Democrats Seek Documents on Lobbyist and Bush Meeting

Oh No George...not ANOTHER one....?

By PHILIP SHENON
Published: November 12, 2005 – The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/12/politics/12lobby.html

WASHINGTON, Nov. 11 - House Democratic leaders called on the White House on Friday to release documents showing whether a powerful Republican lobbyist had a role in arranging an Oval Office meeting last year between President Bush and the president of the West African nation of Gabon, whose government had been asked by the lobbyist to pay $9 million to help arrange such a meeting.

The White House and the State Department have said that the meeting with President Omar Bongo of Gabon on May 26, 2004,
was routine and that there was no evidence of any involvement by Mr. Abramoff.

Wow will the Nixon parallels never end for Georgie Porgie? Isn’t this exactly how Watergate came about? Little pieces of the fabric unraveling here and there and a couple of hungry writers sunk their teeth in to it and RRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIP…is was over for Ticky Dick lickety split!

So the Bush administration didn’t have enough sense to keep arms distance, or they were arrogant enough to believe they could get away with it, but they let Mr Abramoff IN THE WHITE HOUSE and treated him as an INLFUENCE BROKER (for money) to the President of the United States, if the current accusations can be believed.

In the latest of political mudslides for the Bush administration, Representative Nancy Pelosi of California (the House Democratic leader) and Representative Henry A. Waxman of California (Senior Democrat on the Government Reform Committee,), requested in a formal letter to the White House counsel's office (the presidents lawyer), copies of "all records relating to any connections between White House staff" and the lobbyist, Jack Abramoff, specifically "regarding a visit by representatives of Gabon."

ruh roh….

This new information came about Mr. Abramoff's contacts with Gabon came to light when the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, which is investigating his lobbying for Indian tribes and their gambling operations, released hundreds of pages of documents from his files, wherein existed a July 2003 letter from Abramoff to President Bongo, urging Gabon to hire him as a lobbyist.

The New York Times also claims to have “other documents”, possibly a “draft contract” that Mr. Abramoff and his colleagues drew up in August ‘03 that detailing that Mr. Gabon pay $9 million for a "public relations effort related to promoting Gabon and securing a visit for President Bongo with the president of the United States."

RUH ROH!

Let’s be fair and say that other than this article and as of yet, unseen records in the possession of the New York Times, there is no evidence confirming or denying whether Mr. Abramoff completed a contract with Gabon and/or received any money from it.

Mr. Abramoff is currently under indictment in Florida and under investigation by a federal grand jury in Washington D.C. A spokeswoman for Mr Abramoff would not discuss the lobbyist's approach to President Bongo.

Trent Duffy, a White House spokesman, said, "President Bush met with President Bongo because he believes in good U.S.-Africa relations, and if Democrats question that, that's their business." The White House had no comment , however, on whether it would release documents to the House Democrats, who also requested material from the State Department about President Bongo's meeting.

Ms. Pelosi and Mr. Waxman have stated that "...it is impossible for Congress and the public to assess this assertion without further documentation from the White House."

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