Italia Federici, a close associate of Interior Secretary Gale Norton, is expected to testify next week on the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal, The Washington Post reports.

Federici worked on Norton's failed U.S. Senate campaign in 1996. She now serves as president of the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy, an organization that Norton helped start in the early 1990s.

As head of CREA, Federci contacted Interior officials and passed on concerns affecting Abramoff's wealthy tribal clients. She contacted former deputy secretary J. Steven Griles, Norton's former communications director Eric Ruff and Interior's White House liaison Doug Domenech, and arranged a meeting between Norton and the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana, according to documents news reports.

The Coushattas are the focus of the November 2 hearing before the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. The panel prepared a subpoena for Federici, Roll Call reported.

Get the Story:
Probe of lobbyist turns to Interior chief (The Denver Post 10/28)

Relevant Documents:
CREA Memo to Interior (February 21, 2002)

Relevant Links:
Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy - http://www.crea-online.org/crea
Coushatta Tribe - http://www.coushattatribela.org

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