It looks like the Abramoff investigation is finally starting to crack open the Department of the Interior.
Despite the fact that the Interior was Abramoff’s playground, federal prosecutors working the Abramoff case hadn’t taken down a single Interior official to date.
But the Legal Times reports that’s changed: Roger Stillwell, “the desk officer for the Mariana Islands at the U.S. Department of the Interior who dealt closely with disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff,” is expected to plead guilty to a single misdemeanor charge.
The charge: Failing to report gifts from a “prohibited source.” Unfortunately, the charging document doesn’t say who the “source” is. Maybe we’ll find out on July 21st, when Stillwell is due to be arraigned.
Stillman’s a small fish — it would be no surprise if Justice was starting with a small charge on a little guy, and working their way up.
Update: The Legal Times has a good guess as to what that illicit gift was:
Stillwell told The Washington Post late last year that he accepted free dinners at Abramoffâs restaurant, Signatures, and complimentary tickets to Washington Redskins games. But he told the Post that those activities âoccurred while he was a contract employee at Interior, not a federal worker.â
Stillwell told Legal Times Wednesday that the Post misquoted him, but he would not elaborate.
