Jack Abramoff wants his name back. But House Democrats own it and they are going to keep it.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee owns the rights to the Web domain name “jackabramoff.com,” having secured it in 2006.
But Abramoff, the former GOP lobbyist at the center of one of of Washington’s biggest scandals in recent decades, called the DCCC in a bid to see if he can’t get them to give it up.
Abramoff called the DCCC last week to ask - very politely - if they would be so nice as to give up the name.
But the DCCC has no intention of doing so.
“Jack Abramoff can try to rehab his image, but glowing press stories and being back on the D.C. cocktail circuit don’t change the fact that Abramoff is a convicted felon who went to jail for being the heart of Republicans’ ‘Culture of Corruption,’” said Jennifer Crider, the DCCC’s spokeswoman. “We didn’t forget, Jack and anyone who visits jackabramoff.com won’t either.”
Abramoff, for his part, isn’t pleased to hear about the DCCC’s stance, and he threatened legal action to get control of the name.
“I was told by my lawyers that I have a legal right to it and so I wanted to sort of do it amicably, but I guess we’ll just have to have the lawyers sort it out,” Abramoff said in an interview. “No one wants a domain with their name on it owned by somebody else.”
Abramoff added: “I didn’t want to have a fight with anybody and I asked very nicely, by the way. I just didn’t think it was necessary for them to have my name in the domain any more they would want me to have their name in a domain.”
Abramoff served more than three years in prison after pleading guilty in early 2006 in two separate federal cases. One case involved Abramoff and an associate submitting bogus loan documents in order to borrow $23 million used to purchase a Florida casino ship company. The company later filed for bankruptcy.
The other case, the one that rocked official Washington, involved Abramoff and his former business partner, Michael Scanlon, receiving tens of millions of dollars to lobby on behalf of Native American tribes with casino operations.
To help advance their high-priced lobbying efforts, Abramoff and his team showered campaign donations, free meals, trips and tickets to sports and entertainment events on lawmakers and top Hill aides, including former Rep. Bob Ney (R-Ohio).
In addition to prison time, Abramoff and Scanlon - currently incarcerated in a federal prison in Pensacola, Fla. - were also ordered to repay the tribes more than $23 million for overcharging their fees.
Abramoff was released from prison last summer, initially working in a Baltimore pizza restaurant.
Now, however, Abramoff is attempting to reinvent himself as a Washington reformer. He told CBS’ “60 Minutes” recently “If you make the choice to serve the public, public service, then serve the public, not yourself. When you’re done, go home. Washington’s a dangerous place. Don’t hang around.”
And Abramoff has his own website, “abramoff.com,” which he uses to hawk his book, “Capitol Punishment.”
Abramoff is also available for public speeches on topics like “The Secrets of Power,” “A Congress for Sale,” “Can Washington Be Fixed?” and “Overcoming Collapse,” according to the website — the one he actually owns, that is.
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