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The Abramoff Connection: Guam's paper trail
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by Mindy Aguon, KUAM News
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
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Once considered the nation's most powerful lobbyist and now a convicted felon, Jack Abramoff's ties to Guam have been revealed. KUAM News recently sent a Freedom of Information Act request to the Guam Judiciary requesting information about the previous court administration's dealings with California-based attorney Howard Hills and the disgraced lobbyist.
The paper trail behind the former Superior Court administration's hiring of Hills and Abramoff sheds new light on the great lengths local officials went to fight congressional efforts to have an independent judiciary.
KUAM News initially reported that in October 2002 a power struggle within the local judiciary was noted, as Congress was reviewing a measure that would give the Guam Supreme Court control over the entire Judicial Branch. The struggle continued for several years, as taxpayers footed the growing bill. In April 1998 then-Superior Court administrative director Tony Sanchez entered into an agreement with Hills. Sanchez at the time explained why hills had been retained, saying, "He helps with regards to our federal court case, which is an issue right now before the U.S. Supreme Court and certainly will determine whether certain laws are in place and so forth and are related to the Judicial Council." As House Resolution 521, the Judicial Empowerment Act, moved through Congress, Hills' role became more important than ever.
In 2001 presiding judge Alberto Lamorena instructed Hills to hire former congressional staffer Manase Mansur as a subcontractor to assist the court. Mansur was paid $90,000 for his services, but that wasn't the only person Hills claims court officials asked him to hire. A year later the name of one of the nation's most powerful lobbyists at the time came up. But in 2002 Sanchez claimed he had no knowledge that the court had hired Jack Abramoff. When Sanchez was asked by KUAM News if he was ever give any indications that lobbyist would be hired, after he found out the Supreme Court was going to, he replied, "I think we discovered the lobbyist was clearly in place when we were there [in D.C.], but never discussed the matter."
But according to e-mail messages and letters obtained by KUAM through a Freedom of Information Act request, Sanchez did in fact know about the hiring of Abramoff long before our story aired.
According to Hills' attorney, Carol Elder Bruce, in a letter to the Judiciary the idea to hire Abramoff came from Sanchez - as early as May 8, 2002. Sanchez allegedly asked hills to set up a meeting between himself, Presiding Judge Lamorena and Abramoff at the former lobbyist's restaurant, Signatures. According to Hills, Sanchez wanted his assistance in temporarily "transferring the retainer to Abramoff" until the court could establish a new contract with Abramoff's law firm, Greenberg Traurig. In a later letter to the court attorney, Bruce stated that Hills was used by the court "not just to facilitate the transition of counsel, but to disguise its new relationship with a high-priced, now discredited, Washington, D.C. lobbyist."
She went on to write that the court imposed "uncompensated administrative burdens on Mr. Hills" in order to transmit fee payments to Abramoff as secretly as possible.
Days after their meeting with Abramoff, Sanchez wrote an e-mail to Hills requesting twenty-two individual invoices of no more than $9,000 for may payments - as opposed to three $75,000 invoices. Sanchez stressed it was very important, and that the invoices must be made daily with separate invoice numbers. In that same e-mail, Sanchez also requested Hills amend his agreement with the court to add an additional $400,000 immediately. (Hills later learned that the amount was Abramoff's fee to lobby for the court.)
On May 23, 2002 Abramoff wrote a letter to Hills confirming Greenberg Traurig's representation to oppose HR- 521 and clarifying that the fee was to be paid up front. A day later - before Abramoff had performed any work - Sanchez wrote an e-mail to Hills asking for the contract to be amended to $420,000. A change order was signed on the 29th of the month increasing that figure to $479,000. And the money couldn't have been paid fast enough, as Hills transmitted invoices and the court cut multiple checks of $9,000 each.
Abramoff was still anxious to get his money, while Hills became more and more disturbed about his involvement with the court. E-mail messages provided by Greenberg Traurig to Hills state that Abramoff wrote Sanchez in August 2002, demanding full payment. Abramoff stated in one such correspondence, "I am under real pressure here regarding the payments to the firm...we really need the rest of the funds ASAP...we have already gone beyond the $400,000 in total expenses."
Through research KUAM News has been able to determine that Guam taxpayers paid for much more than the lobbying services of Jack Abramoff - from golf outings, lunches with Republican activists, to airfare for former island lawmakers and politics.
Tony Sanchez could not be reached for comment.
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