The following is a list of trips for politicians, lobbyists, and staffers funded by Jack Abramoff.
The picture at right (taken at Carnoustie) for the trip to St. Andrews, the famed Scottish golf course. This trip was paid for by Abramoff at a cost of $160,000. Congressman Bob Ney's then chief of staff, William Heaton, admitted "falsifying his and Ney's financial disclosure forms in 2002 and 2003 to keep gifts secret. For example, Ney's forms said the Scotland trip was paid for by the National Center for Public Policy Research so he could meet with Scottish parliamentarians, though the Scottish Parliament was not in session...."[1]
Trips
edit| Date | Location | Participants | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| December 4–12, 1996 | Saipan | Ed Buckham, Tony Rudy, Jeff Shockey | Abramoff paid at least $3000; he was reimbursed by Preston Gates & Ellis, reimbursed in turn by the Marianas government |
| New Year's, 1997 | Saipan | Tom DeLay (R-TX) with his wife and daughter | Stayed for free at beachside resort |
| January 1997 | Saipan | James Clyburn (D-SC) and Bennie Thompson (D-MS) | Clyburn and Thompson invited by National Security Caucus Foundation, who was paid by Preston Gates & Ellis and told that the government had paid for it |
| Six days, 1997 | Russia | Tom DeLay, Ed Buckham, Jack Abramoff, lobbyist Julius "Jay" Kaplan, Amy Ridenour of NCPPR and her husband, journalist Bart Adams, Jesse Helms aide James P. Lucier, David Lowe (National Endowment for Democracy) | About $60,000 funneled by Naftasib executives Marina Nevskaya and Alexander Koulakovsky through Bahamas company Chelsea Enterprises, which paid the National Center for Public Policy Research.[2] |
| late May-early June 2000 | London/Scotland | Tom DeLay, Tony Rudy, Ed Buckham, Susan Hirschmann | Airfare charged to Abramoff's credit card, expenses charged to Ed Buckham's credit card; supposedly organized by National Center for Public Policy Research[3] |
| February 21, 1999 | Marshall Islands | Official congressional delegation led by Don Young (R-AK) | Also in delegation: John Doolittle (R-CA), Ken Calvert (R-CA), Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), delegates of Guam, American Samoa, Virgin Islands and 8 staffers. Preston Gates sued the Marshall Islands to get reimbursed for the trip.[4][5][6] |
| January 2001 | Super Bowl XXXV, Tampa | Conrad Burns chief of staff Will Brooke, Bob Ney chief of staff Neil Volz, Burns appropriations staffer Ryan Thomas, Tom DeLay staffers | Funded by SunCruz Casinos; Brooke and Volz later joined Team Abramoff[7] |
| 2001 | Korea | Tom DeLay, DeLay's wife, Ed Buckham | |
| July 2001 | Puerto Rico | John Lopez (John Doolittle chief of staff) | Paid for by Greenberg Traurig in violation of House ethics rules |
| August 3–11, 2002 | Scotland & London | Bob Ney, Ralph Reed, David Safavian, Jack Abramoff, Ney's chief of staff, William Heaton, House Administration Committee lawyer Paul D. Vinovich, lobbyist Michael Williams | golfing trip paid for by Capital Athletic Foundation at a cost of over $130,000—this trip was named in Safavian's indictment because he had falsely claimed Abramoff had no business before the GSA at the time of the trip[8] |
| January 2003 | Fiesta Bowl, Tempe, Arizona | Bob Ney and staffers | named in Neil Volz's plea |
| May 9–12, 2003 | New Orleans | Bob Ney, William Heaton, Neil Volz, and another lobbyist | named in Neil Volz's and Bob Ney's plea; $7200 paid for by Greenberg Traurig |
| August 9–14, 2003 | Scotland | Tom Feeney (R-FL), Ralph Reed, Mark Zachares, Bob R. Brooks Jr., chief of staff to Rep. Jim McCrery (R-La.) | paid for by Abramoff though supposedly by National Center for Public Policy Research[9] |
| August 24–27, 2003 | Lake George, New York | Bob Ney, William Heaton, another Ney staffer, Neil Volz, and another lobbyist | named in Neil Volz's plea[10] and Bob Ney's plea;[11] $3500 paid for by Volz and reimbursed by Greenberg Traurig |
References
edit- ^ James V. Grimaldi; Carol D. Leonnig (February 27, 2007). "Former Aide to Ex-Congressman Ney Pleads Guilty in Abramoff Case". Washington Post. p. A06.
- ^ Smith, R. Jeffrey; Grimaldi, James V. (April 6, 2005). "A 3rd DeLay Trip Under Scrutiny". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 11, 2010.
- ^ "DeLay Airfare Was Charged To Lobbyist's Credit Card (washingtonpost.com)". Washingtonpost.com. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-12-23. Retrieved 2008-03-08.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2006-02-24. Retrieved 2006-02-24.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2006-03-23. Retrieved 2006-02-24.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "TPMmuckraker". Tpmmuckraker.com. Archived from the original on 5 May 2006. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
- ^ "Text of Safavian indictment" (PDF). Pogo.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 November 2006. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
- ^ * Cloud of scandal rains on Tom Feeney's golf junket Archived 2007-10-04 at the Wayback Machine, Los Angeles Times via Orlando Sentinel, March 9, 2005
- Golf, and Playing By The Rules, Los Angeles Times, March 9, 2005
- Logs Show 2 Abramoff Trips to White House, Washington Post, May 10, 2006
- ^ "Neil Volz factual proffer". Talkingpointsmemo.com. Archived from the original on 25 October 2008. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
- ^ "Bob Ney charges". Talkingpointsmemo.com. Archived from the original on 30 August 2008. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
Sources
edit- "Abramoff associate Michael Scanlon". Thinkprogress.org. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
- "DeLay's Lavish Island Getaway". ABC News. 10 November 2005. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
- R. Jeffrey Smith (May 4, 2005). "Democrats' Travel Costs Linked to Lobbyist". Washington Post. p. A01.