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By Mike Soraghan and Susan Crabtree
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Posted: 04/18/07 08:02 PM [ET] |
The FBI searched the Oakton, Va., home of Rep. John Doolittle (R-Calif.) Friday in its ongoing investigation into the congressman and his wife’s ties to former lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
Doolittle was not at home at the time of the search and congressional records were not seized.
The search occurred the same day Doolittle’s former chief of staff, Kevin Ring, abruptly resigned from the lobbying firm, Barnes and Thornburg.
Ring left Doolittle’s office to work for Abramoff at the law firm Greenberg Traurig and may have played a role in Abramoff’s decision to hire the consulting firm of Doolittle’s wife, Julie. After the Abramoff scandal broke, Ring went to work for Barnes and Thornburg.
Ring has not been cooperating with investigators, a law enforcement source said, adding that developments could come in his case soon.
Doolittle came within three percentage points of losing his election in November after facing months of scrutiny over his relationship with Abramoff, who is in jail for an array of fraud, bribery and money-laundering charges. Doolittle has denied any wrongdoing.
Throughout his campaign, Doolittle refused to return an estimated $50,000 he received from Abramoff clients, mostly tribes. Abramoff also personally donated $14,000 between 1999 and 2004 to Doolittle’s congressional campaigns. Doolittle used Abramoff’s luxury sports box for a fundraiser without initially reporting it to the Federal Election Commission.
Doolittle also has been under fire for paying his wife’s company, Sierra Dominion Financial Solutions, a 15 percent commission on all contributions that the company raised for Doolittle’s campaign committee and leadership PAC. Her only other clients were an Abramoff charity; Abramoff’s former firm, Greenberg Traurig; Abramoff’s former restaurant Signatures; and the Korea-U.S. Exchange Council, which Ed Buckham, a former chief of staff to ex-Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas), created.
Sierra Dominion shares the address of the Doolittles’ home, located off Chain Bridge Road in Oakton.
Doolittle’s office did not respond to request for comment.
The focus of the Friday afternoon search was Julie Doolittle’s fundraising firm, Sierra Dominion, not Doolittle, said Doolittle’s attorney, David Barger. Barger has said in the past that Doolittle is not a target of the investigation.
The Justice Department has previously subpoenaed Julie Doolittle’s files.
Doolittle, a member of House leadership during the last Congress, also received political contributions from indicted defense contractor Brent Wilkes and his associates, and investigators are probing whether those contributions are linked to any official action Doolittle took to help Wilkes’ company obtain millions of dollars in government earmarks.
Wilkes recently was indicted in connection with an investigation stemming from former Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham’s (R-Calif.) bribery conviction and jailing.
Attempts to obtain a copy of the search warrant at the U.S. District Courthouse in Alexandria this week were unsuccessful. Of the 126 search warrants logged there since the beginning of February, 90 (or 71 percent) are “under seal.”
Doolittle faces a tough, reelection climb. His opponent, retired Air Force pilot Charlie Brown, raised $94,000 in the first quarter of this year and has $132,000 in cash on hand, the most impressive showings of any 2006 candidate seeking a rematch.
Brown has a $203,000 cash advantage over Doolittle after first quarter campaign finance filings. Doolittle still owes $125,000 to his wife for work related to her fundraising, and $13,000 to lawyers hired to defend him in the FBI investigation.
Julie Doolittle’s fundraising for her husband’s congressional campaign became so controversial during his campaign that he announced at the beginning of this year she would no longer be doing it. She may continue to work for his political action committee.
It is common for lawmakers’ spouses to work for their campaigns, but the way Julie Doolittle was paid attracted criticism. Rather than earning a flat fee as some other fundraisers do, she got a 15 percent commission on every donation raised. For some, that created an impression that campaign donations given to John Doolittle directly benefited his household.
Brown already is implementing a strategy to help inoculate him from criticism of Democratic policies on the Iraq war and strengthen his ties to veterans. Earlier this week, he distributed $2,500 (10 percent of what was raised during his “Leave No Veteran Behind” online fundraising challenge) to three local veterans support organizations: Sacramento Stand Down, Nevada County Stand Down and the Sierra College Veterans Club.
After hearing about the raid, Brown issued a statement calling it “a sad day for the people of the 4th District, for our Congress, and our country.”
Justice Department spokesman Bryan Sierra declined to comment.
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