New West Feature of the Week

Trading on Teddy Roosevelt’s Name

Italia Federici, once the self-styled doyen of GOP environmentalism, is suddenly nowhere to be found. A new Senate Finance Committee staff report casts more light on her connection to jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff and her organization's conservation work - or lack thereof.

By Todd Wilkinson, 11-03-06

This is a rhetorical question: Is it a contradiction or, closer to the point, is it mutually exclusive to be both a committed Republican AND a devoted environmentalist?

I was in the middle seat recently somewhere over Ashton, Idaho on a Delta flight to Bozeman, Mont. from Salt Lake City, when my fellow hefty passengers squashing me from the right and left lit into a diatribe against greenies.

I didn't know the occupations of my plane mates — one boasted that he had a "Sierra Club Sucks" bumper sticker on his pick-up; the other wore a camo baseball cap — but for the sake of preventing the already stuffy space from becoming more depleted of oxygen, I kept quiet, closed my eyes and listened.

Between them, I heard a lament repeated over and over again: Environmentalists, they asserted, love to invoke the name of Republican President Theodore Roosevelt.

"It just isn't right," the guy in the cap said.

My fellow travelers were terribly incensed by that. I heard it suggested that the environmental movement trades on Teddy as if he were some valuable illegal contraband. Preservationists exploit TR's Republican Bull Moose cred, they said, using him as a ruse for cloaking their real agenda of "locking people out of public lands", "toppling civilization," and "giving the woods back to the animals."

I continued to listen.

I pretended to be asleep.

Had I decided to join the commentary, my modest observation might have gone something like this:

Speaking of those who use Theodore Roosevelt to suit their own ends, how many Americans remember the reign of the self-touted great modern Republican environmentalist Italia Federici (her tenure occurred circa 1998-2005)?

Unless you're a wonk or an avid C-SPAN watcher, her name may escape you. It did indeed escape the recall of my friends on the plane when at last I asked them if they had ever heard of the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy (CREA).

Federici's name surfaced again recently in a U.S. Senate Finance Committee minority staff report on Jack Abramoff's use of tax-exempt organizations to throw money and political influence around. (Click here to download the full 600-page PDF of the report.) The report alleges that CREA and Federici operated as an arm of the Abramoff lobbying operation, receiving large sums of money and other favors from Abramoff and his clients in exchange for arranging access to CREA founder and former Interior Department Secretary Gale Norton and other officials, including Norton's sidekick at Interior, J. Steven Griles. Both Norton and Griles left the Interior department as the Ambramoff scandal began to heat up.

The report's discussion of CREA and four other groups linked to Abramoff - Americans for Tax Reform (headed by anti-tax crusader and Republican power-broker Grover Norquist), the National Center for Public Policy Research, Toward Tradition, and Citizens Against Government Waste - should elicit attention from any non-profit organization that calls itself a 501(c)3 or, as in CREA's case, a 501(c)4. The 600-page report paints a colorful picture of non-profit groups trafficking in access and cash, and while an ATR representative told the Los Angeles Times that the release of the report was politically motivated, the many emails quoted in the document would seem to speak for themselves.

But I digress.

For readers who still have no recollection of Ms. Federici, let me refresh your memory.

She was one of those media darling activists who invoked the ethic of TR often. Federici and her mentor, Norton, told us that George W. Bush was TR's second coming. She convinced many people it was true. They did everything they could to position CREA as the one true free-market oriented champion of the environment.

In 2001, Federici posted this credo at the top of CREA's web site: (Visit it. You may find it interesting if you're a fan of TR.)

"Like the great GOP President, Theodore Roosevelt, we are Republicans who believe conservation benefits all Americans."

So far, so good. The plug goes on to add: "The Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy (CREA) is committed to preserving America's natural resources, air, water and scenic beauty for future generations."

One could read this and believe that Federici was a tree hugger.

For many months, word on Capitol Hill was and is that Federici boasted not only that CREA presented itself as the reincarnated spirit of TR, but that she had close personal connections to Interior Secretary Norton. The two of them had founded CREA in 1997 or 1998, along with Norquist. Neither of them - never once until fairly recently - distanced themselves from Federici's public pronouncement of close friendship and collegiality.

Federici was a volunteer during Norton's failed bid for the U.S. Senate in Colorado, and when President Bush was first elected, she was never far away from Norton. As soon as Bush and Cheney were in office, CREA under Federici's direction began issuing a barrage of press releases in support of the Administration. One email from an insider described CREA as the group that continued to promote Norton's free-market environmental beliefs.

Federici and CREA, Bush and Norton — these were the true landscape protectionists, she would assert. Those OTHER groups you may have heard of - the Wilderness Society, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Sierra Club, Trout Unlimited, the National Parks Conservation Alliance, the Nature Conservancy, Defenders of Wildlife, the Trust for Public Land, Environmental Defense, Earthjustice, yes, perhaps even the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership - those were "eco-extremist" groups, CREA implied. They were fronts for pretenders and, egad, special interests!

In a word, Ms. Federici pinned on those groups and their millions of dues paying members the label of obstructionists. What were they guilty of obstructing?

CREA, in contrast to them, supported oil drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge based on the argument that it would help end, once and for all, the national energy crisis we find ourselves in. At least 70 percent of the oil America uses is imported and the number continues to rise even under a scenario with more drilling rigs interspersed among the caribou.

CREA also wanted commercial logging to ramp up again on millions of acres of national forest that were placed off limits to road construction by the previous administration. Just recently, a federal judge overturned attempts by the Bush Administration and industry groups to repeal the so-called Clinton-era Roadless Rule which protected tens of millions of acres of national forests that serve as filters for drinking water reaching tens of millions of Americans at the tap; it represents some of the last best habitat for fish and wildlife; and it serves as an ongoing sink for carbon dioxide. CREA hated the Roadless Rule.

It also touted Republicans who say climate change is a big, fat hoax. It argued in support of Norton's mantra called "the Four Cs" promoting the idea that industry should be granted the chance to voluntarily regulate itself where environmental protection is concerned rather than having the federal government serve as a watchdog.

All of this was wrapped in the idea that Teddy Roosevelt himself would have signed on as one of CREA's charter members.

One can only guess how Ms. Federici in her meetings with Norton, deputy Interior undersecretary Griles and lobbyist Jack Abramoff explained away Teddy Roosevelt IV—TR's living, namesake great-grandson.

TR IV proudly describes himself as a Republican capitalist businessman and fiscal conservative. He's also a traditional hook and bullet outdoorsman who has served over the years on the board of directors of several of the "radical" groups mentioned above that CREA often maligned.

TR's namesake heir has never mentioned CREA when he's been out in public as a group worth supporting. Instead, Ted Roosevelt has sent membership dues to another group called Republicans For Environmental Protection. Check them out at http://www.rep.org

Ms. Federici, if you've been paying attention, started to drop from the radar screen of conservative talk shows roughly a year ago, and since then has been as visibile as a Dodo.

"CREA has been exposed for what it is," says Chuck Porcari, the communication director for the League of Conservation Voters. LCV tracks the environmental voting records of all 525 members of Congress on behalf of many of the mainstream conservation groups mentioned above and it compiles scorecards.

"If you look at the scores of some of the individuals in Congress who have allowed themselves to be associated with CREA and compare them to other members of their own party who actually have an environmental ethic, I can generally add up their scores on two hands and still have extra fingers left to count," Porcari says. "The fact is that if verbosity contributed to global warming, CREA's membership would be at the top of the list of emitters."

Federici's "15 seconds of fame has come and gone" Porcari says, noting that in contrast to CREA, he has praise for REP and adds that there are a lot of excellent Republicans who support real environmental protection.

"It must have been extremely difficult for Italia Federici and those she surrounds herself with to talk about being committed environmentalists by seemingly always having one hand behind their backs and their fingers crossed," Porcari added. "They are not what they claimed to be. The problem is that most Americans lead busy lives and don't have the time or inclination to scratch beneath the surface and find out who and what was really behind this group."

I wondered if either of my plane mates had memberships in CREA or REP?

I didn't ask, but I can tell you this: The last press release CREA issued is dated November 4, 2005, about the time that Ms. Federici was called to testify before the Senate Indian Affairs Committee while it investigated ties between now admitted felon Abramoff and money allegedly paid, at Abramoff's insistence, to CREA by Indian tribes desiring to build casinos and hoping to find a friendly ear at the Interior Department.

Here's one of the damning, unvarnished passages from the recent Senate Finance report:

"After Ms. Norton became Secretary of the Interior, Mr. Abramoff arranged to meet Ms. Federici and, e-mails show, directed his clients to make payments to CREA. Later, he referenced those payments when encouraging Ms. Federici to make his clients’ arguments with senior officials at the Department of Interior. In her responses, Ms. Federici seemed eager to comply. Ms. Federici raised funds from Mr. Abramoff’s clients, and then contributors were given a chance to speak one-on-one with Interior Department officials. "

The Finance Committee report uses the Latin legal term quid pro quo.

Abramoff wrote in one email of CREA:

"This is a 501c4 group which used to be chaired by Gail (sic) Norton. They are the unofficial outside advocacy group for [Department of Interior] and are going to be holding a series of dinner meetings, the first of which is with Norton...Griles and others. . . . CREA does advocacy for environmental issues and has been incredibly helpful on the insurance issue... (its current head is Italia Federici who is very close to Griles)."

Finance Committee investigators added: "Mr. Abramoff served as a fundraiser of sorts for CREA, soliciting funds for the group from his tribal clients."

Here's one example from the report on how it all worked:

"On March 22, 2001, Mr. Abramoff wrote to Kathy Van Hoof, Coushatta attorney: 'I met with the Interior guys today and they were ecstatic that the tribe was going to help. If you can get me a check via federal made out to ‘‘Council for Republican Environmental Advocacy’’ for $50K that would be great. This is really going to help.' Mr. Abramoff wrote to Ms. Federici on April 19, 2001, regarding the chief of the Coushattas: 'Do you think we could get him a meeting with Secretary Norton and Steve [Griles]? I’d also like him to meet you, since I want to go back to the well and get more $ from them soon for CREA.'"

Federici's alleged role as a gatekeeper between Abramoff and Interior officials typically involved classic backroom politics pertaining mainly to casino approvals. Sometimes tribes were pitted against tribes. So lucrative were Abramoff's lobbying adventures that the proceeds enabled him to open up a popular restaurant in Washington, D.C. called "Signatures." The Finance Committee report notes: "CREA began hosting dinners at Mr. Abramoff’s restaurant, Signatures, and Mr. Abramoff picked up the tab."

So cozy, apparently, was the relationship between Federici and Abramoff that on July 19, 2002, Ms. Federici sent an email thanking Abramoff for his recommendation of an accounting firm that apparently did a fine job of presenting to the Internal Revenue Service how CREA was allegedly spending its money to meet its mission: "Anyway," Federici wrote to Abramoff, "the report to the IRS shows that 71.5% of the money we took in went to 'fostering environmental education through grassroots education and research—program services.' That’s a good number. We are also on track to show growth for our next report—thanks to you— which is the type of thing that the IRS looks for. Thanks for everything Jack!"

And, notes the Finance Committee report: "Ms. Federici continued hosting events at Signatures at no charge to CREA."

To the best of anyone's knowledge, few, if any, of those sessions had anything to do with landscape conservation, protecting air and water, or green things of that ilk.

Meantime, early in 2003, Federici wrote to Abramoff asking for a favor with CREA fundraising: "I hate to bother you with this right now, but I was hoping to ask about a possible contribution to CREA. As usual, we budgeted and spent all of our money from last year, on last year, and have started out the new year with practically nada. I thought I’d see if there was any way you could help us reach out to some of your folks [i.e. tribal clients] who were so generous last year?"

Federal investigators note that Abramoff wrote back: " Absolutely. We’ll get that moving asap. The Coushattas [a native tribe] are coming to DC next Thursday so I’ll hit them immediately. By the way Gov. Foster (Louisiana) just sent Gale [Norton] another letter pushing a new [gaming] compact....Can you make sure Steve [Griles] knows about this and puts the kibosh on it?"

Perhaps the most poignant declaration to emerge from the Finance Committee report is this observation:

"It is apparent from e-mail communication that CREA became an extension of Mr. Abramoff’s lobbying operation. Mr. Abramoff arranged for his clients to donate to CREA; then he called in favors for those clients through Ms. Federici’s connections at the Department of the Interior."

Of the legal tax implications with the IRS and the hundreds of thousands of dollars it received, the report adds: "Lobbying for a fee should be viewed as inconsistent with CREA’s (or any other nonprofit’s) tax-exempt purpose. It could be argued that CREA was acting on behalf of Mr. Abramoff’s firm for purposes of lobbying the government, which should not be an exempt purpose for CREA."

While the Finance Committee document of October 2006 is revealing in its own right, if you're one who enjoys dramatic real-life theater based on actual events in the nerve center of power, skip this report or reruns of The West Wing and track down instead a C-SPAN recording of U.S. Senators John McCain, chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee and Byron Dorgan, a Democrat, grilling Federici about her emails.

(McCain has said in the past there is no evidence to suggest that Norton had any knowledge that Federici was dropping Norton's name).

McCain and Dorgan insisted that Federici, who was under oath, divulge what tangible environmental advocacy work she had advanced for Native Americans, given all of the money she received, she was suddenly tongue tied, her verbosity gone.

Give one example of the conservation work you do for Indians, they asked Federici again.

Just one, McCain implored.

Federici couldn't do it.

When McCain pressed her further, Federici then accused McCain of conducting a witch hunt, implying that his interrogation was motivated by the fact that Federici and CREA allegedly spent huge sums of money trying to defeat environmental legislation McCain had co-drafted to curb carbon dioxide emissions to address climate change. The irony of CREA's leader openly acknowledging that she worked to kill a bill aimed at protecting the environment by one of the most prominent GOP senators in Washington was not lost on many people.

On the CREA website today, the accomplishments of Norton's successor at Interior, Dirk Kempthorne, are now touted. Under another section on the website touting "CREA In The News" there isn't a mention of the hundreds of stories that have appeared with Abramoff's name in them. And since Federici appeared before Congress last year, the organization has stopped issuing formal press releases, though it still plays on the cachet of TR.

What would TR think of Federici and CREA invoking him as the inspiration for the way their organization has been run?

Today, Abramoff is in prison. Will he re-emerge as a witness for the government in fully explicating Federici's role, if any, and, if she's shown to be guilty of anything, will she point the finger at others?

Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley and Montana Sen. Max Baucus have sent the Finance Committee findings over to investigators with the Treasury Department, IRS and Justice Department "for review." However, the report states: "It appears that lobbying, public relations work and, in some cases, disguising the source of funds was conducted by the nonprofits examined in this report. A variety of tax-law standards for the operation of nonprofits may have been violated." Among the more serious possible charges for the groups targeted by the Committee are perjury for filing false tax returns and tax evasion.

At the very least, in part owed to Italia Federici, she may have achieved government reforms though not of the kind she probably imagined. Leaders on the Finance Committee promise to bring changes to the murky shadowlands where non-profit organizations and lobbyists meet to do business.

I didn't mention any of this to my fellow passengers on the airplane as they continued to rant about "those radical, unethical, extremist, special-interest-driven, deceptive environmental groups" exploiting the great President Theodore Roosevelt. Why argue? I realized that with at least one organization, they were dead on.





AN AFTERWORD: As mentioned earlier, there is a bonafide conservation organization to which Theodore Roosevelt IV belongs as a lifetime member: Republicans for Environmental Protection. "REP represents the very best of the Republican Party. It's pragmatic," Roosevelt said in a testimonial.

REP was founded in the mid 1990s by Martha Marks, who ran as a "green Republican," prevailing in the primaries of her own party and in the general election to win consecutive seats on the Lake County, Illinois Board of Supervisors. Lake County encompasses a huge part of metropolitan Chicago.

"People ask me all the time, 'If you care so much about the environment, why don’t you just become a Democrat?' That attitude is not only a shame, but it’s a totally ineffective way to make meaningful, permanent progress," Marks says.

Where does REP stand on issues? Not much differently than the mainstream groups vilified by CREA. REP is:

- Opposed to drilling in ANWR

- In favor of taking action on global warming by providing incentives for business to reduce carbon emissions, supporting the same Climate Stewardship Act co sponsored by McCain that CREA spent money to kill.

- Supportive of protecting national forest roadless lands akin to the plan to protect more than 40 million acres drafted by the Clinton Administration;

- Behind a plan that would transfer management of the Forest Service to the Department of Interior so that public land management is coordinated with other agencies like the Park Service, BLM, BIA and national wildlife refuges.

- In favor of small-scale logging to keep small family-run timber mills in business

"It advocates policies that are good in their own right," Ted Roosevelt IV has said." It represents the mainstream of Republican thought. I encourage all conservation-minded Republicans to join me in supporting the work of REP in America."

Adds Martha Marks, "Great things can happen in this country when the leaders of both parties get behind an idea and push it through to completion. We saw bi-partisan cooperation on environmental issues in the 1970s, and our country is the better for it now. Unfortunately, we haven’t seen much bi-partisan cooperation on environmental issues since then. It’s gotten so bad that people nowadays routinely make the assumption that if you’re an environmentalist, or even a land conservationist, you’re probably a Democrat."

Marks continues: "I like to point out that as long as one party routinely ignores environmental voters, and the other party takes them for granted, no further progress will be made. We environmentalists should be working to make BOTH parties compete for our vote, and we should hold them BOTH accountable for their actions. Only then will we see environmental gains that won’t be wiped out when control of the government swings from one party to another."

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