Lobbyist Minimizes Talks With Reid's Staff (documents falsified?)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- One of Jack Abramoff's ex-colleagues confirms he contacted Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid's office on behalf of the influential lobbyist but says he does not believe Abramoff's billing records accurately reflect the extent of his work.

Ronald Platt, a lobbyist who worked with Abramoff at the Greenberg Traurig firm between 2001 and 2004, said he contacted Reid's office in 2001, as the billing records show, about the timing of minimum wage legislation affecting one of Abramoff's clients, the Northern Mariana Islands. "When Abramoff first arrived at Greenberg Traurig, I did a new colleague a favor by simply asking Reid staffers about when the minimum wage legislation affecting the Mariana Islands would be voted upon by the Senate. I communicated this to Abramoff," Platt said in a statement e-mailed Friday evening to The Associated Press.

The AP reported on Thursday that lobbying firm billing records obtained under public records law from the Marianas showed that Abramoff billed the islands for 21 contacts in 2001 with Reid's office.

The records listed the minimum wage as the issue and Platt as the point of contact for most of those contacts. Platt had registered with the Senate in 2001 to lobby for the Marianas as well as for some Abramoff tribal clients. Reid's office confirmed this week it had "routine contact" with Platt over the years on lobbying issues such as the Marianas and American Indian tribes, but said it could not verify all the contacts listed in the billing records.

In his statement, Platt sought to minimize the extent of his lobbying of Reid's office on behalf of Abramoff, saying he never considered himself "part of Team Abramoff." Abramoff has pleaded guilty in a fraud and bribery case. "These contacts were incidental, insofar as I simply bumped into Reid staffers at Democratic Party functions or occurred incidental to discussions regarding my clients, not Abramoff's," Platt said. "Any contacts that I may have had in regard to Abramoff's tribal clients would have been similarly incidental."

As for the 21 contacts listed in the billing records, Platt noted Abramoff has pleaded guilty to defrauding clients and said the references in the AP's story were inaccurate. He was not more specific. Platt acknowledged he input his own time entries into his firm's billing system and that "any time billed to the Northern Marianas was to simply monitor the progress of the legislation."

He said any help he provided with Abramoff's client ended in late 2001. Audits of Abramoff's work for the Marianas during the 1990s, when he was with the Preston Gates lobbying firm, concluded that more than $1 million in expenses could not be substantiated.

The 2001 Marianas billing records cited by the AP were similarly audited and the island's government raised no concerns. In fact, the island's auditor concluded that Greenberg Traurig had provided "more lobbyist services ... in terms of time spent" for less money than had been seen in earlier years.

Platt also said the AP did not attempt to reach him for comment before its story moved Thursday. The AP contacted Platt's new lobbying firm in late December seeking to interview him about the billing records and was referred to Greenberg Traurig. Platt also did not return two phone messages Friday renewing a request for an interview. Instead, he sent the e-mail statement. Greenberg Traurig declined comment. "Consistent with our ethical obligations to clients, our firm continues to cooperate fully with ongoing government investigations," the firm said.

Democratic lobbyist Ron Platt

Ronald L. Platt

"Serving as the political director to the Nevada Democratic Coordinated Campaign in 1998 (Senator Harry Reid).

Platt, a former aide to former Senator Lloyd M. Bentsen (D-Texas)

Ronald L. Platt joined the K Street, Washington, DC, law firm of Buchanan Ingersoll PC as director of Federal Government Relations in August 2004.

"Active for many years in the Democratic party, Ron is a member of the Majority Trust and a trustee of the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee."

"Platt has more than 20 years of experience in government affairs, tax policy, gaming policy, appropriations and communications. He has been involved in the last three presidential campaigns, including serving as the state director of Michigan for [Al] Gore-[Joe] Lieberman 2000, and also worked for the former chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and for former Secretary of the Treasury Lloyd Bentsen."

"Directing the successful Democratic Coordinated Campaign for Iowa in 1996 (Clinton-Gore, Senator Tom Harkin and Iowa's congressional candidates).

"Serving as a senior political advisor for the Clinton-Gore campaign during the 1991-1992 election cycle.

"Baucus Acknowledges Campaign Finance Mistake"

Federal - Billings Gazette - Published on: 12/21/2005

Issued: December 30, 2005

U.S. Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) will return almost $900 in campaign dollars to a former associate of indicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff, acknowledging his campaign exceeded federal limits when the lobbyist threw a fundraiser for the senator in 2001. Barrett Kaiser, a spokesperson for Baucus, said the senator did not violate federal election law but would return the money to fundraiser Ronald Platt. The refund came after the Montana Republican Party filed a complaint with the FEC.

Well connected in Democratic circles, Mr. Platt was the state director of Michigan for Gore-Lieberman 2000.

Democratic senators Blanche Lincoln and Mark Pryor, AP reports, received money from Abramoff “associates,” including Ron Platt, a Democratic lobbyist.

Platt’s connection to the disgraced lobbyist had first publicly surfaced in December, when the Washington Post listed Platt as part of “Team Abramoff,” asserting that he “lobbied for tribal clients of Jack Abramoff and...contributed money to politicians.”

PLATT, RONALD I (HIP HEALTH PLAN OF NY), (Zip code: 33067) $1000 to FRIENDS OF SCHUMER on 06/07/04

PLATT, RONALD
GREAT FALLS, VA 22066

Contributions to Political Committees

http://tinyurl.com/9hbjv

November 10, 2005
Lobbyist Sought $9 Million to Set Bush Meeting
NY TIMES By PHILIP SHENON

WASHINGTON, Nov. 9 - The lobbyist Jack Abramoff asked for $9 million in 2003 from the president of a West African nation to arrange a meeting with President Bush and directed his fees to a Maryland company now under federal scrutiny, according to newly disclosed documents.

The African leader, President Omar Bongo of Gabon, met with President Bush in the Oval Office on May 26, 2004, 10 months after Mr. Abramoff made the offer. There has been no evidence in the public record that Mr. Abramoff had any role in organizing the meeting or that he received any money or had a signed contract with Gabon.

White House and State Department officials described Mr. Bush's meeting with President Bongo, whose government is regularly accused by the United States of human rights abuses, as routine. The officials said they knew of no involvement by Mr. Abramoff in the arrangements. Officials at Gabon's embassy in Washington did not respond to written questions. "This went through normal staffing channels," said Trent Duffy, a White House spokesman, who said the meeting was "part of the president's outreach to the continent of Africa."

A document from Mr. Abramoff's files that was released last week by a Senate committee shows that in the summer of 2003 he pushed to sign President Bongo as a client, even offering to travel to Gabon immediately after an August golfing vacation to Scotland "with the congressmen and senators I take there each year."

The documents also show that Mr. Abramoff and his colleagues drew up a draft contract that called for $9 million in fees to be paid to GrassRoots Interactive, the small Maryland lobbying company that his former colleagues say he controlled.

Documents, including copies of canceled checks, show that millions of dollars flowed through the company's accounts in 2003, the year it was created, including at least $2.3 million to a California consulting firm that used the same address as the law office of Mr. Abramoff's brother, Robert. A separate check for $400,000 was made out to Kay Gold, another Abramoff family company.

Mr. Abramoff, a Republican fund-raiser who once was one of the most powerful lobbyists in Washington, has been indicted in Florida on federal fraud charges. He is also under investigation by a federal grand jury in Washington and two Senate committees.

The grand jury inquiry initially centered on accusations that Mr. Abramoff had defrauded a group of Indian tribes out of tens of millions of dollars in lobbying fees connected to their gambling operations, including steep fees for work that was never performed.

But federal law enforcement officials say that inquiry has broadened, with prosecutors examining other issues, including Mr. Abramoff's relationship with GrassRoots and other small consulting firms and charities he controlled. Congressional investigators have questioned whether he used them to hide income to avoid paying taxes and to evade disclosure rules for lobbyists. Federal law requires lobbyists for foreign governments to register with the Justice Department.

A spokesman for Mr. Abramoff had no comment on GrassRoots or the lobbyist's contacts with President Bongo. Robert Abramoff did not return repeated phone calls. GrassRoots has no listed telephone number in Silver Spring, Md., where it had been based.

In a draft agreement with Gabon dated Aug. 7, 2003, Mr. Abramoff and his associates asked that $9 million in lobbying fees be paid through wire transfers - three of them, each for $3 million - to GrassRoots instead of the Washington offices of Greenberg Traurig, the large lobbying firm where he did most of his work. The agreement promised a "public relations effort related to promoting Gabon and securing a visit for President Bongo with the president of the United States."

In seeking meetings at the White House or on Capitol Hill, foreign leaders, especially those from small nations, regularly turn to Washington lobbyists, especially those who claim connections to the government because of political or family ties.

Billy Carter, President Jimmy Carter's brother, was a registered agent for Libya during his brother's presidency. During the Clinton administration, Anthony Rodham, whose sister, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, was the first lady, acknowledged that he had been offered a six-figure payment by supporters of the president of Paraguay to arrange a meeting with President Bill Clinton.

GrassRoots Interactive came under scrutiny on Capitol Hill in recent months when the Senate Judiciary Committee considered President Bush's nomination of a senior lawyer at Tyco International, a former lobbying client of Mr. Abramoff, as the No. 2 official at the Justice Department.

The lawyer, Timothy E. Flanigan, told the committee that at Mr. Abramoff's suggestion he had directed $2 million to GrassRoots from Tyco for lobbying on the company's behalf.
Instead, Mr. Flanigan said he learned last year that Mr. Abramoff had directed the money to "entities" that the lobbyist controlled and that Tyco was the victim of a "major fraud." After weeks of controversy over his ties to Mr. Abramoff, Mr. Flanigan withdrew his nomination as deputy attorney general last month.

Mr. Abramoff's ties to Gabon were first revealed in a letter that was among hundreds of pages of documents from Mr. Abramoff's files that were released last week by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, which has conducted a yearlong investigation of his lobbying for Indian tribes.

When he first approached Gabon, Mr. Abramoff was not new to issues involving West Africa. He had been a Washington lobbyist for President Mobutu Sese Seko, the repressive leader of neighboring Congo, called Zaire at the time. He also had connections to Gabon through a former business partner, David Safavian, who was a registered agent in Washington for President Bongo. Mr. Safavian, a former White House budget official, was arrested in September on charges of lying about his ties to Mr. Abramoff.

The three-page letter released by the Senate panel was written to Mr. Bongo on Greenberg Traurig stationery and dated July 28, 2003; Mr. Abramoff suggested that he had unusual influence to arrange a meeting with President Bush.

"Without advance resources, I have been cautiously working to obtain a visit for the president to Washington to see President Bush," Mr. Abramoff wrote. "As you know, we were, in advance of the war in Iraq, able to secure a tentative date for this meeting; however, the war canceled all such scheduled visits."

Mr. Abramoff said he was willing to travel to Gabon to meet with Mr. Bongo to discuss the contract if the government would arrange for a private plane. "It must be on the basis by which I travel anywhere, being in a private aircraft, which bears a substantial cost unfortunately," he said. "I am confident that we will have a long, productive and warm relationship, but good relationships are built on firm understandings at the outset."

Other documents obtained by The New York Times show that Mr. Abramoff and his colleagues prepared two draft agreements, both dated Aug. 7, 2003, that outlined the lobbying plan for Gabon. One called for GrassRoots to receive $9 million in lobbying fees; the other called for Greenberg Traurig to receive $1 million, all of it in 2003. A spokeswoman for Greenberg Traurig said the firm had no comment. "We don't comment on whom we do or don't represent," said Jill Perry, a spokeswoman for the firm, which forced Mr. Abramoff to resign last year.

Maryland state records show that GrassRoots were established in 2003 by Edward B. Miller. Samuel Hook, a former partner of Mr. Abramoff from Greenberg Traurig, took over it in September 2003. Mr. Ehrlich's office has said that Mr. Miller is cooperating in the Justice Department investigation. Aron Raskas, a lawyer speaking for Mr. Miller, said Mr. Miller had no knowledge of any project involving Gabon.

Mr. Hook's lawyer, Alyza D. Lewin, said that "Mr. Abramoff solely controlled G.R.I.," a reference to GrassRoots Interactive.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/10/politics/10lobby.html?ei=5094&en=c143a0d022b49971&hp=&ex=1131598800&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print

Do you recall Big Media ever calling Sandy - the 'disgraced' Sandy Berger - even after his conviction? I don't...

Probe links Reid, lobbyist
By John Solomon and Sharon Theimer
Associated Press
Posted on Sun, Feb. 12, 2006

WASHINGTON - Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid portrays disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff's activities as involving only Republicans. But Abramoff's billing records and congressional correspondence tell a different story.

They show Abramoff's lobbying team billed for nearly two dozen contacts with Reid's office in a single year to mostly discuss Democratic legislation that would have set the minimum hourly wage for the Northern Mariana Islands, an Abramoff client, initially almost $3 lower than U.S. states and other territories.

Reid, D-Nev., also wrote at least four letters to the Bush administration helpful to Indian tribes Abramoff represented, often collecting donations from Abramoff-related sources around the same time.

And in the midst of the contacts, Abramoff's firm hired one of Reid's top legislative aides to lobby for the tribal and Marianas clients. The aide then helped throw a fundraiser for Reid at Abramoff's firm.

The activities -- detailed in billing records and correspondence obtained by the Associated Press -- are far more extensive than previously disclosed. They occurred over three years as Reid collected nearly $68,000 in donations from Abramoff's firm, lobbying partners and clients.

Ethics rules require senators to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest in collecting contributions around the times they take official acts benefiting donors.

Reid's office acknowledged last week having ``routine contacts'' with Abramoff's lobbying partners and intervening on some government matters -- such as blocking some tribal casinos -- in ways Abramoff's clients might have deemed helpful. But it said none of his actions was affected by donations or done for Abramoff.

``All the actions that Senator Reid took were consistent with his long-held beliefs, such as not letting tribal casinos expand beyond reservations, and were taken to defend the interests of Nevada constituents,'' press secretary Jim Manley said.

Abramoff has pleaded guilty in a fraud and bribery case and is now helping prosecutors investigate lawmakers, congressional aides and administration officials his team used to lobby.

Abramoff representative Andrew Blum declined to comment on the Reid contacts.

Reid has assailed Republicans' ties to Abramoff while refusing to return any of his own donations. Unlike dozens of other recipients, including President Bush's campaign, who have donated some or all of the money they got to charities, Reid argues that there is no need for him to do that.

``Senator Reid never met Jack Abramoff and never has taken contributions from him, and efforts to drag him into this are going to fail,'' Manley said. ``Abramoff is a convicted felon, and no one has suggested the other partners we might have dealt with have done anything impermissible.''

While Abramoff never directly donated to Reid, the lobbyist did instruct one tribe, the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana, to send $5,000 to Reid's tax-exempt political group, the Searchlight Leadership Fund, in 2002. About the same time, Reid sent a letter to the Interior Department helpful to the tribe, records show.

Abramoff sent a list to the tribe titled ``Coushatta Requests'' recommending donations to campaigns or groups for 50 lawmakers he claimed were helpful to the tribe.

Alongside Reid's name, Abramoff wrote, ``5,000 (Searchlight Leadership Fund) Senate Majority Whip.''

Following a pattern seen with Abramoff and Republicans, Abramoff's Democratic team members often delivered donations to Reid close to key events.

Reid and his Senate counsel Jim Ryan met with Abramoff deputy Ronald Platt on June 5, 2001, ``to discuss timing on minimum-wage bill'' that affected the Marianas, according to a bill that Greenberg Traurig, Abramoff's firm, sent the Marianas.

Three weeks before the meeting, Greenberg Traurig's political action committee donated $1,000 to Reid's Senate re-election committee. Three weeks after the meeting, Platt himself donated $1,000 to Reid.

Manley said Reid's official calendar doesn't list a meeting on June 5, 2001, with Platt, but he also said he couldn't say for sure the contact didn't occur. Manley confirmed Platt had regular contacts with Reid's office, calling them part of the ``routine checking in'' by lobbyists who work Capitol Hill.

As for the timing of donations, Manley said: ``There is no connection. This is just a typical part of lawful fundraising.''

The U.S. territorial islands in the Pacific Ocean were one of Abramoff's highest-paying clients and were trying to keep their textile industry exempt from most U.S. laws on immigration, labor and pay, including the minimum wage.

Many Democrats have long accused the islands of running garment sweatshops.

The islands in 2001 had their own minimum wage of $3.05 an hour, and were exempt from the U.S. minimum of $5.15.

Republicans were intent on protecting the Marianas' exemption. Democrats, led by Sen. Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts and Rep. George Miller of Concord, wanted the Marianas to be covered by the U.S. minimum and crafted a compromise.

In February 2001, Kennedy introduced a bill that would have raised the U.S. hourly minimum to $6.65 and would have covered the Marianas. The legislation, which eventually failed, would have given the islands an initial break by setting the minimum at just $3.55 -- nearly $3 lower than any other territory or state -- and then gradually increasing it.

Within a month, Platt began billing for routine contacts and meetings with Reid's staff, starting with a March 26, 2001, contact with Reid Chief of Staff Susan McCue to ``discuss timing and status of minimum-wage legislation,'' billing records say.

In all, Platt and a fellow lobbyist reported 21 contacts in 2001 with Reid's office, mostly with McCue and Ryan.

Platt failed to return two phone messages Friday but, in an e-mail message, sought to minimize the extent of his lobbying of Reid's office on behalf of Abramoff, saying he never considered himself ``part of Team Abramoff.''

``These contacts were incidental, insofar as I simply bumped into Reid staffers at Democratic Party functions or occurred incidental to discussions regarding my clients, not Abramoff's,'' Platt said. ``Any contacts that I may have had in regard to Abramoff's tribal clients would have been similarly incidental.''

Reid's interventions on casino matters were numerous.

On March 5, 2002, he sent a letter to the Interior Department pressing the agency to reject a proposed casino by the Jena Band of Choctaw Indians in Louisiana. Fellow Nevada Sen. John Ensign, a Republican, also signed.

The proposed Jena casino would have rivaled one already in operation in Louisiana run by the Coushattas, and Abramoff was lobbying to block the Jena. The day after Reid's letter, the Coushattas wrote a $5,000 check to Reid's Searchlight group at Abramoff's suggestion.

Reid and Ensign recently wrote the Senate ethics committee to say their letter had nothing to do with Abramoff or the donation and instead reflected their interest in protecting Las Vegas' gambling establishments.

``As senators for the state with the largest non-tribal gaming industry in the nation, we have long opposed the growth of off-reservation tribal gaming throughout the United States,'' Ensign and Reid wrote. Reid wrote the law legalizing casinos on reservations, and has long argued it does not allow tribal gambling off reservations.

On Nov. 8, 2002, the Nevada Democrat signed a letter with California Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein urging then-Interior Secretary Gale Norton to reject a proposal by the Cuyapaipe Band of Mission Indians to convert land for a health clinic into a casino in Southern California.

The casino would have competed with the Palm Springs gambling establishment run by the Agua Caliente, one of Abramoff's tribes.

Two weeks later, Reid went to the Senate floor to oppose fellow Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow's effort to win congressional approval for a Michigan casino for the Bay Mills Indians, which would have rivaled one already operated by the Saginaw Chippewa, who were represented by Abramoff.

The next month, Reid joined six other Democratic senators in asking Bush in mid-December 2002 to spend an additional $30 million for Indian school construction. Several Abramoff tribes, including the Saginaw and the Mississippi Choctaw, were seeking federal money for school building.

Six weeks after that letter, three Abramoff partners donated a total of $4,000 to Reid's Senate re-election campaign. Later in 2003, the Agua Caliente contributed $13,500 to Reid's political groups while the Saginaw chipped in $9,000.

Reid sent a fourth letter on April 30, 2003, joining Ensign a second time to urge Interior to reject the Jena casino.

A couple of months later, Abramoff's firm threw a fundraiser for Reid at its Washington office that netted the Nevada senator several more donations from Greenberg Traurig lobbyists and their spouses.

http://www.timesleader.com/mld/mercurynews/news/nation/13854141.htm?source=rss&channel=mercurynews_nation

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.