GOP Congressman Doolittle Says He Won't Resign

April 20, 2007
GOP Congressman Doolittle Says He Won't Resign

WASHINGTON - A day after stepping down from a House committee amid news that his home was searched by the FBI, Rep. John Doolittle on Friday proclaimed his innocence and vowed to stay in Congress and seek re-election.

The California Republican, a nine-term incumbent under scrutiny in the Jack Abramoff congressional corruption scandal, also said he will seek the House Ethics Committee's permission to establish a legal fund to raise money for his defense. Doolittle agreed Thursday to resign his coveted spot on the House Appropriations Committee temporarily.

"I have no intention of resigning from Congress and I have every intention of running for re-election again," Doolittle told reporters from his district in a conference call.

Doolittle resigns from Appropriations Committee after FBI raid

April 20, 2007
Doolittle resigns from Appropriations Committee after FBI raid

Less than a week after the FBI raided the Northern Virginia home of his wife, Rep. John T. Doolittle (R-Calif.) gave up his coveted seat on the House Appropriations Committee yesterday amid concerns that he had used that post to advance the interests of convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff and other allies.

Doolittle's wife, Julie, operates Sierra Dominion Financial Services Inc. out of the couple's home in Oakton. Since 2005, a Justice Department task force has been looking into payments made by Abramoff and other lobbyists to Doolittle's wife and the spouses of other lawmakers. The couple's house was raided last Friday, the same day that Doolittle's former legislative director, Kevin Ring, abruptly resigned as a lobbyist for Barnes & Thornburg. Ring had been an intermediary in Abramoff's hiring of Julie Doolittle's firm as a fundraiser for a charity the lobbyist had founded.

Doolittle also helped steer millions of dollars in military funding to one of the defense contractors tied to the bribery case of former congressman Randy "Duke" Cunningham (R-Calif.).