Edwin Buckham paid Christine DeLay

A couple of months ago, I looked at the government employees who went on Abramoff's August 2002 trip to Scotland. They haven't fared well:

1. Rep. Bob Ney - GUILTY
2. David Safavian - GUILTY
3. Will Heaton - GUILTY
4. Paul Vinovich - Not charged

Well, with the guilty plea from Mark Zachares, it is time to look at the government employees who accompanied Abramoff*** on a similar junket a year later.

1. Rep. Tom Feeney - Not Charged
2. Mark Zachares - GUILTY
3. Bob Brooks - Not Charged

Given that we know the FBI is investigating Rep. Feeney, I sure wouldn't want to be this Bob Brooks guy, would you? Just who is Bob Brooks? According to Wiki, he was CoS to Rep. Jim McCrery (R-LA). But there's more to know about him:

Dated Feb. 12, 2006

Bob Brooks, who got embroiled at the periphery of the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal, is stepping down as chief of staff to Rep. Jim McCrery, R-Shreveport. Brooks will be replaced by Brett Loper, the top aide to former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, who is under his own ethical cloud. Brooks did not return telephone calls for comment. His name continues to surface in the unfolding Abramoff influence-peddling scandal because he accepted a golf trip to Scotland in 2003 that was reportedly paid for by the lobbyist. At the time, Abramoff was representing a Louisiana Indian tribe seeking to block a rival casino in McCrery's district. Brooks has said he thought the trip was paid for by a conservative foundation, but the group said it had nothing to do with it.

Brooks carried the water for the Jena band of Indians. Of course the Jena band were Abramoff clients. Don't be surprised if you hear Mr. Brooks' name again. Furthermore, among others, Tom DeLay got his hands dirty in the Jena issue:

The Coushattas and the Saginaw Chippewa in Michigan, also an Abramoff client, say they paid [Italia] Federici's group [CREA] a total of $225,000 during the Jena fight. Federici said she could not confirm the amount because environmental groups guard the privacy of their donors. "We live and die by that rule, just as the Sierra Club does," she said.

Federici said she would be disturbed "if any tribe is intimating they were solicited by CREA for anything other than environmental work. CREA's money is spent on environmental work, period."

McCrery, in whose district the Jena now planned to build, wanted to introduce "a bill to address the Jena issue," according to an e-mail Leger Short sent in May to Abramoff. She wrote that "Bob" sent her a draft bill, which she circulated for reaction, and said she was to meet with him the following day.

"Bob," Leger Short said in an interview last week, was Bob Brooks, McCrery's chief of staff, who went on a golfing trip to St. Andrews in Scotland later that summer with Abramoff. Brooks did not return telephone calls seeking comment.

Meanwhile, Abramoff lobbyist Todd Boulanger drafted a stiff letter to [then-Interior Secretary Gale] Norton warning, "we hold you accountable" to shoot down "reservation shopping" by the Jenas. Boulanger's proposed signatories were House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.), House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) and Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.). The draft was circulated by e-mail to Abramoff and others on the team.

In June, Norton received a slightly toned-down version of the letter, this one bearing the House leaders' signatures.

Oh no! Italia Federici, Gale Norton and CREA are mentioned, too!

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*** Published reports indicate that eight people went on the August 2003 trip to Scotland. In addition to Abramoff and the three government employees listed, Wikipedia indicates Ralph Reed also attended. That brings the total up to five. Three other unidentified people were also on this trip. They may or may not be government employees. I have tried to figure out who the other three are with no success.