For a White House that has more than its share of political troubles, this week has connected the Bush gang to the Jack Abramoff scandal in extremely unhelpful ways.
We learned this week, for example, that Bush’s top federal procurement official has been arrested for obstructing a criminal investigation into Abramoff. Also, Karl Rove’s top aide used to be Abramoff’s top aide, connecting those two in unhelpful ways.
And now we learn that Abramoff at least claimed stronger ties to the White House than had ever been previously reported.
Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff bragged two years ago that he was in contact with White House political aide Karl Rove on behalf of a large, Bermuda-based corporation that wanted to avoid incurring some taxes and continue receiving federal contracts, according to a written statement by President Bush’s nominee to be deputy attorney general.
Timothy E. Flanigan, general counsel for conglomerate Tyco International Ltd., said in a statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee last week that Abramoff’s lobbying firm initially boasted that Abramoff could help Tyco fend off a special liability tax because he “had good relationships with members of Congress,” including House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.).
Abramoff later said “he had contact with Mr. Karl Rove” about the issue, according to the statement by Flanigan, who oversaw Tyco’s dealings with Abramoff and his firm and received reports from Abramoff about progress in the lobbying campaign. Flanigan’s statement is the latest indication that Abramoff promoted himself as having ready access to senior officials in the Bush administration.
A White House spokeswoman, Erin Healy, said Rove “has no recollection” of being contacted by Abramoff about Tyco’s concerns.
Interesting. “No recollection,” in DC-speak, is far short of a categorical denial. If Rove never did anything of the sort, his disavowal would probably have been worded much stronger.