Two former associates of Jack Abramoff, the embattled lobbyist, left
the country Monday night en route to a new life in Israel. The relocation
comes as a Justice Department taskforce presses forward with an
investigation into potential criminal wrongdoing stemming from Abramoffs
business dealings.
Sam Hook and his wife Shana Tesler both worked
with Abramoff at the law firm, Greenberg Traurig. Hook served as the
registered agent for Grassroots Interactive, a lobbying venture tied to
Abramoff that has reportedly been subpoenaed by the Justice Department
taskforce.
Tesler, a lawyer, worked with Abramoff at Greenberg
Traurig and then followed him to the lobbying firm, Cassidy &
Associates, after he was ousted from Greenberg following news reports of
his questionable dealings with Indian gaming tribes.
Abramoff and
public affairs consultant Michael Scanlon are the target of the Justice
Department probe and two Senate investigations into allegations that they
bilked tribes out of more than $60 million. A federal grand jury has
been convened to consider possible criminal charges in the
matter.
Like Abramoff, Hook and Tesler are both Orthodox
Jews. They have been planning for some time to move their family to
Israel, said their attorney Alyza Lewin at Lewin &
Lewin.
Pursuant to longstanding plans that predate any
investigation, Shana Tesler and Sam Hook have relocated to Israel
One
thing had nothing to do with the other, Lewin
said.
Former White House counsel Lanny Davis said
that the pairs relocation could hamper the Justice Department
investigation because it would be harder to enforce subpoenas
abroad.
Whether you are able to enforce a subpoena in a foreign
country depends upon specific treaty commitments, Davis said, but in
general the answer is no
Even if you could try to enforce it through a
treaty, it would be extremely difficult.
E. Lawrence Barcella, a
defense attorney and former federal prosecutor, said, If theyve already
testified in the grand jury, if the government already has the evidence it
needs or has made agreements with them, it may not affect it at all.
On the other hand, if [the government] charges them, [it] would go through
extradition proceedings with Israel, Barcella said, It could complicate
what [the government] is doing but it wouldnt condemn
anything.
Lewin said that Hook and Tesler had been cooperating
with the investigation and would continue to respond whenever needed. The
two are not Israeli citizens.
Theyll still be able to be
reached. They have every intention to continue to cooperate, Lewin
said.
Lewin said Hook had only a minor role in Grassroots
Interactive (GRI).
Mr. Abramoff asked Mr. Hook to administer GRI
on an interim basis but Mr. Abramoff solely controlled GRI. Any
actions Mr. Hook took on behalf of GRI including any payments made by GRI
were made pursuant to the specific instruction of Mr. Abramoff, Lewin
said.
Documents released last month by the Senate Indian
Affairs Committee hearing showed that GRI had written a check for $25,000
to an associate of Abramoff.
GRI was created in March 2003 by
Edward Miller, who was then a lawyer at DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary and is
now a senior aide to Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich (R). In September
2003, Hook took over the administration of Grassroots until Abramoffs
ouster from Greenberg Traurig in March 2004.
Hook originally came
to Greenberg Traurig after having worked at Arthur Andersen, the
accounting firm that is now defunct.
Tesler held several positions
in the Clinton White House before joining Greenberg Traurig in 2000.
She went to Cassidy & Associates in March 2004 but left at years end
to found a two-person law firm, VHT Law, with another former Greenberg
Traurig attorney, John van Horne. Like Hook, Tesler and Abramoff,
van Horne left Greenberg Traurig in March 2004, said two sources with
knowledge of the firm.
Greenberg Traurig refused to comment on when
former employees had left the firm.
Van Horne was subpoenaed last
fall by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee in its ongoing investigation
of Abramoff.
At a November hearing, former Indian Affairs Committee
Chairman Ben Nighthorse Campbell (R-Colo.) expressed frustration with van
Hornes lack of response to the subpoena.
Theres another
person who I believe rather flouted the authority of this committee. That
person is John van Horne, who was served with a document subpoena that was
due on October 5th. To this date, the committee has not received the
documents called for under the subpoena, nor an explanation for his
non-compliance, Campbell said.It was unclear at press time whether that
situation had been resolved.
