The former executive assistant to White House political adviser Karl Rove is seeking immunity from prosecution before testifying about administration ties to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, a House investigative committee revealed Tuesday.
Susan Ralston, the aide who resigned last fall, told lawyers for the committee this month she would provide information if protected from prosecution.
In a sign that Congress' probe into the Abramoff matter is widening, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform also signaled plans to seek further documents and information about the former lobbyist's contacts with the Bush White House from "former and current White House and Administration officials who may have knowledge" about such communications.
In a memo to fellow committee members Tuesday, Chairman Henry A. Waxman, D-Calif., said lawyers for the panel deposed Ralston, Rove's former aide, on May 10. Ralston resigned her White House post in October following the committee's finding that she had extensive contacts with Abramoff and had accepted tickets to sporting events and concerts from him.
The panel's 2006 report also concluded that Abramoff and his associates "had 485 lobbying contacts with White House officials between January 2001 and March 2004," Waxman's memo noted. Ralston had worked for Abramoff before joining the White House in 2001.
Damn I forgot all about this chick! Oh yeah, now they bring the Abramoff scandal back from the way back burner and start turning up the heat to reveal the lies and corruption in that situation.
I know that many people think that Congress is wasting its time with these investigations, but damn it I want to know what happened! I want a light shown on every single thing this administration touched. And I do mean everything!
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OT but have you read this?
ReplyDeleteWith scarcely a mention in the mainstream media, President Bush has ordered up a plan for responding to a catastrophic attack.
In a new National Security Presidential Directive, Bush lays out his plans for dealing with a “catastrophic emergency.”
Under that plan, he entrusts himself with leading the entire federal government, not just the Executive Branch. And he gives himself the responsibility “for ensuring constitutional government.”
He laid this all out in a document entitled "National Security Presidential Directive/NSPD 51" and "Homeland Security Presidential Directive/HSPD-20."
The White House released it on May 9.