Lobbyist Probe Sparks Senate Fireworks

Italia Federici, president of the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy, told a skeptical Senate Indian Affairs Committee that she believed Abramoff's tribal clients had donated $500,000 over three years to her organization because they were generous, not because they hoped she would help them thwart efforts by competing tribes to open casinos.

Federici has emerged as a key figure in the examination of the tactics Abramoff used to become one of Washington's best-connected lobbyists -- tactics now under federal investigation.

Her testimony came as the committee is wrapping up a lengthy inquiry into Abramoff's collection of $82 million in fees from tribal clients. The investigation has raised questions about whether Abramoff defrauded the tribes and improperly used his relationships with lawmakers and administration officials to lobby on behalf of his clients.

Abramoff, indicted this year in an unrelated case, has repeatedly denied wrongdoing.

The scandal surrounding Abramoff has touched powerful lawmakers, including former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas), whose trip to a Scottish golfing resort in 2000 with the lobbyist has come under scrutiny. DeLay, who once described Abramoff as a close friend, has denied any wrongdoing and has asked the House Ethics Committee to investigate his travels.

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), chairman of the Indian Affairs Committee, and Sen. Byron L. Dorgan (D-N.D.) pressed Federici to explain e-mails Abramoff sent to her in 2002, asking her to contact then-Deputy Secretary of the Interior J. Steven Griles. Abramoff wanted to enlist Griles in his effort to defeat applications from tribes seeking to open casinos that might hurt similar businesses run by Abramoff's tribal clients.

"Any objective observer would see that there is a clear connection between contributions to your organization and work that you would have been doing on behalf of Mr. Abramoff with the Department of the Interior," McCain told Federici.

She insisted there was no quid pro quo.

"I never asked Steve to put the kibosh on anything," she said. "I was responding to Jack -- at the time, he was a friend -- in a way that I would respond to any friend who had a need or a question."