Burns aide who took Abramoff trip is resigning

9 Feb 2006 // An aide to Sen. Conrad Burns who took a controversial trip sponsored by admitted felon and lobbyist Jack Abramoff plans to leave his job with the Montana Republican.

Ryan Thomas, who worked for Burns on the Appropriations subcommittee on the Interior, did not respond to requests for an interview Wednesday.

Thomas was among a group of congressional staffers who traveled to Tampa, Fla., for the 2001 Super Bowl on an Abramoff company-leased jet. Thomas told a Montana newspaper in December he was told that the trip was financed by an Indian tribe, which would be permissible under Senate rules.

He said that he had not been contacted by the Justice Department probing Abramoff's lobbying activities.

In January, Abramoff pleaded guilty in federal court to defrauding clients, evading taxes and conspiring to bribe public officials.

He has promised to cooperate with investigators looking into other potential public corruption violations in Congress.

Another Burns staffer at the time — former chief of staff Will Brooke — was also on the trip. Brooke, who briefly worked for Abramoff after leaving Burns' office, has told reporters he thought the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indian tribe paid for the trip.

Burns, who received about $150,000 from Abramoff and his clients, helped secure a 2004 $3-million school construction grant for one of Abramoff's clients, the Saginaw Chippewa tribe of Michigan.

Burns spokesman James Pendleton said he did not know whether Thomas had found another job. He also said he did not think Thomas had been pressured to leave.

"We wish him good luck," Pendleton said.