A chief of staff for a former House Appropriations Committee Chairman pleaded guilty in federal court yesterday to conspiring to defraud the House of Representatives and the citizens of the United States.

Former Rep. Ernest Istook

Criminal documents filed against John Albaugh, Chief of Staff for former-Rep. Ernest Istook (R-OK), who chaired the Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Treasury and Independent Agencies, allege that at Albaugh’s urging, Istook (referred in the court documents as “Representative 4”) earmarked funds to clients of convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff in exchange for use of FedEx Field suites for a fundraising event and for tickets for multiple concerts and shows including Tim McGraw and the children’s band The Wiggles.

Abramoff told the lobbyists working under him that Istook had “basically asked what we want in the transportation bill” and to “make sure we load up our entire Christmas list.”

Lobbyist Jack Abramoff

Taxpayers for Common Sense has conducted a preliminary examination of the earmarks obtained by clients of Kevin Ring (Lobbyist C in the court documents), former Legislative Director for Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA).  At the time Albaugh was accepting thousands in gifts, Ring was employed by Abramoff’s lobbying firm, Greenberg Traurig LLC (“Firm B”).  At least six of Ring’s clients received earmarks in the fiscal year 2004 Transportation appropriations bill, which was written by the appropriations subcommittee chaired by Istook.  The court documents refer to some of the earmarks that went to Ring’s clients, though it is impossible to know to which clients the court documents refer, since the dollar amounts likely changed before the final spending bill was passed.  It is also impossible to determine which of the earmarks below were obtained by Ring himself or other lobbyists at Greenberg Traurig.  On a separate note, several of the earmarks in question are in Doolittle’s district.

Kevin Ring

“This case demonstrates the nature of corruption in the earmarking process,” said Ms. Ryan Alexander, President of Taxpayers for Common Sense. “We cannot continue with a broken system where we only discover corruption though criminal investigation.”  Further reductions of earmarks and improved transparency are necessary to expose the misuse of federal funds, Alexander concluded.

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The following Ring/Abramoff clients received earmarks in the FY2004 Transportation appropriations bill.  Of these six, only the Choctaw Tribe had more than one registered lobbyist during this time period, but Greenberg Traurig was the only one that lobbying on appropriations matters for the Tribe. 

Click on the name of each client to find documents compiled by TCS that show first the disclosure stating that Greenberg Traurig is the registered lobbyist and after that the relevant page(s) from the bill with the earmark(s) highlighted:

Carter County, Montana – As first reported by Roll Call, this is a $3.5 million earmark to construct Highway 323 from Alzada to Ekalaka.

Choctaw Indians – Mississippi Band – A $1.425 million earmark for Choctaw Roads project.

Colorado Railcar Manufacturing – A $5 million earmark to study the use of diesel multiple units.  Though CRM wasn’t mentioned directly in the earmark as the recipient, the stipulation that Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) consider when making its award “the extent that the award would develop or facilitate the domestic rail passenger” all but guaranteed that CRM would get the contract, as they are the only U.S. owned designer and manufacturer of railcars. FRA granted the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) and the South Florida Regional Transportation Authority the award, and CRM was the company awarded the contract for manufacturing the equipment.

Elk Grove, CA – Received two earmarks: $300K for the Sheldon Road SR 99 Interchange and $960K for a traffic operations center.

Lincoln, CA – There are four earmarks for Lincoln:  $500K for expansion of regional buses; $1 million for the Lincoln Boulevard Improvement Project; $2 million for Lincoln bypass-SR65/Ferrari Interchange construction; and $250K for Auburn Ravine Bridge.

Saginaw Chippewa Tribe – The Saginaw Chippewa Transportation Improvement Project received $1.2 million, which is clearly for the Tribe.  There is also $1 million for the Saginaw Transit Multimodal Downtown Transit Facility, which is less clear but may also be at the request of the Tribe.