"Team Abramoff" is the team of lobbyists assembled by
Jack Abramoff
Jack Allan Abramoff (; born February 28, 1959) is an American lobbyist, businessman, film producer, writer, and convicted felon. He was at the center of an extensive corruption investigation led by Earl Devaney that resulted in his conviction ...
when he worked at
Greenberg Traurig
Greenberg Traurig is a multinational law firm founded in Miami in 1967. As of 2022, the Greenberg Traurig is the 9th largest law firm in the United States.
The firm has 43 offices in the United States, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East and ...
, primarily of former aides to prominent Congressional politicians. Their work is embroiled in the
Jack Abramoff scandals.
On January 8, 2001, Abramoff left
Preston Gates & Ellis
Preston Gates & Ellis, LLP, also known as Preston Gates, was a law firm with offices in the United States, China and Taiwan. Its main office was in the IDX Tower in Seattle, Washington. In 2007 the firm ceased to exist, merging with Kirkpatrick ...
to join the Government Relations division of the law firm of Greenberg Traurig, which once described him as "directly involved in the Republican party and conservative movement leadership structures" and "one of the leading fund raisers for the party and its congressional candidates." With the move to Greenberg Traurig Abramoff took as much as $6 million worth of client "work" from his old firm, including the Marianas Islands account. When asked in an interview why he moved to Greenberg Traurig, Abramoff replied "they have a dominant presence … This move is an excellent opportunity for me and my clients with the new Administration."
At Greenberg Traurig, Abramoff assembled a "
dream team
Dream Team may refer to:
Sport
Basketball
* Dream Team, the 1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team in Barcelona
* Dream Team II, the 1994 U.S. men's national basketball team at the FIBA World Championship
* Dream Team III, the 1996 ...
" made up of lobbyists with past jobs working for congressional leaders. This team included
Tony Rudy
Tony Charles Rudy (born May 3, 1966) is an American politician. He served in the office of U. S. Representative Tom DeLay ( R- TX) from approximately 1995 to 2001, and rose to be his deputy Chief of Staff.
Rudy then began working with Jack Abramo ...
, whom Abramoff had worked extensively with during the Marianas and eLottery lobbying while Rudy was serving as chief of staff to
Tom Delay
Thomas Dale DeLay (; born April 8, 1947) is an American author and retired politician who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Texas's 22nd congressional district from 1985 until 2006. He was Republic ...
. Abramoff had hired Rudy while he was still at Preston Gates, and brought him and six other staff lobbyists over to Greenberg Traurig. The hiring of Rudy was one of the first instances in a pattern by which Abramoff would directly hire aides of representatives he was actively lobbying.
Team Abramoff members Rudy and Neil Volz,
Bob Ney
Robert William Ney (born July 5, 1954) is an American politician from Ohio. A Republican, Ney represented Ohio's 18th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 until November 3, 2006, when he resigned. Ney's resignat ...
's former chief of staff, were later named as unindicted coconspirators in Abramoff's guilty plea in the
Indian lobbying scandal. In addition, Kevin Ring, Jon van Horne, Michael Smith and Stephanie Leger received secret side payments from Abramoff counter to Greenberg Traurig policy and were asked to resign.
Van Horne received $20,000 from the Coushatta Tribe via
Capitol Campaign Strategies
Capitol Campaign Strategies was an American public relations firm run by Michael Scanlon, Tom DeLay's former press secretary, which Scanlon used in coordination with Jack Abramoff to redirect about $40 million in lobbying contributions from Indian ...
. Smith also received a $20,000 payoff from CCS. Shana Tesler's husband
Samuel Hook received $20,000 from Abramoff for serving as the titular head of Abramoff entities such as
Eshkol Academy
Eshkol Academy was an all-boys Orthodox Jewish day school in Columbia, Maryland, that existed from fall 2002 to 2004. Its name comes from ''Ish Shekol Bo'' Hebrew for "well-rounded man" and ''Eshkol'' Hebrew for cluster of grapes. In 2002 Eshkol A ...
and
Grassroots Interactive.
Rudy pleaded guilty to conspiracy for corruption and fraud on March 31, 2006. Volz pleaded guilty to conspiracy for corruption and fraud on May 8, 2006.
James Hirni (R) lobbyist found guilty of conspiracy for bribing
Fraser Verrusio and
Trevor Blackann.
#
Fraser Verrusio was Policy Director to Alaskan US Representative
Don Young
Donald Edwin Young (June 9, 1933 – March 18, 2022) was an American politician from the state of Alaska. At the time of his death, he was the longest-serving Republican in congressional history, having been the U.S. representative for for ...
(R) and Policy Director for the House Transportation Committee while Rep. Young was Chairman. On March 6, 2009, he was indicted for violating federal anti-corruption laws in the long-running
Jack Abramoff scandals.
#
Trevor Blackann staffer for U.S. Senator
Kit Bond
Christopher Samuel "Kit" Bond (born March 6, 1939) is an American attorney, politician and former United States Senator from Missouri and a member of the Republican Party. First elected to the U.S. Senate in 1986, he defeated Democrat Harriett W ...
(R-MO) pled guilty to filing false tax returns.
''Boldface names have pleaded guilty or are identified in the criminal indictments/plea documents.''
References
External links
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TPM Grand Ole Docket
{{Jack Abramoff