Quick Summary
Jack Abramoff was the most powerful and corrupt lobbyist of his era. He defrauded Native American tribal clients of tens of millions of dollars, bribed public officials with lavish trips, meals, sports tickets, and jobs for their staff, and used a web of shell nonprofits and fake grassroots campaigns to secretly funnel money. His downfall triggered the largest lobbying scandal in modern American history, resulting in the conviction or guilty pleas of 21 people including a congressman, senior congressional aides, a deputy Interior secretary, and Abramoff himself. He pleaded guilty in January 2006 to conspiracy, fraud, and tax evasion and was sentenced to four years in federal prison.
Timeline of Events
The Details
The Tribal Casino Fraud
Abramoff and his partner Michael Scanlon ran an elaborate scheme in which they billed six Native American tribes approximately $85 million in fees. The tribes, the Mississippi Choctaw, the Louisiana Coushatta, the Saginaw Chippewa of Michigan, the Agua Caliente of California, the Tigua of Texas, and the Sandia Pueblo of New Mexico, believed they were paying for top-tier lobbying and public relations services.
In reality, Abramoff and Scanlon split the fees through a secret arrangement: Scanlon's firm would bill inflated fees for public relations work, and half would be kicked back to Abramoff through shell organizations. The tribes were often double-billed, receiving services of marginal value while paying millions for grassroots campaigns that were either fabricated or ineffective.
The most egregious example involved the Tigua tribe of El Paso, Texas. Abramoff secretly worked to shut down the Tigua's Speaking Rock Casino by arranging for Ralph Reed to mobilize Christian conservative groups against Texas Indian gaming. After the casino was shut down, Abramoff approached the Tigua tribe and offered to lobby for its reopening; for $4.2 million. The tribe, not knowing Abramoff had helped engineer their casino's closure, paid.
Bribing Public Officials
Abramoff maintained a network of corrupted public officials through a system of gifts, trips, and favors. Key targets included:
- Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH): Received golf trips to Scotland and the Mariana Islands, meals, campaign contributions, and a promise of a future lobbying job. In exchange, Ney inserted statements into the Congressional Record favorable to Abramoff's clients and supported legislation Abramoff favored. Ney pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 30 months.
- Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX): Received luxury travel including a golf trip to Scotland. While DeLay was not charged in the Abramoff case, his close ties and former staffers' involvement contributed to his own ethical and legal troubles.
- J. Steven Griles: Deputy Secretary of the Interior who provided Abramoff with inside information about tribal matters and intervened in regulatory decisions. Pleaded guilty to obstruction of justice and was sentenced to 10 months.
- David Safavian: Chief of Staff of the General Services Administration, convicted of obstructing the investigation.
SunCruz Casinos
In a separate scheme, Abramoff and partner Adam Kidan used a fraudulent $23 million wire transfer to make it appear they were investing their own money in the $147.5 million purchase of SunCruz Casinos, a fleet of gambling boats. The previous owner, Gus Boulis, was murdered in February 2001 in a gangland-style hit; three men were later convicted of the murder, but Abramoff was not charged in connection with the killing.
What Happened
Abramoff pleaded guilty on January 3, 2006 in Washington, D.C. to three felonies: conspiracy, honest services fraud, and tax evasion. The following day, he pleaded guilty to fraud charges in Florida related to the SunCruz deal. As part of his plea agreement, he agreed to cooperate fully with the investigation and pay restitution of approximately $25 million.
In total, the investigation resulted in 21 convictions or guilty pleas, including:
- Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH): 30 months in federal prison
- Michael Scanlon (Abramoff's partner): 20 months
- J. Steven Griles (Deputy Secretary of Interior): 10 months
- David Safavian (GSA Chief of Staff): convicted (later overturned in part)
- Tony Rudy (former DeLay aide): probation
- Neil Volz (former Ney aide): probation
- Multiple other lobbyists and officials
Abramoff was sentenced to four years in federal prison on September 4, 2008. He served approximately 3.5 years before being released to a halfway house in December 2010. He later became an anti-corruption advocate and author, publishing a memoir titled Capitol Punishment in 2011. He was convicted again in 2020 on unrelated fraud charges.
Financial Impact
The $85 million in fees billed to tribal clients represented one of the largest lobbying frauds in American history. Much of the money was split between Abramoff and Scanlon through shell organizations, with the tribes receiving a fraction of the services they paid for. The broader economic impact includes millions in corrupted government decisions regarding tribal gaming, federal contracts, and regulatory actions.
Connections
Sources
References & Citations
- 1 COURT United States v. Abramoff, Cr. No. 06-001, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia (2006). Plea agreement and sentencing documents.
- 2 CONGRESS U.S. Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, "Gimme Five—Investigation of Tribal Lobbying Matters," S. Rep. No. 109-325 (2006).
- 3 BOOK Susan Schmidt and James V. Grimaldi, "The Fast Rise and Steep Fall of Jack Abramoff," The Washington Post (multiple articles, 2004–2006). Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting, 2006.
- 4 NEWS Susan Schmidt, "A Jackpot From Indian Gaming Tribes," The Washington Post, February 22, 2004.
- 5 BOOK Jack Abramoff, Capitol Punishment: The Hard Truth About Washington Corruption from America's Most Notorious Lobbyist (WND Books, 2011).
- 6 COURT United States v. Ney, Cr. No. 06-0272, D.D.C. (2006). Guilty plea of Rep. Bob Ney.
- 7 COURT United States v. Scanlon, Cr. No. 05-0411, D.D.C. (2005). Guilty plea of Michael Scanlon.