Bush photographed with Marianas gov, Abramoff client

This may actually be my first diary -- and I wanted to reach out to Kossacks on this one because Kos diarists have done such an excellent job connecting the dots on Abramoff's work with the Northern Marianas Islands. It's a complex story that I think has been tough for the MSM to get their hands around but I think this lays it out pretty cleanly:

President Bush, and now-Marianas Governor Beningo Repeki Fitial. Fitial was elected speaker of the Marianas House after a push by former DeLay aides and directed millions to Abramoff to keep U.S. minimum wage laws from being applied to the islands. How does Bush fit in? He appointed one of Abramoff's chief lieutenants, Patrick Pizzella, an Undersecretary of Labor in April 2001 -- just a month before Bush met Fitial. You can read more about Pizzella, Bush, and Abramoff's contacts with the Bush Administration here.

Excerpts from article on the photograph today:

On the heels of a Time Magazine article revealing the existence of photographs of President George W. Bush with fallen conservative superlobbyist Jack Abramoff, RAW STORY has found another photograph of Bush with a leading Abramoff client.

The President appears in a snapshot with Beningo Repeki Fitial, then-Speaker of the House for the Northern Marianas Islands. Fitial is vice president of Tan Holdings - the family conglomerate which owns numerous clothing factories on the islands that were a routine stop for Abramoff-flown lawmakers. Tan Holdings was one of the firms which made up the Saipan Garment Manufacturers' Association, an Abramoff client.

He was also, incidentally, chairman of the Bush for President Committee for the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

The photograph appears to have been taken the same day Bush met Raul Garza Sr., the former chairman of the Texas Kickapoo tribe who Time says was photographed with Bush. Abramoff, once the largest lobbyist in Washington, pled guilty to bribery charges earlier this month and his work has drawn new scrutiny to D.C.'s $4 billion lobbying business.

Full story at Raw Story here.

•  Good to know.

  "Tommy Hilfiger, Gap, Calvin Klein and Liz Claiborne are among the labels that have benefited from the island's dearth of labor laws."

  Until conditions improve, no more of these labels for me.

  by highfive on Mon Jan 23, 2006 at 11:19:16 AM PDT

•  Good work

  Hopefully just the beginning of an ongoing drip of photos involving Bush, Abramoff and his clients.

  by jorndorff on Mon Jan 23, 2006 at 11:22:44 AM PDT

•  It's the Culture of Life thing again

  We need to keep these people employed as sweatshop laborers so we can maximize donations from the Tan family.

  We need to bring back the made in the US label.

  by f furney on Mon Jan 23, 2006 at 11:22:47 AM PDT

•  Hmmm, more pix's, huh?

  Welcome, rawstory, BTW.  Seems we have a two way street going here!

  Seems that day was just full of meeting people Bush didn't know - and still doesn't./snark
  

  by kfred on Mon Jan 23, 2006 at 11:30:04 AM PDT

•  hi Raw and welcome

  sooooooo the famous May 9 meeting, diared HERE had a NM connection...now who was there from the infamous but untraceable Rose Garden Holdings? Is there a list of the names?

  This part is pretty funny....

  
  The White House could not be immediately reached for comment. When speaking to Time, a spokesman said, "The President stopped by a meeting with 21 state legislators and two tribal leaders. Available records show that Mr. Abramoff was not in attendance."

  The White House omitted Fitial's attendance.
  

  among other omissions, apparently.

  so the chief of the Coushattas says Abramoff was there. Who's lying? Let's go to the Abramoff records and the SS logs.

  KAFFEE
                        Colonel, the six a.m. flight, was the
                        first one off the base?

                                    JESSEP
                        Yes.

                                    KAFFEE
                        There wasn't a flight that left seven
                        hours earlier and landed at Andrews
                        Airforce Base at 2 a.m.?

                                    RANDOLPH
                        Lieutenant, I think we've covered this,
                        haven't we?

                                    KAFFEE
                        Your Honor, these are the Tower Chief's
                        Logs for both Guantanamo Bay and Andrews
                        Airforce Base.  The Guantanamo log lists
                        no flight that left at eleven p.m., and
                        the Andrews log lists no flight that
                        landed at 2 a.m. I'd like to admit them as
                        Defense Exhibits "A" and "B".

                                    RANDOLPH
                        I don't understand.  You're admitting
                        evidence of a flight that never existed?

                                    KAFFEE
                        We believe it did, sir.
                                 (glancing at the
                                  paper, then
                                  motioning to the
                                  AIRMEN)
                        Defense'll be calling Airman Cecil
                        O'Malley and Airman Anthony Perez.  They
                        were working the ground crew at Andrews at
                        two a.m. on the seventh.

   RANDOLPH
                        I'll allow the witnesses.

                                    JESSEP
                        This is ridiculous.

  Jessep's smiling ...

                ... and now he can't help but let out a short laugh.

                                    KAFFEE
                                 (continuing)
                        Is this funny, sir?

                                    JESSEP
                        No. It's not. It's tragic.

  KAFFEE
                        Do you have an answer?

                                    JESSEP
                        Absolutely.  My answer is I don't have the
                        first damn clue.

                If you looked closely at JESSEP, you could see a drop of
                sweat.

  by seesdifferent on Mon Jan 23, 2006 at 11:54:57 AM PDT

  •  Bush met Fitial and the two tribal chiefs

    at the same time?  What did they have in common besides both being clients of Abramoff's?

    by lysias on Mon Jan 23, 2006 at 12:41:43 PM PDT