WASHINGTON - A White House aide who was once chief of staff to House Majority Leader John Boehner made plans to take a 1996 trip to the Northern Mariana Islands that was organized by fallen lobbyist Jack Abramoff, billing records from Abramoff's firm show.
Barry Jackson, now chief deputy to White House adviser Karl Rove, accepted an invitation to travel to the island of Saipan in April 1996, when he was Boehner's chief of staff, but later decided not to go, White House spokeswoman Erin Healy said Tuesday.
Jackson's involvement in the trip plans runs counter to Boehner's recent claims that his office's contact with Abramoff was incidental and only involved lower-level staff.
The government of the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands extended the invitations to Jackson and other high-level GOP House leadership staff while Congress was considering legislation to control immigration and labor practices in the remote Pacific island territory.
Abramoff, the central figure in a wide-ranging Justice Department investigation of influence peddling in Congress, lobbied for the Marianas in Washington. The commonwealth's government was accused of permitting egregiously low wages and poor conditions for immigrants working in sweatshops.
Hello? Boehner claims that his office never had contacts with Abramoff, or they were incidental lower-level staff contacts, and now we have this dozer of a story, where his chief of staff was invited to the Marianas by Abramoff? Er...Boehner, you have just lied here. And Boehner claims he's going to reform the lobbying rules? RIGHT!
Continuing on with the details:
According to bills from Abramoff's former lobbying firm to the Marianas government, Abramoff's staff contacted Boehner's office about island issues at least 10 times in the first four months of 1996. Copies of the billing records were obtained by The Associated Press through open-records requests to the territorial government.
Typically, the contact was made by David Safavian, who later became the Bush administration's chief procurement official in the Office of Management and Budget. Safavian recently was indicted on charges of obstructing investigations of his ties to Abramoff. Safavian was the first administration official indicted in the Abramoff scandal.
On March 15, 1996, two weeks before the Saipan trip, Abramoff's lobbying records show Safavian went over trip plans with Jackson and Mimi Simoneaux, then spokeswoman for Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas. On April 1, the day the congressional aides flew to the Marianas, Safavian called Boehner's office "to ascertain the location of B. Jackson." Abramoff's employee called about Jackson again the following day.
Jackson does not recall why he decided not to make the trip, given that it occurred 10 years ago, Healy said.
Since Boehner started campaigning early this year to replace DeLay as the No. 2-ranked House leader, he has denied having any relationship with Abramoff. Boehner has promised reforms to shake the GOP's Abramoff-related troubles.
When asked about the contacts between his office and Abramoff's, including a dinner Boehner attended in May 1996, Boehner told NBC's "Meet the Press" on Sunday: "Some of his (Abramoff's) underlings worked with some low-level employees of my office. I'm telling you I never met the man."
So, David Safavian contacted Boehner's office ten times in four months regarding the Mariana's issue. And then on March 15, 1996, Safavian went over trip plans with Jackson and Mimi Simoneaux--who was Tom DeLay's spokeswoman. On the day that congressional aids flew to the Marianas, Safavian calls Boehner's office to ask where Jackson was--guess he wasn't with the rest of the congressional delegation that was ready to fly off to the Marianas. And the next day, Safavian staff called Boehner's office again, asking where Jackson was? So the talk here is that Jackson didn't go on Abramoff's trip, even though he talked with Safavian in planning the trip. Safavian spent a lot of energy and effort to see that Jackson was involved on this Marianas trip, and when Jackson didn't show up at the airport, Safavian seemed worried about where Jackson was--calling Boehner's office twice. Like it or not, this story tells me that there was communication between Boehner's office and Abramoff--not the lower level crap that Boehner is claiming. What else was Boehner and his higher-level staff talking to Abramoff about? What else is Boehner hiding?
Oh, and Jackson doesn't know why he opted out on a trip to the Marianas, claiming that it was planned 10 years ago? I'm suppose to believe that--right?
I will also say that I find it ironic that Jackson is now the now chief deputy to White House adviser Karl Rove here. Seems he moved up from Boehner's office to Rove's office.
You have to marvel at the hypocrisy of the Republicans--again!
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