Lobbyist Access to White House Revealed in Secret Service Logs

21 Sep 2006 // Anti-tax advocate and lobbyist Grover Norquist visited the White House at least 74 times over the last five years, according to Secret Service logs released yesterday that illustrate the access that he and other Bush administration allies enjoyed.

Norquist was one of nine people with links to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff who were listed in the 1,646 pages of documents showing dates and times of appointments registered with the Secret Service.

Lobbyists who worked with Abramoff, including Tony Rudy, Neil Volz, Kevin Ring and Shawn Vasell, had among them at least 70 appointments at the White House from 2001 to 2005, according an administration official who briefed reporters on the documents. Records released earlier this year show Abramoff had at least seven White House appointments from 2001 to 2004.

The records were released by the Bush administration to settle a lawsuit filed in May by the Democratic National Committee. Democrats have sought to link President George W. Bush with Abramoff, 47, a Republican fund-raiser who pleaded guilty in January to conspiring to corrupt public officials and defrauding American Indian tribes that were his lobbying clients.

``This settles the claims brought by the DNC,'' White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.

Battle Over Records

The DNC said that the records released aren't complete, because many other documents that would list appointments and visits were turned over by the Secret Service to the White House, becoming exempt from disclosure through executive privilege. The Bush administration initially argued that some of the Secret Service records, including those of former Christian Coalition Executive Director Ralph Reed and Norquist, didn't have to be released because they were policy advisers.

``By trying to extend a special privilege typically reserved for U.S. government employees to protect their Abramoff cronies like Grover Norquist, and Ralph Reed, the Bush administration showed just how willing they are to manipulate the law to hide the truth and protect their political interests,'' DNC spokeswoman Karen Finney said in a statement.

Among the appointments listed for Norquist, 49, was one on Feb. 4, 2005, with David Safavian, then the government's top procurement official. Federal Bureau of Investigation agents later interviewed Safavian, 39, about his connections with Abramoff, and Norquist's business ties to the Republican lobbyists were detailed during a June 2005 Senate hearing on the scandal surrounding Abramoff.

Before Safavian joined the government, he worked at a lobbying firm founded by Norquist called Janus-Merritt Strategies in Washington. Safavian was convicted last June of making false statements about his relationship with Abramoff.

Advisory Role

Norquist didn't return a call made after-hours to his Washington office seeking a comment. Perino said he is ``one of a number of individuals who worked to advance fiscal responsibility, which is one of the key aspects of the president's agenda.''

The documents, involving visits to the White House grounds including the West Wing, the Eisenhower Executive Office Building and the South Lawn, list few details beyond names and times and dates of appointments. In some cases the records show whom the visitor was scheduled to meet.

Some of the people listed, including Safavian and Assistant Labor Secretary Patrick Pizzella, made regular trips to the White House compound as part of their jobs. Pizzella, who once worked with Abramoff at a lobbying firm, hasn't been implicated in any Abramoff-related court case or other hearing.

Purpose of Visits

Many of Norquist's visits may have been for large events. One visit on June 7, 2001, coincided with Bush's signing a $1.35 trillion tax cut. He was cleared to enter the White House grounds a total of 97 times, according to the administration official. His visits are noted in summary sheets included with the documents at least 74 times.

A person named Michael Scanlon spent more than an hour on the White House grounds on Saturday, March 6, 2004, according to the logs. The records aren't clear whether he is the same Michael Scanlon who was a business partner of Abramoff and who pleaded guilty last November to conspiring to corrupt public officials.

Rudy and Volz, who worked at Abramoff's lobbying firm, pleaded guilty to similar charges earlier this year.

Two other lobbyists from Abramoff's firm -- Greenberg Traurig LLP -- whose names were listed on the White House logs, Vasell and Ring, haven't been charged with wrongdoing.

The document release marks the third time this year that the Secret Service has released information about White House visits by Abramoff or his associates in response to demands from government watchdog groups and the Democratic National Committee.

The Abramoff corruption probe has ensnared members of Congress. Representative Robert Ney, an Ohio Republican, agreed to plead guilty last week to charges he accepted gifts and cash from Abramoff in exchange for legislative favors. Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, a Republican from Texas, resigned from Congress in part because of his relationship with Abramoff. He hasn't been charged in connection with the Abramoff case.

Bush has denied knowing Abramoff, saying at a Jan. 26 news conference, ``I, frankly, don't even remember having my picture taken with the guy.'' Time magazine in February published a photo of them together, which White House officials dismissed as one among hundreds of pictures the president poses for each year.