Abramoff e-mails: 'Perhaps I could have hired Borat to represent me'

Michael Roston
Published: Monday February 5, 2007

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An editor of a Washington, DC-area lifestyle magazine has published e-mails he exchanged with his friend Jack Abramoff, the former lobbyist who pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy, fraud, and tax evasion related to his lobbying and business activities.

The e-mails reveal Abramoff's humorous reactions to the investigations that eventually led to his imprisonment – at one point joking that he should hire Borat as his counsel – as well as how little penitence he appeared to feel for what had transpired, referring to a Senate committee that investigated his activities as a "kangaroo court" that was "designed to fry me." (The e-mails are presented in this article without corrections.)

Kim Eisler, a national editor of the Washingtonian, detailed his friendship with Abramoff in the January issue of that magazine. The two began communicating long before Abramoff's legal troubles, when Eisler was writing a book on Native American casinos. Eisler wrote, "The man who had become my friend made the transition from Washington power player to national villain," and then added, "This put me in a quandary. What do you do in Washington when a friend becomes the subject of negative stories, a Senate investigation, and prosecutors?"

Eisler has since posted at his website e-mails he exchanged with the former Republican power broker, some of which were not detailed in the Washingtonian article.

In one e-mail, Abramoff discussed the beginnings of the decline of his public image. "It seems that some of the conservatives (National Review for example) have decided that the w ay to save DeLay is by killing me. Not sure this is a wise strategy." When Sue Schmidt, a Washington Post reporter who investigated Abramoff's activities, published her first article on Abramoff, he wrote that things only seemed to be getting worse, and that "Sue Schmidt is making a career out of me. seems I am on the front page of the Post more than Kerry is. She's my swift boat veterans all rolled into one." In the course of preparing for a possible interview with the New York Times' Frank Rich, which never occurred, Abramoff said, "My answers are not always going to be a profession of innocence. I was a lobbyist after all."

The e-mails also show Abramoff joking about his circumstances. In one, he pointed out to Eisler that at that moment he had more hits when his name was searched at Google than film star George Clooney. Abramoff also reacted to former Rep. Mark Foley's suggestion that he was an alcoholic by suggesting that he needed a more imaginative defense for himself, writing "I should have insisted I was only writing a screenplay. No one seems to have a sense of humor these days. Perhaps I could have hired Borat to represent me."

Abramoff seems to have expressed little penitence in his e-mails to Eisler over the crimes for which he was being convicted. When Eisler suggested that he tell the truth to a Senate Committee that had called on him to testify about his activities, Abramoff spared no words for the senators in explaining why he couldn't follow Eisler's advice, writing, "At the end of the day, the DoJ investigation is the only fair forumfor me to participate in and the Senate Committee is nothing but a lynch mob. The sure way to prison is to allow them to get me to contradict myself under oath, not by asserting my Constitutional rights."

Abramoff added that he wanted to tell his story "but this is not going to happen in front of this dastardly group who have selectively leaked out my financial information and emails in a way to make me looks as bad as possible. I can't win in this forum or even come close. I am not going to lie of course, but this kangaroo court is designed to fry me."

One Senator in particular was singled out for criticism in the course of the e-mails: Conrad Burns, the Montana Republican who lost re-election in November, in part due to his links with Abramoff. When the Republican lobbyist heard that Burns had said he wished Abramoff had never been born, he wrote to Eisler, "Did he wish I had never been born when we were together in Florida, or when we were dining at Signatures; or when he was using our sports boxes or getting tons of money?"

But Abramoff also seemed to desire some mercy from those who were besmirching him. Taking note of the legal troubles of President Clinton's former National Security Adviser Sandy Berger for absconding with some documents from the National Archives, Abramoff wrote "I think Sandy Berger's punishment was very appropriate. These guys calling for his head should be ashamed of themselves. It makes me sick as to how many people call for prison for non-violent offenders. I really feel for Berger, obviously. I hope he makes millions and can just move on with a happier life." He added, "Me too, on that one."

Eisler's full notes can be accessed at his personal website. His article on his relationship with the disgraced lobbyist is at the Washingtonian's website.