Italia Federici, former campaign aide to former Interior Secretary Gale Norton, plans to plead guilty to tax evasion and lying to Congress during the investigation of now-imprisoned former lobbyist Jack Abramoff (The Hill).
Federici will be the second person with close ties to Norton to plead guilty over the Abramoff scandal. The first was Federici's friend, Deputy Interior Secretary Steven Griles--the tenth Administration official to face criminal charges relating to Abramoff (Washington Post).
In 1997, Federici, Norton and Grover Norquist founded the Council of Republicans for Economic Advocacy (CREA), a group that focused more on protecting the oil industry than the environment (Salon). Before that, Federici was a campaign aide for Norton, who unsuccessfully ran for Senate in Colorado.
In 2001-03, Abramoff funneled $500,000 to CREA in exchange for access to Interior Department officials via Federici's personal ties. That department regulated Indian affairs, which affected Abramoff's casino-owning tribal clients.
Federici's tax charges stem from her failure "to pay $77,243 in income tax she owed on $233,955 she earned from CREA between 2001 and 2003" ( Legal Times).
Griles' sentencing hearing is scheduled for June 26. Norton resigned from Interior in 2006, as the Abramoff scandal heated up.
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