Did he or did he not know Abramoff?

Or put another way, did Bush break campaign finance laws?

Let's look at this, shall we:

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/01/20060103-1.html

The relevant piece of the above listed press briefing is as follows:

Q But have you been able to more clearly determine whether the President ever met Abramoff at any of these White House --

MR. McCLELLAN: Actually, I talked about this earlier today, maybe you weren't here earlier this morning, but -- when I talked to some of your colleagues.

Q I thought you said he might have been, but I'm just wondering --

MR. McCLELLAN: Yes, I said it's possible that they would have met at a holiday reception or some other widely attended gathering. The President does not know him, nor does the President recall ever meeting him.



Now let's glance at how Bush got around the campaign finance laws that only allow individuals to donate $1000.00, shall we:

Bush says 'Pioneers' are friends, not evading finance rules

AUSTIN, Texas (July 20, 1999) -- In an attempt to pacify accusations of evading finance limitations, GOP presidential front-runner George W. Bush released late Monday a list of the 115 people who have raised at least $100,000 for Bush's presidential effort.
Bush
Gov. George W. Bush

A citizen group, Texans for Public Justice, asked the Texas governor for a list of the people, known as Pioneers, "who each pledged to bundle together for you at least 100 checks worth $1,000 apiece."

The group contends that the use of a small group of people to accumulate large sums of money is a way to get to circumvent laws that limit campaign contributions to $1,000 per individual.

At a news conference Monday, Bush described the "Pioneers" as a group of friends and political supporters. He said they are a grass-roots network and follow federal campaign finance laws.

http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1999/07/20/president.2000/briefs/


So, in summary, did Bush lie when he said he didn't know Abramoff or did he break campaign finance rules? He's got a little bit of a double bind here. Either way we have a lie and in one instance we have laws broken, again. But I think Rove thinks it's more politically dangerous to know Abramoff than to break another law since that is just business as usual in the Bush White House.

Gee, I think it's time for another congressional inquiry.


Some additional links:

http://www.texasobserver.org/showForPrint_new.asp?ArticleID=13

to see the quid pro quo dealings.

even if he never did actually meet him, which i find unbelievable.

then his story about the Pioneers being friends and political partners to get around the campaign finance laws doesn't hold up.

He broke the campaign finance law.

that got me started down this rabbit hole.

Either way he lied. One of the ways he broke the law. The other way is political suicide. Well, it would be in any sane universe but that's a whole other topic.

Scanlon bragged about Jack being a pioneer and the access that afforded them too.

and was part of Karl Rove's gang of thugs.

There is no way that Bush didn't know him initimately.

We need a FIOA request for the WH logs to see how ofter Jack visited. We got them for Gannon, no reason we can't get them for anyone else.

Exactly!

I thought you were heading to work. ;)

Copied from Left Chick 

Oh Please... He was a MEMBER OF THE BUSH TRANSITION TEAM!
?
Edited on Wed Jan-04-06 12:21 PM by leftchick

How fucking stupid do they think we are?...

http://www.texasobserver.org/showArticle_new.asp?Articl...

<snip>


Four months after he took the oath of office in 2001, President George W. Bush was the attraction, and the White House the venue, for a fundraiser organized by the alleged perpetrator of the largest billing fraud in the history of corporate lobbying. In May 2001, Jack Abramoff’s lobbying client book was worth $4.1 million in annual billing for the Greenberg Traurig law firm. He was a friend of Bush advisor Karl Rove. He was a Bush “Pioneer,” delivering at least $100,000 in bundled contributions to the 2000 campaign. He had just concluded his work on the Bush Transition Team as an advisor to the Department of the Interior. He had sent his personal assistant Susan Ralston to the White House to work as Rove’s personal assistant. He was a close friend, advisor, and high-dollar fundraiser for the most powerful man in Congress, Tom DeLay. Abramoff was so closely tied to the Bush Administration that he could, and did, charge two of his clients $25,000 for a White House lunch date and a meeting with the President. From the same two clients he took to the White House in May 2001, Abramoff also obtained $2.5 million in contributions for a non-profit foundation he and his wife operated.

Thanks.

Worked yesterday ...... :shrug:

Also a USA Today article that showed Abramoff's links to the White House & friends is dead too.

Looks like some people are trying to cover their tracks.

I'm heading to bed so I won't be able to research it now, but if you find it, could you PM me?

Please copy and archive and send to friends.

http://www.texasobserver.org/showArticle_new.asp?ArticleID=13

Abramoff may have been Smirky's 'pimp'. Of course, he knew him.

The Bush/Cheney transition 'team' was actually deliberately infiltrating Abramoff into the Department of the Interior which contains the Bureau of Indian Affairs!! That's really unfuckingbelievable! Gail Norton should be behind bars ... preferably in abu Ghraib.

There is so much to absorb in this web, I think my head is going to explode!

:loveya: <-- For YOU!

http://www.stealthpacs.org/agent.cfm?agent_id=4920#6

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35430-2004Jul7.html
Edit -add link

And Prethident Bush just met with President Bongo of Gabon because he wanted to. It had NOTHING TO DO with the $9,000,000 President Bongo paid that Abramoff guy or whatever his name is.

Just in case there are folks here who wouldn't mind doing a bit of research, I figured a google search of Bush's overnight guests might be a place to start.

(2001-2002 cycle)

http://www.opensecrets.org/bush/sleepovers.asp
http://www.opensecrets.org/bush/sleepovers_all.asp

(2002-2003 cycle)
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0310-04.htm

(2004 cycle)
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-05-12-sleepover-guest-list_x.htm

While as Governor of Texas:
http://www.angelfire.com/ok5/pearly/htmls/bush-sec3.html

Related links:
http://www.opensecrets.org/alerts/v6/alertv6_60.asp
http://home.att.net/~howingtons/gopontake.html
http://www.lossless-audio.com/usa/index0.php?page=568936109.htm

And an important piece by Lou Dubose from the Texas Observer about how Abramoff sold "face time" with GWB
http://www.texasobserver.org/showForPrint_new.asp?ArticleID=13

http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2005/5/6/130218.shtml

Lobbyist Had Close Contact With White House
NewsMax.com Wires
Friday, May 6, 2005

WASHINGTON -- In President Bush's first 10 months, GOP fundraiser Jack Abramoff and his lobbying team logged nearly 200 contacts with the new administration as they pressed for friendly hires at federal agencies and sought to keep the Northern Mariana Islands exempt from the minimum wage and other laws, records show.

The meetings between Abramoff's lobbying team and the administration ranged from Attorney General John Ashcroft to policy advisers in Vice President Dick Cheney's office, according to his lobbying firm billing records...

More...

It's my bedtime but I'll try to get up early before work and see what has been dug up. You folks at DU are my soul mates when it comes to research. I wish I had made this connection earlier in the night when I could have done some of the footwork.