Follow The Leader

Will Heaton, the former chief of staff to now-convicted Rep. Bob Ney (R-Ohio), is expected to follow in his one-time boss' footsteps and plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States. Legal Times raised the question of Heaton's potential criminal acts in an article last month. Among the new tidbits from the criminal information document filed today in D.C.'s federal court are a few telling e-mails. For instance, on Nov. 19, 2003 Heaton e-mailed Abramoff associate Neil Volz asking him to purchase certain beverages for an upcoming Wizards game in Abramoff's luxury box. On Nov. 21, 2003 Heaton e-mailed Volz again to say that another Abramoff lobbyist had offered to cover the cost of a party and asked how much money he could expect that lobbyist to contribute. What's more, the court filing shows how Heaton was Ney's go-to man. According the document, Heaton once e-mailed Abramoff offering to have Ney "say or do" what Abramoff wanted at an upcoming meeting of one of Abramoff's tribal clients.