In 1997, two years after Republicans for Environmental Protection (REP) was founded and began getting good press around the country, we learned of the creation of another “Green GOP” group. Colorado Attorney General Gale Norton and her political aide, Italia Federici, named their new organization the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy (CREA). We repeatedly tried to contact them but got no response. It wasn’t long before we realized that CREA was designed to confuse people and counter the honest-broker, “conservative conservationist” reputation that REP was gaining.
In 1998, we at REP watched with some dismay as CREA held a $100,000 fundraiser in Washington, accepting big contributions from extractive-industry lobbyists who funded the new operation in a way that REP could only dream about. Clearly, CREA was “connected.” We started to track its activities—the fake “Teddy” awards it gave to anti-environmental Republicans in Congress—and its positions on environmental issues. We learned that the “CREA leader” they bragged of having in every state was only the Republican Party chairman in that state. There was no sign of any actual membership in CREA.
That summer, we wrote a Green Elephant article called “GOP Greens and Greenscammers,” pointing out the differences between REP and CREA.
In January 2001, President-elect George W. Bush nominated Gale Norton to be Interior Secretary. REP opposed the nomination based on Norton’s history of working for anti-environmental organizations. Word got out that REP had a great file of CREAbilia. Our fax machine stayed busy as the media sought to learn more about Norton.
Norton was confirmed, of course, and went on to be just as bad an Interior Secretary as we had feared. Among her worst moves was appointing lobbyists from the extractive industries as her top deputy and as the heads of key agencies.
For eight years, CREA operated from a web site. Federici was listed as president, along with an Advisory Board, but there was no Board of Directors, as required of a non-profit. The address listed on its site turned out to be a mail drop. CREA did little but praise and promote Bush Administration policies on its web site, yet it always seemed to have plenty of money.
In 2005 came the Jack Abramoff influence-peddling scandal, which included $500,000 in backdoor payments from his Native American clients to CREA. That November, Senator John McCain, who chaired the Indian Affairs Committee, grilled Federici at length on her relationship with Abramoff, Norton, and Deputy Interior Secretary Steven Griles.
Norton resigned as Interior Secretary in March 2006. Abramoff pleaded guilty to fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy to bribe public officials; he went to prison in November 2006. Federici pleaded guilty to tax evasion and obstruction of justice in June 2007. In July, CREA’s web site disappeared from the Internet.
Meanwhile, REP keeps on truckin’... with its integrity, authentic voice, and sense of purpose just as strong as ever.
Keeping REP going and growing has not been easy. The quest for reliable funding is an ongoing struggle. There’s no Jack Abramoff funneling money to us from his clients. Our primary source of financial support is you, our members. Please remember that when you receive a renewal or contribution request from REP or our “sister,” ConservAmerica.
From The Hill newspaper, July 3, 2007:
The Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy survived the fall of its biggest financial benefactor, now-imprisoned lobbyist Jack Abramoff. It kept going after its president, Italia Federici, was subpoenaed in the Abramoff Senate probe. It even kept going after she was notified she was a target in the criminal investigation.
But, if the council’s website is any indication, it couldn’t survive her guilty plea in federal court last month for obstruction and tax evasion. Federici’s sometime-boyfriend, former Deputy Interior Secretary J. Steven Griles, was also sent to prison last week for 10 months.
A visit to the website yields: “This site is temporarily unavailable.”
For years, the site had served as a source of talking points for those out to defend the environmental record of President Bush and Congress, when it was run by Republicans. It cited philosophical ties to Theodore Roosevelt and proclaimed, “President George Bush has made great strides in protecting and improving the quality of America’s land, air and water.”
But Federici apparently didn’t wait until her November sentencing to take down the site. She may be busy cooperating with investigators, or perhaps she’ll start updating it again after completing the 10 to 16 months prosecutors are recommending she serve in prison.
Recommended additional articles on CREA, Italia Federici, Gale Norton, Steven Griles and Jack Abramoff:
Wikipedia (contains additional links)
The Hill
The Washington Post
Citizens for Ethics and Responsibility in Washington
