Congressional Democrats to propose tightening of lobbying regulations. A7.
It's not clear to this day whether the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands partly or fully reimbursed Abramoff or the Preston Gates law and lobbying firm that hired him. The nonprofit group says it never paid a dime.
DeLay's aides traveled to the islands in December 1996. Democratic Representatives James E. Clyburn of South Carolina and Bennie Thompson of Mississippi went there in January 1997.
Preston Gates, shown its own internal documents by the AP, said in a statement: ''We're looking into it. Some things we're learning about just now."
Abramoff, whose lobbying is under criminal investigation, pressed his clients, the Northern Marianas government, to reimburse him for the travel because of concerns the payments might draw scrutiny from the House committee that probes lawmakers' conduct, the documents show.
''I . . . expect to receive a call tomorrow or Tuesday from the House ethics committee, asking for an update as to the reimbursement situation and, possibly, our outstanding bill. They are watching the trips very closely," Abramoff wrote a Marianas official in December 1996.
Ethical questions also have been raised about whether DeLay's air fare to London and Scotland in 2000 was charged to an Abramoff credit card, and whether other expenses on the same trip were billed to a credit card used by Ed Buckham, DeLay's former chief of staff, who had become a lobbyist by that time.
DeLay is facing a congressional inquiry over accusations that lobbyists paid for some of his oversees travel, and his campaign fund-raising practices and ties to lobbyists have been widely questioned. Three of his political aides in Texas have been indicted on charges of illegally raising money from corporations.
Abramoff and Preston Gates represented the Pacific island government. One priority was to persuade Congress to block Clinton administration efforts to regulate alleged ''sweatshop" garment factories. The rules never were enacted.
The records state Preston Gates paid hotel and air fare for both Thompson and Clyburn.
