Kevin A. Ring
Kevin A. Ring was "one of more than a dozen lobbyists who were members of "Team Abramoff", the tight-knit group who worked under" Jack Abramoff "when he was at the lobbying helm of the Washington office of Greenberg Traurig LLP and, before that, Preston Gates Ellis & Rouvelas Meeds LLP." [1]
Profiles
"In 2002 and 2003, he was named a 'Top Rainmaker' by The Hill newspaper in its annual rankings of Washington’s premier lobbyists. In addition to providing legislative counsel, Mr. Ring advises clients on participation in media, grassroots, and political campaigns.
"Before entering private practice, he worked for several years on Capitol Hill as a staffer in both the House of Representatives and Senate. In 1993, Mr. Ring joined the staff of U.S. Representative John T. Doolittle, a member of the House Appropriations Committee and an elected member of the House Republican leadership team. After his promotion to legislative director in 1995, he was charged with implementing the congressman’s legislative agenda and serving as a liaison to the House leadership.
"In 1998, Mr. Ring was named by then-U.S. Senator John Ashcroft to serve as a counsel on the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Constitution, Federalism and Property Rights Subcommittee that Sen. Ashcroft chaired. Among other duties, he advised Sen. Ashcroft on federal judicial nominations. He served there a year before returning to the House to become executive director of the Conservative Action Team (later renamed the House Republican Study Committee), a caucus comprised of 70 House Republicans.
"Mr. Ring’s book, Scalia Dissents: Writings of the Supreme Court’s Wittiest, Most Outspoken Justice, was published by Regnery Publishing in November 2004. Mr. Ring earned his B.A. in political science from Syracuse University and graduated with honors from the Columbus School of Law at Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. He is a member of the Maryland Bar."
Source: Ring's Barnes & Thornburg LLP online Profile.
Abramoff-Reed Indian Gambling Scandal
"Lobbyist Kevin A. Ring sat silently as Senate Indian Affairs Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.) displayed e-mails and canceled checks to support allegations that Ring and lobbyist Jack Abramoff inflated fees and concocted invoices to defraud their client, the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians," James V. Grimaldi wrote in the June 26, 2005, Washington Post.
"Testifying before the committee Wednesday morning, Ring asserted his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, but he also offered an apology. 'I'm sorry the clients for whom I worked have had to endure the enormous emotional and financial burden,' he said."
What Ring omitted to tell the committee was that he was "still working for the Choctaws as their paid Washington lobbyist. Indeed, he was actively lobbying members of Congress to pass a Choctaw-backed amendment that came up for a vote in the House on Friday afternoon," June 24, 2005, Grimaldi wrote. "Ring is one of the few Abramoff alumni who have been able to hold onto the same tribal clients who now say they were victimized by Abramoff's fraudulent billing practices."
"The committee also released documents showing cash flowing in and out of a limited liability corporation called KAR LLC that was based at Ring's Maryland home. The corporation received a check for $25,000 on Dec. 15, 2003, from Grassroots Interactive LLC, a company apparently controlled by Abramoff.
"In mid-February 2004, a few weeks before the Abramoff-tribal money scandal broke, Abramoff and Ring agreed to a wide-ranging interview with The Washington Post. Shortly afterward, Ring returned the $25,000 to Grassroots Interactive.
In spring 2002, "Ring's corporation also received $125,000" from Michael Scanlon's public affairs firm, Capital Campaign Strategies. The notation on one check cited a 'referral expense'," Grimaldi wrote.
"When Ring left Greenberg Traurig for Barnes & Thornburg LLP a few months ago," Grimaldi wrote in June 2005, "he brought many former Abramoff clients, including the International Interactive Alliance, the Gibraltar-based group that advocates for gambling on the Internet."
External Links
- James V. Grimaldi, "Lobbyists, Clients Undeterred by Scandal. Alumni of Abramoff's 'Team' Still Collecting Fees, Trying to Influence Government," Washington Post, June 26, 2005.
- "Choctaws hire three ex-Abramoff lobbyists," Indianz.com, June 27, 2005.
- Susan Schmidt and James Grimaldi, "Lawmakers Under Scrutiny in Probe of Lobbyist. Ney and DeLay Among the Members of Congress Said to Be a Focus of Abramoff Investigation," Washington Post, November 26, 2005.
