Secret Service to Release Logs on Abramoff Visits

washingtonpost.com
Secret Service to Release Logs on Abramoff Visits
Associated Press

The Secret Service has agreed to turn over White House visitor logs that will show how often Jack Abramoff, the convicted former lobbyist, met with Bush administration officials -- and with whom he met.

U.S. District Judge John Garrett Penn approved an agreement last Tuesday between the Secret Service and Judicial Watch, a public interest group, that requires the agency to produce records of Abramoff's visits from Jan. 1, 2001, to the present.

Judicial Watch filed suit in February after the Secret Service did not respond to its request under the federal Freedom of Information Act.

Abramoff once was one of the city's most successful lobbyists. He represented Indian tribes in their dealings with Washington politicians.

He pleaded guilty in January in Washington to federal charges stemming from an investigation into his ties with members of Congress and the Bush administration. He also pleaded guilty to fraud charges in Miami concerning a multimillion-dollar purchase of the SunCruz Casinos gambling fleet in 2000.

Administration officials have refused to say how many times Abramoff, who raised at least $100,000 for President Bush's reelection, has been to the White House. Bush has said he does not know Abramoff.

The visitor logs are to be delivered to Judicial Watch by May 10.