Photos of Bush With Abramoff Are Withheld

Photos of Bush With Abramoff Are Withheld: "January 24, 2006; Page A04

Several White House officials have been briefed about pictures of President Bush and Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff taken since 2001 but will not release them on grounds that they are not relevant to the ongoing money-for-favors investigation, aides said yesterday.

'Trying to say there's more to it than the president taking a picture in a photo line is just absurd,' White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters. Bush, he said, does not recall meeting Abramoff and did not do any favors for the disgraced lobbyist.


Counselor to the President Dan Bartlett speaks live from the White House, Monday, Jan. 23, 2006, to one of the morning television news shows. Bartlett responded to questions about photographs of President George W. Bush with Jack Abramoff, who is at the center of a corruption scandal. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)
Counselor to the President Dan Bartlett speaks live from the White House, Monday, Jan. 23, 2006, to one of the morning television news shows. Bartlett responded to questions about photographs of President George W. Bush with Jack Abramoff, who is at the center of a corruption scandal. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds) (Ron Edmonds - AP)
Special Report
The Jack Abramoff Story

Abramoff, the once-powerful lobbyist at the center of a wide-ranging public corruption investigation, pleaded guilty Jan. 3 to fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy to bribe public officials in a deal that requires him to provide evidence about members of Congress.

• Abramoff Pleads Guilty (Jan. 4, 2006)
• Fast Rise, Steep Fall (Dec. 29, 2005)
• Stacking the Deck (Oct. 16, 2005)