Abramoff Scandal
Team Abramoff visited White House many times


Secret Service logs released on Wednesday show only two visits to the White House by Jack Abramoff, but his colleges met with the Office of Intergovernmental Affairs about two dozen times, The Washington Post reports.

The office acts as a liaison between the Bush administration and state, local and tribal governments. Abramoff's colleagues met with officials there mainly about tribal clients, The Post said.

The office has been linked to Abramoff and tribal casino scandals. Wayne Smith, a former Bureau of Indian Affairs deputy, said the Interior Department's liaison to the White House was in contact with Abramoff and Italia Federici, a close associate of former Interior secretary Gale Norton [Indianz.Com: White House told DOI to pay attention to Abramoff ]

Smith also said the office -- specifically former aide Jennifer Farley -- called "weekly" about a controversial tribal leadership case in California that was linked to several teams of lobbyists. Farley now runs a private firm that seeks tribal clients [Indianz.Com: White House called weekly about casino].

Abramoff's visit to the White House in 2001 came a few days after he met former deputy Interior secretary J. Steven Griles and two days before the nomination was announced to the public. According to news reports, Abramoff tried to get two other allies placed in jobs at Interior.

One post was in the department's Office of Insular Affairs. The location of the other post is not mentioned in the news reports but Abramoff was lobbying the Bush administration on the Bureau of Indian Affairs position.

The same day Abramoff went to the White House on March 6, 2001, President Bush nominated one of Abramoff's former colleagues to a Department of Labor post, Raw Story reports.

Get the Story:
Logs Show 2 Abramoff Trips to White House (The Washington Post 5/11)
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Abramoff Visits in White House Logs Are Linked to Rove and a Budget Aide (The New York Times 5/11)
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Bush nominated Abramoff associate same day Abramoff visited the White House in 2001 (Raw Story 5/10)

Secret Service Logs:
White House Visits by Jack Abramoff (May 10, 2006)

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