Rep. Mark Udall (D-02) "accepted" $1.5K in campaign donations from PACs "connected to jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff, his campaign said" 4/16 "after it was contacted by a conservative website." Lobbying firm Preston Gates gave $500 to Udall's congressional campaign in '00, and Greenberg Traurig donated $1K two years later. The "lobbying work of the disgraced lobbyist has emerged as an issue in the race" between Udall and '04 candidate/CO Bd. of Ed. member/ex-Rep. Bob Schaffer (R).
Udall spokesperson Taylor West: "We know of absolutely no connection between the contributions and Abramoff's operations." She "said Udall would give the money to a Saipan-based organization that helps victims of human trafficking." Schaffer mgr. Dick Wadhams called Udall's decision "insincere" because "he held that money for six and eight years."
Wadhams provided a document titled "Mark Udall & Jack Abramoff" that showed two votes in which Udall opposed anti-gambling legislation that Ambramoff was angling to defeat. In Jul. '05, "Udall was among 245 House members to vote against the Internet Gambling Prohibition Act, the first vote Wadhams noted. House records show Schaffer voted the same way as Udall."
Wadhams "said he knew of no Abramoff-connected campaign donations to Schaffer." The Udall camp saw it differently. West: "Bob Schaffer took an Abramoff-sponsored trip and turned a blind eye to forced abortions and human trafficking, while Mark Udall was co-sponsoring legislation to fix those abuses" (Bunch, Denver Post, 4/17).
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