Ex-House Aide Pleads Guilty in Abramoff Probe

June 2, 2008— -- A former Congressional aide pleaded guilty today to a federal conspiracy charge stemming from his acceptance of gifts in the ever expanding wake of convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

The ex-aide, John Albaugh, was a long-time staff member of former Rep. Ernest Istook, R-Okla., who unsuccessfully ran for governor of Oklahoma in 2006.

Albaugh pleaded guilty to conspiracy for accepting dinners, drinks and tickets to sports events and campaign contributions from Abramoff's firm, which was seeking specific legislation and action from Congress for transportation legislation.

Court documents made many references to Albaugh's relations with "Lobbyist C," who has been identified as Kevin Ring by sources briefed on the matter. Ring worked on Capitol Hill for Rep. John Doolittle, R-Calif., before working for Abramoff at the Greenberg Traurig firm.

Albaugh's guilty plea is the most recent that stems from Ring's activities at Greenberg Traurig. In April, former Justice Department employee Robert Coughlin pleaded guilty to a conflict of interest for his connections with Ring when he worked at the Justice Department's Office of Legislative Affairs, and later, as the deputy director of the Office of Intergovernmental and Public Liason.

Although he is not mentioned by name, since he is not charged, Istook has been identified in the court documents as "Representative 4." Istook served as the chairman for the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation, Treasury and Independent Agencies.

"Albaugh accepted from Lobbyist C a stream of things of value which were intended to and did induce defendant Albaugh to take a stream of official action to benefit Lobbyist C," Greenberg Traurig and its clients, the criminal complaint noted.

In a March 14, 2002, e-mail, Ring mentioned the need for federal funds for one of his clients and sent an e-mail to Albaugh, noting, "[y]ou are going to eat free of our clients."

According to the court papers on Jan. 29, 2003, "Albaugh requested and [Ring] agreed ... [to] host a $10,000 fundraising dinner for the benefit of Representative 4 the following week."