Abramoff Fallout: Ex-DOJ Official Charged
He's charged with conflict of interest in the disgraced lobbyist probe.
April 21, 2008— -- Federal prosecutors have charged a former Justice Department official with an alleged conflict of interest for his connections with disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff's law firm, according to documents filed in the case.
Robert E. Coughlin II was the former deputy chief of staff for the Justice Department's criminal division, which oversaw the department's prosecution of Abramoff, former Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, and 11 related cases stemming from the influence peddling scandal.
Officials say Coughlin was recused from the Abramoff investigation.
Although the firm Greenberg Traurig was not mentioned in court papers, according to the one-count criminal information filed at the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., Coughlin received items of value from the firm while working at the Justice Department. A criminal information is a charge brought on by a prosecutor, as opposed to one brought by a grand jury.
Law enforcement officials briefed on the case say Coughlin is expected to plead guilty to the charges Tuesday. Joshua G. Berman, a lawyer for Coughlin, did not return calls by ABC News.
The information notes that between March 2001 to 2003, while Coughlin was working for the Justice Department's office of legislative affairs, "as a DOJ employee, Coughlin provided assistance to a lobbyist and the lobbyist's law/lobbying firm on particular matters before DOJ, while knowingly receiving a stream of things of value from the lobbyist and his firm because of such assistance, and while having discussions concerning prospective employment with the law/lobbying firm."
According to Justice Department officials, Coughlin was a friend of Kevin Ring, who had worked on Capitol Hill for Rep. John Doolittle, R-Calif., before working for Abramoff at Greenberg Traurig.
Press accounts by the Washington Post note that Ring had provided Coughlin with tickets to sporting events and that the two men worked together for then-Sen. John Ashcroft before he became attorney general.
Shortly after the unraveling of the Abramoff scandal, which involved bilking Native American tribes in a lobbying effort, according to a report issued by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, Ring e-mailed a colleague about a Washington Post article and allegedly wrote, ''I know more than [the] article, and the truth is worse.''
An attorney for Ring, Richard Hibey, did not return calls made by ABC News Monday evening.
Coughlin resigned from the Justice Department last August. He had joined the criminal division in 2005.
In September 2006, Coughlin received an award from then-Attorney General Alberto Gonzales for his work in the Criminal Division for Fraud Prevention. Coughlin is the eleventh person charged in the Abramoff-related scandals.