Kevin A. Ring
Encyclopedia
Kevin A. Ring is a former lobbyist and Republican Congressional staffer. He was a figure in the Jack Abramoff Indian lobbying scandal
scandal. After leaving Team Abramoff
at Greenberg Traurig in 2005, he joined Barnes & Thornburg LLP law firm in Washington, DC. He resigned from Barnes and Thornburg on April 13, 2007, the same day the FBI raided John Doolittle
's home, for whom he had been a staffer.http://thinkprogress.org/2007/04/16/abramoff-linked-lobbyist-resigns/http://www.btlaw.com/Person.asp On September 8, 2008 Ring was arrested "on conspiracy, fraud and obstruction-of-justice charges in connection with his alleged role in a four-year scheme to lavish tickets and trips on lawmakers and government officials in return for help for his clients."
His indictment also charges him with obstruction of justice, "including false statements about his knowledge of Abramoff’s financial relationship with lobbyist Michael Scanlon; his own receipt of a $135,000 referral fee; and his knowledge of how Abramoff obtained a job for" Julie Doolittle, wife of Representative John Doolittle. The First Trial: On October 15, 2009, U.S. District Court Judge Ellen S. Huvelle declared a mistrial in the case after jurors were unable to reach agreement on any of the eight charges. A former prosecutor in the Abramoff matter "called the case against Kevin Ring "an extremely problematic prosecution," since the favors that Ring was accused of doing for public officials weren't in themselves illegal." http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/10/former_doj_prosecutor_ring_case_was_extremely_prob.php?ref=tn
In the interval between the first trial and the start of the second trial, the Supreme Court issued a ruling on the Honest Services
Theft issue (Skilling vs. U.S., June 24, 2010) calling the original law too vague, which was thought to make it even more problematic in eventually getting a conviction.
The Second Trial of Kevin Ring, Results of: On November 15, 2010, Kevin A. Ring was convicted on five counts of conspiracy to corrupting public officials, in Federal Court in Washington, DC on November 15, 2010. Per the Department of Justice Press Release,
Ring had at one time been a legislative aide to former Republican Representative John Doolittle, who was the Congressman for CA-04. Ring also subsequently worked as a lobbyist for a city in the district, Lincoln. Rep. Doolittle was on his way to a Chamber of Commerce luncheon at an Indian Casino in Northern California near Oroville, when the FBI raided his home in Virginia on April 13, 2007. John Doolittle and his wife, Julie, were named as unindicted co conspirators in the court documents in the second trial. Julie Doolittle worked for Jack Abramoff at a job he set up for her, along with Christine Delay, the wife of Tom Delay.
According to the DOJ press release issued on Nov 15, 2010, the day the second trial's jury sent back its conviction of Ring, the "things of value" provided to the public officials to influence them included:
" all-expenses-paid travel, meals, drinks, golf outings, tickets to professional sporting events, concerts and other events, and an employment opportunity for the wife of a congressman. According to evidence introduced at trial, these things of value were often billed to Ring’s and Abramoff’s clients. Evidence established that Ring and his co-conspirators engaged in this illegal conduct with current and former congressional staff members, including chiefs of staff, as well as officials at the Department of Justice and the White House."
Before the first trial,
Ring had been meeting with investigators extensively, but apparently negotiations had broken down and Ring would not accept a plea deal.
One of "more than a dozen lobbyists who were members of Team Abramoff
, the tight-knit group who worked under Abramoff when he was at the lobbying
helm of the Washington office of Greenberg Traurig
and, before that, Preston Gates Ellis & Rouvelas Meeds LLP
," Ring was asked to resign from Greenberg Traurig. Although Ring has never spoken publicly about the charges and did not testify at his trial, he touched on the scandal in an essay written for an online fatherhood magazine. http://www.fathermag.com/1006/Fathers-Day/
, grassroots, and political campaigns.
"Before entering private practice, he worked for several years on Capitol Hill as a staffer in both the House of Representatives and Senate. In 1993, Mr. Ring joined the staff of U.S. Representative John T. Doolittle
, a member of the House Appropriations Committee and an elected member of the House Republican
leadership team. After his promotion to legislative director in 1995, he was charged with implementing the congressman’s legislative agenda and serving as a liaison to the House leadership.
"In 1998, Mr. Ring was named by then-U.S. Senator John Ashcroft
to serve as a counsel on the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Constitution, Federalism and Property Rights Subcommittee that Sen. Ashcroft chaired. Among other duties, he advised Sen. Ashcroft on federal judicial nominations. He served there a year before returning to the House to become executive director of the Conservative Action Team (later renamed the House Republican Study Committee), a caucus of 70 House Republicans.
"Mr. Ring’s book, Scalia Dissents: Writings of the Supreme Court’s Wittiest, Most Outspoken Justice, was published by Regnery Publishing
in November 2004. Mr. Ring graduated from The Morgan School in 1988. He then earned his B.A. in political science from Syracuse University
and graduated with honors from the Columbus School of Law
at Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. He is a member of the Maryland Bar."
Source: Ring's Barnes & Thornburg LLP online Profile.
, a top law firm executive has disclosed," Julie Kay reported November 17, 2005, for Law.com.http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1132144712858 Kevin Ring, Jon W. van Horne, Michael D. Smith
and Stephanie Leger Short were asked to resign.
(R-Ariz.) displayed e-mails and canceled checks to support allegations that Ring and lobbyist Jack Abramoff inflated fees and concocted invoices to defraud their client, the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians,"
"Testifying before the committee Wednesday morning, Ring asserted his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, but he also offered an apology. 'I'm sorry the clients for whom I worked have had to endure the enormous emotional and financial burden,' he said."
What Ring omitted to tell the committee was that he was "still working for the Choctaws as their paid Washington lobbyist. Indeed, he was actively lobbying members of Congress to pass a Choctaw-backed amendment that came up for a vote in the House on Friday afternoon," June 24, 2005, Grimaldi wrote. "Ring is one of the few Abramoff alumni who have been able to hold onto the same tribal clients who now say they were victimized by Abramoff's fraudulent billing practices."
Politico.com reported: "While not named in the indictment, a "Representative 5" — widely thought to be Doolittle — allegedly took a series of official acts that benefited Ring and Abramoff’s lobbying clients. In return, the indictment says the congressman and his aides received numerous free meals, tickets to concerts and sporting events, campaign contributions and a part-time job for Doolittle’s wife, Julie, that netted her $96,000.".
In January 2009 Todd Boulanger
, a member of "Team Abramoff
" pleaded guilty to bribing government officials. Court documents there asserted that Boulanger, Abramoff and Ring tried to get gifts for Ann Copland, who was senior staff for Senator Thad Cochran
. Emails from Ring were subsequently part of the documents submitted when Copland pleaded guilty in March 2009.
On April 22, 2008 Robert E. Coughlin
, the former Deputy Chief of Staff, Criminal Division, of the United States Department of Justice pleaded guilty, admitting "that he accepted meals, concert tickets and luxury seats at Redskins and Wizards games from a former Abramoff associate, lobbyist Kevin Ring, while helping the lobbyist and his clients."
A year and a half after Robert Coughlin pled guilty to taking free meals, sports and concert tickets from Kevin Ring, in exchange for helping Ring and Abramoff's client the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians get a $16 million dollar grant for a jail to be built, jury selection started on Sept 8, and Kevin Ring's first trial began September 11, 2009. It resulted in a hung jury, and the judge declared a mistrial in October 2009.
The second trial of Kevin Ring resulted in a conviction a year later, on November 15, 2010.
Two more charges are still pending, and may result in a 3rd trial if there is no plea bargaining.
As for the Congressmen, Tom Delay, the former Republican Majority leader, was convicted of money laundering in Austin, Texas on Nov 24, 2010, by passing funds from his Federal Pac via the RNC to 7 Texas state candidates, which is against the law in Texas. His wife Christine Delay, who worked for Abramoff, has not been charged nor convicted of anything. Congressman Doolittle claimed in June 2010 that the Department of Justice has told him he will not be charged with a crime after what has to have been at least a 4.5 year investigation. His wife Julie Doolittle has also not been charged nor convicted, in spite of her taking 15% of each campaign donation (including ones from many Abramoff and Ring linked clients) as a "fundraiser's fee" in her one - person business, Sierra Dominion Financial Services. Representative Doolittle did refile most of his FEC campaign donation filings with correction amendments made from that time period until he stopped running for office.
Jack Abramoff Indian lobbying scandal
The Jack Abramoff Indian lobbying scandal is a United States political scandal relating to the work performed by political lobbyists Jack Abramoff, Ralph E. Reed, Jr., Grover Norquist and Michael Scanlon on Indian casino gambling interests for an estimated $85 million in fees. Abramoff and Scanlon...
scandal. After leaving Team Abramoff
Team Abramoff
"Team Abramoff" is the team of lobbyists assembled by Jack Abramoff when he worked at Greenberg Traurig, primarily of former aides to prominent Congressional politicians...
at Greenberg Traurig in 2005, he joined Barnes & Thornburg LLP law firm in Washington, DC. He resigned from Barnes and Thornburg on April 13, 2007, the same day the FBI raided John Doolittle
John Doolittle
John Taylor Doolittle , American politician, was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1991 to 2009, representing . In the 109th Congress, he held a leadership role as the Deputy Whip for the Republican party in the House...
's home, for whom he had been a staffer.http://thinkprogress.org/2007/04/16/abramoff-linked-lobbyist-resigns/http://www.btlaw.com/Person.asp On September 8, 2008 Ring was arrested "on conspiracy, fraud and obstruction-of-justice charges in connection with his alleged role in a four-year scheme to lavish tickets and trips on lawmakers and government officials in return for help for his clients."
His indictment also charges him with obstruction of justice, "including false statements about his knowledge of Abramoff’s financial relationship with lobbyist Michael Scanlon; his own receipt of a $135,000 referral fee; and his knowledge of how Abramoff obtained a job for" Julie Doolittle, wife of Representative John Doolittle. The First Trial: On October 15, 2009, U.S. District Court Judge Ellen S. Huvelle declared a mistrial in the case after jurors were unable to reach agreement on any of the eight charges. A former prosecutor in the Abramoff matter "called the case against Kevin Ring "an extremely problematic prosecution," since the favors that Ring was accused of doing for public officials weren't in themselves illegal." http://tpmmuckraker.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/10/former_doj_prosecutor_ring_case_was_extremely_prob.php?ref=tn
In the interval between the first trial and the start of the second trial, the Supreme Court issued a ruling on the Honest Services
Honest services fraud
Honest services fraud refers to a 28-word sentence of , added by the United States Congress in 1988, which states: "For the purposes of this chapter, the term, scheme or artifice to defraud includes a scheme or artifice to deprive another of the intangible right of honest services."The statute...
Theft issue (Skilling vs. U.S., June 24, 2010) calling the original law too vague, which was thought to make it even more problematic in eventually getting a conviction.
The Second Trial of Kevin Ring, Results of: On November 15, 2010, Kevin A. Ring was convicted on five counts of conspiracy to corrupting public officials, in Federal Court in Washington, DC on November 15, 2010. Per the Department of Justice Press Release,
Ring had at one time been a legislative aide to former Republican Representative John Doolittle, who was the Congressman for CA-04. Ring also subsequently worked as a lobbyist for a city in the district, Lincoln. Rep. Doolittle was on his way to a Chamber of Commerce luncheon at an Indian Casino in Northern California near Oroville, when the FBI raided his home in Virginia on April 13, 2007. John Doolittle and his wife, Julie, were named as unindicted co conspirators in the court documents in the second trial. Julie Doolittle worked for Jack Abramoff at a job he set up for her, along with Christine Delay, the wife of Tom Delay.
According to the DOJ press release issued on Nov 15, 2010, the day the second trial's jury sent back its conviction of Ring, the "things of value" provided to the public officials to influence them included:
" all-expenses-paid travel, meals, drinks, golf outings, tickets to professional sporting events, concerts and other events, and an employment opportunity for the wife of a congressman. According to evidence introduced at trial, these things of value were often billed to Ring’s and Abramoff’s clients. Evidence established that Ring and his co-conspirators engaged in this illegal conduct with current and former congressional staff members, including chiefs of staff, as well as officials at the Department of Justice and the White House."
Before the first trial,
Ring had been meeting with investigators extensively, but apparently negotiations had broken down and Ring would not accept a plea deal.
One of "more than a dozen lobbyists who were members of Team Abramoff
Team Abramoff
"Team Abramoff" is the team of lobbyists assembled by Jack Abramoff when he worked at Greenberg Traurig, primarily of former aides to prominent Congressional politicians...
, the tight-knit group who worked under Abramoff when he was at the lobbying
Lobbying
Lobbying is the act of attempting to influence decisions made by officials in the government, most often legislators or members of regulatory agencies. Lobbying is done by various people or groups, from private-sector individuals or corporations, fellow legislators or government officials, or...
helm of the Washington office of Greenberg Traurig
Greenberg Traurig
Greenberg Traurig LLP and Greenberg Traurig PA is an international law firm based in Miami, Florida.The firm has approximately 1,800 attorneys and governmental professionals in 32 locations in the United States, Europe and Asia. Its founding office is in Miami, Florida with its largest office in...
and, before that, Preston Gates Ellis & Rouvelas Meeds LLP
Preston Gates & Ellis
Preston Gates & Ellis, LLP, also known as Preston Gates, was a law firm with offices in the United States, China and Taiwan. Its main office was in the IDX Tower in Seattle, Washington...
," Ring was asked to resign from Greenberg Traurig. Although Ring has never spoken publicly about the charges and did not testify at his trial, he touched on the scandal in an essay written for an online fatherhood magazine. http://www.fathermag.com/1006/Fathers-Day/
Profiles
"In 2002 and 2003, he was named a 'Top Rainmaker' by The Hill newspaper in its annual rankings of Washington’s premier lobbyists. In addition to providing legislative counsel, Mr. Ring advises clients on participation in mediaMass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
, grassroots, and political campaigns.
"Before entering private practice, he worked for several years on Capitol Hill as a staffer in both the House of Representatives and Senate. In 1993, Mr. Ring joined the staff of U.S. Representative John T. Doolittle
John Doolittle
John Taylor Doolittle , American politician, was a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from 1991 to 2009, representing . In the 109th Congress, he held a leadership role as the Deputy Whip for the Republican party in the House...
, a member of the House Appropriations Committee and an elected member of the House Republican
leadership team. After his promotion to legislative director in 1995, he was charged with implementing the congressman’s legislative agenda and serving as a liaison to the House leadership.
"In 1998, Mr. Ring was named by then-U.S. Senator John Ashcroft
John Ashcroft
John David Ashcroft is a United States politician who served as the 79th United States Attorney General, from 2001 until 2005, appointed by President George W. Bush. Ashcroft previously served as the 50th Governor of Missouri and a U.S...
to serve as a counsel on the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Constitution, Federalism and Property Rights Subcommittee that Sen. Ashcroft chaired. Among other duties, he advised Sen. Ashcroft on federal judicial nominations. He served there a year before returning to the House to become executive director of the Conservative Action Team (later renamed the House Republican Study Committee), a caucus of 70 House Republicans.
"Mr. Ring’s book, Scalia Dissents: Writings of the Supreme Court’s Wittiest, Most Outspoken Justice, was published by Regnery Publishing
Regnery Publishing
Regnery Publishing in Washington, D.C., is a publisher which specializes in conservative books characterized on their website as "contrary to those of 'mainstream' publishers in New York." Since 1993, Regnery Publishing has been a division of Eagle Publishing, which also owns the weekly magazine...
in November 2004. Mr. Ring graduated from The Morgan School in 1988. He then earned his B.A. in political science from Syracuse University
Syracuse University
Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...
and graduated with honors from the Columbus School of Law
Columbus School of Law
The Columbus School of Law, also known as CUA Law, is the law school of The Catholic University of America, in Washington, D.C..Over 900 Juris Doctor students attend CUA Law. Incoming classes are typically composed of two to three hundred students, including day and night programs. Around 3,500...
at Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. He is a member of the Maryland Bar."
Source: Ring's Barnes & Thornburg LLP online Profile.
Fees scandal
"Four former Greenberg Traurig lobbyists besides disgraced former colleague Jack Abramoff took improper side payments in violation of company policy and have been referred to the Justice DepartmentUnited States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
, a top law firm executive has disclosed," Julie Kay reported November 17, 2005, for Law.com.http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1132144712858 Kevin Ring, Jon W. van Horne, Michael D. Smith
Michael D. Smith
Michael D. Smith is the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University. He is also the John H. Finley, Jr. Professor of Engineering and Applied Sciences in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences...
and Stephanie Leger Short were asked to resign.
Abramoff scandal
"Lobbyist Kevin A. Ring sat silently as Senate Indian Affairs Committee Chairman John McCainJohn McCain
John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
(R-Ariz.) displayed e-mails and canceled checks to support allegations that Ring and lobbyist Jack Abramoff inflated fees and concocted invoices to defraud their client, the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians,"
"Testifying before the committee Wednesday morning, Ring asserted his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, but he also offered an apology. 'I'm sorry the clients for whom I worked have had to endure the enormous emotional and financial burden,' he said."
What Ring omitted to tell the committee was that he was "still working for the Choctaws as their paid Washington lobbyist. Indeed, he was actively lobbying members of Congress to pass a Choctaw-backed amendment that came up for a vote in the House on Friday afternoon," June 24, 2005, Grimaldi wrote. "Ring is one of the few Abramoff alumni who have been able to hold onto the same tribal clients who now say they were victimized by Abramoff's fraudulent billing practices."
Politico.com reported: "While not named in the indictment, a "Representative 5" — widely thought to be Doolittle — allegedly took a series of official acts that benefited Ring and Abramoff’s lobbying clients. In return, the indictment says the congressman and his aides received numerous free meals, tickets to concerts and sporting events, campaign contributions and a part-time job for Doolittle’s wife, Julie, that netted her $96,000.".
In January 2009 Todd Boulanger
Todd Boulanger
Todd Boulanger is an American lobbyist. He was senior vice president of Cassidy & Associates and was a figure in the Jack Abramoff scandal.-Background:...
, a member of "Team Abramoff
Team Abramoff
"Team Abramoff" is the team of lobbyists assembled by Jack Abramoff when he worked at Greenberg Traurig, primarily of former aides to prominent Congressional politicians...
" pleaded guilty to bribing government officials. Court documents there asserted that Boulanger, Abramoff and Ring tried to get gifts for Ann Copland, who was senior staff for Senator Thad Cochran
Thad Cochran
William Thad Cochran is the senior United States Senator from Mississippi and a member of the Republican Party. First elected to the Senate in 1978, he is the ranking member of the Senate Committee on Appropriations and was its chairman and 2005 to 2007.-Early life:He was born in Pontotoc,...
. Emails from Ring were subsequently part of the documents submitted when Copland pleaded guilty in March 2009.
On April 22, 2008 Robert E. Coughlin
Robert E. Coughlin
Robert E. Coughlin, II, is an American lawyer and was formerly the Deputy Chief of Staff, Criminal Division, of the United States Department of Justice. He was convicted in the aftermath of the Abramoff scandal.- Abramoff scandal :...
, the former Deputy Chief of Staff, Criminal Division, of the United States Department of Justice pleaded guilty, admitting "that he accepted meals, concert tickets and luxury seats at Redskins and Wizards games from a former Abramoff associate, lobbyist Kevin Ring, while helping the lobbyist and his clients."
A year and a half after Robert Coughlin pled guilty to taking free meals, sports and concert tickets from Kevin Ring, in exchange for helping Ring and Abramoff's client the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians get a $16 million dollar grant for a jail to be built, jury selection started on Sept 8, and Kevin Ring's first trial began September 11, 2009. It resulted in a hung jury, and the judge declared a mistrial in October 2009.
The second trial of Kevin Ring resulted in a conviction a year later, on November 15, 2010.
Two more charges are still pending, and may result in a 3rd trial if there is no plea bargaining.
As for the Congressmen, Tom Delay, the former Republican Majority leader, was convicted of money laundering in Austin, Texas on Nov 24, 2010, by passing funds from his Federal Pac via the RNC to 7 Texas state candidates, which is against the law in Texas. His wife Christine Delay, who worked for Abramoff, has not been charged nor convicted of anything. Congressman Doolittle claimed in June 2010 that the Department of Justice has told him he will not be charged with a crime after what has to have been at least a 4.5 year investigation. His wife Julie Doolittle has also not been charged nor convicted, in spite of her taking 15% of each campaign donation (including ones from many Abramoff and Ring linked clients) as a "fundraiser's fee" in her one - person business, Sierra Dominion Financial Services. Representative Doolittle did refile most of his FEC campaign donation filings with correction amendments made from that time period until he stopped running for office.
External links
- Kate Ackley and Andy Metzger, "More Woes for Greenberg Traurig in Fees Scandal," Legal Times, October 20, 2004.
- John Byrne, "New ties link House GOP leadership with lobbyist Abramoff," The Raw Story (Beware of This page catch), March 29, 2005.
- James V. Grimaldi, "Lobbyists, Clients Undeterred by Scandal. Alumni of Abramoff's 'Team' Still Collecting Fees, Trying to Influence Government," Washington Post, June 26, 2005.
- "Choctaws hire three ex-Abramoff lobbyists," Indianz.com, June 27, 2005.
- Julie Kay, "Greenberg Traurig Executive Describes Misconduct by Abramoff, Other Lobbyists," Daily Business Review (Law.com), November 17, 2005.
- Susan Schmidt and James Grimaldi, "Lawmakers Under Scrutiny in Probe of Lobbyist. Ney and DeLay Among the Members of Congress Said to Be a Focus of Abramoff Investigation," Washington Post, November 26, 2005.
- David Whitney, "Abramoff associate in hot seat. The former Doolittle aide is questioned in probe but faces no charges," Sacramento Bee, December 9, 2005.
- Kate Ackley, "John Doolittle Would Like to Get His Life Back" Roll Call, June 28, 2010
- Main Justice, tag 'Kevin Ring' "Ring to Face Second Trial on Honest Services Fraud" August 5, 2010
- Spencer S. Hsu, "Retrial of Abramoff lobbyist Ring begins in DC federal court" WAPO, Oct 22, 2010
- Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs, "Former Abramoff Colleague Kevin Ring Convicted of Conspiracy, Honest Services Fraud and Paying Gratuities Related to Illegal Lobbying Scheme" The United States Dept of Justice Press Release, from justice.gov/opa, Mon Nov 15, 2010