Today, Media Matters examines the way Ken Mehlman has changed the story of his relationship with Jack Abramoff. The explanations have become more tortured as more evidence unfolds about the way the two interacted. A disturbing pattern has been exposed by Salon magazine:

The e-mails show that Mehlman was not only familiar with Abramoff, but might have been his go-to man within the White House. "Everyone would appreciate it if you would contact Ken only and not others here at the WH," reads one message to Abramoff from Bush advisor Karl Rove's assistant Susan Ralston, "because they just forward it to him anyway." And a comparison of the timing of specific e-mails with the timing of specific checks written by Abramoff clients suggests what Abramoff was expected to deliver in return.

More than once, Abramoff asks for a favor, Mehlman fulfills the request, and then one of Abramoff's wealthy Indian tribe clients sends a political donation to a GOP cause. In return for a favor, Abramoff seems to have helped Mehlman with his own special project, a tight, scandal-marred Senate race in New Hampshire. On one occasion, Mehlman even appears to have arranged for the firing of a particular federal employee at Abramoff's request.

That behavior should draw the interest of investigators according to CREW's Melanie Sloan:

"Mehlman was clearly doing Abramoff's bidding," Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, noted after reading the report. She says these latest revelations "strongly suggest that Mehlman ought to be under investigation for accepting bribes just like members of Congress are."

Those members of Congress would include Bob Ney who was in court last week to plead guilty to federal bribery charges.

Media Matters documents Mehlman's changing story on his relationship with Abramoff.  It's an "inconsistent tale."