WA POST: Abramoff, Prison and a Crazy Little Thing Called Love

[L. Coyote]

Abramoff, Prison and a Crazy Little Thing Called Love
By Dana Milbank - Wednesday, June 27, 2007; Page A02
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/26/AR2007062601846.html


... Had J. Steven Griles not been busy with so many lady friends while serving as the No. 2 official in the Interior Department, he probably wouldn't have scored a date yesterday with another woman: Judge Ellen Huvelle of U.S. District Court, who sentenced Griles to 10 months in prison for obstructing an investigation into the Jack Abramoff scandal.

Griles asked Abramoff for favors for the women in his life, prosecutors said, and in exchange helped Abramoff's clients with their government business. One of Griles's girlfriends, Italia Federici, got $500,000 for her nonprofit from Abramoff's Indian tribes.

"I concealed the nature and extent of my true relationship with Italia Federici," Griles confessed to the judge yesterday in a statement interrupted by stifled sobs. Choking out the words, a burly, red-faced Griles told Huvelle that "this has been the most difficult time in my life. My guilty plea has brought me great shame and embarrassment."

And the shame wasn't about to end. ............

[upi402]

1. Well, I hope he makes amends.

I'd like to forgive these guys in my heart. But my brain knows they are sociopaths. The tears are for themselves alone.

[L. Coyote]

2. I just hope he sings like a canary, or like Abramoff!

[Hand]

3. Wait'll he meets Bubba in the prison shower.

It'll be a one-man opera--with full orchestra! :evilgrin:

[alcibiades_mystery]

6. Another big fan of RAPE, are ya?

That's sweet.

[KT2000]

4. Oh Ickkkkkkkk !

He had women friends?!?!?!?!? More than one?!?!
He is such a lying loser and he looked so pathetic when he was lying to Congress.
Guess access to power and money trumps everythings else.

:puke:

[DeSwiss]

5. Actually, its gets kinkier than that.....

"Griles came to the Interior Department in 2001, leaving a practice lobbying for coal, oil, and other corporate interests to help oversee the country's resources. Unsurprisingly, ethics officials were on his case almost immediately for allegedly lobbying on the inside for his former clients. On one occasion, for example, he called over to the Environmental Protection Agency to urge that an environmental study not delay a huge coal-bed methane project planned by his former clients in Wyoming and Nevada.

So to ensure that Griles not roam too freely, an Interior official was assigned to keep an eye on him. That official: Sue Ellen Wooldridge, then the deputy chief of staff to Interior Secretary Gale Norton.

After a couple of months, the two were dating."

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/002611.php

Then, 3 days after he plead guilty to the charges he's now going to prison for, he and Sue Ellen tied the knot. Ain't love grand?????




on edit: spelling

[upi402]

8. That must hurt.

I don't care who you are, if you're not a sociopath, it has to hurt both people.
Anyway, he needs to pay for his crime and make amends every way he can or he has no hope of recovering his life.
my .02

Maybe he shouldn't find any grace, I don't know.

[DeSwiss]

9. I agree with your sentiment.

I don't express my views of Griles so much toward him personally, more so to highlight it for the metaphorical drama that it is. One in which we can contrast what is happening in real-life, against a conservative view (or what it has morphed into), which espouses a bedrock belief in family values. And because of it, their moral superiority over those who believe otherwise. And they would like to impose these ideas and beliefs into laws if, and where they can. The recent Supreme Court rulings are also evidence of the further "warping" of democracy and individual freedom. Public corruption like the Griles case has become meat and potatoes in political life.

Griles to me, is more of an example that in the end, we are all flawed. And it should force conservatives to ask themselves what they really believe in. After all, it is their example they wish us all to follow. Perfect, as it is. But the irony of all this is lost on most of them. And maybe not just "them."

As for whether or not Griles should find his grace, all I know is, the path toward grace is the one we're all on. And sometimes its found in the strangest places. Maybe this is where he'll find it.

[upi402]

10. Republicans seem to tend toward the dysfunctional.

And if pain is the touchstone of growth, I hope they all get their requisite dose, and soon!

[L. Coyote]

7. Michael Rossetti, Akin Gump lobbyist, former counsel Interior Sec. Norton, testified against Griles.

Griles, who was convicted of obstruction of justice in the Abramoff probe two months ago, was accused of helping two Abramoff clients — the Louisiana Coushatta tribe and the Saginaw Chippewa — fend off casino proposals from rival tribes. Griles denied the allegations and Rossetti disputed his accounts.

Monica Goodling's Law Firm, Akin, Gump et al, had a 2006 Total Lobbying Income: $25,820,000

This is so reminiscent of Abramoff! I have personally seen how impoverished this reservation is.
I taught there. This is just unbelievable, $$millions$$ per year?
=====================
2003 - Gila River Indian Community $2,040,000

2004 = $27,960,000
Gila River Indian Community $2,180,000

2005 = $28,460,000
Gila River Indian Community $1,260,000

http://www.opensecrets.org/lobbyists/firmsum.asp?txtnam...
==============================
McCain swears off tribal money, but accepts contributions from lobbyists
By Susan Crabtree
May 07, 2007
http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/mccain-swears-off-t...

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), who led the Senate Indian Affairs Committee investigation into the Jack Abramoff scandal, has sworn off taking tribal money in his presidential campaign but continues to accept donations from lobbyists whose firms represent tribal clients.

......... Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer and Feld, with its affiliate, Ietan Consulting, is another powerful player in the tribal lobbying community. Combined the two firms represent at least 21 tribal clients, and employees of the firm have cut $41,000 in checks to McCain committees in the past three election cycles.

Akin Gump also has a direct link to the Indian Affairs Committee probe. Michael Rossetti, an Akin Gump lobbyist who previously served as counsel to former Interior Secretary Gale Norton, testified before the panel against former Interior Deputy Secretary J. Stephen Griles.

Griles, who was convicted of obstruction of justice in the Abramoff probe two months ago, was accused of helping two Abramoff clients — the Louisiana Coushatta tribe and the Saginaw Chippewa — fend off casino proposals from rival tribes. Griles denied the allegations and Rossetti disputed his accounts.

Rossetti is now a registered lobbyist for the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, another former Abramoff client, and four other tribes.

==========================
OMG: The Akin Gump Escort Worked For... Monica Goodling's Lawyer!!!
Is this source reliable?
http://www.abovethelaw.com/2007/05/akin_gump_on_the_dc_madams_app.php#more

We have confirmed, with knowledgeable sources, what was previously rumored in reader comments. The Akin Gump Escort worked for John M. Dowd, the high-powered head of the firm's criminal litigation group.

...............We emailed Mr. Dowd to confirm that the (alleged) Akin Gump Assistant Madam worked as his secretary. We didn't receive a response from him. But a few hours later, we were contacted by a firm spokesperson:

Per your query, I write to advise that this is an internal personnel matter, and as such we will not provide comment.

[DeSwiss]

11. America's history with respect to the Indian reservations...

...is a travesty among many. In the end, Griles, Goodling et.al. are all just a bunch of crooked lawyers.

As for McCain, his ship is sinking fast. Anytime you're comfortably in fourth place behind a guy who isn't even running yet, well that's the hand writing on the wall. And all the ReThug candidates suck. So he's really fourth of the worst.

Now he's openly whoring himself. Bringing in a bunch of lobbyist for his staff and breaking bread with the same Swift-Boaters he previously denounced.

I've always believed he was a pig. He's service in Nam, notwithstanding. None of those guys deserved that. But since the S&L scandals of the 80s I thought he was slimy. Turns out I was right. All he's doing now is showing his true colors.

[Glimmer of Hope]

12. Vernon Jordan is a partner at Akin Gump.

[L. Coyote]

13. Check out who Gillespie's partner is!

Some firms do odd couple weddings to cover the bases.
It seems to be a genre where you can buy both sides??

[L. Coyote]

14. SPINOFF: ABRAMOFF Scandal: J. Steven Griles Ordered to Prison, Highest-Ranked Bush Convict

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x1198838

In this spinoff thread, compiling the Griles story.