"Only dull people are brilliant at breakfast" -Oscar Wilde |
"The liberal soul shall be made fat, and he that watereth, shall be watered also himself." -- Proverbs 11:25 |
The Bush administration said Tuesday that convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff had a "few staff-level meetings" at the White House but refused to disclose who met with Abramoff or what they talked about.
"We don't get into discussing staff-level meetings," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.
Abramoff also attended two Hanukkah receptions, he said.
Staff members spent weeks scouring White House records for traces of Abramoff, the center of a federal ethics investigation that has roiled Washington. Abramoff pleaded guilty Jan. 3 to fraud and conspiracy charges and agreed to help prosecutors investigating alleged corruption on Capitol Hill and in the Bush administration.
"I can't say with absolute certainty that that is everything," McClellan added. "But that's what I looked into, and that's what we were able to learn."
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and three Senate Democratic colleagues sent a letter to President Bush pressing for information, saying Abramoff "may have had undue and improper influence within your administration."
McClellan said, "This president expects everybody in his administration to adhere to the highest ethical standards"