Flash ! Email shows Bush - Abramoff ties !

[Laura PourMeADrink]

http://thinkprogress.org/2006/02/08/exclusive-abramoff-emails/

EXCLUSIVE EMAILS: Jack Abramoff Describes Relationship With President Bush
ThinkProgress has obtained emails written by Jack Abramoff in which the fallen lobbyist personally describes his relationship with President Bush. They depict a relationship far more extensive than has been previously reported.

The emails written by Abramoff were addressed to Kim Eisler, the national editor of Washingtonian magazine. The Washingtonian recently reported on the existence of several photographs showing Abramoff and Bush together. Eisler is also the author of Revenge of the Pequots, a book about tribal politics for which Abramoff was interviewed.

In the emails, Abramoff describes meeting Bush “in almost a dozen settings,” and details how he was personally invited to President Bush’s private ranch in Crawford, Texas, for a gathering of Bush fundraisers in 2003. Abramoff did not attend, citing a religious observance.

Abramoff emailed Eisler about his invitation to Crawford and his decision not to attend:

NO, IT WAS THAT I WOULD HAVE HAD TO TRAVEL ON SATURDAY (SHABBOS). YES, I WAS INVITED, DURING THE 2004 CAMPAIGN. IT WAS SATURDAY AUGUST 9, 2003 AT THE RANCH IN CRAWFORD.

The White House has continually downplayed the relationship between Abramoff and President Bush. At a January 26 press conference, President Bush said “You know, I, frankly, don’t even remember having my picture taken with the guy. I don’t know him.”

But according to Eisler, Abramoff told him that the two have met almost a dozen times, shared jokes, and spoke about details of Abramoff’s family:

HE HAS ONE OF THE BEST MEMORIES OF ANY POLITICIAN I HAVE EVER MET. IT WAS ONE IF HIS TRADEMARKS, THOUGH OF COURSE HE CAN’T RECALL THAT HE HAS A GREAT MEMORY! THE GUY SAW ME IN ALMOST A DOZEN SETTINGS, AND JOKED WITH ME ABOUT A BUNCH OF THINGS, INCLUDING DETAILS OF MY KIDS. PERHAPS HE HAS FORGOTTEN EVERYTHING. WHO KNOWS.

Check back with ThinkProgress for more details about Abramoff’s relationship with Bush and other high-profile figures.

[stop the bleeding]

1. already posted at 3pm EST - here is link

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x361188


Keep yours up though to create awareness

K&R

also send this to K.O.

[e-mail]

[Laura PourMeADrink]

3. thanks STB

[varkam]

2. If the inner-workings of our government...

Are splashed all over the front-page, then you are simply emboldening the enemy! Ha. I'd like to see * back peddle his way out of this.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

4. well, it would have been great if he actually went to crawford, huh.

[woodsprite]

5. Doesn't the wording sound a bit strange to you guys?

Who writes like that "THE GUY SAW ME IN ALMOST A DOZEN SETTINGS, AND JOKED WITH ME ABOUT A BUNCH OF THINGS, INCLUDING DETAILS OF MY KIDS. PERHAPS HE HAS FORGOTTEN EVERYTHING. WHO KNOWS."

Just that line keeps coming back to bug me. It's like somebody wrote it to show someone else. Not like it was an actual email in the course of business or pleasure. I mean, I wouldn't say "Yeah, our Univ. prez saw me in almost a dozen settings and we joked about a bunch of things. Maybe he's forgotten. Who knows". I know - I'm a liberal and my brain doesn't have the malfunctioning synapses that freepers and neocons have. Just saying - it really sounds wierd - Kinda "Rovish" if you ask me.

[canadianbeaver]

6. I agree woodsprite........very rovish......watch this one....n/t

[Laura PourMeADrink]

11. rovish? but not for the benefit of Bush? for the benefit of JA?

I am starting to wonder, maybe The Idiot is telling the truth. Maybe Abramoff was just bragging about a connection to the WH so people will give him money.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

10. Interesting. It sounds to me like he was responding to a question

like, "Hey, you said that you knew and met Bush a bunch of times, why is he saying he doesn't know you?"

What strikes me is, that this was written AFTER Abramoff was in trouble, but before he got indicted? No, that doesn't make sense either.

Knowing the timing would be very interesting.

[stop the bleeding]

7. .

.

[Extend a Hand]

8. maybe someone should talk to Peter H. Stone

a writer for The National Journal,
In article titled, "All the President's Moneymen"
published on September 6, 2003, Vol. 35, No. 36
He quotes Abramoff as follows:

"There's really intense competition inside the Beltway
among a small group of people who share the same set of friends
to take credit for checks that are going to be written anyway,"
quipped James Cicconi, the top lobbyist for AT&T in Washington.
Cicconi was supposed to go to the ,Crawford, event but had a
business conflict.

Others agree that the money chase has forced them to be
creative with their networks in order to succeed. "The
difficulty that some lobbyists are having is that they don't
have networks outside the Beltway," commented Jack ,Abramoff,, a
partner at Greenberg Traurig who was an early Pioneer and
expects that he'll soon become a Ranger. "As a consequence, they
find that many of the people they're soliciting are also raising
funds or have already contributed themselves."

,Abramoff,, who didn't go to ,Crawford, because he does not
travel on the Jewish Sabbath, added that when he reaches his
$200,000 target as a Ranger, he plans "to try to help some other
lobbyists meet their goals" by helping to organize small
strategy meetings.

[stop the bleeding]

9. that is a very interesting tidbit indeed