Key Events in the Abramoff Investigation

Here is a timeline of key events in the Jack Abramoff investigation:

2005:


Dec. 13-22: Five members of Congress - Rep. Ernest Istook, R-Okla.; Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kan.; Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont.; Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont.; and Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D. - return or give away campaign donations they received from Abramoff.

Dec. 15: Abramoff associate Adam Kidan reaches plea bargain with federal prosecutors on fraud charges arising from a 2000 deal to buy casino boats.

Nov. 21: Abramoff associate Michael Scanlon, a former aide to Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, pleads guilty to conspiring to bribe public officials.

Oct. 5: David Safavian, former chief of staff of the General Services Administration, is indicted on charges he made false statements and obstructed a federal investigation into his dealings with lobbyist Abramoff.

Aug. 29: Abramoff pleads innocent to Miami fraud charges.

Aug. 11: Abramoff and associate Adam Kidan indicted by a Miami federal grand jury on fraud charges in the casino boat deal.


2004:

Sept. 29: Abramoff refuses to answer questions from the Senate Indian Affairs Committee about his work on behalf of American Indian tribes and casino issues. The Senate committee's staff concluded after a seven-month investigation that Abramoff and his business partner, Michael Scanlon, had charged six tribes in six states a total of $66 million for lobbying and may have manipulated at least two tribal elections to ensure they would get contracts with tribes.

2003:

Abramoff donates more than $100,000 to President Bush's reelection campaign.

2000:

Abramoff and Kidan purchase the SunCruz Casinos fleet of gambling boats. According to the 2005 Miami indictment, prosecutors say the pair faked a $23 million wire transfer to make it appear that they were making a significant contribution of their own money into the deal. Based on that transfer, lenders Foothill Capital Corp. and Citadel Equity Fund Ltd. agreed to provide $60 million in financing for the purchase.