When Jack met Karl

last updated 8 January 2015

Washington, D.C.

Disgraced Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff contacted White House strategist Karl Rove’s office 82 times between 2001 and 2004, according to a congressional report released last week. Abramoff also arranged for tickets to concerts and sporting events for Rove and his assistant. In all, the report documents more than 400 contacts between White House staff and Abramoff or his employees. The findings, said Rep. Henry Waxman, a California Democrat, point to “a much closer relationship between Mr. Abramoff and White House officials than the White House has previously acknowledged.” White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said the report merely confirms “what we already knew: that [Abramoff] had a penchant for exaggeration, and for charging his clients for minor contacts with government officials.”