The Istook Earmarks

[maddezmom]

(The Politico) Taxpayers for Common Sense released a list on Tuesday of possible earmarks that were referenced in the charging documents filed against the former chief of staff to retired Rep. Ernest Istook (R-Okla.) on Monday as the most recent guilty plea in the ongoing investigation of jailed GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

The recipients of these member-requested projects were not named in the court filing, so the watchdog group has used the dollar amounts listed in the documents to guide their search of the transportation spending bill from 2004 that Istook managed as an Appropriations Committee cardinal.

The projects include $1.425 million for a road project for the Mississippi band of the Choctaw and two million dollar-plus road projects for the Saginaw Chippewa tribe, both Abramoff clients overseen by Kevin Ring, a former Abramoff deputy at Greenberg Traurig and ex-aide to Rep. John Doolittle (R-Calif.) who is referenced frequently in the charging documents, although not by name. Greenberg Traurig represented each of the entities listed as recipients of this transportation money, and Ring signed all of the disclosure forms.

more:http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/06/03/politics/politico/thecrypt/main4150832.shtml


An aide to former congressman Ernest Istook pleads guilty to accepting gifts in return for official favors

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A one-time top aide to former Oklahoma Representative Ernest Istook pleads guilty to a conspiracy to defraud the House as part of the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal.

John Albaugh told a federal judge Monday he accepted gifts in return for official favors.

Istook told The Associated Press he had met with the FBI and agents said he wasn't a target of the investigation. He says he'll continue to cooperate with them.

As for his former aid, Albaugh could face up to 24 months in prison. The sentence could be reduced if he cooperates with the government's investigation of the scandal involving members of Congress, their aides and members of the Bush administration.

more:http://www.newson6.com/global/story.asp?s=8415951