As you know, some of the 300-plus pages in the Senate Indian Affairs Committee exhibits (released Nov. 2, 2005) link Republican officials to the Abramoff scandal. Page numbers and brief descriptions of some docs are listed below, following background info.
BACKGROUND
One of Abramoff's numerous lobbying scams involved the Jena Choctaws, an impoverished Indian tribe that got the Louisiana Governor's okay to build a casino. The tribe also needed approval from the U.S. Department of Interior, headed by Gale Norton (appointed 2001).
Two casino-owning Abramoff clients [the Louisiana Coushattas and Mississippi Choctaws] feared competition from new casinos. On those tribes' behalf, Abramoff tried to get Interior to reject the Jenas' casino plans by pressuring Interior staff and getting certain congressmen to lean on Norton directly.
In 2002, Norton killed the Jena's casino plan. In 2003, she approved their re-submitted plan, after the Jenas reportedly got support from R-heavyweights Haley Barbour and Billy Tauzin.
Back in 1999, Gale Norton, Grover Norquist and Italia Federici co-founded the "Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy" (CREA), a questionably named group that fights for corporate interests. Federici was CREA's president while Abramoff generated fecal matter that started hurtling toward the fan in 2004.
Incidentally, Abramoff funneled about a quarter-million dollars to the CREA while pressuring Norton and Interior staff to reject the Jenas' plans. Meanwhile, Abramoff also funneled Indian-gambling dollars to Ralph Reed (former Christian Coalition head, former Enron consultant, and current contender for Lt. Governor of Georgia), who orchestrated "grass roots" anti-gambling campaigns to defeat the Jenas.
You can download the Senate Committee's exhibits here. Because it's a pdf file, I couldn't link to pages, but page numbers are listed below.
GALE NORTON
Page 4: the Coushattas and Mississippi Choctaws agreed to pay for polls conducted by CREA "on behalf of Gayle [sic] Norton."
Page 188: Norton's then-deputy at Interior thought Abramoff and Reed's "finger prints" were all over the anti-Norton PR-campaign; Abramoff denied it in one email but admitted in another that Reed was "bombing" Norton.
Pages 248-49: Federici asked Abramoff for a donation to CREA because the group had spent all of last year's budget; Abramoff asked Federici to get Norton's then-deputy to "put Kibosh" on Louisiana Governor's support of the Jenas.
TOM DELAY
Page 205: Abramoff said DeLay wants donations for the Capitol Athletic Foundation (CAF), one of Abramoff's "charities" that funneled money to various R-politicians (e.g., paying for Tom DeLay's $150,000 trip to Scotland in 2000); Abramoff bragged that he already got $25K apiece from 6 clients.
Pages 206-07: Tony Rudy (DeLay's aide at the time) said that it's okay for Abramoff to mention the "leadership" when asking for donations to the CAF.
Pages 214: Abramoff said he's getting "daily calls" seeking donation's to the CAF and thinks "tom himself" will call about it.
Pages 218-19: Abramoff reminded the Saginaw Chippawa tribe to donate to CAF "per delay [sic] request."
HASTERT, DELAY, BLUNT, CANTOR
Pages 277-78: a jointly-signed letter to Norton opposing the Jenas' casino.
ROY BLUNT (Interim Maj. Leader)
Pages 275: Blunt's individual letter to Norton opposing the Jenas' casino.
DEBORAH PRYCE (R-OH)
Pages 279-80: Pryce's individual letter to Norton opposing the Jenas' casino.
HALEY BARBOUR
Pages 169-171: Abramoff's team seemed unnerved by the fact that the Jenas hired Haley Barbour's lobbying firm; Abramoff asked Ralph Reed to get James Dobson (Christian radio-show host) to "hit" Haley for it.
BILLY TAUZIN
According to the Washington Post, then-House-Commerce-Committee-Chair Billy Tauzin (R-LA) also supported the Jenas. I didn't find that email in the exhibits released on Nov. 2, but it may be in earlier exhibits.
Cross-posted at Political Cortex.
