April 17, 2008 07:14 AM UTC

Udall donates $1,500 contributions from Abramoff law firms

• 6 Comments
• by: RedGreen

Lynn Bartels writes tonight that Udall’s congressional campaign received $500 from the political action committee for law firm Preston Gates and $1,000 from the Greenburg Traurig PAC, in 2000 and 2002, respectively.

http://www.rockymountainnews.c…

Jailed felon Jack Abramoff worked as a lobbyist at Preston Gates prior to 2000 and at Greenburg thereafter. Udall opponent Bob Schaffer is embroiled in controversy over his involvement in Abramoff’s lobbying activities during the same period.

Udall announced today he is donating $1,500 to a Marianas Islands charity that aids victims of human trafficking.

Dick Wadhams, Schaffer’s campaign manager and chairman of the state GOP, could hardly contain his glee. Repeatedly using the adjective “Boulder liberal,” Wadhams slammed the Eldorado Springs Democrat’s involvement with the two giant, nationwide law firms.

Read Lynn’s story after the jump.

Udall accepted money from firms associated with Abramoff



By Lynn Bartels

Originally published 09:22 p.m., April 16, 2008

U.S. Senate candidate Mark Udall took $1,500 in contributions from two firms that once employed disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Udall’s campaign spokeswoman Taylor West said the donations from the companies’ political-action committees to the Eldorado Springs Democrat’s congressional campaigns were legal.

But, she said, Udall plans to donate the $1,500 to an organization in the Marianas Islands that assists victims of human trafficking.

Abramoff and the islands have become an issue in Udall’s Senate race against former Congressman Bob Schaffer, a Fort Collins Republican who left office in 2002.

Schaffer’s campaign manager, Dick Wadhams, ripped Udall on Wednesday, questioning why he waited to return donations he received in 2000 and 2002.

The Abramoff issue began after Schaffer recently touted the Marianas’ guest-worker program, despite documented instances of employee abuses.

Schaffer visited the U.S. territory in 1999 as part of a fact-finding trip arranged in part by Abramoff’s lobbying firm. The territory had hired Abramoff to fight off congressional attempts at worker reforms.

Schaffer said he complained about a garment factory he deemed a sweatshop and was told it had been closed, but critics disagree.

“Bob Schaffer took an Abramoff-sponsored trip and turned a blind eye to forced abortions and human trafficking of guest workers while Mark Udall was co-sponsoring three pieces of legislation to fix problems in the Marianas,” West said. [emphasis added]

Taylor said the issue is not the firms that made the donations, but Abramoff’s attempt to thwart reforms and Schaffer’s willingness to assist him.

“That is a bald-faced lie and Boulder liberal Mark Udall should be ashamed of himself,” Wadhams said.

Udall received $500 in 2000 from the Preston Gates firm, which employed Abramoff at the time. Abramoff later worked for Greenberg Traurig LLP, which in 2002 gave $1,000 to Udall’s campaign.

“Only one candidate in this race took money from Abramoff and it was Boulder liberal Mark Udall,” Wadhams said.

In fact, the money came from Abramoff’s employers’ PACs.