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<DIV><FONT size=6><STRONG>Abramoff Breaks Silence About
Investigations</STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>By David Finkel<BR>Washington Post Staff Writer<BR>Sunday, May
1, 2005; A07</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT size=4></FONT> </DIV>
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<DIV><FONT size=4>Jack Abramoff, the Washington lobbyist who is under federal
investigation for his lobbying activities on behalf of Indian tribes and is a
central figure in separate probes into alleged ethical improprieties by his
close friend House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.), has begun publicly
defending himself after months of silence.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>In an interview with Time magazine, portions of which have
been posted on the magazine's Web site in advance of tomorrow's publication
date, Abramoff said the tribes that hired him for help with casino licensing
applications and paid him tens of millions of dollars got their money's
worth.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>"The return on investment for these tribes, and all my
clients, is far better than anything they or we could have imagined," Abramoff
said. ". . . They realize that spending millions to save billions is just good
business."</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#ff0000 size=4><STRONG>Abramoff called his Indian clients
"sophisticated business people" in the interview, which is in stark contrast to
terms he used in private e-mails, first disclosed in The Washington Post in its
ongoing examination of Abramoff, in which he called them "stupid" and "moronic."
In other e-mails, released by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, he referred
to them as "idiots," "troglodytes" and "monkeys."</STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>"I regret that in the heat of the locker room atmosphere of
the lobbying world, I sometimes, rarely -- but sometimes -- I resorted to
language more common to a drill sergeant or a football coach," Abramoff told
Time. "Many of my e-mails have been maliciously taken out of context, another
effort by those assaulting my career. As a result, I've been portrayed as a
cynical barbarian preying on the very clients I was charged to
defend."</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>Abramoff is being investigated in connection with allegations
of kickbacks and influence peddling by the Interior and Justice departments and
by two Senate committees.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>In another article, published in today's New York Times
Magazine, Abramoff called himself "an aggressive advocate for people who engaged
me," and said, "I did this within a philosophical framework, and a moral and
legal framework. And I have been turned into a cartoon of the greatest villain
in the history of lobbying."</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>The Times article goes on to characterize Abramoff's life as
"in shambles." A Washington delicatessen he opened in 2002 has closed. A private
religious school he founded in 2001 in Columbia also has closed, and some of its
teachers are suing him for unpaid wages. He also is being sued by a Louisiana
tribe he represented, which seeks the return of $32 million it paid Abramoff and
a business partner, public relations consultant Michael Scanlon.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>DeLay was the one topic Abramoff would not talk about in any
detail. Asked by the Times about his relationship with the man who once referred
to Abramoff as "one of my closest and dearest friends," Abramoff answered by
talking in general terms about the life of a Washington lobbyist. "There are
probably two dozen events and fund-raisers every night," he said. "Lobbyists go
on trips with members of Congress, socialize with members of Congress -- all
with the purpose of increasing one's access to the decision makers.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=4>"That is not unusual," he continued. "They've been made to
seem unusual with me. Perhaps because they haven't pulled e-mails to see the
various fund-raisers and golfing outings that [other lobbyists] have been
engaged in."</FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>