Pigs Fly Too

Another poor soul, duped by Jack. LATimes (11.18.05):

"The head of a Republican environmental group clashed repeatedly Thursday with senators who accused her of having tried to improperly influence federal officials to advance the interests of tribes represented by controversial lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Italia Federici, president of the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy, told a skeptical Senate Indian Affairs Committee that she believed Abramoff's tribal clients had donated $500,000 over three years to her organization because they were generous, not because they hoped she would help them thwart efforts by competing tribes to open casinos." Lobbyist Probe Sparks Senate Fireworks

"Echoing other Abramoff associates who have testified before the committee, Federici insisted that she had been duped by the lobbyist." "When she found out that Abramoff had funded the anti-casino campaign, Federici said, 'I felt tremendously manipulated.'" Italia testified that when she first met Jack, she had no reason to believe he was anything other than "'a truthful, friendly, charismatic, well-liked and well-respected Republican advocate in Washington.'" Considering the context of Italia's comments, the more cynical among us would perhaps characterize this as a complete crock. They have emails, too. NYTimes (11.18.05):

'Hi Jack: I hate to bother you with this right now, but I was hoping to ask about a possible contribution for CREA,' Ms. Federici wrote on Jan. 9, 2003. 'As usual, we budgeted and spent all of our money from last year, on last year, and have started out the new year with practically nada.'" Friend of Abramoff Testifies on Their Ties

Jack's reply? "'Absolutely. We'll get that moving asap. The Coushattas are coming to DC next Thursday so I'll hit them immediately.'" "He continued with a request that Ms. Federici contact her friend J. Steven Griles, then a senior official at the Interior Department, for help batting down a contract that had been recently signed by the Louisiana governor and would have helped a rival Indian tribe." "'Can you make sure Steve knows about this and puts the kibosh on it?" Mr. Abramoff asked." Yep. Obviously innocent generosity.