Adam Kidan | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 30, 1964 U.S. |
| Alma mater | George Washington University Brooklyn Law School |
| Occupation(s) | Business executive Lawyer |
Adam Kidan (born 30 July 1964) is an American business executive and former lawyer who is the current president of Empire Workforce. [1] [2] He is also the current vice chairman of the Staffing Advisory Group.
Previously, he served as the president of Atlantic & Pacific Mattress Co. [3] [4]
Kidan spent his early life in Brooklyn, New York. He attended John Dewey High School and was the president of the Social Science Club and editor-in-chief of the school newspaper, The Gadfly. [5] In 1998, Kidan returned to John Dewey High School as graduation keynote speaker.
He went to college at George Washington University, and received a Juris Doctor from Brooklyn Law School along with the American Jurisprudence Award in legal writing and research in 1989. [5] He was also active in the national office of College Republicans. [6]
Kidan campaigned for George H. W. Bush as Chairman of Young Professionals for Bush and served as New York Co-Chair of Youth For Reagan/Bush '84.
In 1989, Kidan started his practice as a lawyer. [7] He later started a bagel business, New York City's Best Bagels, opening two stores in the New York resort community of the Hamptons while he was practicing law. He sold the business to focus on his career. [8]
In 1994, Kidan opened a Dial-A-Mattress franchise in Washington, D.C. [9]
In July 1999, he sold his franchise to Dial-A-Mattress, the parent company. [10]
In September 2000, Kidan, along with American lobbyist Jack Abramoff, acquired SunCruz Casinos. [6]
In 2005, conspiracy charges were brought against Kidan in connection to SunCruz Casinos sale. [11] On December 15, 2005, he pleaded guilty to fraud and conspiracy charges; as part of a plea bargain, four other felony counts against him were dropped. [6] [12] In March 2006, Kidan was sentenced to five years and 10 months in prison, the same sentence as Abramoff. [13] He served 31 months in prison before being paroled in 2009. [14]
In 2010, Kidan was subpoenaed to testify in the conspiracy trial of former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, for whom he had once been a major fundraiser, concerning DeLay's personal relationship with Abramoff. [15] [16]
Between 2012 and 2018, Kidan was the chairman of Chartwell Staffing. [17]
Kidan was portrayed by Jon Lovitz in the 2010 biopic/political satire Casino Jack . [18]
James Steven Griles is an American former government official and lobbyist who served as the 3rd United States Deputy Secretary of the Interior from July 12, 2001 until his resignation on December 7, 2004. Griles held the second-ranking position at the United States Department of the Interior, ranking below only the Secretary of the Interior, at the time Gale Norton.
Robert William Ney is an American former politician who represented Ohio's 18th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995 until his resignation on November 3, 2006, after he pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy and making false statements in relation to the Jack Abramoff Indian lobbying scandal. Before he pleaded guilty, Ney was identified in the guilty pleas of Jack Abramoff, former Tom DeLay deputy chief of staff Tony Rudy, former DeLay press secretary Michael Scanlon and former Ney chief of staff Neil Volz for receiving lavish gifts in exchange for political favors.
Jack Allan Abramoff is an American lobbyist, businessman, film producer, and writer. He was at the center of an extensive corruption investigation led by Earl Devaney that resulted in his conviction and 21 other people either pleading guilty or being found guilty, including White House officials J. Steven Griles and David Safavian, U.S. Representative Bob Ney, and nine other lobbyists and congressional aides.
Michael Scanlon is a former communications director for Rep. Tom DeLay, lobbyist, and public relations executive who has pleaded guilty to corruption charges related to the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal. He is currently assisting in the investigation of his former partners Abramoff, Grover Norquist and Ralph Reed by separate state and federal grand jury investigations related to the defrauding of American Indian tribes and corruption of public officials.
The Jack Abramoff Indian lobbying scandal was a United States political scandal exposed in 2005; it related to fraud perpetrated by political lobbyists Jack Abramoff, Ralph E. Reed Jr., Grover Norquist and Michael Scanlon on Native American tribes who were seeking to develop casino gambling on their reservations. The lobbyists charged the tribes an estimated $85 million in fees. Abramoff and Scanlon grossly overbilled their clients, secretly splitting the multi-million dollar profits. In one case, they secretly orchestrated lobbying against their own clients in order to force them to pay for lobbying services.
SunCruz Casinos offered offshore "cruises to nowhere", legally transporting passengers into international waters beyond the reach of federal and state gambling laws. In the 2000s (decade), it became known for the involvement of some high-profile lobbyists such as Jack Abramoff, and the murder of its former owner, Gus Boulis.
Italia Federici, the former president of the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy (CREA), a greenscam organization. Federici was also a political aide to Secretary of the Interior and CREA co-founder Gale Norton. Federici pleaded guilty in June 2007 to tax evasion and obstructing the United States Senate investigation into the Jack Abramoff Indian lobbying scandal and was sentenced to four years probation.
Konstantinos "Gus" Boulis was an entrepreneur, land developer, casino operator, and restaurateur of Greek descent, who was murdered in 2001. The murder has been alleged to be in connection with the sale of his company, SunCruz Casinos.
The monetary influence of Jack Abramoff ran deep in Washington, as Jack Abramoff spent millions of dollars to influence and entertain both Republican and Democratic politicians. Abramoff had a reputation for largesse considered exceptional even by Washington standards. In addition to offering many Republican members of Congress expensive free meals at his restaurant, Signatures, Abramoff maintained four skyboxes at major sports arenas for political entertaining at a cost of over $1 million a year. Abramoff hosted many fundraisers at these skyboxes including events for Republican politicians publicly opposed to gambling, such as John Doolittle. Abramoff gave over $260,000 in personal contributions to Republican candidates, politicians, and organizations, and funded numerous trips for politicians and staffers and gave none to Democrats.
"Team Abramoff" is the team of lobbyists assembled by Jack Abramoff when he worked at Greenberg Traurig, primarily of former aides to prominent Congressional politicians. Their work is embroiled in the Jack Abramoff scandals.
Tony Charles Rudy is an American politician. He served in the office of U. S. Representative Tom DeLay (R-TX) from approximately 1995 to 2001, and rose to be his deputy Chief of Staff.
Capitol Campaign Strategies was an American public relations firm run by Michael Scanlon, Tom DeLay's former press secretary, which Scanlon used in coordination with Jack Abramoff to redirect about $40 million in lobbying contributions from Indian tribes to Scanlon, Abramoff, and their associates, as well as funding bribes to Republican politicians such as Bob Ney. Scanlon and Abramoff have pleaded guilty for their activities. After Abramoff left Preston Gates and went to Greenberg Traurig in January 2001, Scanlon formed Capitol Campaign Strategies. Its official location was 611 Pennsylvania Avenue SE in Washington, D.C., which is a maildrop. Scanlon also formed the dummy organizations American International Center and Atlantic Research Analysis aka Atlantic Research & Analysis, used to receive and distribute CCS money.
Kevin A. Ring is a former American attorney and congressional staffer; he served Republicans in both the House and the Senate, including U.S. Representative John T. Doolittle (R-CA). He also served as a counsel on the Senate Judiciary Committee's Constitution, Federalism and Property Rights Subcommittee.
Mark Zachares is a Republican politician and lobbyist who served as Congressional aide to Rep. Don Young (R-AK). He pleaded guilty on April 24, 2007 to accepting tens of thousands of dollars in gifts from lobbyist Jack Abramoff in return for using his position in Congress to advance Abramoff's interests.
The investigations in Jack Abramoff led to several plea agreements by those involved, including Congressman Bob Ney (R-OH). Abramoff himself also pleaded guilty to federal corruption charges, including tax fraud and bribing public officials. Abramoff's activities also became an issue that many Democratic candidates raised in the November 2006 House and Senate elections, as the challengers painted the incumbent Republican Congress as corrupted by Abramoff and his powerful allies. On March 29, 2006, Abramoff was sentenced to five years and ten months in prison and ordered to pay restitution of more than $21 million.
John Albaugh is the former chief of staff to American Republican Congressman Ernest Istook and was a cooperating witness in the Department of Justice investigation of Kevin Ring, a lobbyist and an associate of Jack Abramoff.
Todd Boulanger is an American lobbyist. He was senior vice president of Cassidy & Associates and was a figure in the Jack Abramoff scandal.
James F. Hirni is a lobbyist who was convicted of bribing U.S. Senate staff aides in exchange for favorable amendments to legislation. A former aide to U.S. Senator Tim Hutchinson (R-AR), he joined the lobbying firm Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal, and then became a member of "Team Abramoff" at Greenberg Traurig. He went on to become a lobbyist for Wal-Mart from 2004–08, as its executive director of Republican outreach. He was fired when charges were filed concerning his activities with Abramoff.
Casino Jack and the United States of Money is a 2010 documentary film directed by Alex Gibney.
Casino Jack is a 2010 biographical crime drama directed by George Hickenlooper and starring Kevin Spacey. The film focuses on the career of Washington, D.C., lobbyist and businessman Jack Abramoff, who was involved in a massive corruption scandal that led to his conviction as well as the conviction of two White House officials, Rep. Bob Ney, and nine other lobbyists and congressional staffers. Abramoff was convicted of fraud, conspiracy, and tax evasion in 2006, and of trading expensive gifts, meals and vacations for political favors. Abramoff served three and a half years of a six-year sentence in federal prison, and was then assigned to a halfway house. He was released on December 3, 2010.