Another GOP aide ensnared in Abramoff scandal

A second former aide to Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) has become entangled in the investigation of Jack Abramoff’s wide-ranging corruption scandal.

Fraser Verrusio, who worked for Young as GOP policy director on the Transportation panel, is the aide who was identified in court papers only as “Staffer D” and accused of accepting an all-expense paid trip to Game One of the 2003 World Series, according to a lawyer familiar with the investigation.

{mosads}Verrusio abruptly left his job as a lobbyist for Jacobs Engineering Group nearly two weeks ago, according to a Jacobs employee.

The Department of Justice declined to comment on the investigation.

Verrusio is the latest aide to be ensnared in the investigation. Todd Boulanger, a former aide to ex-Sen. Bob Smith (R-N.H.) who went on to work with Abramoff at two firms and later join Cassidy & Associates, last week was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Boulanger and another former lobbyist, Kevin Ring, were accused of wining and dining government officials and giving them tens of thousands of dollars in illegal gifts.

Before that, Jim Hirni, a former senior aide to then-Sens. Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) and Tim Hutchison (R-Ark.) who went on to work with Abramoff and ultimately lobby for Wal-Mart, pleaded guilty to one count of honest services fraud last month.

Hirni and Boulanger are also accused of providing illegal gifts to Trevor Blackann, a former staffer to Sen. Kit Bond and Rep. Roy Blunt, Missouri Republicans.

Hirni admitted that he provided illegal gifts, including a trip to Game One of the 2003 World Series, to Blackann and Verrusio in return for legislative favors. The illegal activity took place during 2003 and 2004, when Young chaired the Transportation panel.

While working on behalf of an equipment rental client, Hirni admitted that he sought an amendment encouraging state public works agencies to rent rather than purchase construction equipment only from companies that had “large dollar amounts of liability insurance coverage.” Hirni and Boulanger wanted to have the amendment inserted into the federal highway-funding bill.

Another former Young staffer, Mark Zachares, who served as an aide on the committee from 2002 to 2005, pleaded guilty last year to conspiring with Abramoff and accepting $40,000 worth of money and tickets to sporting events and concerts in return for assisting Abramoff.

Verrusio worked on the Transportation panel from 2001 to 2007 when he left to become a lobbyist. Before that time, he served as a policy adviser to then-Rep. Rick Lazio (R-N.Y.).
 
Fearing bad publicity on several ethics fronts, House Republican leaders forced Young out of the top GOP position on the Natural Resources Committee at the beginning of this Congress.