November 10, 200520 yr NYT Link. WASHINGTON, Nov. 9 - The lobbyist Jack Abramoff asked for $9 million in 2003 from the president of a West African nation to arrange a meeting with President Bush and directed his fees to a Maryland company now under federal scrutiny, according to newly disclosed documents. The African leader, President Omar Bongo of Gabon, met with President Bush in the Oval Office on May 26, 2004, 10 months after Mr. Abramoff made the offer. There has been no evidence in the public record that Mr. Abramoff had any role in organizing the meeting or that he received any money or had a signed contract with Gabon. White House and State Department officials described Mr. Bush's meeting with President Bongo, whose government is regularly accused by the United States of human rights abuses, as routine. The officials said they knew of no involvement by Mr. Abramoff in the arrangements. Officials at Gabon's embassy in Washington did not respond to written questions. Lots more details in the actual article, including suggested paths through which the money could have been laundered.
November 11, 200520 yr Boy, with all the other stories going on these days, this one gets kind of buried. I wonder if Gabon is one of the African countries that needed debt relief? and $9 mil to see the President... good lord! I need to quit my job and start making some friends in Washington DC
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