Abramoff E-Mail Plays Up Bush Contacts on Yahoo! News

Print Story: Abramoff E-Mail Plays Up Bush Contacts on Yahoo! News

Abramoff E-Mail Plays Up Bush Contacts By PETE YOST, Associated Press Writer
Fri Feb 10, 7:59 PM ET



Jack Abramoff had brief conversations with President Bush almost a dozen times and the president knew him well enough to make joking references to Abramoff's family, according to an e-mail the fallen lobbyist sent a magazine editor.

Bush "joked with me about a bunch of things, including details of my kids," Abramoff recalled of his contacts with the president.

The recipient of the e-mail, Washingtonian magazine editor Kim Eisler, confirmed its contents.

Bush's contacts with Abramoff — who has pleaded guilty in a fraud and bribery case and is cooperating with a public corruption investigation — have become an issue because the president has said he doesn't recall ever meeting the lobbyist.

Time magazine and the Washingtonian have reported the existence of about a half-dozen photos showing Abramoff and Bush together.

The president acknowledged having his picture taken with Abramoff but suggested the photos were of no significance because he is photographed with so many people. Bush said there was no reason to publicly release the photographs.

"I frankly don't even remember having my picture taken with the guy," Bush told a news conference on Jan. 26. "I don't know him."

On Thursday, White House press secretary Scott McClellan said that "what the president said still stands."

Abramoff's e-mail states that Bush "has one of the best memories of any politician I have ever met." The e-mail said that Bush's ability to recall is one of his "trademarks, though of course he can't recall that he has a great memory!"

The e-mail adds, "Perhaps he has forgotten everything. Who knows."

On Friday, Eisler said that Abramoff made the comments more than two weeks ago in response to a question from the magazine editor, who wanted to double-check some information before appearing on a television show.

A liberal Web log, ThinkProgress, first disclosed the existence of the Abramoff-Eisler e-mails this week.

100,000+ Iraqi Civilians Killed Since Invasion

According to this study/article dated 10-28-04 the civilian death toll exceeds 100,000; Click Here

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Military Fatalities; Click Here

Incomplete List of Contractors Killed or Missing in Iraq; Click Here

AntiWar.com Casualties link; Click Here

Global Security.org casualties and injured data link; Click Here

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CNN.com - 'Can I quit now?' FEMA chief wrote as Katrina raged - Nov 3, 2005

CNN.com - 'Can I quit now?' FEMA chief wrote as Katrina raged - Nov 3, 2005: "Can I quit now?' FEMA chief wrote as Katrina raged
E-mails give insight into Brown's leadership, attitude

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A Louisiana congressman says e-mails written by the government's emergency response chief as Hurricane Katrina raged show a lack of concern for the unfolding tragedy and a failure in leadership.

Rep. Charlie Melancon, whose district south of New Orleans was devastated by the hurricane, posted a sampling of e-mails written by Federal Emergency Management chief Michael Brown on his Web site on Wednesday.

The Democratic lawmaker cited several e-mails that he said show Brown's failures. In one, as employees looked for direction and support on the ravaged Gulf Coast, Brown offered to 'tweak' the federal response.

Two days after Katrina hit, Marty Bahamonde, one of the only FEMA employees in New Orleans, wrote to Brown that 'the situation is past critical' and listed problems including many people near death and food and water running out at the Superdome.

Brown's entire response was: 'Thanks for the update. Anything specific I need to do or tweak?'" (more..... click on link above)

Reporter Says Libby Told Her About CIA Operative

Reporter Says Libby Told Her About CIA Operative: "Reporter Says Libby Told Her About CIA Operative
Times' Miller Cites More Than One Instance

By Howard Kurtz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, October 16, 2005; A01

Vice President Cheney's chief of staff discussed with New York Times correspondent Judith Miller the fact that the wife of a White House critic worked for the CIA on as many as three occasions before the woman, Valerie Plame, was publicly identified, according to a Times account published today.

During one of the 2003 conversations with I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby, Miller said, she wrote a version of Plame's name in her notebook.

In a disclosure that could figure in special prosecutor Patrick J. Fitzgerald's investigation, Miller said she initially refused to testify about her discussions with Libby because she believed he was signaling her that she should not cooperate in the CIA leak investigation unless her account would clear him.

Miller said her lawyer Floyd Abrams told her that Libby's attorney, Joseph A. Tate, had related part of Libby's grand jury testimony and was 'pressing about what you would say. When I wouldn't give him an assurance that you would exonerate Libby, if you were to cooperate, he then immediately gave me this, 'Don't go there, or, we don't want you there.' '

Tate strongly denied such a conversation in an e-mail to the Times, calling the account 'outrageous' and insisting that 'I never once suggested that she should not testify. It was just the opposite.' He did not return a phone call from The Washington Post last night.

Miller was jailed for 85 days for refusing to testify about Libby, until she reached an accommodation last month with Fitzgerald. (more....click on link above)

CIA Leak Scandal: Judy Miller and the Times Speak - Yahoo! News

CIA Leak Scandal: Judy Miller and the Times Speak - Yahoo! News: "CIA Leak Scandal: Judy Miller and the Times Speak

David Corn Sun Oct 16,12:16 AM ET

The Nation -- Finally, The New York Times and Judith Miller speak, and the paper and reporter leave their readers with as many questions as answers. In Sunday's edition, the Times publishes a lengthy account by three reporters (Don Van Natta Jr., Adam Liptak and Clifford Levy) of what it calls 'the Miller case' and a first-person account by Miller. Neither piece explains all." (more click on link above).......

William Bennett's Freudian Slip

The News Tribune (Lite) - White House condemns Bennett's remarks: "White House condemns Bennett's remarks

The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) - The White House on Friday criticized former Education Secretary William Bennett for remarks linking the crime rate and the abortion of black babies.

'The president believes the comments were not appropriate,' White House press secretary Scott McClellan said.

Bennett, on his radio show, 'Morning in America,' was answering a caller's question when he took issue with the hypothesis put forth in a recent book that one reason crime is down is that abortion is up.

'But I do know that it's true that if you wanted to reduce crime, you could, if that were your sole purpose, you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down,' said Bennett, author of 'The Book of Virtues.'"

ABC News: DeLay Indicted in Campaign Finance Probe

ABC News: DeLay Indicted in Campaign Finance Probe: "ABC News
DeLay Indicted in Campaign Finance Probe
Tom DeLay and Two Political Associates Charged With Conspiracy in Texas Campaign Finance Probe
The Associated Press

Sep. 28, 2005 - A Texas grand jury on Wednesday charged Rep. Tom DeLay and two political associates with conspiracy in a campaign finance scheme, an indictment that could force him to step down as House majority leader.

Copyright 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Copyright © 2005 ABC News Internet Ventures
"

Frist sale of stocks focus of SEC probe -- The Washington Times

Frist sale of stocks focus of SEC probe -- The Washington Times: "Frist sale of stocks focus of SEC probe
Published September 24, 2005
ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Securities and Exchange Commission and federal prosecutors are investigating Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's sale of stock in HCA Inc., the hospital operating company founded by his family.
In a statement released yesterday, the Nashville, Tenn.-based company said federal prosecutors for the Southern District of New York issued a subpoena for documents that HCA thinks are related to the senator's sale of its stock.
Mr. Frist's office confirmed the SEC is looking into the sale.
The SEC also contacted HCA yesterday to informally request copies of the subpoenaed documents, HCA spokesman Jeff Prescott said. 'We, of course, will comply with that request.'
Mr. Frist, a Tennessee Republican, traded using only public information and only to eliminate the appearance of a conflict of interest, Frist spokesman Bob Stevenson said in e-mail yesterday.
'Not surprisingly, the Securities and Exchange Commission contacted Senator Frist's office after the story appeared in the press about the sale of his Hospital Corporation of America stock,' Mr. Stevenson said. 'The majority leader will provide the SEC any information that it needs with respect to this matter.' " (more click on link above)