The Burns-Abramoff File

[iaafan]

Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT)
Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT) is a third-term Senator from Montana. Sen. Burns is Chairman of the Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, giving him jurisdiction over all the country's federal lands, the National Park Service, and the budget of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Sen. Burns's ethics issues are based on campaign contributions he accepted in apparent exchange for exercising his authority as Chairman and on a trip some of his staff members took to the 2001 Super Bowl.

Sen. Burns and Jack Abramoff
Sen. Burns' campaign committees have received substantial contributions from now-infamous Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff, Mr. Abramoff's associates and Mr. Abramoff's tribal clients. In fact, Sen. Burns received more money from Mr. Abramoff than did any other Member of Congress. Between 2000 and 2002, these donors contributed a whopping 42% of the total money received by Sen. Burns' political action committee, totaling more than $137,000.

Mr. Abramoff's largesse to Sen. Burns appears to have benefitted Mr. Abramoff's clients. Last year, Sen. Burns applied pressure to the Interior Department to direct a $3 million federal grant intended for poor tribal schools to the Saginaw Chippewa tribe of Michigan, one of the wealthiest tribes in the country (each member of the tribe receives $70,000 annually) and a client of Mr. Abramoff's.

Sen. Burns pressured the Interior Department to reverse its ruling that the tribe was not entitled to receive the federal funds to build a new school. Stymied by Interior's unwillingness to change the rule, Sen. Burns earmarked the money for the Saginaw Chippewa in a 2004 Senate appropriations bill. Montana state democrats filed a complaint with the Senate Ethics Committee asking the Committee to investigate whether Sen. Burns accepted a bribe to direct the grant to the tribe.

Federal law prohibits a public official from directly or indirectly demanding, seeking, receiving, accepting or agreeing to accept anything of value personally for or because of any official act performed or to be performed by such official. 18 U.S.C. ßsect;201(c)(1)(B). Sen. Burns' receipt of hefty campaign contributions from Mr. Abramoff and his associates and clients in exchange for his legislative assistance may well violate this statute.

Trip to the 2001 Super Bowl
Two of Sen. Burns' key staff members, Appropriations Committee staffer, Ryan Thomas, and his chief of staff, Will M. Brooke, flew to the 2001 Super Bowl on a corporate jet leased by Mr. Abramoff and accompanied by several staffers from House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's office. These staffers also visited a SunCruz gambling ship, partly owned by Mr. Abramoff, during the same junket. At the end of 2003, Mr. Brooke left Sen. Burns' office to work for Mr. Abramoff.

The Senate Gifts Rule restricts members and staff from accepting "gifts of personal hospitality" from registered lobbyists. Moreover, members and staff are only permitted to accept reimbursement for officially related travel. Reimbursement for necessary expenses for events which are substantially recreational in nature, however, is not allowed. As a result, Sen. Burns' staff members were not permitted to accept reimbursement for travel expenses from Mr. Abramoff.

Senate rules also require members and staff to submit travel forms to the Office of Public Records every time they accept reimbursement for travel expenses. In addition, Senators are required to sign staff members' forms, authorizing staff to accept reimbursement for travel. No such forms were ever filed by the staffers who went to the Super Bowl with Mr. Abramoff. The Select Committee on Ethics should investigate why no travel forms were filed and whether Senator Burns authorized staff members to take a trip clearly prohibited by Senate rules.

Finally, the Senate Select Committee on Ethics should investigate whether Sen. Burns engaged in such improper conduct by legislatively earmarking funds to benefit the client of a key campaign donor, and by permitting his staffers to accept an extravagant junket in clear violation of Senate travel rules. The Committee should further investigate whether the campaign contributions made by Mr. Abramoff and the Super Bowl trip for two of Sen. Burns' key staffers influenced Sen. Burns' legislative activity.

This from the beyonddelay web site.

[mslacat]

Yea! but Conrad has a better hair cut than Tester, and does not listen to Pearl Jam.!!!!