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Jack A. Abramoff (born February 28, 1958) is an influential Washington lobbyist and political activist.

Abramoff was Senior Director of Government Affairs for the Greenberg Traurig law and lobbying firm and was CRNC National Chairman from 1981–85. He is also a Director of the National Center for Public Policy Research, a conservative activist group.

Abramoff is currently under investigation by grand juries in Washington, D.C., for his involvement in the Abramoff-Reed Indian Gambling Scandal, and by a grand jury in Guam over a separate matter. He was indicted on August 11, 2005, by a third grand jury in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, for bank fraud arising out of an unrelated business deal.

The investigations and indictments of Abramoff have taken on significant national importance because of the lobbyist's political connections with national Republicans, including President of the United States George W. Bush and Congressional Republicans. Congressman Tom DeLay, former Majority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives, has called Abramoff one of his “closest and dearest friends.”

Early years

Abramoff was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey, where his father (who had ties to Ronald Reagan) worked with Arnold Palmer Enterprises. When he was 10, his family moved to Beverly Hills, California, where he eventually became a high-school weightlifting champ who once squatted 540 pounds. He was raised in a secular Jewish household, but a viewing of Fiddler on the Roof at the age of 12 changed his life: "I made the decision that I would become religious in order to preserve the faith in our family," he said. He immediately bought books on Judaism with his own savings.

College years

In college, Abramoff organized Massachusetts campuses for Reagan's presidential campaign in 1980. A year later, he graduated from Brandeis University and the Georgetown University Law Center.

Abramoff was elected chairman of the College Republican National Committee. The campaign was managed by Grover Norquist and aided by Ralph E. Reed, Jr.. "It is not our job to seek peaceful coexistence with the Left," Abramoff was quoted as saying in the group's 1983 annual report, "Our job is to remove them from power permanently".

Abramoff "changed the direction of the committee and made it more activist and conservative than ever before," notes the CNRC.

At the CRNC in the 1980s, Abramoff developed political alliances with College Republican chapter presidents across the nation, many of whom now have gone on to graduate to significant national influence in American politics and business. Some of these long-standing alliances are the subject of various federal investigations into Abramoff and his political and business dealings.

In Hollywood

Abramoff also spent ten years in Hollywood, producing such movies as Red Scorpion, an anti-communist film made just after his term with the College Republicans ended.

Abramoff next joined Citizens for America, a Reaganite group that helped Oliver North build support for the Nicaraguan contras and staged an unprecedented meeting of anti-Communist rebel leaders in 1985 in Jamba, Angola. His membership ended on a sour note, however, when the group's millionaire founder, Lewis Lehrman, a former New York gubernatorial candidate, concluded that Abramoff had spent his money carelessly.

Legal work

Abramoff joined the law firm of Greenberg Traurig, whose website described him as "directly involved in the Republican party and conservative movement leadership structures and is one of the leading fund raisers for the party and its congressional candidates." This page biography has since been removed from their website.

In early 2003, Timothy Flanagan was Abramoff's day-to-day supervisor.

Among the work his team did for Tyco International, Abramoff listed lobbying the White House.

In 1997, Abramoff gave $500 to the campaign of Republican Congressman Richard Norman "Doc" Hastings. The New York Times reported that he made an additional $500 donation to Hastings and that the Seattle law firm Abramoff worked for, Preston Gates & Ellis, donated $13,000 to Hastings' campaign.

Abramoff is also founder and former chairman of the International Freedom Foundation (IFF).

SunCruz Casinos fraud indictment

On August 11, 2005, Abramoff and his partner, Adam Kidan, were indicted by a federal grand jury in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on fraud charges arising from a 2000 deal to buy casino boats. Kidan and a third associate, Ben Waldman, as yet unindicted, are accused of using a fake wire transfer to defraud Foothill Capital Corp. and Citadel Equity Fund Ltd that had agreed to lend $60 million to purchase the casinos on condition that Abramoff and his partners made a cash contribution of $23 million. The indictment alleges that the transfer was counterfeit.

Arrested in Los Angeles

A warrant for Abramoff's arrest was issued by federal authorities on August 11, 2005, though Abramoff's whereabouts initially were unknown. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, threatening to label Abramoff a fugitive from justice, later were informed by Abramoff's legal counsel that Abramoff was in Los Angeles, California. Abramoff arranged to surrender to federal authorities there and was held overnight in federal detention. On August 12, 2005, Abramoff was released on bail of $2.25 million and ordered to return to Florida to face a preliminary hearing there on August 16, 2005. As part of his bail arrangements, Abramoff also was forced by a Los Angeles federal judge to surrender his passport, restrict his travel to California, Florida and Maryland and continue mental health treatments.

FBI Special Agent in Charge Michael S. Clemens said Abramoff's high-level political contacts would not deter the FBI, stating that the Florida grand jury's decision to indict Abramoff "demonstrates that regardless of position, status, wealth, or associations, fraudulent activity will not be tolerated."

If convicted, Abramoff faces up to five years in prison on the Suncruz fraud charges; he may also face other criminal charges and extensive civil fines on the various counts. Abramoff's legal counsel announced shortly after his arrest that he intends to plead "not guilty" and to mount a vigorous defense of the charges.

Political connections

The SunCruz casinos were auctioned off to new management in a bankruptcy action brought by Foothill Capital. Foothill settled with Abramoff for an undisclosed sum and continue litigation against Kidan.

Press accounts have suggested that Abramoff used his political connections to gain support for the deal in Washington .

Abramoff brought his lead financier in the deal to a fund raiser for DeLay in Abramoff's box at FedEx Field.

Ohio Republican Representative Bob Ney promoted the Kidan/Abramoff in the House on several occasions. In March 2000, before the deal was closed, Ney accused the SunCruz management of cheating passengers. On October 26 2000, praised the change of ownership:

"While Mr. Kidan certainly has his hands full in his efforts to clean up SunCruz's reputation, his track record as a businessman and as a citizen lead me to believe that he will easily transform SunCruz from a questionable enterprise to an upstanding establishment that the gaming community can be proud of."

Ney has since accused Abramoff of duping him. A DeLay spokesperson said that he had no recollection of the meeting.

DeLay, Ney and Florida Republican Representative Tom Feeney have each gone on golf trips to Scotland that were apparently arranged or funded by Abramoff. These trips took place in 2000, 2002, and 2003. Ney and Feeney each claimed that their trips were paid for by the National Center for Public Policy Research, but the group denied this. Spokespeople for Ney and Feeney blamed others for filing errors.

Guam grand jury investigation

In 2002, Abramoff was retained under an unpublicized contract by the Guam Superior Court to lobby against a bill proposing to put the Superior Court under the authority of the Guam Supreme Court. The $324,000 was paid to Abramoff through a Laguna Beach, California, lawyer by means of 36 checks of $9,000 each. If done to avoid the federal reporting requirements for payment transfers this could possibly constitute illegal 'structuring' under 31 USC 5324(a). The form of payment might also be illegal if it was used to evade federal contracting rules requiring an open tender for contracts over $10,000.

On Nov. 18, 2002, a grand jury issued a subpoena demanding that the administrator of the Guam Superior Court release all records relating to the contract. On Nov. 19, 2002, U.S. Atty. Frederick A. Black, the chief prosecutor for Guam and the instigator of the indictment, was unexpectedly demoted and removed from the office he had held since 1991. The federal grand jury investigation was quickly wound down and took no further action.

In May 2003 Black was succeeded by Leonardo Rapadas at the recommendation of the Guam Republican Party. He was confirmed without any debate. "Fred Radewagen, a lobbyist who had been under contract to the Gutierrez administration, said he carried that recommendation to top Bush aide Karl Rove in early 2003."

In 2005, Public Auditor Doris Flores Brooks initiated a new investigation of the Abramoff contract which is continuing.

Indian tribes grand jury investigations

Abramoff is curently under investigation by separate state and federal grand jury investigations into lobbying performed for Indian tribes running casino gambling businesses. In addition to the allegations arising from the consulting contracts themselves, Abramoff is accused of illegally giving favors to (among others) senior Republicans Ney, DeLay, and Conrad Burns. These investigations were started by the controversial Austin, TX Democrat District Attorney Ronnie Earle.

Tyco Allegation

Tyco Inc. claimed in August 2005 that Abramoff had been paid $1.7 million for an 'astroturf campaign' to create a 'grass roots' campaign to oppose proposals to penalize US corporations registered abroad for tax reasons. The work was allegedly never performed.

Timothy E. Flanigan, general counsel for Tyco inc. said in a statement to the Senate Judiciary Committee that Abramoff's lobbying firm boasted that Abramoff could help Tyco fight a special liability tax because he "had good relationships with members of Congress," including House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.).

According to the statement by Flanigan, Abramoff also 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.

References

• The original version of some of this article is derived from material at Sourcewatch, and released to Misplaced Pages under the GFDL license

• .
• "Abramoff in Court on Charges of Fraud", Financial Times, August 12, 2005.
• Abramoff's Federal Campaign Contributions, NewsMeat.com

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