It’s usually not notable when a Congressman spends time schmoozing with influential powerbrokers or travelling to foreign countries. Unless, of course, it involves a corrupt African dictator, a disgraced D.C. lobbyist convicted of felony bribery, and visits to a country that hacked the U.S. election.
Congressman Dana Rohrabacher has spent his week making headlines for all the above.
First, Rohrabacher was exposed as the go-between between Republic of Congo Dictator Denis Sassou Nguesso, disgraced D.C. lobbyist and felon Jack Abramoff, and the Trump Administration. Then, the same day that Attorney General Jeff Sessions was forced to recuse himself from investigations into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia because he lied under oath to Congress, Rohrabacher, a close Putin ally, doubled down on his decision to visit Russia soon.
“Congressman Dana Rohrabacher’s fringe behavior is completely out of touch with his constituency,” said DCCC Spokesman Evan Lukaske. “If you are the company you keep, Rohrabacher’s association with African dictators and convicted felons doesn’t say much for his character.”
See below for a full roundup:
Politico: Disgraced ex-lobbyist Abramoff goes to Africa—to fight Islamic terrorists
After Jack Abramoff was released from prison in 2010, he began pitching himself as a self-styled political reformer looking to tell the truth about a system he illegally exploited for personal gain.
Now the disgraced D.C. lobbyist is back and immersed in a stranger-than-fiction project with an African strongman, controversial Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Calif.) and “friends in Europe” in his telling, to defeat Islamic terrorists.
[…] Rohrabacher added, “He had someone who had been talking to the president of the Congo who indicated to Jack that [Sassou Nguesso] was willing to act against Boko Haram and help the United States destroy this horrible terrorist organization. And this friend of Jack’s said, ‘This is a really great opportunity and see what you can do with it.'”
[…] Rohrabacher said he had “no idea” which friends Abramoff was coordinating with, nor did the congressman seem to care. Abramoff’s involvement was enough. Rohrabacher repeatedly called the convicted felon a “patriot.”
[…] In late December, Rohrabacher took the identical text of a letter Abramoff drafted to Sassou Nguesso, printed it on congressional stationery and sent it to the Congolese president. The letter stated that Rohrabacher was “working intensely” to set up a meeting between the Congolese president and Trump to discuss how to defeat Boko Haram.
[…] Furthermore, Rohrabacher said private citizens have helped him connect with foreign leaders “dozens of times.” And he said Abramoff shouldn’t have to live “in a hole somewhere” because he’s a convicted felon.
[…] Rohrabacher is no stranger to controversial foreign dealings. He’s a close ally of Russian President Vladmir Putin and in the 1980s, went to Afghanistan to fight the Soviets.
Tweet from Washington Post reporter Robert Costa
