What with all the bad news for the administration, it’s easy to lose track. Let’s not forget Jack Abramoff, shall we? It appears he also wanted to help African heads of state get in touch with the Bush White House. Money may have changed hands, in a way that’s usually frowned on by government auditors.

Lobbyist Sought $9 Million to Set Bush Meeting – New York Times

Mr. Abramoff’s ties to Gabon were first revealed in a letter that was among hundreds of pages of documents from Mr. Abramoff’s files that were released last week by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, which has conducted a yearlong investigation of his lobbying for Indian tribes.

When he first approached Gabon, Mr. Abramoff was not new to issues involving West Africa.

He had been a Washington lobbyist for President Mobutu Sese Seko, the repressive leader of neighboring Congo, called Zaire at the time. He also had connections to Gabon through a former business partner, David Safavian, who was a registered agent in Washington for President Bongo. Mr. Safavian, a former White House budget official, was arrested in September on charges of lying about his ties to Mr. Abramoff.

The three-page letter released by the Senate panel was written to Mr. Bongo on Greenberg Traurig stationery and dated July 28, 2003; Mr. Abramoff suggested that he had unusual influence to arrange a meeting with President Bush.

Safavian has ties to Utah due to his work for Rep. Chris Cannon. Abramoff’s attempt to pick up a couple of African leaders (one of which is a pretty notorious dictator) is suspect. Why was he so eager to make connections there? Probably because of oil and mineral rights.

I’m hoping for more embarassing news for the Administration coming out of the Abramoff case. Everybody connected with the guy seems to have ties to Republican politicians in lots of different states. How far did his influence extend? Pretty damn far, I’m thinking.