http://www.timesreporter.com/browser_detect.phpWASHINGTON – A congressional committee led by Rep. Bob Ney awarded a $3 million wireless contract to a telecommunications provider that had retained and made contributions to a now-indicted lobbyist with close ties to Ney.
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Ney, R-St. Clairsville, denied through a spokesman Wednesday that there was any link between his approval, as chairman of the House Administration Committee, of a contract to install cellular antennas in a House office complex, and Abramoff’s role as a lobbyist for the recipient, MobileAccess Network.
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Federal investigators are continuing what has been described as a wide-ranging probe of other dealings involving Abramoff, including his receipt of millions of dollars in lobbying fees from tribal clients. The company that won the wireless contract, Vienna, Va.-based MobileAccess, also is part of the probe.
MobileAccess, a provider of fiber-optic transmission systems, was based in Israel and doing business as Foxcom when it won the contract in late 2002. The company employed Abramoff as a lobbyist, paying his team $280,000 over two years, the Washington Post reported Tuesday. The company also made a $50,000 contribution to Abramoff’s charity, the Capitol Athletic Foundation.
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