From Politico:
Amid reports the Justice Department is investigating ties between Rep. John Doolittle (R-Calif.) and jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff, a key link between the two, Kevin A. Ring, has abruptly resigned from his law firm.
No reason was announced for the resignation, and no comment has been forthcoming from Ring's (now former) employer Barnes & Thornburg, the Justice Department, or Ring's attorney, Richard Hibey of Miller & Chevalier. Ring's resumé includes 5 years on Doolittle's Congressional staff before he went to work for Abramoff. Which is why Doolittle has plenty to worry about.
Richard Robinson, Doolittle's Chief of Staff, says Ring (age 36) is in the Congressman's prayers. This sounds slightly incongruous, as if his child had just been diagnosed with cancer or gored by a rogue elephant or something. Robinson also reiterated what he's been saying for months: Doolittle's not under Justice Dept. investigation. Be that as it may, it's worth remembering that Ring, before working for Abramoff at lobbying firm Greenberg Traurig in DC (2000-2004), was a Doolittle Congressional staffer for five years.
Doolittle, according to news reports, helped direct appropriations to Abramoff’s clients, weighed in on their behalf in disputes, used Abramoff’s skybox for a fundraiser, received over $130,000 in political donations from Abramoff, his clients and associates.
Doolittle's probably got quite a bit of money squirreled away by now. His wife Julie pockets 1/6 of all his campaign contributions as a "commission". In the last election cycle, total contributions were $2,343,397.10, making her cut come in at nearly $400,000 - more than hubby makes for as his Congressional salary (not counting perks, though). And if that weren't enough:
Records from Julie Doolittle’s consulting firm, Sierra Dominion Financial Solutions Inc. of Oakton, Va., were subpoenaed by a federal grand jury in 2004 in conjunction with the Abramoff probe. The company was paid $66,690 by Abramoff's firm Greenberg Traurig from September 2002 to February 2004.
Doolittle was also a key player in the Hurwitz caper, which was instrumental in Pombo getting the House Resources chairmanship back in January 2003.
But one of Doolittle's biggest links to corruption had to do with his role on a House Transportation subcommittee, where he helped steer lots of money to Abramoff's clients in the Marianas Islands. dengre's reported extensively in these pages about this angle of the story. This was during the period when former Doolittle staffer worked for Abramoff, and is likely why Doolittle does indeed have some worrying to do. As Politico noted, the unfolding pattern is similar to that leading up to the guilty plea that put former Congressman Bob Ney (OH-18), when his former staffer turned Team Abramoff member Neil Volz came under scrutiny.
So, it would appear that while Abramoff-related prosecutions have been somewhat muffled (as in the guilty plea of J. Steven Griles without cooperation), they've not been halted entirely.
CHARLIE BROWN for CONGRESS
Charlie Brown didn't lose by much last November. For reasons unknown, Politico reports that Doolittle got 54% of the vote, but that's not what the California Secretary of State says. Doolittle got less than half the votes, with a margin of 49.1% to 45.9% - less than 10,000 votes overall.
Brown has announced he's running again. This seat is a reasonably good prospect as a Democratic pick-up in 2008, despite the Cook Political Index rating of 61% Republican. Charlie Brown is a registered user here at Daily Kos, and recently posted a diary about his son's recent deployment to Iraq. This is a man who will not be playing fast and loose with the troops, because he knows what's at stake. Here's the link for contributions.