Thievery Corporation

Oh look, another arrest of a recent former BushCo administration figure:

Claude A. Allen, who resigned last month as President Bush's top domestic policy adviser, was arrested this week in Montgomery County for allegedly swindling Target and Hecht's stores out of more than $5,000 in a refund scheme, police said.

[...]

Allen, a former deputy secretary in the Department of Health and Human Services, was nominated in 2003 to a federal appeals court seat. He was appointed the president's top domestic policy adviser last year at the start of Bush's second term. That made him the highest-ranking African American on the White House staff.

Working out of a small office on the second floor of the West Wing, Allen shaped administration policy on such issues as health care, space exploration, housing and education.

He came to the attention of Montgomery police after a manager at a Gaithersburg Target store called the department about an incident Jan. 2. Montgomery detectives were able to document other alleged crimes from Oct. 29 to Jan. 2, some of which were captured on camera, Burnett said.

Allen resigned from the White House on Feb. 9, saying he wanted to spend more time with his family

Hmmm... and another administration official just stepped down today, citing similar reasons:

Gale A. Norton, who as secretary of the interior reopened Yellowstone National Park to snowmobiles and pushed for greater energy development on public land, announced yesterday that she will relinquish her post by the end of the month.

[...]

Norton's resignation comes as a federal criminal task force continues to investigate former GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff's dealings with her department. The task force is examining, among other issues, former deputy secretary J. Steven Griles's discussions with Abramoff at a time when the lobbyist was seeking departmental actions on behalf of his tribal clients. Abramoff has pleaded guilty to federal charges of political corruption.

Norton said the probe did not play a role in her decision to step down and added later: "I want to return to having a private life again."

A quiet, private life will be good after five hard years on the job at Interior. But, do you think this had anything to do with it (photo courtesy of RawStory)?



Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton in one of more than 5,000 photos taken during her tenure. From left to right: Steve Gleason Inspector General for the Mississippi Band of Choctaws, Phillip Martin, Chief Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, Secretary Norton, C. Bryant Rogers, Outside Counsel for Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, and Jack Abramoff.

Here's some details from the RawStory report (with material from the original AP article):

Abramoff's tribal clients donated $50,000 to a conservative environmental group founded by Norton, hoping to win face time with the Secretary. They eventually did.

"[Then-DeLay staffer Tony] Rudy wrote Abramoff that same day promising he had “good news” about securing a meeting with Norton, forwarding information about the environmental group Norton had founded, according to e-mails obtained by investigators and reviewed by The Associated Press. Rudy’s message to Abramoff was sent from Congress’ official e-mail system.

"Within months, Abramoff clients donated heavily to the Norton-founded group and to DeLay’s personal charity. The Coushatta Indian tribe, for instance, wrote checks in March 2001 for $50,000 to the Norton group and $10,000 to the DeLay Foundation, tribal records show.

"The lobbyist and the Coushattas eventually won face-to-face time with the secretary during a Sept. 24, 2001, dinner sponsored by the group she had founded.

On one hand, I'd like to say it keeps getting better and better. But on the other, this is just ruining any last vestiges of trust in government and it's really starting to piss me off.