The Washington Post has a
story for publication tomorrow that says Bob Ney (R-Ohio) apparently lied to Senate investigators about help he had given one of Jack Abramoff's tribal clients.
The Ney story is part of the 357-page report and document dump coming out of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee.
Ney's comments to the panel could add to his problems with the Justice Department. Federal prosecutors have secured guilty pleas from Abramoff and three former associates implicating Ney in a string of official acts allegedly performed in exchange for favors such as a golf trip to Scotland and campaign contributions.
A spokesman for Ney said yesterday that in his interview with the Senate committee, the congressman did not initially recognize the name of the tribe.
Yep, all them Injuns sound alike, don't they, Bob? You should have asked Jack to give you some flash cards or a flow chart so that you could keep straight which tribe was which. Of course, Abramoff probably couldn't remember from day to day which tribes he was screwing and which ones he was helping. Wait - he was doing both with all of them simultaneously, right? It's all very confusing.
Just in case anyone's thinking the "P" word (the one Clinton got impeached for instead of the sex), Ney's flack is quick to clear that up:
Brian Walsh, a spokesman for Ney, said yesterday that the congressman's meeting with the committee "was a voluntary meeting -- it was not conducted under oath."
However:
The committee report said that those witnesses who were not placed under oath were reminded of "the applicability of the false statements act" and of statutes dealing with obstruction of a congressional investigation.
D'oh! Why isn't he indicted yet?