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Abramoff White House Logs Published

By Jeralyn, Section
Posted on Wed May 10, 2006 at 06:53:07 PM EST
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Update: The Washington Post obtained the logs at the same time as Judicial Watch. It has done some digging and found:

An administration source who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the ongoing investigation said that at the March [6] 2001 meeting, Abramoff asked to have two people placed at the Interior Department, but that Rove declined to get involved and referred him to the White House personnel operation.

Abramoff's [January 20] 2004 meeting was with an Office of Management and Budget official who had been blocking his efforts to secure use of the Old Post Office Building for a development project. The official, Steve McMillan, continued to refuse to accommodate him in the meeting, the source said.

Original Post:

Judicial Watch has published the logs (pdf) of Jack Abramoff's entry into the White House. (News article here.) Two times over the years. What a bust.

Raw Story notes that one of the days coincides with the day Bush nominated Patrick Pizzella, an Abramoff associate as Assistant Labor Secretary.

I have a hard time believing the visit and the nomination are related. Appointment decisions aren't made in a day. The day of Abramoff's other visit was the day Bush gave his 2004 State of the Union speech.

I'm no fan of Judicial Watch. They are making a mountain out of a molehill. This is like Al Capone's vault coming up empty. These findings help, not hurt, the Administration. But here's JW's spin on the records.

"However, now we know there are at least two visits by admitted felon Jack Abramoff that the White House must explain. What was Jack Abramoff doing at the White House? With whom did he meet? The public deserves to know answers to these questions."

Who cares about two measly short visits to the White House? Or that the records didn't include documentation for this visit at an adjacent building? This is a waste of time. All it shows is Abramoff may have lied when he said he visited the White House 12 times. Or he may have meant White House and surrounding buildings.

Update: Think Progress (and their commenters) have a different take.

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