es of Free Speech Washington DC, July 11, 2005 [And good riddance] Abramoff duo quits U.S. By Josephine Hearn TWO former associates of Jack Abramoff , the embattled lobbyist, left the country Monday night [ July 11, 2005 ] en route to a new life in Israel. The relocation comes as a Justice Department taskforce presses forward with an investigation into potential criminal wrongdoing stemming from Abramoff’s business dealings.
David Irving comments: HERE are further and better particulars for our readers’ “Why-Us?” dossier. The unstated context is an ongoing investigation of US lobbyist Jack Abramoff , below, who allegedly swindled several American Indian tribes out of heap-big wampum.
Without wishing to prejudge any proceedings — and all persons portrayed are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law — it now seems that his two sidekicks, fearing for their scalps, have fled to a friendlier reservation. . . . Just as Adolf Hitler predicted in Mein Kampf Sam Hook and his wife Shana Tesler both worked with Abramoff at the law firm, Greenberg Traurig.
Hook served as the registered agent for Grassroots Interactive, a lobbying venture tied to Abramoff that has reportedly been subpoenaed by the Justice Department taskforce. Tesler, a lawyer, worked with Abramoff at Greenberg Traurig and then followed him to the lobbying firm, Cassidy & Associates, after he was ousted from Greenberg following news reports of his questionable dealings with Indian gaming tribes .
Abramoff and public affairs consultant Michael Scanlon are the target of the Justice Department probe and two Senate investigations into allegations that they bilked tribes out of more than $60 million. A federal grand jury has been convened to consider possible criminal charges in the matter. Like Abramoff, Hook and Tesler are both Orthodox Jews.
They have been planning for some time to move their family to Israel, said their attorney Alyza Lewin at Lewin & Lewin. “Pursuant to longstanding plans that predate any investigation, Shana Tesler and Sam Hook have relocated to Israel . . . One thing had nothing to do with the other,” Lewin said.
Former White House counsel Lanny Davis said that the pair’s relocation could hamper the Justice Department investigation because it would be harder to enforce subpoenas abroad. “Whether you are able to enforce a subpoena in a foreign country depends upon specific treaty commitments,” Davis said, “but in general the answer is no… Even if you could try to enforce it through a treaty, it would be extremely difficult.” E.
Lawrence Barcella , a defense attorney and former federal prosecutor, said, “If they’ve already testified in the grand jury, if the government already has the evidence it needs or has made agreements with them, it may not affect it at all. On the other hand, if [the government] charges them, [it] would go through extradition proceedings with Israel,” Barcella said, “It could complicate what [the government] is doing but it wouldn’t condemn anything.”
Lewin said that Hook and Tesler had been cooperating with the investigation and would continue to respond whenever needed. The two are not Israeli citizens [ yet ]. “They’ll still be able to be reached. They have every intention to continue to cooperate,” Lewin said. Lewin said Hook had only a minor role in Grassroots Interactive (GRI). “Mr. Abramoff asked Mr. Hook to administer GRI on an interim basis but Mr. Abramoff solely controlled GRI. Any actions Mr.
Hook took on behalf of GRI including any payments made by GRI were made pursuant to the specific instruction of Mr. Abramoff,” Lewin said. Documents released last month by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee hearing showed that GRI had written a check for $25,000 to an associate of Abramoff. GRI was created in March 2003 by Edward Miller , who was then a lawyer at DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary and is now a senior aide to Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich (R).
In September 2003, Hook took over the administration of Grassroots until Abramoff’s ouster from Greenberg Traurig in March 2004. Hook originally came to Greenberg Traurig after having worked at Arthur Andersen, the accounting firm that is now defunct. Tesler held several positions in the Clinton White House before joining Greenberg Traurig in 2000.
She went to Cassidy & Associates in March 2004 but left at year’s end to found a two-person law firm, VHT Law, with another former Greenberg Traurig attorney, John van Horne . Like Hook, Tesler and Abramoff, van Horne left Greenberg Traurig in March 2004, said two sources with knowledge of the firm. Greenberg Traurig refused to comment on when former employees had left the firm.
Van Horne was subpoenaed last fall by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee in its ongoing investigation of Abramoff. At a November hearing, former Indian Affairs Committee Chairman Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colo.) expressed frustration with van Horne’s lack of response to the subpoena. “There’s another person who I believe rather flouted the authority of this committee. That person is John van Horne, who was served with a document subpoena that was due
on October 5th. To this date, the committee has not received the documents called for under the subpoena, nor an explanation for his non-compliance,” Campbell said.It was unclear at press time whether that situation had been resolved. Just as Adolf Hitler predicted in Mein Kampf Because nothing could be further. . . Lithuanian paper fined for saying Jews rule America Lobbyist Jack Abramoff resigned from Greenberg Traurig March 2004 .