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 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, in part, because of his relationship with Abramoff):

A former high-ranking official in the Justice Department pleaded guilty yesterday to accepting thousands of dollars worth of meals and sports tickets from Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff 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 (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 and a former legislative aide to Doolittle. Coughlin and Ring are longtime friends who worked together on Capitol Hill 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.

Today, CREW sent a letter to Speaker Pelosi and Minority Leader Boehner asking that the House leaders start cooperating with law enforcement authorities pursuing legitimate criminal investigations involving members of Congress.  The letter can be found here.

Leaders of the House have been improperly shielding members of Congress – including former Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL), Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA), Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA) and Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) -- from criminal investigation and prosecution through an expansive and aggressive interpretation of the Speech or Debate Clause of the Constitution.

Members of Congress, like all other citizens, can hire attorneys to ensure that their constitutional rights are protected; this is not, however, the job of the House general counsel, hired at taxpayer expense.

A key excerpt from CREW's letter to Pelosi and Boehner:

Members of Congress are not above the law, but the House's aggressive use of the Speech and Debate Clause to impede law enforcement authorities from investigating members' potentially illegal activities is unseemly.

Unseemly, indeed. 

Today's announcement that Rep. John Doolittle won't be running for re-election prompted this statement from Melanie Sloan:

Given that Rep. Doolittle's relationship with convicted felon and former lobbyist Jack Abramoff has long been the subject of a federal criminal investigation, as has his relationship with convicted felon and former businessman Brent Wilkes, his announcement today that he will not seek re-election is overdue. Rep. Doolittle's constituents deserve a representative focused on their needs, rather than one focused on his own legal problems.

It also warrants another spotlight look at his extensive record of corruption from our report, Beyond DeLay:

Rep. John T. Doolittle (R-CA) is an ninth-term member of Congress representing California’s 4th congressional district. Rep. Doolittle’s ethics issues stem from his wife’s relationship to his campaign and political action committees, as well as campaign contributions and personal financial benefits he accepted from those who sought his legislative assistance. Rep. Doolittle is currently the subject of a Department of Justice investigation and was included in CREW’s 2006 report on congressional corruption.

Julie Doolittle

Rep. Doolittle’s wife Julie is the owner and president of Sierra Dominion Financial Solutions, a fundraising company retained by Rep. Doolittle’s campaign committee and his Superior California Leadership PAC. In her role as fundraiser, Ms. Doolittle receives 15% of every contribution raised. Ms. Doolittle has received at least $215,000 from Rep. Doolittle’s campaign committees since 2001, and took in nearly $224,000 during the 2006 campaign alone. Notably, the Association of Fundraising Professionals sent a letter to Rep. Doolittle stating that its long-standing ethics code, “explicitly prohibits percentage-based compensation” and urged the campaign to cease this practice with Sierra Dominion Financial Solutions.

Ms. Doolittle’s payments by her husband’s campaign appear to violate federal campaign finance laws and House rules, which prohibit converting campaign funds to personal use. By using his position as a member of Congress to financially benefit his wife, Rep. Doolittle may be depriving his constituents of his honest services, using his position for personal gain, and engaging in conduct that does not reflect creditably on the House.

After severe criticism, Rep. Doolittle announced that his wife would no longer serve as a paid fundraiser for his 2008 reelection campaign. Still maintaining that the percentage based fee his wife earned was fair, Rep. Doolittle has said his wife will continue to raise money for his Superior California Leadership PAC, but will be paid a flat salary rather than a commission. Rep. Doolittle still owes his wife’s company $76,471.20 for fundraising services rendered during the 2006 election cycle.

Ties to Jack Abramoff

In 1999, Rep. Doolittle also assisted Jack Abramoff in securing a lucrative lobbying contract with the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), helped Mr. Abramoff stave off legislation protecting workers in the CNMI and wrote letters on behalf of some of Mr. Abramoff’s tribal casinos. In return, Rep. Doolittle, an alleged gambling foe, received $130,000 from gambling tribes with ties to Mr. Abramoff. If Rep. Doolittle received contributions from Mr. Abramoff in return for legislative assistance, he may have violated prohibitions against bribery, honest services fraud and House rules.

In April 2007, FBI agents searched the Doolittles’ Virginia home. Investigators sought the business records of Sierra Dominion Financial Services as part of an ongoing investigation into ties between Jack Abramoff and the Doolittles. At least three former and two current Doolittle aides have been contacted by the Justice Department as part of the investigation.

Brent Wilkes

Federal investigators are probing whether contributions made to Rep. Doolittle by now indicted defense contractor Brent Wilkes and his associates are linked to any official actions Rep. Doolittle took to help Mr. Wilkes’ company obtain millions of dollars in earmarks.

After several days and weeks of drama, the announcement comes today that another one of the most corrupt members of Congress, Rep. John Doolittle, is not running again:

Embattled Rep. John Doolittle (R-Calif.) announced Thursday afternoon that he would not seek reelection, yielding to pressure from his Republican colleagues to step aside amid a federal investigation into his involvement in the Jack Abramoff scandal.

Speaking at the Maidu Community Center in his California district, Doolittle said he will serve out the remainder of his term but won’t run in November’s election.

Melanie Sloan made the following statement today after the retirement announcement of Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA):

Given that Rep. Doolittle's relationship with convicted felon and former lobbyist Jack Abramoff has long been the subject of a federal criminal investigation, as has his relationship with convicted felon and former businessman Brent Wilkes, his announcement today that he will not seek re-election is overdue. Rep. Doolittle's constituents deserve a representative focused on their needs, rather than one focused on his own legal problems.

Rep. Doolittle was included in CREW's annual list of the most corrupt members of Congress - Beyond Delay: The 22 Most Corrupt Members of Congress (and two to watch). Rep. Doolittle's profile can be found here.

Rep. John Doolittle, twice named one of the most corrupt members of Congress by CREW in our annual report Beyond DeLay, is being urged to forsake re-election. One of those providing that advice is former Rep. Richard Pombo, who is another Beyond DeLay designee. Pombo was defeated in his 2006 re-election bid. Pombo and Doolittle were the subjects of a brutal editorial by the San Jose Mercury News in October of 2006 over their ethical failings and ties to Jack Abramoff:

As speculation mounts about his future, Rep. John Doolittle (R-Calif.) is being urged by friends and colleagues not to seek reelection.

Republican operatives fear that if Doolittle does not retire at the end of this Congress and survives what would be a bruising GOP primary, they will lose the nine-term lawmaker’s seat. Doolittle is under an ethics cloud, having had his Virginia house investigated by the FBI last year. Several prominent Republicans are seeking to defeat him in the primary.

According to three well-placed Republican sources, former Rep. Richard Pombo (R-Calif.) — who lost his seat amid ethics allegations — has called on longtime friend Doolittle to not seek reelection in the interest of keeping the district a GOP stronghold. In the last Congress, Pombo was a panel chairman while Doolittle was a member of GOP leadership.

Pombo could not be reached for comment.

Apparently, Rep. John Doolittle is still running for re-election, for now. The Sacramento Bee reports that the Doolittle operation isn't really clear itself:

Ron Rogers, the congressman's chief of staff, dismissed the reports as "old rumors" but then went on to confuse matters by saying that Doolittle would make some kind of announcement this month but he wasn't sure what it would be.

"I'm not speculating on anything other than the next 24 hours," Rogers said. "As far as I am concerned, he is definitely running for re-election."

Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) was twice named one of the most corrupt members of Congress in CREW's report, Beyond DeLay. There were numerous reasons Doolittle earned that distinction in both 2006 and 2007, including Doolittle's relationship with Jack Abramoff.

Today, rumors swirled that Doolittle would soon announce that he was retiring from Congress according to the Politico:

Doolittle may drop out as early as this week, according to the California Majority Report, clearing the way for former state Rep. Rico Oller to run for the seat.

Doolittle's office did not respond to a call seeking comment at press time, although House GOP insiders said the report was true.

Although "House GOP insiders" confirmed the rumor, the Politico piece was updated with a denial from Doolittle's office:

UPDATE: Doolittle's office, while not commenting directly on the California Majority Report item, is denying that Doolittle is dropping his reelection bid.

"There is nothing new to report at our end at all," said Ron Rogers, Doolittle's chief of staff. "Mr. Doolittle is moving ahead with his plans for this year, including reelection."

Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) is facing a federal criminal investigation. His home was raided by the FBI. He was named one of the most corrupt members of Congress by CREW in Beyond DeLay. But, he has a plan. He's using the "Jefferson defense":

Rep. William Jefferson was the Democratic congressman from Louisiana caught with $90,000 in the freezer of his Washington home. He goes to trial in February on bribery charges. Jefferson has tried to claim that an FBI search of his congressional office in 2006, done with a valid search warrant from a court, was an unconstitutional violation of the separation of powers.

Now, Rep. John Doolittle, R-Roseville, has crawled into the freezer with Jefferson.

On Dec. 19 Doolittle said he is challenging the constitutionality of subpoenas, issued by a federal grand jury, which seek congressional office records related to his relationship with convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

It's purely a strategy of delay. "My attorney tells me that this issue alone – the constitutional issue presented by those subpoenas … is going to take one to two years to resolve," Doolittle said.

Such self-serving twaddle has little to do with constitutional principle, whether spouted by Doolittle or Jefferson. Certainly, the Constitution protects members of Congress from questioning or arrest regarding legitimate legislative activities – to guarantee the independence of the legislative branch. But members of Congress are not above criminal law; their offices have no immunity to conceal crime.

Via Talking Points Memo we got this tidbit about Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA).   For the past two years, CREW has named Doolittle one of the most corrupt members of Congress in our report, Beyond DeLay:

I reported last week that former state Sen. Rico Oller of Calaveras County was standing with embattled U.S. Rep. John Doolittle, R-Roseville, at a GOP event. I also mentioned in that piece that Rico (who lost a nasty Republican primary contest to now-Rep. Dan Lungren in 2004) was being talked about as a possible successor to Doolittle, but that Oller wouldn't jump in without Doolittle's blessing.

That appears likely to happen soon. I am hearing from my Sacramento Valley friends that John Doolittle is about to step down and will ultimately endorse Rico Oller, who apparently owns lots of property in Doolittle's 4th District. Oller would still have to get past Assemblyman Ted Gaines of Roseville and Eric Egland of Rocklin. Rico is definitely conservative, and if he has the blessing of the NorCal GOP machine that Doolittle has created, he should immediately become the favorite in that primary.