So, once again I have to postpone a Diary about a follow-up on the Senate’s Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 2-8-2007 CNMI Hearing. (Earlier I posted CNMI Hearing Report #1 and CNMI Hearing Report #2). Some very interesting things are going on and there are some developments to share. But, once again they have to wait a day or so.
Why?
Because of my Valentine gift from The FBI.
As is my daily habit, I read the local papers of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), a US Territory in the Western Pacific about 40 miles north of Guam. When I opened the 2-15-07 edition of Marianas Variety (via the magic of time zones), I was greeted by this headline:
FBI probes Abramoff’s NMI deals
To the jump...
For a very long time I have been making the case that the Abramoff scandal was turning towards the crimes committed on the CNMI. One set of misdeeds has stood out and they have been mentioned in the various plea deal of Michael Scanlon, Neil Volz, Bob Ney and Jack Abramoff.
Here is how I explained the crime in question after Bob Ney’s former aide, Neil Volz, pleaded guilty last year in the Diary Ney's Aide Cops Plea = BIG trouble for the GOP:
The trail starts with the Michael Scanlon plea from last November. On page 13 under the section on Corruption of Public Officials, Scanlon admits to providing things of value to public officials in exchange for a series of official acts and influence. One of those things was:
All-expenses-paid trips, including a trip the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands ("CNMI") in 2000
Scanlon was very familiar with CNMI. As Walter F. Roche reported, Mike took a trip there in 1999 to fix a local election:
Two former top aides to House Majority Leader Tom DeLay brokered a political deal here five years ago that helped land island government contracts worth $1.6 million for a Washington lobbyist now the target of a corruption probe.
Edwin Buckham and Michael Scanlon traveled to these Pacific islands in late 1999 to persuade two legislators to switch their votes for speaker of the 18-member House of Representatives in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. They succeeded. Once in office, the speaker pressed the island's governor to reinstate a lobbying pact with Jack Abramoff...
The other fella on the trip was Ed Buckham (Lobbyist B in the Tony Rudy plea) [snip]
January 2000 was an important month for both issues on CNMI. In 1998, there was a change in the local CNMI Government and Jack had lost his lobbying contract with CNMI. The money still flowed as the Tan Family kept the support flowing through the Saipan Garment Manufacture Association and a money laundering front they called the Western Pacific Economic Council. It was getting harder and harder to for Jack to deal with the locals on CNMI, so it was time to change the Government.
The ideal candidate was Benigno (Ben) R. Fitial. Back in the 1980s he was a member of the first CNMI Legislators and he pushed though laws that allowed foreign investment on CNMI. That opened the doors for the Hong Kong based Tan Family to move to the Islands and start opening sweatshops. Of course Ben left government and became an executive with the Tan Family. A position he held for 11 years overseeing a corporation with more labor abuse violations than any other in the history of the United States. So obviously he was the man the GOP wanted to put in charge of CNMI Legislation.
But of course in a fair election Fitial would never get the votes to become CNMI’s Speaker of the House. So in late 1999, Jack, Tom and the gang sent Ed Buckham and Mike Scanlon over to CNMI to twist some arms and make some deals.
And it worked! (emphasis added):
Incumbent Rep. Alejo M. Mendiola from Rota and newly elected representative from Tinian Norman S. Palacios yesterday officially withdrew their support for Rep. Heinz S. Hofschneider for speakership of the House of Representatives in favor of closest rival, former Speaker Benigno R. Fitial. [snip]
"We sincerely believe that under the leadership of Representative-elect Benigno R. Fitial, the people of the CNMI, especially Tinian and Rota will greatly benefit from such leadership," they said in a letter. [snip]
Members of the 18-seat chamber are expected to choose leaders of the House and chair of the various committees when they convene on the inaugural day on Jan. 10.
So all plea agreements mention that in January 2000, Scanlon, Volz and others traveled to CNMI. They were there to seal the deal and ensure Fitial election. This was important to Abramoff and his sweatshop clients. And Fitial would deliver the goods for Jack. By July 2000 he had pushed through legislation that basically ordered the CNMI Government to rehire Abramoff. And they did. [snip]
And the payoffs to CNMI flowed through the GOP controlled Congress (and later the Bush White House as well). As Jack explained in his pitch letter:
Working on behalf of the Western Pacific Economic Council, our team not only stopped all anti-CNMI legislation from being enacted, we helped to secure $1.4 million in extra CNMI appropriations for infrastructure improvements in Tinian and Rota.
And that was not all. Millions flowed through the Appropriation process to CNMI. Jack, Tom and the gang had many willing participants in the process. Folks like Doolittle, Pombo, Taylor, Rohrabacher, Young, Burton, Burns and a host of others have plenty to worry about. And they should worry, because they have committed a horrible crime.
So that is the refresher course.
The take away here—the Clift Notes, if you will—is that Tom, Jack and the GOP gang in Washington wanted to help their Chinese patrons on CNMI, the Tan Family, install their candidate as the Speaker of the CNMI House.
So Tom, Jack and the gang sent Ed and Mike over to the Islands to promise two CNMI House members, Rep. Alejo M. Mendiola from Rota and Rep. Norman S. Palacios from Tinian a payoff (AKA a bribe) if they would switch their votes and elect Fitial Speaker of the House.
Mendiola and Palacios switched their votes.
And Tom, Jack and the GOP gang delivered the payoff (AKA a bribe) in the form of appropriations from the US Congress.
I’ve added more details and expanded the list of connected Republicans to this scandal in a number of Diaries, such as "Doolittle + Abramoff + Bribes = More GOP Trouble" and the very recent "Jack Kingston, GA-1: Goofy, corrupt, Abramoff stooge and 2008 target".
So I have been pointing this out for a while and waiting for developments to catch up with my understanding of the scandal. This can be frustrating as the wheels of justice grind slowly—sometimes very slowly.
And then I opened my browser to the 2-15-07 edition of Marianas Variety (emphasis added):
FBI probes Abramoff’s NMI deals
AT least four U.S.-based agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation are on-island to question some local lawmakers and other officials on disgraced Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff’s work for the Northern Marianas.
The four met with Speaker Oscar M. Babauta, Covenant-Saipan, yesterday afternoon.
Variety learned that at least one more CNMI lawmaker will be questioned to shed light on what happened during the 12th Legislature when then-Rep. Benigno R. Fitial, now the governor, became speaker.
Then-Reps. Norman S. Palacios and Alejo M. Mendiola had said they would support then-Rep. Heinz S. Hofschneider for the speakership but ended up voting for Fitial.
Palacios and Mendiola were persuaded by then-U.S. House Majority Whip Tom DeLay’s staffer Michael Scanlon and former chief of staff Ed Buckham to support Fitial.
Abramoff was one of DeLay’s closest friends.
After Fitial became speaker, the cash-strapped CNMI government renewed Abramoff’s contract.
It was DeLay who blocked congressional bills that would have federalized CNMI labor and immigration laws which the local garment industry also opposed.
Fitial, a former garment executive, has described Abramoff as his close friend.
It was a very nice Valentine gift and I never expected to get one from the FBI.
As good as that news was, the next day’s Marianas Variety added heaping helpings of silliness and camp value to my Abramoff scandal watch.
Fitial has brought many of his Tan-Family-Sweatshop-supporting allies into the government. One of them, Charles P. Reyes Jr., was an apologist for the system of abuse on the CNMI for years in the pages of the Tan Family’s Saipan Tribune. Reyes is now the "Tony Snow" of Saipan and of course he emailed the Marianas Variety about their FBI story. And of course the Variety reported on the missive:
Administration: Feds should help, not harm, NMI
THE Fitial administration says instead of sending Federal Bureau of Investigation agents to investigate a disgraced lobbyist’s dealings with the CNMI government, Washington should help the commonwealth cope with its worsening economic crisis.
"Instead of investigating Jack Abramoff, who has already been successfully prosecuted, why not investigate the CNMI economy and see how America can help our desperate community survive these economic times?" Press Secretary Charles P. Reyes Jr. said in an e-mail to Variety. "Why not investigate how they can help Gov. Benigno R. Fitial save this small and fragile economy for the 70,000 people that live here?"
Reyes added, "Abramoff is history and we are dying economically. We desperately need the federal government’s help and support. If they can’t extend actual tangible economic assistance, then they at least should not do us any further harm." [snip]
"We are not terribly concerned about the Abramoff issue except that some people may continue to use this past issue against us for political reasons, in retaliation for past wrongs, or to advance a federal takeover agenda, when our economic and political situation has markedly changed for the worse," Reyes said.
Oh, Chuck, my how you have changed your tune.
Now, Abramoff is an afterthought and the economy that your unrestricted greed destroyed is somehow the responsibility of the rest of the United States to bail out. But back in the day when Fitial was arranging to rehire Abramoff as part of the criminal conspiracy, Chucky Reyes was the number one Cheerleader. Take a look at his greatest hits, like Our freedom fighter in D.C.:
Every freedom-loving, pro-self-governing CNMI citizen ought to know who Jack Abramoff is. Mr. Abramoff is one of the CNMI's best friends in Washington, D.C. He is the point-man in our vital campaign to avert a disastrous federal takeover of our islands.
It is probably no exaggeration to suggest that Jack Abramoff is a kind of hero to the indigenous people of the CNMI. Through his work at Preston Gates, our commissioned advocate, he has kept our islands free. He has upheld the principles of liberty, autonomy, and maximum local self-government in the Northern Marianas. He has protected us from unwarranted federal encroachments upon our relatively free markets. [snip]
As the recent Wall Street Journal story attests, Jack Abramoff was primarily responsible for all of this. But Mr. Abramoff is not a mere lobbyist. He is a dedicated champion of free markets and individual liberty. He is ideologically committed to supporting organizations that actively support and promote ideas on liberty--organizations such as the Cato Institute and Citizens Against Government Waste. [snip]
Some cynics will no doubt say that Mr. Abramoff is a hired gun. They will predictably complain about the substantial fees we have paid for his firm's services. But, in the final analysis, it is all worth it.
And when Jack was trying to get his new firm hired in 2001, Chucky penned Carpe Diem, Marianas!:
George W. Bush won the U.S. presidential election. After eight years of Clinton, America will soon have a Republican president. [snip]
Those who argue that it is now time to scrap funding for our Washington, D.C. lobbyists (Jack Abramoff) could not be more wrong. Abramoff helped us through the defensive stage. He successfully fought against numerous U.S. Federal takeover attempts. Now is the time to go on the offensive--to go beyond merely, defensively, resisting a federal takeover and to embark upon some bold, sweeping free market reforms.
We need to shift from the anti-takeover political defensive to the liberating free market offensive. In other words, to use business management S.W.O.T. (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) parlance, we need to move away from threats and into glorious opportunities. [snip]
Now is the time to work hand-in-hand with our Republican friends in the United States. Now is the time to pursue common goals--goals guided and united by the Republican philosophy of limited, decentralized government, individual liberty, and economic growth.
Indeed, in 2001, the CNMI should elect a governor who can work with Mr. Abramoff and our Republican friends in the U.S. Congress and in the White House.
And Reyes continued the push to get Abramoff rehired in 2001 in his Retain our Michael Jordan:
When it comes to getting the job done, when the vote is close and there is only five or six days remaining on the legislative clock, Jack Abramoff is the man to turn to in Washington DC. He has produced results (not only for the CNMI but for beleaguered American Indian tribes as well). As the Wall Street Journal attests, "Under Mr. Abramoff's watch, Congress has failed every year to impose new immigration and wage 'standards' on the Mariana Islands . . ." [snip]
Yet, for all of Mr. Abramoff's effort and success, our Senate--incredibly!--now wants to reject his services in favor of the low bid, consistent with traditional procurement regulations, which make no sense in this particular case. In other words, our good Senators want to fire our Michael Jordan and hire someone else--someone who will settle for less. [snip]
Our economic and political lives are much too important to be left to normal procurement regulations. The CNMI government should therefore retain the services of Mr. Abramoff (now at the law firm of Greenberg Traurig).
The rebuttal of Charles "Chucky" Reyes to the news reports of the FBI investigating the crimes of his mates and patrons was amazingly cynical. It was funny is a twisted kind of way. I mean, here is one of the guys who forced Abramoff upon the CNMI and America, whining about the fact that the Department of Justice and the FBI have traveled all the way to the CNMI to investigate crimes committed against the United States of America. He seems to be amazed that some folks think that the Marianas Islands are a Territory of the USA, and that they should be subject to our laws. His view of the mainland is that of an ATM to dispense cash and ask no questions about where it goes and how it is spent.
Poor Chucky, he is having a very hard time adjusting to the reemergence of the reality based community in Washington DC.
The writings on Reyes have been a constant source of amusement as I’ve studied Abramoff and the CNMI over the year. He is always good for a laugh. His defense of Fitial and the gang was an unexpected post Valentine’s Day treat.
They can whine, they can pout, they can throw tantrums, but change is coming. And perhaps a few indictments will hurry the old guard Pirates of Saipan out of office.
That would be nice.
In the scheme of things the problems of the CNMI are small. I mean, we can’t seem to do the big things like Iraq, New Orleans, the Climate Crisis, the economy, etc., so my quest to call attention to the troubles of this far away place is quixotic. And yet, I hope that we will pay attention. I hope that we will bring a new dawn to the CNMI and a future built on a just and sustainable economy that works for all. I hope a victory here will inspire new victories on the mainland.
There are massive problems and we have a Country to take back and a planet to save (literally, the Climate Crisis is real).
2007 is now. Let’s get to work.
Cheers.
UPDATE: The CNMI’s new lobbyist
This information grew from a comment by kiericks down the page.
It seems that Fitial is incapable of hiring somebody NOT tied to the Abramoff Scandal.
The new guy is Rudy Pamintuan and, of course, he has several interesting links.
First as kiericks noted below, he is the Chairman of Bush's President's Advisory Commission and a federal Interagency Working Group on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI).
This means that Pamintuan is selling his access to the Bush White House through his service on the AAIP to the old guard Pirates of Saipan. And it telegraphs a strategy to have the White House act as the new barrier to reform. I bet Karl will take Rudy’s phone calls.
Somebody in the White House Press core should pursue this link. But wait there's more.
This profile in the Philippine News provides more details about Pamintuan and his goals:
Rudy Pamintuan, 34-year old president of his own Chicago, Illinois-based public policy and media strategy firm, Sherman Consulting, Inc., was designated by President George W. Bush on Nov. 22, 2005 to chair the White House Advisory Commission on Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders (AAPI). [snip]
Asked where he wants to take the commission during his eight-month term, he told PN, "My talent is in communication, not only in crafting issues but also in articulating them. I think we in the AAPI community are mostly preoccupied with looking at our problems, and we tend to look less for solutions. I plan to be more aggressive in looking for solutions, such as programs that already exist in the government but have not been utilized by us as much as we should."
He adds that this is true in various areas of concern, not only relating to economic opportunities, but also to health-related services and other government social services.
And the article also lays out the Abramoff connection hidden between the lines (emphasis added):
Trained at Loyola University in organization development focusing on communications, the young and well-spoken Filipino American has a mix of formal training and practical experience and community exposure that bode well for his watch. Even while in college, he had started burnishing his abilities toward opportunities in the Republican Party at a time when it was reaching out more aggressively into minority and immigrant communities, as well as the youths.
His strategy resonated with results. As Illinois State Senator Chris Lauzen, during a stomping tour on Feb. 23, 2003 in Evanston, said of Pamintuan:
"It takes truly brilliant strategists, like Rudy Pamintuan...[who] has formed the Sherman Society within the New Republican effort to link those recently graduated College Republicans – men and women, African American, Hispanic, and all religious denominations – with private sector employment opportunities so they can continue to grow as our ‘farm team’ of future candidates and effective organizers."
The Sherman Society? Yet another outgrowth of the College Republicans and Abramoff was feted as the "Best Chair that the College Republicans ever had". Base on his age, Rudy would have been on campus during Abramoff's power years in Washington. A time when Jack "mentored" College Republicans everywhere. Jack’s goal was the goal of The Sherman Society: to link College Republicans to "private sector employment opportunities so they can continue to grow as our ‘farm team’ of future candidates and effective organizers."
I would be amazed if Pamintuan and Abramoff did not know each other.
But wait, there’s more.
Pamintuan and his Sherman Consulting, Inc. (no doubt an outgrowth of The Sherman Society) are already involved in the shadow economy of the CNMI. He is an investor in a proposed casino/hotel complex on the Island of Tinian:
While Bridge Investments Group admitted that casino operations would be a key component of its proposed 300-room hotel; it would not be its major focus.
Rudy Pamintuan, spokesman and lead investor of the newly formed limited liability company, said Tinian, although small and remote, is filled with rich history and culture [snip]
He said that his team aims to reflect the island's past in the construction of their proposed hotel and casino resort on a 55,000-square-foot scenic hillside area near Lookout Point.
The casinos on Tinian are part of the shadow world. The main business is money laundering, not gambling. Since Fitial became Governor he has approve four more Casinos to join the one currently own and operated by the Peoples Republic of China on the island. The Bridge Investments Group has its own share of shadow material. In many ways, Rudy Pamintuan is performing for Bridge Investment Group the same tasks that Michael Scanlon performed for SunCruz, which was planning to station floating casinos on Saipan.
And this is the new spokesman for the old guard Pirates of Saipan. Look for them to give up on importing guest workers and other needed reforms as long as they can continue to bring in folks from around the world to enjoy the gambling (i.e. money washing) facilities and that those folks can visit the CNMI with out the hassles of paperwork, Visas and US Custom laws.
This will get interesting...