In closing arguments today in the trial of former Jack Abramoff associate Kevin Ring, the prosecution focused on evidence from e-mails to use Ring's "own words" as proof of criminal intent behind the gifts he provided to public officials.
"The point this case is going to come down to is what was Mr. Ring's intent when he gave all those tickets and all those meals," said Michael Leotta, an attorney for the Department of Justice.
Leotta acknowledged that the e-mails used as evidence by the prosecution did not show Ring or other members of "Team Abramoff" plainly admitting to conspiracy, honest services fraud or illegal gratuities. "Nobody talks that way," Leotta said.
But the e-mails do explicitly show Ring's criminal intent without using the legal jargon, he said.
"We want anyone who will really, really help us with specific stuff," read one e-mail Leotta referenced that was sent from Abramoff to Ring about a proposed trip to the 2001 Super Bowl. "That was them discussing honest services fraud," Leotta contended.
From the outset of its closing, the government aimed to link Ring with others who have pleaded guilty as part of the Abramoff scandal.
"Kevin Ring learned to lobby from Jack Abramoff," Leotta said, describing the Abramoff philosophy of lobbying as "really another form of bribery."
Leotta used his closing argument to describe the three types of charges -- conspiracy, illegal gratuities and honest services wire fraud -- and explain why the jury should find Ring guilty for each. He spent the largest chunk of time on honest services wire fraud, for which Ring is being tried on six counts.
One of the honest services wire fraud charges relates to the employment of the wife of former Rep. John Doolittle, R-Calif., by the Abramoff team. The government alleges that Doolittle's wife was paid $5,000 a month for doing little work and that Ring, who worked for Doolittle before becoming a lobbyist, was involved in obtaining the job for her.
"They put the congressman's wife on retainer as a way of putting the congressman on retainer," Leotta said. "That is honest services fraud."
In concluding his arguments, Leotta asserted that Ring's actions were not representative of the lobbying community, but represented the "corruption of our democracy."
"This case goes to the core of the American political system," he said.
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