The Daily Background

Karl Rove’s personal aide has resigned over ties to Jack Abramoff, recently uncovered in a Congresional report that concluded Abramoff’s contacts with the White House numbered in the hundreds… which is hundreds more than previously known. TPM Muckraker says:

Ralston was Abramoff’s personal assistant until she moved over to Rove’s office in 2001. Abramoff reportedly bragged to others that Ralston was his “implant” at the White House.

The White House announced an internal ethics investigation of Ralston after a Congressional report released last week showed extensive contacts between Ralston and Abramoff’s lobbying team. Among other things, the report showed that Ralston had accepted thousands of dollars in gifts from Abramoff without compensating him. White House ethics rules prevent employees from accepting gifts worth more than $20.

Oooh, that’s no good.

Note that the White House is still not admitting that Ralston did anything wrong– in fact they’re being very coy about it, saying her resignation was because “she did not want to be a distraction to the White House at such an important time.” That’s an important thing to note, considering that this Administration has been notoriously unable to admit wrongdoing.

Filed under: Abramoff Scandal, Z-TDB Blog