'Environmentalist' connected to Jack Abramoff pleads guilty (Italia Federici)

[ck4829]

The head of a Republican environmental advocacy group is set to plead guilty in the Jack Abramoff scandal and is cooperating with an FBI investigation into corruption involving Congress and the Bush administration, two people close to the case said Wednesday.

Italia Federici served as a go-between for Abramoff, the once-powerful lobbyist, and J. Steven Griles, the deputy interior secretary during President Bush's first term, prosecutors said Wednesday in documents charging her with tax evasion and obstructing a Senate inquiry into the Abramoff scandal.

Under a deal with the Justice Department, she must cooperate with authorities and is identifying other criminal targets, one of the people said.

Authorities believe Federici may be able to provide information about former Interior Secretary Gale Norton, other Bush administration officials and the contacts that she, Abramoff and Griles cultivated in Congress, the second individual said.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/politics/4868262.html

[OnceUponTimeOnTheNet]

1. It was Nov of 2005 when she 'testified'

Sen. Dorgan compared Federici's story to a fairy tale. "You know what bothers me?" Dorgan asked at the end of the hearing. "It's pretty clear that this is one of the most disgusting tales of greed and avarice, and perhaps fraud and stealing. It's unbelievable what we have uncovered here. It's almost sickening to see what we have uncovered. And you come to our table and say, 'Oh, gosh, this is just about friendships.'

"Somehow none of this adds up," he continued. "This committee, in my judgment, has had people testify, and, in my judgment, some of the testimony was fraudulent. We need to find out who, because there are consequences to that."

snip. http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=&imgrefurl=http://archive.salon.com/news/feature/2005/11/18/federici/index.html&h=200&w=300&sz=22&hl=en&start=1&um=1&tbnid=xtDO9o0iZ3DhdM:&tbnh=77&tbnw=116&prev=/images%3Fq%3DItalia%2BFederici%2B%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den

The wheels of justice sure are slow.

[globalvillage]

2. I've been waiting for this.

I hope they don't go too easy on her with this deal. Her story a textbook example of Republican corruption. Horrible woman, I hope she gets jail time.

Thanks for posting this. Here's a good piece on Ms. Federici from Salon.

http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2005/11/18/federici/index.html

[OnceUponTimeOnTheNet]

3. Kick. nt