Missouri Contract Followed Abramoff From Firm to Firm

Just how much of Missouri's money did Jack Abramoff get, and did he earn it? Did Casino Jack take the state for a ride as he did his other clients, whom he bilked out of more than $80 million?

These are questions that the Matt Blunt administration should be examining as details of indicted Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff's intimate involvement with a contract to lobby for Missouri's Highway and Transportation Commission continue to emerge.

As previously reported on Fired Up Missouri, lobbyist disclosure documents filed with the Secretary of the U.S. Senate link Jack Abramoff and several close associates with a $120,000 contract to lobby Congress on behalf of Missouri's Highway and Transportation Commission. Previous reports, however, actually understate the connection between the Highway Commission lobbying contract and Team Abramoff.

Previous posts here fleshed out the contractual relationship between the Highway Commission and Cassidy & Associates using disclosure reports filed by Cassidy while the firm employed Abramoff. However, additional disclosure reports associated with the Highway Commission lobbying contract indicate that the lucrative state deal followed Abramoff as he moved between powerful DC lobby shops.

Lobbying disclosure forms show that prior to being held by Cassidy & Associates during Abramoff's tenure, the Missouri Highway commission contracted with DC law firm Greenberg Traurig to work Capitol Hill for transportation funding. The contract between Greenberg and Missouri, according to filings, took effect in March of 2003 while Abramoff was the the firm's biggest lobbying rainmaker. The contract between Missouri and Greenberg Traurig existed until it was terminated on March 24, 2004.

Not coincidentally, March 24, 2004 is the same day that Cassidy & Associates publicly announced its hiring of Jack Abramoff. Just weeks later, Cassidy would file paperwork with the United States Senate formalizing its role as lobbyist for the Missouri Highway Commission.

To be clear, though Abramoff's name does not appear on the disclosure documents filed regarding the Greenberg Traurig contract, several familiar names regularly recognized as members of 'Team Abramoff' do appear. Most prominently, Fired Up fan-favorite Todd Boulanger is listed as the contact on the Greenberg contract (Boulanger would also be listed as the disclosure contact on the Cassidy lobbyist registration).

Also, registered as a lobbyist for the Highway Commission was Abramoff deputy Duane Gibson, who aided Abramoff's Greenberg-funded efforts to stop the 2000 Florida recount and assisted in unreported fundraising events at Abramoff's DC restaurants held on behalf of GOP luminaries including DeLay, Blunt, and Cantor.

The portrait painted by these disclosures of the Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission's Congressional lobbyist is unambiguously clear. Given the timing of these contracts, and the backgrounds of the individuals who were handling them it is impossible to imagine a scenario under which Jack Abramoff was not the driving force behind them. What remains unknown is whether the Missouri Highway Commission and taxpayers --like the Agua Caliente, Louisiana Coushatta and Mississippi Choctaw-- were taken by Abramoff for all they're worth.

And Governor Blunt shouldn't rest until we find out.