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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Abramoff associate gives up committee post

Erica Werner Associated Press

WASHINGTON – Rep. John Doolittle, whose house was searched by the FBI in an influence-peddling investigation, said Thursday he will step down temporarily from the House Appropriations Committee.

The announcement by the California Republican came one day after the disclosure that agents had raided his home in Oakton, Va. In the search last Friday, the FBI had a warrant for information connected with a fundraising business run by Doolittle’s wife, Julie, that had done work for convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Doolittle’s ties to Abramoff have come under scrutiny in the corruption investigation that has sent one former Republican congressman, Bob Ney of Ohio, to prison on a guilty plea to charges of conspiracy and making false statements, and produced convictions against two senior Bush administration officials and several congressional aides.

House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, made clear to Doolittle on Thursday morning that he must resign the committee, according to a Republican aide who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Last week’s search of Doolittle’s home took place on the same day that Kevin Ring, a former Doolittle aide who went on to work for Abramoff, resigned from a law firm without explanation.

Doolittle, a conservative from Roseville in Northern California, called Abramoff a friend and the two had numerous connections. Doolittle accepted tens of thousands of dollars in campaign cash from Abramoff and interceded on behalf of the lobbyist’s American Indian clients.

Julie Doolittle’s company, Sierra Dominion Financial Solutions Inc., was paid a near-monthly retainer by Abramoff’s firm Greenberg Traurig from September 2002 to February 2004. She was hired to work on a March 2003 fundraiser in Washington, D.C., for an Abramoff outfit called the Capital Athletic Foundation; the event was canceled after the invasion of Iraq.

Abramoff is cooperating with the government after pleading guilty in January 2006 to conspiracy and mail fraud charges, admitting to bilking his Indian tribe clients out of millions of dollars with promises to influence the decisions of Congress and the Interior Department.