California Congressman Helped Abramoff Win Contract

By David Whitney
McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON - Rep. John Doolittle helped Jack Abramoff secure a lucrative lobbying contract with the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands in 1999 and then assisted the now-disgraced lobbyist's efforts to route federal money to the islands and defend its garment industry, newly obtained documents show.

The California Republican accepted $14,000 in contributions from Abramoff - $4,000 to his congressional re-election committee and $10,000 to the congressman's California political action committee.

The first contribution came just a few weeks before Doolittle endorsed the election of a key commonwealth politician crucial to Abramoff winning the contract. The last Abramoff contribution came as the Northern Marianas lobbying contract was expiring in December 2001.

While Abramoff's associates and clients, particularly Indian tribes, have been large contributors to Doolittle for at least six years, the $14,000 is the only money directly from Abramoff.

Doolittle's involvement with the islands provides another link between him and Abramoff, who pleaded guilty in January to three felony charges in connection with his lobbying. Doolittle also took action on behalf of Indian tribes that Abramoff represented, and the lobbyist once hired the firm owned by Doolittle's wife.

Doolittle has defended his relationship with Abramoff, calling him a close friend but denying any involvement in the lobbyist's improper activities. And Doolittle consistently has declined to return any Abramoff-related campaign money, saying he did nothing wrong in accepting it.

In an interview Friday, Doolittle said all of his efforts were to aid the struggling Mariana Islands and had nothing to do with Abramoff.

"It had to do with the (commonwealth)," Doolittle said.

The commonwealth is a U.S. territory east of the Philippines whose garment industry has been widely criticized as a collection of sweatshops employing Chinese, Filipino and other immigrant workers at sub-minimum wages.

Clothing from these plants is sold tariff-free in the United States under a "Made in the USA" label.

Workers there have complained of living in prison-like conditions. Women have said they were shunted into the bustling sex industry. Chinese women told U.S. investigators that they were forced to have abortions after becoming pregnant.

Doolittle's press aide, Laura Blackann, said in a statement Friday that the congressman had traveled to the Northern Marianas in 1999 on a congressional trip and saw none of the abuses or "reported inhumane working conditions."

At the time, Doolittle was a member of the House Resources Committee, which has jurisdiction over the commonwealth.

Abramoff lobbied to stop congressional bills that would impose U.S. immigration and wage laws on the commonwealth. Efforts to enact those laws have been bipartisan and continue today.

Doolittle has been a leading opponent of the bills, saying the reported abuses could be halted with aggressive enforcement of existing U.S. law enforcement tools. He stood in lockstep on the issue with his mentor, Rep. Tom DeLay of Texas, then the Republican whip and later the majority leader of the House of Representatives, who called the Northern Mariana Islands a "petri dish for capitalism."

Abramoff had lost the commonwealth lobbying contract in 1998 and was campaigning in 1999 to get it back. Key to his strategy was Benigne Fitial, an Abramoff supporter and former commonwealth legislator who for the last decade had been vice president of Tan Holdings Group, operator of garment plants and the publisher of the Saipan Tribune, a commonwealth newspaper, according to published reports.

On Oct. 3, 1999, Doolittle received a $1,000 contribution from Abramoff, the first from the star lobbyist. Three weeks later, Doolittle wrote a letter to Fitial praising his entry into the commonwealth's legislature race and endorsing his election.

"I know that you are a legislator and businessman who cares deeply about the people of your community," Doolittle wrote. "Your hard work in previous legislatures has succeeded in improved relations with the U.S. government, and we need you in the House again to ensure continued success."

Doolittle's letter, complete with the disclaimer that it was paid for by the John T. Doolittle for Congress committee in Roseville, Calif., was published in the Saipan Tribune on Nov. 2, four days before Fitial was elected.

On Friday, Doolittle said he backed Fitial, now the commonwealth's governor, because "he was a pro-free-enterprise guy who was advocating for the best interests of the territory."

After Fitial's election, Abramoff turned his attention to getting Fitial elected speaker of the commonwealth House. He was considered the underdog in the race, trailing the front-runner by two votes, according to published reports.

According to the Los Angeles Times, two of Abramoff's associates, former DeLay aides Ed Buckham and Michael Scanlon, were dispatched to the Northern Marianas in December 1999 to persuade two legislators from Tinian and Rota islands to switch their votes and support Fitial, offering promises of federal money for their island communities.

A follow-up trip in January, when Fitial was elected speaker, was cited in Abramoff's agreement when he pleaded guilty to political corruption charges.

In July, Fitial pushed through the Marianas House legislation directing the government to hire Abramoff's firm, Preston Gates, as its lobbying firm, and the deal was accepted July 27.

By then, Abramoff had made a second $1,000 contribution to Doolittle. It was followed on Oct. 30 with his biggest contribution to Doolittle - $10,000 to the congressman's Superior California State Leadership Fund.

After the 2000 U.S. elections, an opening occurred on the House Appropriations Committee. The seat was regarded as a California slot on the powerful spending panel. The California Republican congressional delegation backed Rep. Howard McKeon, but the spot went to Doolittle, who credited his association with DeLay for the victory. '

After he moved his operation to the Greenberg Traurig law firm and had the commonwealth contract extended for 2001, Abramoff appointed former Doolittle aide Kevin Ring to manage the account.

Over the next 10 months, according to billing records, Ring met or contacted Doolittle or his staffers 19 times to talk about Mariana Islands issues, including appropriations for the islands.

One reference was to a phone conversation Ring had with a Doolittle aide regarding "funding for port studies." Port money was among the inducements offered to one of the commonwealth legislators to encourage a vote for Fitial for speaker, according to published reports.

Another entry lists Ring working with Doolittle's office on March 12, 2001, "regarding letter on OSHA report." Ten days later, the Saipan Tribune published a story headlined "U.S. lawmaker hails CNMI (Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands) transformation." The story reported on a letter from Doolittle to his House of Representatives colleagues on a new Occupational Health and Safety Administration report that led Doolittle to conclude that there'd been significant improvements in the garment industry on the islands.

According to the Saipan Tribune story, "Mr. Doolittle's letter is like a whiff of fresh air for CNMI lobbyists in Washington, D.C., local government officials and businessmen."

Another Saipan Tribune story, in May 2001, quoted Fitial as turning to "U.S. Rep. John T. Doolittle and other members of the U.S. Congress and the Bush administration to release funds for the island's transport facilities." The article quoted Fitial as saying Doolittle had been presented with a "recent study on the needed rehabilitation work at the Tinian and Rota seaports." Five days later, on May 22, 2001, in another Saipan Tribune story headlined "CNMI receives support of US Congress ally," Fitial hailed federal help coming for the Rota and Tinian port projects through a spending bill for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers detailed in a letter he received from Doolittle.

"Mr. Doolittle's letter lays out clearly what has been done and what work lies ahead for Northern Marianas port facilities," according to the article.

Doolittle did more than just angle for federal money and write letters to the speaker. On May 17, 2001, according to Federal Election Commission reports, Doolittle's re-election committee contributed $1,000 to Fitial. Six days later, the Doolittle campaign recorded a $1,000 contribution from Abramoff.

Doolittle was in the Saipan Tribune again May 25 when the newspaper reprinted his letter telling Fitial how DeLay had helped Tinian and Rota ports in 2000 with a $150,000 earmark for studies. Doolittle said he would pick up the torch by seeking funding for feasibility studies for the two projects "so that the corps would have the resources necessary to begin the next stage of work."

It is unclear how much money was funneled to the Northern Marianas by Congress in 2001, or how much of that Doolittle was responsible for delivering.
Abramoff's last contribution, for $1,000, to Doolittle's campaign was dated Dec. 28, 2001, three days before the lobbying contract terminated.

Doolittle said Friday that his support for the Northern Marianas hasn't waned.
"They are the territory that is actually self-sufficient and hard working," he said. "Some of the others are just welfare states. ... Big labor should lay off them and the Democrats should quit trying to kill them off because they don't fit their particular agenda."

Peter Hecht of The Sacramento Bee contributed to this report.