Bush, DeLay give back Abramoff funds

WASHINGTON -- House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, Representative Tom DeLay, and President Bush yesterday joined the growing list of powerful politicians rushing to give back campaign contributions they received through influential lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

But their attempts to distance themselves from Abramoff have brought new attention to letters some of them wrote on behalf of his principal clients -- Native American tribes with casino gambling interests.

Hastert, who received $69,000 over a four-year period, wrote a letter to Interior Secretary Gale Norton three years ago, urging her to side with Abramoff's clients in an Indian casino-gambling dispute.

The letters to Norton, whose department has jurisdiction in the matter, urged an outcome that matched the wishes of two of Abramoff's tribal clients who wanted to stop competition from the proposed casino.

The Senate minority leader, Harry Reid, who wrote a similar letter to Norton, said through his spokesman yesterday that he would not return the $30,500 that he received from Abramoff's clients. Reid's spokesman, Jim Manley, said the Democrat did nothing wrong, and sought to keep the focus on the GOP, saying, ''This is a Republican scandal."

The involvement of the top House Republican and the top Senate Democrat in matters relating to Abramoff's clients underscores the potential breadth of the investigation into the lobbyists activities, a probe that has sent shock waves across Capitol Hill.

Known as a top Washington lobbyist, Abramoff had vast influence and gave generously to Democrats and Republicans alike, but federal prosecutors say he used his deep pockets and political connections to bribe lawmakers and to swindle his tribal clients. Abramoff pleaded guilty in Washington on Tuesday to charges of tax evasion, fraud, and conspiracy. Yesterday he pleaded guilty in Miami to financial fraud in connection with the purchase of a Miami cruise line. Political observers say it is possible some members of Congress will be swept into the ongoing corruption investigation.

So far, however, the government has officially referred to just one unnamed lawmaker who allegedly received bribes from Abramoff; Representative Bob W. Ney, an Ohio Republican, has identified himself as that congressman and has denied wrongdoing. The other prominent politician frequently mentioned in the scandal is DeLay, a Texas Republican and former House majority leader who often worked closely with Abramoff.

Though several lawmakers wrote letters supporting Abramoff's clients, former House counsel Stanley Brand said ''not everyone who signed the letters is guilty of a crime, [but] everyone who signed the letters will get looked at" by Justice Department investigators. ''I have no doubt that the department, by the time it is over, will have looked at dozens of members."

There's no evidence that Bush is personally involved in the scandal, but Abramoff was a top fund-raiser for the president, collecting more than $100,000 for Bush's 2004 reelection and earning premier status within the campaign. The White House said yesterday that the $6,000 Abramoff personally donated to Bush's 2000 and 2004 campaigns will be donated to the American Heart Association.

Over a four-year period, Hastert and his committee received $69,000 from Abramoff and his tribal clients, including a personal donation of $2,500 from Abramoff. In June 3, 2003, Hastert attended a fund-raiser at Abramoff's restaurant, Signatures, collecting $21,500 for Keep Our Majority, his political action committee.

A week later, Hastert wrote to Norton, urging her to reject the plans of the Jena tribe of the Choctaw Indians to build a casino in Louisiana. That proposal had stirred opposition among several of Abramoff's clients, including the Mississippi band of the Choctaws and the Coushatta tribe of Louisiana, neither of which wanted the competition. The letter told Norton that approving the new casino would ''run counter to congressional intent."

Abramoff frequently made his money by helping tribes already in the gambling industry to quash any competing interests, even if they were other tribes.

Hastert's letter was signed by three of his top deputies in the House: DeLay, Roy Blunt, and Eric Cantor. DeLay received $30,500 from Abramoff and his clients; Blunt got $8,500 from Abramoff's clients; and Cantor received at least $9,000 from Abramoff, according to campaign records. DeLay, Blunt, and Cantor yesterday joined Hastert in promising to return the contributions.

The effort to persuade Norton to oppose the Jena tribe's casino did not pay off. She approved a deal in which the tribe could acquire land for a casino, but Louisiana officials have stalled the proposal.

''Clearly, Abramoff has pleaded guilty to several offenses, so this is the appropriate action to take," said Geoff Embler, Cantor's press secretary.

He said Cantor signed the letter ''consistent with his long-held opposition to casino gambling," and contended that the congressman never met with Abramoff.

Similarly, Reid, the former chief gaming regulator in Nevada, twice joined with Senator John Ensign, Republican of Nevada, to write Norton and ask her to oppose the casino.

Reid, however, said through his spokesman that he sees no reason to return the money Abramoff's clients gave him. ''He has done nothing improper in that he feels that any contributions received by the campaign were part of the course of lawful fund-raising," his spokesman Manley said, adding that Reid never met with Abramoff.

More than two dozen members of Congress have returned Abramoff-related contributions.

Ensign, who received $5,000 from Abramoff, gave the same amount to a charity in October ''based on the controversy surrounding Mr. Abramoff," spokesman Jack Finn said.