WASHINGTON — The Justice Department lost one of its own to the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal as a former high-ranking department attorney pleaded guilty to conflict of interest.
Robert E. Coughlin II admitted Tuesday in federal court that he accepted meals, concert tickets and luxury seats at sporting events from a lobbyist while helping the lobbyist’s clients. He pleaded guilty to a single conflict-of-interest charge and faces up to 10 months in prison under a plea deal.
The lobbyist is identified in court documents only as “Lobbyist A,” but details of the relationship make it clear that he is Kevin Ring, a former member of Abramoff’s lobbying team who is under investigation.
Ring was friends with Coughlin and lobbied him during the period in question on issues mentioned in the court papers, including money for a jail for the Choctaw tribe, The Associated Press has reported.
Abramoff, the disgraced GOP lobbyist, appears in court papers as “Lobbyist B” but plays mostly a bit part as Ring’s demanding boss, pressuring him for action on the Choctaw jail and other issues. The court papers state that Coughlin “never had a substantive conversation with Lobbyist B.”
Coughlin, now 36 and living in Texas, accepted the gifts from 2001 to 2003 while working on legislative affairs for the Justice Department. He has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in their investigation.
