WASHINGTON, DC – Senior lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives today called on the U.S. Attorney General to appoint an outside special counsel to conduct a criminal investigation of whether or not lobbyist Jack Abramoff and Justice Department officials improperly interfered with a criminal investigation in the U.S. territory of Guam and obstructed a report intended to expose national security weaknesses after 9/11 involving the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

The lawmakers calling for the investigation are Representative George Miller, the senior Democrat on the House Education and the Workforce Committee; John Conyers, Jr., the senior Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee; Nick Rahall, the senior Democrat on the House Resources Committee; William Delahunt, a member of the House Judiciary Committee; and Madeleine Bordallo, who represents Guam.

Miller is a member of the Resources Committee – which oversees issues related to U.S. territories – and is its former chairman and ranking member. He has an extensive history of involvement investigating labor and immigration abuses in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and has tried on several occasions to pass legislation to reform the laws governing the islands. He issued this statement today:

“Today, I am joining Representative Conyers and my other colleagues in calling on the United States Attorney General to appoint an outside special counsel to investigate whether the notorious Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff and others used their political influence within the Justice Department to affect the outcome of a criminal investigation and a national security investigation.

“We do not make this request lightly, nor hastily. But we believe the appointment is urgently needed. It is impossible for the Justice Department to impartially investigate itself in this case given the nature of the charges. And yet the Congress and the American people deserve an impartial and thorough investigation of these charges.

“We believe it is imperative to learn whether the culture of corruption that has overtaken Washington also extended to the highest levels of the U.S. Justice Department.

“Specifically, an outside special counsel should investigate the following issues:

“First, why was the long-standing Acting U.S. Attorney for Guam and the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Fred Black, abruptly demoted just after a federal grand jury issued subpoenas in an investigation concerning Abramoff’s dealings with the Guam Superior Court, which Black was investigating?

“The Congress and the American people need to know whether a criminal investigation was tampered with.

“Secondly, did Abramoff, through his personal connections to top Justice Department officials, gain access to a classified immigration report concerning national security on behalf of his client?

“And did he attempt, through his personal connections with top Justice Department officials, to suppress this report that reportedly addressed a possible breach in homeland security due to weak immigration rules governing the Northern Mariana Islands?

“These are serious and troubling charges that merit a thorough and impartial investigation. But because these charges concern possible actions by top Department officials themselves, they cannot be investigated properly by the Department itself.

“I would hope that the Attorney General puts an end to further speculation about corruption within the Administration by immediately announcing the appointment of an outside counsel.

“The issues in this case are troubling enough, but they are even more troubling because of the involvement of Jack Abramoff and his associates.

“Abramoff’s role as a leading Republican lobbyist, fundraiser and organizer of lavish foreign trips for members of Congress, Administration officials and others is well established. He has already been arrested on one set of charges involving the SunCruz Casinos.

“He is being investigated in several other instances, including trips that he arranged for Representative Tom DeLay, the former Republican Majority Leader, Representative Bob Ney, chairman of the House Administration Committee, and other members.

“The Bush Administration’s top procurement officer until last month has been arrested in conjunction with lobbying activities and a trip arranged by Abramoff.

“And the Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Resources Committee earlier this year issued a letter of referral to the Justice Department, on my behalf, asking that Abramoff’s lobbying activities on behalf of the Northern Mariana Islands be investigated for possible criminal wrongdoing.

“Now, the credibility of the Justice Department itself is at stake because of Abramoff’s corrosive political and financial influence throughout Washington’s Republican power structure.

“Abramoff’s own emails to his clients detail his personal relationships with Department officials and efforts to gain access to critical information and influence their activities.

“Abramoff was hired to protect his clients in the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam from investigations and from legislative reforms by the U.S. Congress. Keep in mind that he was lobbying on behalf some of the most abusive garment manufacturers in the world who not only exploit the poorest women in the world but who have taken advantage of special laws that allow Northern Mariana companies to operate in the shadows of the United States but under standards that would never be acceptable in the rest of our country.

“The Congress and the United States Government became Jack Abramoff’s personal playground where he could earn millions of dollars in fees on behalf of his clients and stop Congress from reforming the laws governing the island interests that he represented. But Abramoff was only able to succeed because he had willing partners within the Congress and this Administration.

“An outside special counsel is urgently needed to learn all the facts in these two cases and hold accountable anyone, no matter how high up in office or how well-connected, who may have broken the law.”

To hear an audio link from the press conference, click here.