Progress Now Action

Courtesy KREX-TV Grand Junction, from Schaffer's fundraiser with Dick Cheney today:
The Denver Post reported this afternoon that Schaffer was "visibly angry" when asked about the budding scandal at a press conference later:

"I am really disgusted with the tone and tenor and direction of The Denver Post stories. I have had no contact with the individuals in the story, particularly Jack Abramoff," Schaffer said. "It's a matter of fiction. That's all I'm going to say about it."

Schaffer went to the Northern Mariana Islands as part of a trip partially arranged by Abramoff's firm. He visited textile factories which were the target of a class-action lawsuit alleging abuses of workers. Abramoff had been hired by factory owners and island officials to stave off attempts at reform.

In a recent interview with the Post, Schaffer cited the island's guest-worker program as a "model" that could be followed in overhauling U.S. immigration policy.

Schaffer campaign manager Dick Wadhams said today there is room for a legitimate discussion on that point. The U.S. Department of Labor cited the factories for more than 1,000 safety violations in the late 1990s.

After deflecting one question about his Mariana involvement, Schaffer turned back to his impressions of the Vice President's visit...

The facts emerging are erasing any doubt that Schaffer is indeed connected to the "individuals in this story," from the Saipan garment manufacturers who set up his sham "inspection" of working conditions in the CNMI to Jack Abramoff who orchestrated not only Schaffer's trip, but the stalling of reform in the Marianas Islands in general. For Schaffer to simply reject and deny the whole controversy out of hand, after walking into it with his own praise for the situation there, is sufficiently ludicrous to require no rebuttal.

See also:

Damaging Schaffer/Abramoff disclosures continue
Schaffer/Marianas scandal explodes
Marianas questions dog Bob Schaffer