J. Steven Griles, the former deputy secretary at the Interior Department, has been notified by federal prosecutors that he is a target of the Jack Abramoff investigation.
Prosecutors met with Griles last Friday to discuss possible criminal charges, The Washington Post reported. One potential charge centers over his testimony to the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. A former White House official was convicted of a similar charge and sentenced to prison.
Griles has denied any wrongdoing but documents, testimony and a former colleague suggest he favored Abramoff's tribal clients on gaming, land-into-trust, recognition and other matters.
As part of the investigation, current and former Interior officials have been seen going to the federal courthouse in Washington, D.C., where a grand jury has been called, The Post said.
After leaving Interior, Griles went to work as a lobbyist for tribes and the energy industry. One of his clients is the Quapaw Tribe of Oklahoma, which filed a trust mismanagement lawsuit against Interior.
Sue Ellen Wooldridge, a top official at the Department of Justice, was in charge of defending the government in the lawsuit. Wooldridge and Griles have been dating, but Wooldridge suddenly resigned on Monday, The Post reported. Wooldridge used to work at Interior as well.
One former Interior official, Roger Stillwell, was sentenced to two years probation after he pleaded guilty for failing to report gifts he received from Abramoff. Stillwell was as a desk officer for the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas, one of Abramoff's clients.
Get the Story:Ex-Interior Deputy a Target in Abramoff Probe (The Washington Post 1/10)
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Abramoff's Interior link gets 2 years probation (AP 1/9)
Ex-Official Sentenced for Abramoff Gifts (AP 1/9) Senate Finance Committee Democratic Report:
Text Only | Response to Democratic Staff | Investigation of Jack Abramoff�s Use of Tax-Exempt Organizations (October 12, 2006) Note: 18.3MB file may be slow to load. Senate Finance Committee Materials:
Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy | Americans for Tax Reform | National Center for Public Policy Research | Citizens Against Government Waste | Toward Tradition | News Article Clippings House Government Reform Committee Documents:
Report | Billing Records Spreadsheet | Attachment 1 | Attachment 2 | Press Release Senate Indian Affairs Committee Abramoff Report:
�GIMME FIVE�� INVESTIGATION OF TRIBAL LOBBYING MATTERS (June 2006) Exhibits:
Pre-2001 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | Undated | Finance Related Stories:
Griles said to be under scrutiny in Abramoff probe (11/15)
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