Well, Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) finally made his much-anticipated announcement, and curiously enough, the ongoing federal investigation and his near-certain defeat in the Republican primary apparently didn't figure into his decision to retire. From the AP:

Republican Rep. John Doolittle of California, who is under investigation in a congressional lobbying scandal, said Thursday that he'll retire from Congress at the end of his current term.

"My wife, Julie, and I have made this decision after much prayer and deliberation. It was not my initial intent to retire, and I fully expected and planned to run again right up until very recently," Doolittle said after addressing supporters in his Northern California district.

"But it distilled upon us that we were ready for a change after spending almost our entire married lives with me in public service. We are at peace with this choice and look forward to starting a new chapter in our lives."

The criminal case is tied up in litigation right now, as he's contested a Justice Department subpoena for congressional records. But that should be wrapped up eventually, so that Doolittle really can get started with that "new chapter" in his life.

Update: The complete statement is below.

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I'd hoped they were just wild rumors, but alas! From the AP:

Republican Rep. John Doolittle, who is under investigation in a congressional lobbying scandal, plans to announce his retirement from Congress on Thursday, according to a Republican official who spoke with Doolittle.

From The Hill:

According to three well-placed Republican sources, former Rep. Richard Pombo (R-Calif.) — who lost his seat amid ethics allegations — has called on longtime friend Doolittle to not seek reelection in the interest of keeping the district a GOP stronghold. In the last Congress, Pombo was a panel chairman while Doolittle was a member of GOP leadership.

Pombo could not be reached for comment.

Pretty uninspiring stuff. Here's what Rep. John Doolittle's (R-CA) staffer has for pushback of yesterday's report that he won't be seeking reelection. From the AP:

On Monday Doolittle indicated he would soon disclose his plans.

"I am writing to invite you to a Team Doolittle Briefing. Please join with our key supporters for news about our plans for 2008," Doolittle wrote in an e-mail to supporters that was posted on a political blog in his district....

Separately, Doolittle organized a staff meeting for Wednesday and invited some former aides, according to one of the people invited. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the event was not public.

Doolittle's chief of staff, Ron Rogers, said that Doolittle met quarterly with supporters and the events were nothing unusual.

"His current plans are to seek re-election," Rogers said.

"I'm not going to speculate about what's going to happen in the future," he said.

Update: Here's video of a testy Doolittle shot back in 2006, just before he narrowly won reelection in his heavily Republican district:

Say it ain't so, John!

The California Majority Report reports that Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA), one of the long-time subjects of the Jack Abramoff investigation, "will announce that he will not seek re-election." That could come as soon as this week, reports John Bresnahan of The Politico. Back in September, Doolittle proclaimed "I am running again. Period."

Ever since Doolittle refused to plead guilty, the Justice Department has evidently been building a bribery case against him. Doolittle, meanwhile, has made quite a pastime of demanding that the DoJ fish or cut bait. All that tough talk hasn't helped his fundraising, and his campaign has increasingly been drained by payments to his wife for her purported fundraising work. Things just aren't like they used to be during the glory days before Abramoff's downfall.

Take heart, California's Fourth Congressional District. Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) may be under federal investigation for taking bribes from Jack Abramoff, but he's got due process on his side. And he says he's going to litigate his way to at least one more term:

Rep. John Doolittle disclosed Wednesday that his attorney is fighting subpoenas issued to him for office records and that he believes the investigation of him will be on hiatus for one to two years while the constitutionality of the subpoena is fought out in the courts....

In a telephone news conference Wednesday, Doolittle said the legal battle is delaying the federal investigation.

"My attorney tells me that this issue alone – the constitutional issue presented by those subpoenas, which as you know is also being litigated against the Justice Department by the U.S. House of Representatives – is going to take one to two years to resolve," Doolittle said.

He was asked: "Do you see your case stretching one to two years down the road then?"

"Since the subpoenas involve me and my office, that's what I am saying – one to two years on this issue alone," he said.

As a spokesman for Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA), Gordon Hinkle earned his salt answering reporter's questions about whether his boss was on his way to prison. Now Hinkle will put that experience to work:

Gordon Hinkle, 34, was named deputy press secretary for the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, according to a statement issued Wednesday by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's office....

Hinkle has been Doolittle's communications director and senior field representative since February. He was among a handful of aides who received subpoenas in September from a Washington grand jury investigating Doolittle for his ties to jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff. He was asked to turn over documents but was not required to testify.

For those curious at home, if Doolittle, who is under investigation for his ties to lobbyist Jack Abramoff, were in fact convicted of bribery charges, he'd end up in a federal penitentiary, not one in the California state system, so the two aren't likely to be reunited. Oh, well.

Hinkle is the third senior Doolittle aide to jump ship in recent months.

Yet another regular reminder that the investigation of Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) is churning to its conclusion.

Recently, House lawmakers filed their third quarter campaign disclosure reports -- and you know what that means! It's time for another round-up of how much lawmakers have dropped on lawyers to defend themselves from investigation.

Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA), with nearly $1 million in total fees dating back to last year, remains the undisputed House champion, but Rep. Don Young (R-AK) is charging hard.

Here's our list of legal spending habits for the past three months, as well as an estimate of how much each lawmaker has spent in campaign funds to date and to which firms:

Rep. Don Young (R-AK): $183,785
So far, Young has spent $447,000 on the law firms Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld and Tobin O'Connor Ewing & Richard (the vast majority of which is spent on Akin Gump). He's under investigation for his relationship with Bill Allen, former CEO of oil-services firm.

Rep. Rick Renzi (R-AZ): $111,042
Renzi has paid around $148,000 to law firms Patton Boggs LLP and Steptoe & Johnson LLP (primarily on Patton Boggs). Renzi remains under investigation by the FBI for pushing legislation that would advantage political supporters and former business partners. His house was raided by the FBI this past April. Renzi has announced that he will not seek another term.

Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-WV): $55,000
Mollohan has spent $78,000 on the law firm Kellogg, Huber, Hansen, Todd, Evans & Figel. He has been under federal scrutiny since last May for earmarking funds for organizations connected to him.

Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA): $26,982
Lewis has spent over $987,000 on the law firms Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher and Williams & Jensen. He is being investigated for earmarks that he provided to campaign contributors, as well as his role in the Duke Cunningham scandal.

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Prosecutors subpoenaed Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) for 11 years-worth of records as part of the ongoing Abramoff investigation, the AP reports:

Prosecutors recently demanded documents from Doolittle and five staffers, the congressman said. The subpoenas seek "virtually every record including legislative records" for the past 11 years, Doolittle's attorney David Barger said in a news release issued Thursday by the congressman's office.

"These efforts raise serious constitutional issues going to the very core of our separation of powers created by the Founding Fathers," Barger said.

The Constitution prohibits the executive branch from using its law enforcement powers to interfere with legislative business. Barger said he and Doolittle would "be vigilant" to ensure Congress' independence is "vigorously protected." Any court challenge would go before a federal judge, but the documents would be sealed.

The standoff could lead to a court battle like the William Jefferson (R-LA) case over the speech and debate clause. When a federal court called the FBI's decision to take legislative documents out of Jefferson's office unconstitutional, watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington Melanie Sloan said it was a great day for corrupt lawmakers.

Did you think that little things like a federal investigation, a crowd of Republican challengers and dismal poll numbers would keep Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) from running for reelection?

You were wrong.

The battle to clear Rep. John Doolittle's (R-CA) name continues! The latest combatants were a pair of Doolittle aides who testified before a grand jury Wednesday.

Doolittle's deputy chief of staff Dan Blankenburg had this upbeat takeaway from the experience:

"This morning I testified before the federal grand jury.... Overall, it was a very uneventful experience. I was questioned primarily about the operations of our office. To me, the process represents a necessary and promising step toward the truth."

It seems that Blankenburg is working for the right man. Doolittle responded to the news that half a dozen of his former aides had been contacted by investigators by saying, "I'm glad."

Note: Here's our rundown of Doolittle's entanglements with ex-super lobbyist and current inmate Jack Abramoff.

Just in case you'd forgotten dead-pol-walking Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) is under federal investigation for his ties to Jack Abramoff, a reminder today:

GOP Rep. John Doolittle's chief of staff and deputy chief of staff have been subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury in a federal probe into ties between Doolittle, his wife and jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

The grand jury subpoenas from the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia were issued to Chief of Staff Ron Rogers and Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Blankenburg. They were announced on the House floor as Congress returned from its August recess Tuesday after the aides informed House leaders about the subpoenas, as required under House rules.

The Sacramento Bee reported back in June that the feds had contacted as many as six of Doolittle's former aides. The feds raided his Virginia home in April after he refused to plead guilty.

Abramoff may be in prison, but he's continuing to cooperate with investigators. Recently a status conference was pushed back to December, meaning that Abramoff will likely not be sentenced for his bribery conviction until 2008. Abramoff pleaded guilty way back in January, 2006, and has been cooperating with investigators since 2004. It's been quite a run, and it's not over yet.

Late Update: According to the LA Times, three of Doolittle's aides have been subpoenaed, including his Chief of Staff and Deputy Chief of Staff.

Hard times. From The Sacramento Bee:

Rep. John Doolittle's cachet with big Washington, D.C., campaign financiers seems to have plummeted in the aftermath of the FBI's April 13 raid on his Oakton, Va., house, and the eight-term Roseville Republican heads toward the 2008 election season with his campaign still in debt and receipts on the decline.

Meanwhile, the campaign of Democrat Charlie Brown, who came within 3 points of defeating Doolittle in November, is gaining steam. Brown's campaign raised almost twice as much as Doolittle's in the last three months and ended the six-month mark with a net cash balance of $251,000. Doolittle posted $32,250 in debts.

Doolittle's biggest expense during the three-month period was $50,000 in fundraising payments to Sierra Dominion Financial Solutions, a company owned by his wife and operated out of the couple's house....

Even with the hefty campaign payments to Julie Doolittle's company, Sierra Dominion still was owed more than $76,000 in commissions from the 2006 race.

The Doolittle campaign's second largest expense was $30,000 to defense attorney David Barger's law office, bringing the campaign's attorney's fees for defending the congressman in the last year to more than $130,000.

Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA), ever the optimist, thinks it's just peachy that federal investigators have contacted as many as six of his former aides:

Doolittle said Thursday, during a weekly telephone conference with reporters, that he has no problem with his former aides talking to prosecutors because he thinks it might hasten his dismissal as a focus of the Abramoff probe.

"Why didn't they do this a year and a half ago when I wrote the attorney general, or even before that?" Doolittle said of the prosecutors.

"I finally wrote him (Attorney General Alberto Gonzales) and said please investigate," Doolittle said. "To have this dragged out for over three years is ridiculous. They've had three years to get to the bottom of this. At least they've started."

"I've always believed that the truth vindicates us," he said. "I am glad they are going to delve more into it."

It's a familiar stance from Doolittle, who's been goading prosecutors for the past couple years. In January of 2006, he announced that he'd written that letter to the attorney general, asking the Department of Justice to "come investigate me." In October of last year, his spokeswoman announced that his lawyers had been having conversations with prosecutors "which we believe have been helpful toward clearing the congressman's name." Those contacts, the spokeswoman said, had been initiated at Doolittle's request.

The thing is, prosecutors don't seem to need much encouragement (here are the reasons why). Doolittle has been in investigators' sights dating back to the very beginning of the Jack Abramoff investigation -- back in 2004, investigators subpoenaed records for Doolittle's wife's consulting firm due to her work for Abramoff. Finally, in April of this year, prosecutors offered Doolittle an opportunity to plead guilty. After he refused, FBI agents raided his Virginia home (for some reason, Doolittle wasn't happy about that).

So it's apparent the Justice Department has taken Doolittle up on his offer to "come investigate me," and they've obviously much more than just "started." But I'm sure they appreciate the support.

From the Sacramento Bee:

Federal prosecutors have recently contacted as many as a half dozen former aides to Rep. John Doolittle, seeking information from them in their investigation of the Roseville Republican's association with disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, The Bee has learned.

And so it continues:

California GOP Rep. John Doolittle's former legislative director said Wednesday he was recently contacted by federal investigators in their probe of Doolittle's ties to jailed lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Pete Evich, Doolittle's legislative director from 1998 to 2002 and now a lobbyist, told The Associated Press that he plans to talk to the Justice Department.

Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) is marching forward with his “the-FBI-unfairly- raided-my-house” media campaign.

Doolittle, who is under scrutiny for his ties to Jack Abramoff, and has been hyping up his defense in the media recently, went on Tom Sullivan’s KFBK radio show yesterday to complain about being a victim of a political move by the Justice Department to produce another Abramoff-related indictment.

You can read the full transcript of the 40-minute interview here.

The Sacramento Bee noticed that during the interview Doolittle admits that the Justice Department approached him and his wife before the search with an apparent offer to plead guilty. But the Doolittles stood strong. And what did their courage win them? A search of their home.

Here’s that passage from the radio transcript:

And I think it's fair to ask, Well, why was this search conducted? And I would just point out to you a few weeks before the search occurred, our attorneys had a meeting with the government, and at that point, it became apparent to us that there is an attempt by the government to strongarm Julie in order to get me to admit to a crime that I did not commit. And in our mind, as a result of my refusing to admit to a crime that I did not commit, the government searched our home in what we believe was little more than an attempt to intimidate and pressure us.

...or to gather evidence?

Hell hath no fury like a lawmaker searched!

Or something like that.

Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) is furious that the FBI is thoroughly investigating him, issuing subpoenas for documents, and interviewing a number of his former aides.

For one thing, the Justice Department just won't stop asking questions about his wife's work for two organizations controlled by Ed Buckham, a lobbyist and close associate of Jack Abramoff. Here's DeLay speaking with reporters yesterday:

“They’re going after other people and they’re questioning the other people about whether they know anything I may have done. And we’ve given them all the records and that’s the problem they’re having.... [My wife] did her work and she was underpaid for the work she did and they can’t make the case. It’s a Justice Department that is running amok. Fish or cut bait. Do something.”

Yeah, bring 'em on!

It's at this point that DeLay's defense lawyer, Richard Cullen, steps in to moderate. You can hear the soothing tone: “When Tom DeLay said that [about Justice], it reflected frustration that many people feel when they are involved in an investigation... We are very comfortable that the Justice Department is proceeding properly and expeditiously."

Investigators have reportedly been probing whether DeLay's wife actually did any work at those jobs, but that's far from their sole focus. Abramoff and DeLay were key allies; a bond forged by millions of dollars. It's no coincidence that two of DeLay's former aides have pled guilty in the Abramoff scandal, and a third, Buckham, is in danger of being indicted.

But DeLay isn't the only lawmaker who's outraged (outraged!) by the FBI's tactics. Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA), who is also in investigators' sights for his ties to Abramoff, just can't believe that the FBI searched everything in his house:

“The agents systematically searched our home, removing every book, turning over every couch cushion and every pot and pan, and rummaging through every drawer, file cabinet, cupboard and closet...”

The nerve.

From the AP:

Rep. John Doolittle, R-Calif., has decided to temporarily give up his seat on the House Appropriations Committee after FBI agents searched his house as part of a congressional influence-peddling investigation.

Doolittle's decision, to be announced Thursday, was confirmed by a Republican congressional staffer who spoke on condition of anonymity because the news was not yet public.

That would be the same appropriations seat which he used to help steer $37 million to Brent Wilkes (who's accused of bribing Duke Cunningham), and another $400,000 to Jack Abramoff's client, the government of the Marianas Islands.

Update: More from Roll Call:

While Doolittle is expected to voluntarily take himself off the panel while the investigation continues, knowledgeable House sources said that Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and members of the Republican Steering Committee -- which determines committee assignments -- were prepared to remove him from his post if he would not do so himself.

Breaking, from Roll Call:

The FBI has raided the Northern Virginia home of Rep. John Doolittle (R-Calif.), according to Congressional sources. No details are publicly available yet about the circumstances of the raid, but Doolittle and his wife, Julie, have been under federal investigation for their ties to the scandal surrounding imprisoned former lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

More soon, I'm sure.

Update: Remember that a former key aide to Doolittle, Kevin Ring, who'd worked with Abramoff, resigned suddenly from his job late last week. As I wrote before, that's a clear sign that Ring may be preparing to plead guilty and implicate Doolittle.

Update: According to The Hill, the FBI searched the home last Friday -- the same day that Ring resigned.

It's a bad, bad sign when a subject of the Jack Abramoff investigation suddenly and without explanation resigns from his job. And that's what Kevin Ring did Friday, according to The Politico.

Ring, who worked as a lobbyist with Abramoff from 2000 until Abramoff was forced to close up shop in 2004, has come up again and again over the course of the Abramoff investigation. But he had a singular and important role in Abramoff's organization -- he was Abramoff's access to Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA), for whom Ring had been a senior staffer. Whenever Abramoff wanted Doolittle's help with anything -- and that happened often --, Ring was the man.

But Abramoff, being Abramoff, didn't expect help for nothing. And so it was Ring who served as the intermediary when Abramoff hired Doolittle's wife for consulting work, an arrangement that lasted for approximately two years. The payments suspiciously align with actions Doolittle took on behalf of Abramoff's clients.

Doolittle has been in investigators' sights since 2005. But it looks like they're finally closing in -- because if anyone could deliver Doolittle, it would be Ring.

As The Politico notes, Ring seems poised to follow the path of other aides who've pled guilty in the Abramoff scandal -- pleading guilty to lesser charges in return for delivering their former bosses to investigators. Ex-Rep. Bob Ney's (R-OH) former chief of staff Neil Volz, who also worked with Ring with Abramoff and then later at Barnes & Thornburg, resigned abruptly from that firm in January last year. He pled guilty to corruption charges in May, agreeing to cooperate and implicating Ney.

When we noted Rep. John Doolittle's (R-CA) conversion to ethical purity last week, we appended a loud "Sike!"* to note our skepticism.

But it didn't take long for Doolittle to take it back himself. In an interview with McClatchy newspapers Friday, he backtracked on his key reform: severing his campaign's and committee's financial relationship with his wife, who had been getting a 15% commission on funds raised.

Though Doolittle trumpeted the decision last week, now he says that she "dropped his congressional campaign as a client, rather than him firing her." And by the way, she'll still be doing fundraising for his political action committee; it just won't be in the form of a commission.

A brand new man.

*Note: Language purists are encouraged to read the comments to our last post before writing us an email on the spelling of "sike."