When the brutal dictator of Maylaysia — who had been publicly criticized by the Clinton Administration in the 1990s for anti-semitic statements and jailing his political opponents — wanted an image-cleansing meeting with President George W. Bush, who did he call? Republican uber-lobbyist Jack Abramoff, of course. Such high-level ccess is not free. In this case, it apparently cost $1.2 million:
Abramoff contacted presidential adviser Karl Rove on at least four occasions to help arrange a meeting, according to an eyewitness to the activities.
Finally, this former associate said, Rove’s office called to tell Abramoff personally that the Malaysian leader would soon be getting an official White House invitation.
In May 2002, Mahathir met with Bush in the Oval Office, and his photograph with the president was beamed around the world.
Abramoff laundered his fees from the government of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, so it will be difficult to establish a precise quid pro quo:
The Malaysian payments were made to the American International Center, a bogus “international think tank” that an Abramoff partner, Michael Scanlon, set up at a Delaware beach house. Abramoff and Scanlon used the center to collect millions from their lobbying clients.
By routing the money in that manner, Abramoff identified his client on federal lobbying disclosure forms as the Delaware-based International Center and thus avoided having to register with the Justice Department as an agent of a foreign government.
And we can assume that emails and other records at the White House have been carefully scrubbed by now.
