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Udall got $1,500 from Abramoff's employers

By Lynn Bartels, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published April 16, 2008 at 9:22 p.m.

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Mark Udall plans to donate the $1,500 he received.

Mark Udall plans to donate the $1,500 he received.

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U.S. Senate candidate Mark Udall took $1,500 in contributions from two firms that once employed disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Udall's campaign spokeswoman, Taylor West, said the donations from the companies' political action committees to the Eldorado Springs Democrat's congressional campaigns were legal. She said Udall plans to donate the $1,500 to an organization in the Marianas Islands that assists victims of human trafficking.

Abramoff and the islands have become an issue in Udall's Senate race against former Congressman Bob Schaffer, a Fort Collins Republican who left office in 2002.

Schaffer's campaign manager, Dick Wadhams, ripped Udall on Wednesday, questioning why he waited to return donations he got in 2000 and 2002.

The Abramoff issue began after Schaffer recently touted the Marianas' guest-worker program, despite documented instances of employee abuses.

Schaffer visited the U.S. territory in 1999 as part of a fact-finding trip arranged in part by Abramoff's lobbying firm. The territory had hired Abramoff to fight congressional attempts at worker reforms.

Schaffer said he complained about a garment factory he deemed a sweatshop and was told it had been closed, but critics disagree.

"Bob Schaffer took an Abramoff-sponsored trip and turned a blind eye to forced abortions and human trafficking of guest workers, while Mark Udall was co-sponsoring three pieces of legislation to fix problems in the Marianas," West said.

West said the issue is Abramoff's attempt to thwart reforms and Schaffer's willingness to assist him.

"That is a bald-faced lie and Boulder liberal Mark Udall should be ashamed of himself," Wadhams said.

Udall got $500 in 2000 from the Preston Gates firm, which employed Abramoff. Later, Abramoff worked for Greenberg Traurig LLP, which in 2002 gave $1,000 to Udall.

Comments

  • April 16, 2008

    9:46 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    mytwosense writes:

    "Schaffer visited the U.S. territory in 1999 as part of a fact-finding trip arranged in part by Abramoff's lobbying firm. The territory had hired Abramoff to fight off congressional attempts at worker reforms.

    Schaffer said he complained about a garment factory he deemed a sweatshop and was told it had been closed, but critics disagree."

    I remember hearing about many trips Republicans took to the Marianas. I believe at one of them, Tom DeLay toasted one of the factory owners as a "shining light."

    If Schaffer really spoke out against the practices that went on in the Marianas, and possibly still do, especially the enforced abortions of immigrant workers, I hope he will provide provable details.

  • April 17, 2008

    6:22 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    angka writes:

    I can't believe that Lynn Bartels wrote this shallow story. Her first piece on Schaffer/Abramoff uncritically lets Schaffer prattle on about his trip, contradicting all other reports about his time there, and now this? And still no mention of the thousands of dollars Schaffer got directly from Saipan business leaders? Or his abusive questioning of witnesses testifying about labor abuses there, playing directly into Abramoff's strategy?

    Extremely disappointing, Lynn. You're better than this.

  • April 17, 2008

    7:34 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    DougH writes:

    The Denver Post recently did a 3 day story on the adventures of Bob Schaffer and his part in the Jack Abramhoff plan to interfere with and derail congressional oversight of working conditions in the island. It is pretty clear that Bob was a stooge and a dupe in this disgraceful project.

    But it begs the question as to why Bob Schaffer is more interested in the profits of sweat shop owners than the welfare of working people.

    Today's piece in the Rocky is a true non-story. All it did was give Dick Waldham another opportunity to call Mark Udall a Boulder Liberal.

  • April 17, 2008

    9:25 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    mytwosense writes:

    Gene, Jack Abramoff represented business interests in Saipan and the Marianas, and through his efforts, got many Republicans to go down to these places, play golf, meet his clients, etc. all under the pretext of "fact finding." Mark Udall was NOT one of these people, Schaffer WAS.

    Schaffer, a supposedly devout Catholic, apparently supported business owners who forced their employees to get abortions if they wanted to hold onto their jobs.

    I do doubt that if Schaffer realized what was going on there, he would have supported it, however, I also believe he went out of his way not to realize these things. There were plenty of witnesses, and Schaffer, along with Tom DeLay and other Republican legislators, scoffed at what they had to say.

    This story is a classic example of "the best defense is a good offense." Paint Udall with a dirty brush of Abramoff to throw people off from realizing how much more involved Schaffer actually was with Abramoff's clients.

  • April 17, 2008

    9:34 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    jibbons writes:

    So the point of this story is that Udall received money that was connected to Abramoff, and still fought against the cause that Schaffer was being paid to fight for (sweatshop abuses in the Marianas) by Abramoff?

    Where is the dirt on Udall?

  • April 17, 2008

    11:09 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    Ming writes:

    "Then Judas, which had betrayed Him, saw that he was condemned, repented himself, and brought again the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests . . . and they took counsel, and bought with them the potters' field to bury strangers in." And then the Udall campaign redeems itself by donating the tainted $1,500 "to an organization in the Marianas Islands that assists victims of human trafficking." The difference is, Judas did it within a few days, but the Udall campaign too eight (8) years.

  • April 17, 2008

    5:30 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    mah writes:

    So the liberals are ganging up to defend the Boulder liberal. Udall's spokesperson spews lies, Udall decides to return contributions received in 2000 and 2002, and the liberal pundits don't want anyone to pay any attention to Udall's involvement with Abramhoff. Once again, they believe if they scream outrage the loudest and most often we goons will just accept. Think again!

    Good job, Lynn!

  • April 17, 2008

    6:59 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    bmenezes writes:

    This is a joke, right?

    Greenberg Traurig is one of the nation's biggest law firms and employed probably close to 1,200 or more attorneys in 2002 (including one Abramoff). It gave money to 83 House members in 2002, including Udall. It also gave $1,000 to Sens. Wayne Allard and $1,000 to Ben Campbell in that cycle. Why didn't the Rocky ask Wadhams about those contributions?

    Why didn't the Rocky ask Wadhams to explain how a $1,000 contribution to Udall from among the nearly $174,000 in total 2002 federal election cycle contributions by Greenberg Traurig linked him to Abramoff? Did that also link to Abramoff the 83 other House members and 37 senators (Republicans and Democrats) who received such contributions from Greenberg Traurig?

    Why didn't the Rocky ask Wadhams to explain how the contribution could be linked to Abramoff when the records show he didn't even contribute to Greenberg's PAC in the 2002 cycle?

    Do some reporting on the factual context behind the contribution instead of acting as Wadhams' stenographer, and Wadhams' remarks get ridiculous pretty quickly.