WHO IS ITALIA FEDERICI AND WHAT DID SHE PLEAD GUILTY TO?

If you're not a long time, devoted DWT reader you may think Italia Federici is a cologne or a high end brand of shoes or handbags. If you get your information from CNN or other corporate mass media outfits busy dumbing down their viewers you might think she's an "environmental activist." Federici, a Grover Norquist placement in the Bush Regime, first surfaced on DWT late in 2005 when we pointed out her role in a series of corrupt financial scandals tying Tom DeLay, Jack Abramoff and lobbyist/Interior Secretary Gale Norton.

This morning Federici plead guilty to tax evasion and obstructing a Senate investigation into the Abramoff lobbying scandal and the Republican Culture of Corruption that has pervaded Washington since Bush took over in 2000 and gave DeLay and the congressional Republicans a green light to do whatever they want in return for their acquiescence to all aspects of his radical right agenda. Supposedly Federici has turned on her erstwhile compadres-- including an ex-lover-- and it is suspected a plea bargain will lead to charges against numerous GOP officials, including Norton and DeLay, who has been indicted for several crimes but not for any of his Abramoff-related activities.

Federici served as a go-between for Abramoff, who currently is in prison, and former Deputy Interior Secretary J. Steven Griles, whom she dated from 1998 to about May 2003. Griles also has pleaded guilty to lying to Senate investigators about his relationships with Abramoff and Federici.

Federici acknowledged lying about this relationship when she testified before the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, which in 2005 was investigating Abramoff's dealings with the Interior Department.

She also admitted supplementing her salary as co-founder of the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy by making ATM withdrawals directly from the organization's bank accounts. Court documents says she did not pay income tax from 2001 through 2003 and owes tens of thousands of dollars in back taxes.

Remember the CNN headline I mentioned up top, the one calling her "an environmental advocate?" She's an environmentalist the same way that Bush is. In other word's, she's a shill for corporate policies designed to thwart environmentalism.