Abramoff case, spying loom over AG Gonzales

Abramoff case, spying loom over Gonzales
Ex-colleague's links to lobbyist scrutinized

By Andrew Zajac
Washington Bureau - Copyright by the Chicago Tribune
Published February 2, 2006

WASHINGTON -- Nearing the first anniversary of his becoming attorney general, Alberto Gonzales finds himself answering questions about a former colleague and defending policies from his previous job as White House counsel.

In the latest challenge to Gonzales' White House record, two members of the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday asked Gonzales what he knows about ties between convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff and Timothy Flanigan, a former White House lawyer, who withdrew his nomination to be deputy attorney general last October.

Gonzales also faces scrutiny over his role in justifying a White House policy to conduct domestic surveillance without search warrants. In addition, critics say Paul McNulty, selected as the new choice to be deputy attorney general, has been slow to consider allegations of abuse of detainees held in the war on terror.

Flanigan pulled out of consideration for the Justice Department's No. 2 position after questions arose about his business relationship with Abramoff and about his role, as Gonzales' White House assistant, in crafting Bush administration policies that seemed to justify use of torture for terrorism suspects.

After leaving the White House to become a senior executive at the Tyco manufacturing conglomerate in November 2002, Flanigan allegedly used inside information from Abramoff to stave off a pending loss of federal contracts, according to court papers filed last week in a case involving Jack Safavian, a former General Services Administration official and one-time Abramoff associate.

In a letter to Gonzales, Sens. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) asked how much the Justice Department knew about ties between Safavian, Abramoff and Tyco at the time of Flanigan's confirmation hearings.

According to Durbin, Flanigan withdrew his nomination after Durbin declined to meet privately with him to discuss his work with Tyco.

Abramoff recently pleaded guilty to fraud and conspiracy charges and is cooperating with federal investigators. Abramoff had ties to numerous prominent lawmakers and Durbin said a request would soon be made for a special prosecutor to take over the investigation.

Meanwhile, McNulty, the nominee for deputy attorney general, faces a confirmation hearing Thursday at which he is expected to face questions about how vigorously he has pursued allegations of mistreatment of detainees by the CIA and Defense Department.

Since mid-2004, McNulty, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, has overseen a team of prosecutors reviewing 19 allegations of prisoner abuse. Two have been dismissed for lack of evidence and 17 remain under investigation, according to the Justice Department.

The treatment of detainees has been a sensitive issue since the disclosure of efforts in 2002 by Gonzales, Flanigan and other administration lawyers to devise what critics say is a legal rationale to torture terrorism suspects.

Justice Department spokeswoman Tasia Scolinos said both the detainee abuse inquiries and the Abramoff investigation are insulated from politics because they are being handled by career prosecutors and not by political appointees.

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azajac@tribune.com