to consult directly with the minority staff of the respective Committees. The majority staff will not be helpful and you may tip them off by asking. Never forget that when you are dealing with Republicans, you are dealing with criminals and you can count on them acting accordingly if they think they can get away with it.

If that doesn't work, one must consult individual Senators, particularly ones who are receptive to environmentalists and Indian advocates. Unfortunately, Tom Daschle probably received most of the comments and I have no idea what has happened to his records. A short list of people worth asking might comprise the staffs of Senators Bingaman, Dorgan, Akaka, Inouye, and Tim Johnson.

Simultaneously, one should check environmental groups and Indian advocacy organizations to see if they have posted online any letters they sent to the Senate. Here's one example from Friends of the Earth, which names CREA:

http://www.commondreams.org/news2001/0115-05.htm

This will permit you to cross-check against what you receive from the Senate itself. For example, if Senator Bingaman's office or SCENR can't produce the letter above, someone's holding out on you.

I know that someone, somewhere gave specific warnings about CREA and its potential influence, because I wrote one of them and it wasn't the only one I saw at the time. Unfortunately, it would require a lot of time and I gotta get paid to eat.

[texpatriot2004]

21. Thank you so much for your informative reply. I will see what I

can find.

[sofa king]

22. Oops!

I'm sorry, I misinterpreted your request. If you're just looking for background on Norton and CREA, here are some helpful articles:

http://www.mapcruzin.com/news/news123100a.htm

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Gale_A._Norton

http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Mountain_States_Legal_Foundation

http://www.earthjustice.org/policy/profiles/display.html?ID=1004

http://www.commondreams.org/news2001/0109-13.htm

What you won't find above is the list of evils Norton has perpetrated upon our common inheritance. Seriously, you'll have to look that up yourself, because there are so many.

Suffice to say that Norton was every bit as bad as we feared, from manipulation of scientific data to resource giveaways to abrogation of her responsibility as chief steward of our natural resources. Like her boss, she's the worst in modern history, perhaps ever.

http://www.commondreams.org/views03/1120-01.htm

Norton has also refined a particularly annoying tactic to a high art. In her frequent testimony before the Senate on various issues, she is often confronted directly by annoyed Members of Congress with difficult (and potentially incriminating) questions. Instead of answering or evading, she simply says, "I'll have to get back to you on that one." Then she never does, or if she does, it is via direct, non-public correspondence. She has thus totally evaded public responsibility of her actions, with the complicity of the Senate.

[donkeyotay]

12. kick

I'm starting to think there should be a limit on how many entities and foundations a person can be involved with. It's just a giant shell game. When someone like Refco has a dozen or more variations, I think that alone is a good indication they're up to no good. Accountants might not agree. I'm sure there are legitimate purposes, but everytime there's a scandal the players involved are using shells.

[JudyM]

13. kick! n/t

[davidinalameda]

17. wonder when Secretary Norton will step down

for "family reasons"

[IChing]

18. DeLay's Staff Tried to Help Abramoff DeLay’s Problems Mount

ASHINGTON - Rep. Tom DeLay's staff tried to help lobbyist Jack Abramoff win access to Interior Secretary Gale Norton, an effort that succeeded after Abramoff's Indian tribe clients began funneling a quarter-million dollars to an environmental group founded by Norton.



"Do you think you could call that friend and set up a meeting," then-DeLay staffer Tony Rudy wrote to fellow House aide Thomas Pyle in a Dec. 29, 2000, e-mail titled "Gale Norton-Interior Secretary." President Bush had nominated Norton to the post the day before.

Rudy wrote Abramoff that same day promising he had "good news" about securing a meeting with Norton, forwarding information about the environmental group Norton had founded, according to e-mails obtained by investigators and reviewed by The Associated Press. Rudy's message to Abramoff was sent from Congress' official e-mail system.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051103/ap_on_re_us/delay_indian_tribes;_ylt=AnN3VSe.1NVKnRMMBYg3Xkas0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3b2NibDltBHNlYwM3MTY-

[Peter Frank]

23. Kick

:kick:

[Mz Pip]

24. These guys just

DON'T know when to quit. Sometimes they make it so easy for us.
Mz Pip
:dem:

[Raiden]

25. Culture Of Corruption

How come the "MSM" ain't all over this... Imagine if instead, it were Harry Reid or Howard Dean... The media would be all over it

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

26. .

[Peter Frank]

27. Kick...

:kick:

[Miss Chybil]

29. Crony bastards.

They've sold our nation's soul to the devil. And weren't these people compaining about Clinton letting people sleep in the Lincoln bedroom for money, or some such foolishness?

[young_at_heart]

30. Maybe this will wipe the smile off his face!

He obviously is enjoying his role in all the "wrong-doing" and seems to relish each new accusation.

[Peter Frank]

32. Abramoff Hearing on C-Span now... nt

[Peter Frank]

33. Sorry -- this is a rebroadcest of Wed's session... nt

[Clyde39]

34. Those people in Sugarland who still support him-----why?

How many evil deeds must he do before you turn against him?

[Peter Frank]

35. Kick...

:kick: