Rep. John Doolittle (CA-04) has been linked to Jack Abramoff and his clients. Just how linked? From an
AP story:
Doolittle accepted at least $14,000 in campaign money from Abramoff from 1999 to 2001, records show, and initially failed to report a 1999 fundraiser in Abramoff's sky box, as required.
He took tens of thousands of dollars more from Abramoff's tribal clients, including $5,000 in 2004 from the Sac & Fox tribe, also known as the Meskwaki.
But, was there a
quid pro quo?
Doolittle was among more than two dozen lawmakers who signed a February 2002 letter to Norton urging her to reject an Indian casino in Louisiana opposed by Abramoff's tribal clients. After that letter became public in November, Doolittle's spokeswoman, Laura Blackann, said he signed it only because of his "longheld anti-gaming position."
In his letter to Norton about the Sac & Fox Tribe, Doolittle complained that the tribe's casino was wrongly shut down because BIA refused to recognize a newly elected tribal council. The new council hired Abramoff's firm after the elections.
So...he's anti-gaming, except when he isn't.
Doolittle, of course, wants to clear his name:
"Come investigate me, come contact me, because I know what the truth is and I'll come out with a clean record," Doolittle said.
I can't help thinking that this quote reminds me a lot of another famous quote that Rep. Doolittle might want to remember:
Follow me around. I don't care. I'm serious. If anybody wants to put a tail on me, go ahead. They'll be very bored.
Those, of course, are the words of Gary Hart in 1987, shortly before his private life turned out to be not quite as boring as advertised.
One more quote that Rep. Doolittle might keep in mind: "Be careful what you ask for. You might get it."