Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH) told Senate investigators he had no recollection of meeting with the Tigua Native American tribe, an Abramoff client he later agreed to help out in a big way. (Note: Lying to investigators is a felony.)
This photo — which first ran in the Cleveland Plain Dealer yesterday — should jog his memory (larger picture here):
That’s Ney (red-faced, center) with Tigua Lt. Gov. Carlos Hisa (on right) and tribal official Raul Gutierrez (left). According to Hisa, Ney told the men that their lobbyist at the time, Jack Abramoff, was âthe man to work with for changes in Washington.â “Youâre working with the right guy,â he assured them.
Maybe for some; not for the Tigua. After the tribe made $32,000 in contributions to benefit Ney, the congressman agreed to slip a provision into an unrelated bill to allow the group to open a casino — According to Neil Volz’s (his former chief of staff) guilty plea, Volz, who was then working for Abramoff, told Ney what to say in the meeting. Alas, the provision never made it into law. Abramoff later proved to be exactly the wrong guy to work with, of course. Ney’s memory went cloudy on the whole deal; and now Hisa’s photos have found a life of their own. Funny thing, fate.
