Big-time lobbyist's plea deal casts shadow over Congress

WASHINGTON — Jack Abramoff, the once-powerful lobbyist at the center of a wide-ranging corruption investigation, pleaded guilty Tuesday to fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy to bribe public officials in a deal that requires him to provide evidence about members of Congress.

The investigation has mushroomed into a major scandal and has ensnared one lawmaker and two former congressional aides, and Abramoff's plea deal gives the probe new impetus.

It includes a requirement that Abramoff cooperate truthfully in the investigation of his actions over a decadelong period, a process that could reduce his jail time significantly. Abramoff also must make restitution of $25 million and pay a little more than $1.7 million in back taxes to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

The plea deal could have enormous legal and political consequences for lawmakers on whom Abramoff lavished luxury trips, skybox fundraisers, campaign contributions, jobs for their spouses and meals at Signatures, his upscale restaurant.

The Abramoff case could rival or surpass the 1980 Abscam case, in which an FBI sting trapped members of Congress taking bribes. Six House members and one senator were convicted.

"This is going to grow and multiply," said Bill Mateja, a former top official in the Bush Justice Department who is now a Dallas lawyer. "If I were on Capitol Hill, I would be shaking in my boots. Because if anyone knows where the skeletons are buried, it's Jack Abramoff."

In court papers, prosecutors refer to only one congressman: Rep. Robert Ney, R-Ohio. But Abramoff, who built a political alliance with House Republicans, including former Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas, has agreed to provide information and testimony about six House and Senate members, officials familiar with the inquiry said. He also is to provide evidence about congressional staff members, Interior Department workers and other executive-branch officials, and other lobbyists.

"The corruption scheme with Mr. Abramoff is very extensive," Alice Fisher, head of the Justice Department's criminal division, said at a news conference. "We're going to follow this wherever it goes. ... We are going to expend the resources that are necessary to make sure that people know that government is not for sale."

Fisher declined to identify the officials under scrutiny. "We name people in indictments," she said, adding, "We are moving very quickly."

Among allegations in the court documents is that Abramoff arranged for payments totaling $50,000 to the wife of an unnamed congressional staff member in return for his help in killing a gambling bill. The Washington Post has reported that Tony Rudy, a former top aide to DeLay, worked with Abramoff to kill such a bill in 2000 before going to work for the lobbyist.

Abramoff's appearance in U.S. District Court on Tuesday came nearly two years after his lobbying gained public notice because of the enormous payments — eventually tallied at $82 million — that he and a public-relations partner received from casino-rich Indian tribes. On Tuesday, he admitted defrauding four of those tribal clients of millions of dollars. He also pleaded guilty to evading taxes, conspiring to bribe lawmakers and conspiring to induce former Capitol Hill staff members to violate the one-year ban on lobbying their former bosses.

Under his plea agreement, Abramoff, 46, can expect to receive a prison sentence of 9 ½ to 11 years. He is to plead guilty today to fraud and conspiracy in a related case in Florida involving his purchase of a casino cruise line.

Standing before U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle in Washington on Tuesday, Abramoff said: "Your Honor, words will not be able to ever express how sorry I am for this, and I have profound regret and sorrow for the multitude of mistakes and harm I have caused. All of my remaining days, I will feel tremendous sadness and regret for my conduct and for what I have done. I only hope that I can merit forgiveness from the Almighty and from those I have wronged or caused to suffer."

Abramoff had been in extensive discussions with government lawyers for months.

Ney, chairman of the House Administration Committee, is among the first of those expected to feel the fallout. In court documents, which identify him as "Representative 1," Ney is accused of meeting with one of Abramoff's clients in Russia in 2003 to "influence the process for obtaining a [U.S.] visa" for one of the client's relatives and of agreeing to aid a California tribe represented by Abramoff on tax and post-office issues.

"Representative 1" did favors for Abramoff clients in return for "a stream of things of value," including travel, meals and entertainment, a charging document in Abramoff's case says.

Ney also placed comments in the Congressional Record backing Abramoff's efforts to gain control of the Florida gambling company, SunCruz Casinos, and offered legislative language sought by Abramoff that would have reopened a Texas tribe's casino.

Court papers said Ney advanced the prospects of an Abramoff client, a telecom which won a contract to wire the House.

Two of Abramoff's former partners have pleaded guilty, promised to cooperate in the probe and are prepared to testify against Ney in connection with his aid in the SunCruz purchase. Prosecutors in Florida and Washington are in discussions about where a case against Ney should be brought, officials said.

Brian Walsh, a spokesman for Ney, said the congressman "has never done anything illegal or improper, and the allegations in this plea agreement do not change this fact."

Walsh quoted Ney as stating that he "had no way of knowing the self-serving and fraudulent nature of his [Abramoff's] activities."

One of Abramoff's former associates, Michael Scanlon, a onetime press aide to DeLay, was a secret partner in Abramoff's Indian tribal scheme. Abramoff charged the tribes lobbying fees and urged them to hire Scanlon's public-relations firm at hugely inflated prices. Scanlon, in turn, kicked back half of the money to Abramoff, who was thus able to conceal the money from public disclosure and from his law firm.

The two spread tribal money around and sought legislative favors in return. Abramoff and Scanlon "offered and provided a stream of things of value to public officials in exchange for official acts and influence and agreements to provide official action and influence," according to a statement of facts attached to the plea agreement. "These things of value included, but are not limited to, foreign and domestic travel, golf fees, frequent meals, entertainment, election support for candidates for government office, employment for relatives of officials and campaign contributions."

Among the things of interest to investigators are payments by Abramoff and his colleagues to wives of some lawmakers, and actions taken by former DeLay aide Rudy and other senior Capitol Hill aides, lawyers and others familiar with the investigation said.

Another person under scrutiny, sources said, is DeLay, who is facing separate campaign-finance charges in his home state of Texas.

"Tom DeLay is not concerned that Mr. Abramoff is cooperating," said Richard Cullen, DeLay's attorney. "He urges everyone involved to cooperate in the investigation and to tell the truth." Cullen had no comment on allegations involving former DeLay aides Rudy and Scanlon.

Among the trips under scrutiny is a golf excursion to Scotland that DeLay and aides took with Abramoff in 2000 and a similar trip Ney took two years later.

House rules prohibit members from receiving trips paid for by lobbyists or their clients. DeLay said he didn't know Abramoff paid for his Scotland trip; Ney filed disclosure forms that listed a Republican policy group as financing his trip, but the group denies paying for it.

DeLay has taken three overseas trips with Abramoff since 1997 and has received more than $70,000 from Abramoff, his associates and tribal clients for his campaign committees.

Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., Rep. John Doolittle, R-Calif., Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and other legislators involved with Indian issues also are among those being investigated, sources said.

Burns' office has said his actions on behalf of Abramoff's tribal clients were in sync with his support for improving the lot of Indian tribes. A spokesman for Doolittle, whose wife received payments from Abramoff's lobbying firm, has said there was no connection with her husband's work. Reid has said his intercession in an Indian-casino case that would have helped Abramoff was not linked to a $5,000 contribution from an Abramoff client.

Prosecutors are continuing to investigate two of DeLay's former top deputies, Rudy and Edwin Buckham. Rudy is under investigation for assistance he reportedly provided Abramoff's lobbying clients while he was working for DeLay. Payments from Abramoff clients and associates to Liberty Consulting — a political firm founded by Rudy's wife, Lisa — also are under review by the Justice Department. Rudy did not return calls.

Abramoff maintained a business relationship with Buckham, who runs the Alexander Strategy Group with Rudy. Among the areas of interest to prosecutors is client business directed to the Alexander Strategy Group when the firm was hiring the spouses of members of Congress, including DeLay's wife.

Christine DeLay was paid about $115,000 over three years while performing a special project: contacting members of Congress to find out their favorite charity, according to her attorney.

Material from the Los Angeles Times and Knight Ridder Newspapers is included in this report.