Associate of Abramoff had 12 meetings with Bush staff

[deminks]

A lobbyist associated with Jack Abramoff, the convicted former "superlobbyist", met White House officials on 12 occasions in 2003 and 2004 on behalf of an association that represented PartyGaming and other online gaming websites, according to billing records released by Congress.

White House officials' meetings with Shawn Vasell, a former associate of Mr Abramoff, were documented by the latter's former lobbying firm, Greenberg Traurig. The documents were released following a broader investigation into contacts between Mr Abramoff's team and the Bush administration by the House committee on government reform.

A spokesman for Mr Abramoff, who pleaded guilty to corruption charges this year, declined to comment. As payment for Mr Abramoff's lobbying effort to scupper anti-gaming legislation, Gibraltar-based International Interactive Association (IIA) spent millions of dollars on fees to Greenberg Traurig. The effort was largely effective until recently, when Congress passed a bill that, in effect, criminalised gaming.

IIA, represented by James Levy, of the Gibraltar law firm Hassans, has sought to distance itself from its ties to Mr Abramoff by asserting that, in common with his other clients, it was unaware of the lobbyist's shenanigans. These included the fact that IIA contributed $2m (£1.1m) to charities Mr Abramoff used to disguise payments to other organisations.


http://www.ft.com/cms/s/b3b6a4e6-5cb2-11db-9e7e-0000779e2340.html

[sam sarrha]

1. they should have a lottery for who pulls the lever to Flush Bu$hitCo

and donate the money to Iraqi Widows and orphans

[seafan]

2. Shawn Vasell, team leader for the Miami recount riot team in 2000

These guys have so many talents.

[TomInTib]

3. Damn, I wish that had happened on my place.

No more Mr Vasell.

Poaching?...

Jesus..

[No DUplicitous DUpe]

4. Wow, just wow.

Big K & R

[Fridays Child]

5. A major leaugue skank. n/t

[notadmblnd]

6. Displease a Lobbyist, Get Fired

I posted this last night and it promptly sunk, but I thought it was interesting too.


been wondering why Ken Mehlman has been laying low? This may be one reason.

snip: Newly disclosed e-mails suggest that the ax fell after intervention by one of the highest officials at the White House: Ken Mehlman, on behalf of one of the most influential lobbyists in town, Jack Abramoff.

The e-mails show that Abramoff, whose client list included the Northern Mariana Islands, had long opposed Stayman's work advocating labor changes in that U.S. commonwealth, and considered what his lobbying team called the "Stayman project" a high priority.

"Mehlman said he would get him fired," an Abramoff associate wrote after meeting with Mehlman, who was then White House political director.

snip: State Department officials resisted the dismissal, and negotiations dragged on for months. In May 2001, one of Mehlman's deputies assured Abramoff's team that, "Obviously, this guy cannot stay."

That July 9, Ralston e-mailed Abramoff with news of a deal on Stayman: "He'll be out in four months."

And he was.

Very interesting article, more...
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-me...

[Binka]

7. $1000 Says This Vassel Dude Was A Page

Who pushed him up the ladder of success to an "elite stylish lifestyle?"

Fucking punkasspieceoftrashFUCKWITTAGE!

[Quantess]

8. The stink just won't wash away.

K & R.

[robbedvoter]

9. Lincoln bedroom! Lincoln Bedroom!

(they asked for records and found nothing compromising, but it's still a good battle cry- you'll be hearing it again!)

[yellowcanine]

10. Hell Newtie dredged up Jimmy Carter and the Iranian Hostage Crisis

the other day. These guys have no shame.

[truthisfreedom]

11. and of course, scared out of their wits that the meetings would be discov-

ered, rove arranged to make gaming illegal very quickly as a cover for this bullshit.