Abramoff e-mail says he met Bush

WASHINGTON – President Bush met lobbyist Jack Abramoff almost a dozen times over the past five years and invited him to Crawford, Texas, in the summer of 2003, according to an e-mail Abramoff wrote to a reporter last month.

Bush “has one of the best memories of any politicians I have ever met,” Abramoff wrote to Kim Eisler of Washingtonian magazine. “The guys saw me in almost a dozen settings, and joked with me about a bunch of things, including details of my kids.”

In an interview Thursday night, Eisler confirmed the contents of the e-mail and said he recently provided portions of it to the liberal Web log ThinkProgress because he thought he was dealing with a fellow reporter. The blog posted the contents of the Abramoff-Eisler communication.

In the e-mail, Abramoff scoffs at Bush’s public statements that he does not recall ever meeting the disgraced lobbyist and former top Bush fundraiser. “Of course he can’t recall that he has a great memory!” Abramoff wrote.

Eisler, an editor for Washingtonian, said in the interview that the disgraced lobbyist was the source of his exclusive report last month that at least five photographs of Bush with Abramoff exist.

Bush has said he does not recall ever meeting Abramoff or posing for pictures with the Republican lobbyist at official events or parties. The White House has refused to release the pictures or detail Abramoff’s contacts with top White House officials over the past five years.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan said Thursday that “what the president said still stands.”

Abramoff pleaded guilty last month in a bribery and corruption scandal that has rocked the Republican Party and threatened the political and professional careers of several lawmakers and aides. No evidence has emerged that Bush or his top White House aides did anything improper to aid Abramoff or his clients, according to people familiar with the investigation.