Today's
Sacramento Bee has the interview Rep. Doolittle did with them. Doolittle's name is closely linked with Abramoff and his name has been in the media as one of the top 3 Congressman the DoJ is interested in.
The Bee also has the
full transcript of the interview.
Doolittle claims that he was attracted to Abramoff's political philosophy only and he had no idea that anything illegal was going on. The Dooster also states that nothing illegal happened while dealing with Abramoff on his end, but....
He said he never suspected any corruption in Abramoff until he pleaded guilty to felony charges of mail fraud, conspiracy and tax evasion last month.
"I am dismayed to read what Jack has pleaded guilty to," Doolittle said. "I certainly don't think what he has pleaded guilty to was part of our relationship, at least not on my end it wasn't, I can say with certainty."
"But I don't know what he is saying on his end," he added.
As part of his plea agreement, Abramoff is cooperating with the Justice Department in its ongoing corruption investigation.
For Doolittle, that's an investigation that just won't end.
Regarding Wilkes, Cunningham, and contributions:
Doolittle reiterated in the interview that he has taken no political contributions in exchange for favors on Capitol Hill.
"I don't know if that's illegal but it certainly is unethical in my mind - and it comes very close to being illegal," he said.
"And you've never done that?" he was asked.
"No," he replied.
The congressman's conduct also became an issue in the aftermath of the recent bribery conviction of former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, R-San Diego.
Cunningham admitted to taking bribes from two defense contractors.
One of them was Brent Wilkes, who has acknowledged being the unindicted "co-conspirator No. 1" cited in Cunningham's plea agreement.
Wilkes was a close friend of Doolittle, and the congressman said his involvement in Cunningham's bribery is mystifying.
"I know that's an allegation about him," Doolittle said of Wilkes.
"I would love to see that prove not to be the case, but only time will tell."
Wilkes and his companies were major political contributors to Doolittle, and the congressman acknowledged that he openly advocated for Wilkes' business interests on Capitol Hill.
Doolittle said he promoted a Wilkes company called PerfectWave, which according to other newspaper accounts received more than $35 million that the congressman helped secure for it in various spending bills.
Political contributions from Wilkes, his associates and companies to Doolittle totaled at least $50,000.
Doolittle said the technology that Wilkes and his San Diego-area companies developed had useful military applications.
One of the companies, ADCS, was in the business of digital conversion of documents; Doolittle tried to get the House to contract with ADCS for the technology in the aftermath of the anthrax scare on Capitol Hill in late 2001 to eliminate the need for delivery of paper mail.
Doolittle said he was never aware of any tinge of corruption by Abramoff or Wilkes during his association with them.
"If you met either Abramoff or Wilkes, you would think they were very upstanding people," Doolittle said.
Regarding Tom Delay:
Neither does he feel any resentment toward former Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, his mentor in the House, now under indictment in Texas on campaign finance charges.
DeLay was also closely affiliated with Abramoff and Wilkes. In the case of Wilkes, Doolittle said it may have been DeLay's former chief of staff, lobbyist Ed Buckham, who first introduced the two.
"I don't blame Tom DeLay for this," Doolittle said. He said he considers DeLay and himself to be "victims" of a distorted, politically inspired campaign to discredit them.