The Abramoff era of scandal is far from over.  The fallout continues as a former top official at the U.S. Department of Justice pleads guilty to a charge of breaking the conflict-of-interest law for Abramoff and one of his associates.  The Washington Post [1] reports Mr. Coughlin will be cooperating with the authorities, which could make him a witness against Rep. John Doolittle  (named by CREW as one of the most corrupt members of Congress [2], in part, because of his relationship with Abramoff):

A former high-ranking official in the Justice Department [3] pleaded guilty yesterday to accepting thousands of dollars worth of meals and sports tickets from Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff [4] in exchange for helping a variety of Abramoff's clients.

Robert E. Coughlin II, the former deputy chief of staff of the Justice Department's criminal division, became the latest of more than a dozen public officials, lobbyists and congressional staff members to be convicted or to plead guilty in the wide-ranging federal investigation of Abramoff's activities.

As part of his plea agreement, Coughlin, 36, agreed to cooperate with investigators, making him a potentially important witness in the ongoing scrutiny of Rep. John T. Doolittle [5] (R-Calif.). Coughlin acknowledged performing a variety of official acts for Kevin A. Ring, a key member of Abramoff's lobbying team at Greenberg Traurig [6] and a former legislative aide to Doolittle. Coughlin and Ring are longtime friends who worked together on Capitol Hill [7] a decade ago.

Coughlin admitted violating the federal conflict-of-interest statute while he served in the department's offices of legislative affairs and public liaison between March 2001 and October 2003. According to court papers filed yesterday, he leaked department information, attended meetings and contacted his Justice colleagues to help clients of Abramoff and Ring.