Bob Ney is Talking to the Feds: Too Little, Too Late?

By Jeralyn, Section
Posted on Mon Jan 16, 2006 at 11:26:53 PM EST
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Rep. Bob Ney is trying to talk the feds out of indicting him.

Mr. Ney is working intensely to convince Justice Department prosecutors that he was tricked by Mr. Abramoff into doing favors for the lobbyist's clients. He and his lawyers are presenting evidence they hope will counter allegations by Mr. Abramoff, who agreed to testify in the corruption case in exchange for a reduced sentence.

Mr. Ney has shown credit card receipts to prosecutors to demonstrate that he paid for his own meals at Signatures, the restaurant that Mr. Abramoff once owned, participants in the case have said. His lawyers have gone through thousands of Mr. Ney's e-mail messages in an effort to determine that he did not put his involvement in any bribery scheme, if there was any, into writing.

That's very nice that he paid for some meals at Signatures. But that's the least of his problems.

Among the most damaging assertions by Mr. Abramoff is that Mr. Ney knew that an expensive golfing trip to Scotland in 2002 was being financed by the lobbyist around the time that Mr. Ney was pushing a measure in Congress beneficial to one of Mr. Abramoff's Indian tribe clients. That, some participants in the case believe, may have amounted to bribery.

Another example of how Mr. Ney sought to assist Mr. Abramoff comes from the lawmaker's entries into the Congressional Record at the time the lobbyist was trying to buy the SunCruz casino boat line in Florida. The comments heaped praise on Adam Kidan, Mr. Abramoff's business partner in the SunCruz deal, who has since pleaded guilty in the Florida case.

In a statement entered into the record on Oct. 26, 2000, Mr. Ney described Mr. Kidan as having "a renowned reputation for honesty and integrity." Within weeks, Mr. Kidan and others were hosts of a fund-raiser for Mr. Ney in an MCI Center skybox in Washington rented by Mr. Abramoff.

Then there are these allegations against Ney:

According to Mr. Abramoff's plea agreement, Mr. Ney provided a stream of official favors to Mr. Abramoff and his associates. In one case, the court papers say, Mr. Ney helped an Israeli company win a contract in 2001 to provide wireless service to Congress.

The next year, Mr. Ney made an "agreement," as the plea deal calls it, with Mr. Abramoff that he would introduce legislation benefiting Mr. Abramoff's Indian tribe clients. At the same time, Mr. Abramoff directed tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions to Mr. Ney, including $10,000 to the