Sunday, May 7, 2006

Aides to then-House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) had reason to know they were not reporting the full costs of a lobbyist-paid trip to Scotland and London in travel disclosure forms filed with the House clerk in 2000, according to private e-mails regarding the trip quoted by the Associated Press yesterday.

The e-mails, sent between DeLay's chief of staff at the time and Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff, stated that Abramoff's lobbying firm, Preston Gates, had calculated the total cost of the 10-day trip at $75,000, the Associated Press said. But DeLay and two aides who accompanied him on the trip -- Susan Hirschmann and Tony Rudy -- signed disclosure forms stating the trip cost about $70,000.

Both figures distorted the actual costs of the trip by excluding golf charges and other expenses. In one e-mail quoted by the Associated Press, Abramoff instructed a subordinate at Preston Gates to provide DeLay's office with the "most minimal numbers for cost of the hotel (do not include golf), food, and plays" -- the last word a reference to the theater tickets listed on DeLay's London hotel bill.

The Washington Post reported last year that the cost of the trip exceeded $120,000 and that Abramoff sought reimbursement from Preston Gates for some of the expenses he picked up for DeLay and his staff. It also reported that DeLay's airfare and some other expenses were directly charged to the credit cards of Abramoff and another lobbyist.

DeLay said the purpose of the trip was to hold meetings with conservative British politicians, and he indicated on the disclosure form that it was paid for by a Washington think tank, the National Center for Public Policy Research (NCPPR). In one of the e-mails quoted by the Associated Press, Susan Ralston -- an Abramoff aide at the time who later went to work for Karl Rove at the White House -- said Hirschmann wanted to be sure the NCPPR director knew about the bills in case "someone starts asking questions."

DeLay's lawyer Richard Cullen told the Associated Press that the e-mails indicated the staff was "trying to get it right" in their disclosures.

House ethics rules bar lawmakers from accepting travel and related expenses from registered lobbyists. They also require full disclosure of all-expenses-paid travel.

DeLay, who is facing unrelated felony charges of money laundering brought by a Texas grand jury, has announced he intends to resign from Congress by mid-June.

-- R. Jeffrey Smith