The Abramoff/Reed Emails

On September 21, 2001— 10 days after the terrorist attacks of 9/11—Jack Abramoff was considering an idea for a business venture: Leasing cruise ships to the Federal Emergency Management Agency to house rescue workers off New York City. He had asked Ralph Reed to find out who at the agency he should contact to make the proposal. But the idea ran into a hitch, the nature of which is not clear from their e-mail exchange. Whatever it was, Abramoff was anxious to stop Reed from making any contacts on his behalf:

Subject: RE: hold on the fema thing

From Abramoff to Reed, Thursday, September 20, 2001, 10:49 p.m.

Have you called anyone yet? If so, can you let me know who? We have to reconfigure in a big way first. Please hold. Let me know. Thanks.

From Reed to Abramoff, Friday, September 21, 2001, 9:25 a.m.

put in a tag call to karl to find out the best contact at fema. have not called fema yet because i don't yet have the best name----[FEMA's then-director Joe] Albaugh [sic] is buried. want me to hold tight?

From Abramoff to Reed, September 21, 2001, 9:30 a.m.

For now.

The deal never came to fruition, but Abramoff was prescient about the profit potential of adding luxury liners to a disaster effort: FEMA tried a similar scheme after Hurricane Katrina in September, 2005, awarding a six-month, $236 million contract to Carnival Cruise lines that has come under heavy criticism as an example of government waste. At a cost of $120,000 to house a family of four for six months, FEMA provides the cruise line nearly twice the $150 million revenue it normally earns over six months.

On December 05, 2001, Abramoff is concerned with the possible appointment of Angie Williams to head the Interior Department's Office of Insular Affairs. The office, and who runs it, is important to Abramoff, because it oversees relations with one of his most important clients, the Northern Mariana Islands. (He has arranged many junkets there for members of Congress and their staffs. On one of them, in 1997, former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay had publicly declared Abramoff to be "one of my closest and dearest friends.") Angie Williams, who has applied for the job and been interviewed by the Office of Presidential Personnel, worries Abramoff, because she is the wife of Orson Swindle, a close friend of Senator John McCain, who has tangled with Abramoff in the past. He finds sympathy in Reed, who has also been at odds with McCain. The two even refer to Williams—incorrectly, but tellingly—as "McCain's wife:"

Subject: RE: were you able to whack McCain's wife yet?

From Abramoff to Reed, Tuesday, December 4, 2001, 6:26 p.m.:

Angie Williams is her name.

From Reed to Abramoff, Wednesday, December 5, 2001, 11:53 a.m.:

weighed in heavily. [But the White House] OPP [Office of Presidential Personnel] did not commit to final decision.

From Abramoff to Reed, Wednesday, December 5, 2001, 1:24 p.m.:

Any ideas on how we can make sure she does not get it? Can you ping Karl on this? I can't believe they just don't get this done.

From Reed to Abramoff, Wednesday, December 5, 2001, 2:25 p.m.:

i am seeing him tomorrow at the WH and plan to discuss it with him as well.

On February 06, 2003, Abramoff is frustrated. He has tried to get Rove's attention through Susan Ralston, Abramoff's former assistant, who now works in the same doorkeeping capacity for Rove. The issue at hand is a move by the Interior Department to allow a casino to be built by a tribe that is a rival of Abramoff's client, the Louisiana Coushattas. Ralston rebuffs him, so he turns to Reed:

Subject: Louisiana

From Abramoff to Ralston, Thursday, February 06, 2003, 4:24 p.m:

I don't want to bother you guys with a meeting request, so I was hoping you could pass on to Karl that Interior is about to approve a gaming compact and land in trust for a tribe which is an anathema to all our supporters down there. It's called the Jena tribe, and the politicos (!) at Interior (low-mid level) are agreeing to this. It will cause a major backlash from our coalition and is something which they should not do on the merits. I believe that [Deputy Secretary of the Interior] Steve Griles over there would be opposed, but it's important, if possible, to get some quiet message from the WH that this is absurd. Thanks Susan.

From Ralston to Abramoff, Tuesday, February 11, 2003, 3:04 p.m.:

Karl and others are aware, but the WH is not going to get involved.

(Abramoff then encloses this exchange in an e-mail to Reed.)

From Abramoff to Reed, February 11, 2003, 4:48 p.m.:

Don't pass on, but thought you would be interested in this. Don't share with anyone. Thanks.

From Reed to Abramoff, February 11, 2003, 4:52 p.m.:

this is nuts. want any help on this one?

From Abramoff to Reed:

Yes, if possible. I think Haley [Barbour, the Mississippi Governor] got to them. they are making a huge mistake to just let this pass, when a quiet phone call can end this idiocy. If you can weigh in, it would help. Thanks Ralph.

Late that year, the Department of the Interior came down against the interests of Abramoff's client, but Abramoff and his allies still managed to block the rival tribe at the state level.

In another exchange, Ralph Reed was in Austin, Texas listening to Karl Rove deliver a speech to the Republican National Committee. Rove set forth GOP themes for the upcoming mid-term elections, and first suggested deploying President Bush's war on terrorism for electoral advantage. As Rove put it: "We can go to the country on this issue, because they trust the Republican Party to do a better job of protecting and strengthening America's military might and thereby protecting America." As Reed listened, he reached for his Blackberry and e-mailed Abramoff:

From Reed to Amramoff, January 18, 2002 2:15 p.m.:

Am at a lunch with Rove at the RNC meeting and just talked to the AG [then Texas Attorney General John Cornyn, now a U.S. senator]. Will report the substance shortly."

Abramoff asks Reed to raise an "urgent" matter with Rove—getting $16 million released by the Justice Department to fund a Mississippi Choctaw jail. In a return e-mail, Reed agrees to do that, saying "ok". Congress had earmarked some $16.3 million for a jail long sought by the Mississippi Band of Choctaw, a key Abramoff client. But the Justice Department resisted turning over the big grant to the already wealthy Mississippi Choctaws, noting that other Indian jails needed it more.

From Abramoff to Reed, January 18, 2002 2:28 p.m.:

I have an urgent matter for him. The Choctaws [the Mississippi Choctaws were an Abramoff client] -- who have given literally hundreds of thousands to our candidates and groups - are getting screwed at DoJ [The Department of Justice] on a jail funding . . . We really need some serious swat from Karl. I have asked Susan [Ralston] to get me in to see him on this, but if you could mention it, perhaps I could get him the materials and save the need to meet? Thanks Ralph.

Reed to Ambramoff, January 20, 2002 10:57 p.m.:

ok

In addition to broaching the matter with the White House, Abramoff also lobbied Republicans and Democratic leaders in the House and Senate, who wrote letters to Attorney General John Ashcroft supporting the jail's funding. Later in 2002, the Department of Justice released the money to the Mississippi Choctaws—another victory for Abramoff and Reed.