PHOENIX (By Jon Kamman, Arizona Republic)
May 10, 2005 - Years late, three congressman trying to account for
fund-raising events linked with once-mighty lobbyist Jack Abramoff have
filed updated financial disclosures with one thing in common:
Abramoff's name is nowhere to be found.
The three, including Arizona's J.D. Hayworth, were allowed free use of Abramoff's sports skyboxes for fund-raisers held as long ago as 1999.
They didn't declare the value of the accommodations until records surfaced in ongoing U.S. Senate and criminal investigations of suspected exploitation by the lobbyist in charging six Indian tribes $82 million for representation.
Although Abramoff or a company he formed held the lease on the basketball, football and baseball suites in the Washington, D.C., area, none of the three Republican congressmen named him as the benefactor.
In reports required by the Federal Election Commission, which enforces campaign-finance laws, each listed different providers: an individual donor, a lobbying firm that has since refused to accept the payment and a pair of Indian tribes.
Larry Noble, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan watchdog group, says erroneous or inconsistent reporting of contributions attests, in part, to unclear legal requirements but also may stem from "sloppiness" or "willful neglect."
"Everybody makes errors, but you get very suspicious when the errors seem to always revolve around controversial figures," Noble said.
Hayworth filed statements late last year showing that his campaign fund paid the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and the Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana nearly $13,000 for the five times he used Abramoff suites from 1999 to 2001.
The payments raise questions about whether the boxes were the tribes to lend.
Joe Eule, Hayworth's chief of staff, said in December that Indian tribes were footing the bill for the boxes regardless of whose name was on the lease.
Several tribes have disclosed paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to support the skyboxes, but no evidence has emerged that they had any role in choosing who could use them.
Also, federal lobbying records indicate that the Chitimachas were not registered as paying clients of Abramoff when four of the events took place.
Eule did not respond to repeated calls and an e-mail this month asking for documentation of why the tribes should be paid and how it was determined that they should receive equal amounts.
Neither of the tribes responded to inquiries.
Eule said previously that Hayworth had met Abramoff only once or twice. He said no one dealt directly with the lobbyist on using the boxes, and Abramoff never attended the events.
Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. John T. Doolittle of California reported that in January his campaign fund sent a check for $1,040 to one of Abramoff's former employers, the Preston Gates lobbying firm, to pay for a skybox used in a fund-raiser at a 1999 basketball game.
What the congressman's office did not report, however, is that the lobbying firm returned the check because it had never owned the skybox. The refusal to accept payment means that Doolittle still must find and pay the actual provider of the box to set the record straight.
Doolittle campaign-fund spokesman Richard Robinson acknowledged that the rejection of the check should have been reported to the FEC by now and said a corrected accounting will be filed.
Robinson said Doolittle's fund is determined to rectify the six-year lapse in paying for the box.
"If we find out that Jack Abramoff paid for the suite, then we'll reimburse Jack Abramoff, because we want to reimburse the person or entity who paid for the box," Robinson said. "We thought we were doing that in January."
A third congressman, Bob Ney of Ohio, took still another approach to accounting for two uses of skyboxes.
Ney's political organization reported last fall that an individual lobbyist affiliated with Abramoff provided the boxes in 2002 and 2003.
The lobbyist was Neil Volz, who had served as Ney's chief of staff before going to work with Abramoff.
Neither Volz nor a spokesman for Ney responded to questions about whether Volz provided the skybox as a personal contribution and, if so, how he came to have possession so he could lend it to Ney.
Politicians turn skybox seats into campaign cash by inviting lobbyists or other supporters to buy tickets, typically for $200 to $1,000, to watch games and enjoy catered food in the 20-seat luxury boxes. If the box is donated for the fund-raiser, its value must be reported as an in-kind contribution.
The FEC requires accurate, timely reporting of contributions and expenditures, direct or indirect, spokesman Bob Biersack said.
Whether the lateness of the reports or questions about their accuracy trigger further investigation or disciplinary action will not be disclosed until the commission makes a ruling, Biersack said.
In the absence of a specific complaint, the commission is less likely to take up the matter, he said.
Noble said, "The legal question of who it (an in-kind donation) actually came from can get complicated," but he emphasized that hundreds of candidates manage to meet reporting rules flawlessly.
"What should have happened is that at the time the box was loaned, there should have been a discussion of who's paying for this and who's responsible for it," he said.
House Speaker Dennis Hastert and a freshman GOP senator, former Congressman David Vitter of Louisiana, have had to bring their accounting up to date by paying for meals served at fund-raisers at Signatures, a D.C. restaurant owned by Abramoff.
Also, Deputy Majority Whip Eric Cantor, R-Va., earlier settled an unpaid bill for a fund-raiser at another Abramoff eatery, the Stacks deli.
Noble said some omissions no doubt are the fault of lower-level people who are not keeping close track of contributions, "but when you're dealing with people like Jack Abramoff, whose career is based on knowing the players personally, it's hard to believe that these are mere oversights over and over again."
"In many cases, it's what I would call willful neglect," Noble said. "Either they know or they don't want to know. They don't want to ask the questions because they're afraid of the answers."
Abramoff, once one of Capitol Hill's premier lobbyists, and public-relations associate Michael Scanlon are at the center of federal investigations for billing six tribes $82 million over three years.
The probes have branched out from the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, headed by Arizona Republican John McCain, to include possible abuses of non-profit organizations' tax-free status, funding for junkets for congressmen and their aides, unreported campaign contributions and questions about activities of a GOP environmental group funded, in part, by the tribes.
Abramoff's name is nowhere to be found.
The three, including Arizona's J.D. Hayworth, were allowed free use of Abramoff's sports skyboxes for fund-raisers held as long ago as 1999.
They didn't declare the value of the accommodations until records surfaced in ongoing U.S. Senate and criminal investigations of suspected exploitation by the lobbyist in charging six Indian tribes $82 million for representation.
Although Abramoff or a company he formed held the lease on the basketball, football and baseball suites in the Washington, D.C., area, none of the three Republican congressmen named him as the benefactor.
In reports required by the Federal Election Commission, which enforces campaign-finance laws, each listed different providers: an individual donor, a lobbying firm that has since refused to accept the payment and a pair of Indian tribes.
Larry Noble, executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan watchdog group, says erroneous or inconsistent reporting of contributions attests, in part, to unclear legal requirements but also may stem from "sloppiness" or "willful neglect."
"Everybody makes errors, but you get very suspicious when the errors seem to always revolve around controversial figures," Noble said.
Hayworth filed statements late last year showing that his campaign fund paid the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians and the Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana nearly $13,000 for the five times he used Abramoff suites from 1999 to 2001.
The payments raise questions about whether the boxes were the tribes to lend.
Joe Eule, Hayworth's chief of staff, said in December that Indian tribes were footing the bill for the boxes regardless of whose name was on the lease.
Several tribes have disclosed paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to support the skyboxes, but no evidence has emerged that they had any role in choosing who could use them.
Also, federal lobbying records indicate that the Chitimachas were not registered as paying clients of Abramoff when four of the events took place.
Eule did not respond to repeated calls and an e-mail this month asking for documentation of why the tribes should be paid and how it was determined that they should receive equal amounts.
Neither of the tribes responded to inquiries.
Eule said previously that Hayworth had met Abramoff only once or twice. He said no one dealt directly with the lobbyist on using the boxes, and Abramoff never attended the events.
Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. John T. Doolittle of California reported that in January his campaign fund sent a check for $1,040 to one of Abramoff's former employers, the Preston Gates lobbying firm, to pay for a skybox used in a fund-raiser at a 1999 basketball game.
What the congressman's office did not report, however, is that the lobbying firm returned the check because it had never owned the skybox. The refusal to accept payment means that Doolittle still must find and pay the actual provider of the box to set the record straight.
Doolittle campaign-fund spokesman Richard Robinson acknowledged that the rejection of the check should have been reported to the FEC by now and said a corrected accounting will be filed.
Robinson said Doolittle's fund is determined to rectify the six-year lapse in paying for the box.
"If we find out that Jack Abramoff paid for the suite, then we'll reimburse Jack Abramoff, because we want to reimburse the person or entity who paid for the box," Robinson said. "We thought we were doing that in January."
A third congressman, Bob Ney of Ohio, took still another approach to accounting for two uses of skyboxes.
Ney's political organization reported last fall that an individual lobbyist affiliated with Abramoff provided the boxes in 2002 and 2003.
The lobbyist was Neil Volz, who had served as Ney's chief of staff before going to work with Abramoff.
Neither Volz nor a spokesman for Ney responded to questions about whether Volz provided the skybox as a personal contribution and, if so, how he came to have possession so he could lend it to Ney.
Politicians turn skybox seats into campaign cash by inviting lobbyists or other supporters to buy tickets, typically for $200 to $1,000, to watch games and enjoy catered food in the 20-seat luxury boxes. If the box is donated for the fund-raiser, its value must be reported as an in-kind contribution.
The FEC requires accurate, timely reporting of contributions and expenditures, direct or indirect, spokesman Bob Biersack said.
Whether the lateness of the reports or questions about their accuracy trigger further investigation or disciplinary action will not be disclosed until the commission makes a ruling, Biersack said.
In the absence of a specific complaint, the commission is less likely to take up the matter, he said.
Noble said, "The legal question of who it (an in-kind donation) actually came from can get complicated," but he emphasized that hundreds of candidates manage to meet reporting rules flawlessly.
"What should have happened is that at the time the box was loaned, there should have been a discussion of who's paying for this and who's responsible for it," he said.
House Speaker Dennis Hastert and a freshman GOP senator, former Congressman David Vitter of Louisiana, have had to bring their accounting up to date by paying for meals served at fund-raisers at Signatures, a D.C. restaurant owned by Abramoff.
Also, Deputy Majority Whip Eric Cantor, R-Va., earlier settled an unpaid bill for a fund-raiser at another Abramoff eatery, the Stacks deli.
Noble said some omissions no doubt are the fault of lower-level people who are not keeping close track of contributions, "but when you're dealing with people like Jack Abramoff, whose career is based on knowing the players personally, it's hard to believe that these are mere oversights over and over again."
"In many cases, it's what I would call willful neglect," Noble said. "Either they know or they don't want to know. They don't want to ask the questions because they're afraid of the answers."
Abramoff, once one of Capitol Hill's premier lobbyists, and public-relations associate Michael Scanlon are at the center of federal investigations for billing six tribes $82 million over three years.
The probes have branched out from the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, headed by Arizona Republican John McCain, to include possible abuses of non-profit organizations' tax-free status, funding for junkets for congressmen and their aides, unreported campaign contributions and questions about activities of a GOP environmental group funded, in part, by the tribes.
