AP: GOP Chief Denies Helping Abramoff

GOP Chief Denies Helping Abramoff

The Associated Press
Sunday, October 15, 2006; 3:30 PM

WASHINGTON -- The head of the Republican Party said Sunday
he did not have a former State Department official fired at
disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff's request, despite e-mails
that reportedly suggest otherwise.

Ken Mehlman, chairman of the Republican National Committee,
denied playing a role in the firing of Allen Stayman from his
job as a special negotiator while Mehlman was the White House
political director.

Among Abramoff's clients were the Northern Mariana Islands,
which opposed Stayman's labor reforms for the U.S.
commonwealth.

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"It is not true," Mehlman said, when asked about the Sunday
Los Angeles Times report on CNN's "Late Edition." "I did not
have the authority, as the political director, to fire anybody.
It wasn't my decision."

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