The Jack Abramoff scandal never quite ends, and today brings a new installment: The disgraced lobbyist and his former law firm, Greenberg Traurig, have been indicted by a Guam Superior Court grand jury.
Jill Perry, Greenberg Traurig's director of communications, says the firm learned about the charges the same way Legal Times did: from various newspapers in the South Pacific. While the Washington press corps might have been asleep at the switch on this one, the same can't be said for Micronesia's Marianas Variety or Guam's Pacific Daily News.
According to both papers, former Superior Court of Guam Administrative Director Tony Sanchez hired Abramoff to lobby against a bill that would have transferred control of his institution to Guam's supreme court. To hide the effort, Sanchez allegedly paid the money to California attorney Howard Hills in 36 installments of $9,000 each. The indictment contends that the payments were made in violation of the territory's procurement laws.
Perry says Greenberg Traurig is trying to figure out what's going on with the criminal charges against the firm. In the meantime, it has issued the following statement:
"We cannot comment specifically about this indictment as it comes as a complete surprise to us -- we have never been contacted or subpoenaed by the Guam authorities. It appears to concern allegations regarding Jack Abramoff’s conduct that occurred over five years ago.
"Jack Abramoff's plea agreement with federal authorities acknowledged that along with his clients, Greenberg Traurig was a victim of Abramoff's actions, and it exposed additional conduct unknown to us when he was asked to leave our firm in February 2004.
"We have cooperated with all law enforcement agencies and congressional investigations and made sure that any former clients were fairly treated. We will address this matter in the same spirit."
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