Washington – Attorneys for J. Steven Griles, a former top deputy to Interior Secretary Gale Norton, wrote to Senate investigators denying accusations that he interceded on behalf of disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his tribal clients.
The letter also said Griles never negotiated a job offer with Abramoff, who pleaded guilty Tuesday to fraud and bribery charges as part of a plea deal in an ongoing corruption probe.
Among Abramoff’s clients were Indian tribes whose casinos are regulated by the Interior Department. Tribes paid Abramoff millions for his help in securing favorable government action on their behalf.
The eight-page letter – obtained Thursday by The Denver Post – says that accusations in a Senate Indian Affairs Committee investigation that Griles sought a job from Abramoff are not backed up by the committee’s records.
“Mr. Griles is concerned that due to the omission and selective release of evidence by the committee staff, the public has received an erroneous and misleading view of Mr. Griles’ involvement with Jack Abramoff and Indian gaming issues,” wrote Griles attorney Barry M. Hartman.
The letter cites what it calls weaknesses in the accusations against Griles as laid out in documents uncovered in the Senate investigation. It faults the Senate Indian Affairs Committee for not allowing Griles to review the records before he testified Nov. 2, leaving him at a disadvantage before his questioners.
Committee officials did not respond to a request for comment.
The Senate probe – led by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.- is part of a larger investigation by the Justice Department and other agencies of alleged improper influence on lawmakers and regulators by Abramoff and his associates on behalf of his clients.
Griles has been investigated as part of that probe. But while Abramoff’s plea agreement details numerous contacts with congressional officials, it makes no mention of Interior Department officials like Griles.
At the Nov. 2 hearing, another former Norton aide testified that Griles “constantly” tried to insert himself into a decision on a casino proposed by a rival of Abramoff’s client. But Griles says that statement is not backed up by any of the panel’s documents.
“Moreover, less than two months before this incident, Mr. Abramoff apparently complained in an e-mail … that Mr. Griles would not even talk with him about his clients,” the letter said.
Norton has said she cannot “think of any particular influence” that Abramoff had over her department’s decisions.
Some Abramoff e-mails released by investigators indicated that Abramoff offered Griles a job at his law and lobbying firm, Greenberg Traurig.
Griles’ letter said a top Greenberg Traurig official who testified before the committee, Fred Baggett, would have confirmed Griles’ version of events but was never asked about it.
Baggett did not return a phone call seeking comment.
Staff writer Mike Soraghan can be reached at 202-662-8730 or msoraghan@denverpost.com.
