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I've written quite a lot about CREA, or the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy, in particular, the cozy relationship between Executive Director and former Norton campaign staffer, Italia Federici, Jack Abramoff and Steven Griles. But there's a lot more, particularly Norton's ongoing relationship with the purported non-for-profit "advocacy" group she founded. Let's start with William Booth's January 2001 WaPo article:

On a June evening in 1998, in the big ballroom of the J.W. Marriott on Pennsylvania Avenue, Gale A. Norton hosted the national kickoff for an organization she founded that is now called, after several name changes, the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy.

To understand why environmentalists in Washington are so worried about President-elect Bush's choice of Norton for interior secretary -- and why conservatives are applauding the nomination -- CREA is a good place to start.

The organization was conceived by Norton, then the outgoing Colorado attorney general. Its purpose: to confront an "overriding problem," as its first mailings put it, that "over the last two decades, Democrats have created the impression that they are the defenders of the environment while Republicans are environmental destroyers. Our bad guy image hampers the election of Republican candidates and makes it difficult to promote common-sense policies."

Norton, through CREA, vowed to do something about that. The June gathering was part of her plan. The gathering included a Who's Who of GOP powerhouses in Congress.

The guest of honor was Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (Miss.). The keynote address was delivered by House Speaker Newt Gingrich (Ga.). The sponsors for the gala that night included the National Coal Council, the Chemical Manufacturers Association, the National Mining Association, the Chlorine Chemical Council and the political consulting firm of Karl Rove, one of Bush's closest advisers.

To environmental advocacy groups in Washington, CREA represents everything they fear about Norton. Their concern is that as the steward of America's public lands and the gamekeeper of the nation's wildlife, she is beholden to the extractive industries and will open up large tracts of land to mining, oil and gas drilling, and timber harvesting; that she will side with private property owners and businesses against the needs of endangered creatures.
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CREA members have given awards to GOP officeholders, have spoken at conferences and have issued a couple of reports and briefed Republicans. Marks calls the reports nothing more than "a Web page and a press release."

Norton continues to claim that she cut her ties with CREA when she joined the Interior Department early in 2001, but according to a Friends of the Earth press release on a different subject, on September 24, 2001, from 6:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. Norton attended a dinner for CREA at Republican uber-dowager Julie Finley's home. According to The Hill,

The group of 60-70 people included both CREA's industry supporters and representatives from Indian tribes, such as the Coushattas, that had contributed to the group, an attendee said.

This wasn't the only "event" involving CREA, Finley and Norton. In a March 1, 2001 email to Jack Abramoff from Italia Federici (the same one she tells Abramoff he "definitely made another friend" in Steven Griles), Federici invites Abramoff to a small "cocktail party":

Finally, as yesterday, Julie Finley, Jim Nicholson and I are hosting a very small cocktail party for Gale at Julie's home. We just got Gale's scheduler to confirm! Gale has been saying yes but we never had a definite from her office until yesterday afternoon. I called Congressional CoS yesterday and had a positive response from Senator (redacted), Senator (redacted), Congressman (redacted), Congressman (redacted) - they will be there. Now I am calling and emailing people I want to attend and keeping my fingers crossed. There will only be about 25 people in attendance so it's a great time to meet Gale and actually chat for a few minutes. It will be very small and relaxed.

Can you join us? It's March 6 at 6:30pm at [redacted].

Abramoff accepted the invite and even offered to cover the cost of the reception.

Two weeks after the party, Abramoff sent an email to Coushatta tribal attorney Kathryn VanHoof:

I met with the Interior guys today and they were estatic that the tribe was going to help. If you can get me a check via federal made out to "Council for Republican Environmental Advocacy" for $50K that would be great. This is really going to help. We'll chat tomorrow.

So what exactly were the Coushatta buying from CREA that made Interior so happy? I'm off to follow the money. Stay tuned.

Update: Boy, that was easy. A copy of the original fax from Van Hoof to the Coushatta is here [pdf]. Excerpt:

Attached is an email from Jack Abramoff with the firm of Greenberg Traurig, recently retained by the Tribe for assistance with governmental affairs. Coushatta and Mississippi Band of Choctaw have agreed to pay 1/2 the cost of a poll conducted by the Council for Republican Environmental Advocacy, which is being conducted on behalf of Gale Norton, Secretary of the Interior.

So what poll could that be? How about this one, heavily redacted, from a FOIA request of the Department of Justice by the Natural Resources Defense Council, during their battle against Dick Cheney's secret Energy Task Force:

Public opinion research (dated 5/16/01) from focus groups in several cities provided by the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy (CREA) to the Interior Department. The research, which suggests how to talk about energy issues, emphasizes using rising gas prices to promote increased drilling. DOI077-0212 to 218. The research concludes, "language that . . . emphasizes price increases in gasoline and natural gas and the California situation resonates with voters." Another finding: "Gasoline price stability is the single most potent argument for opening up ANWR."

More pertinent information from a little farther down the NRDC page:

Per the court's order, NRDC also received a Vaughn Index, identifying the 665 documents withheld or redacted by the Department of Justice. This list provides tantalizing insight into the steps the administration has taken to exploit America's public lands for profit, primarily by limiting environmental review and public participation. This list includes (emphasis mine):

* A slide presentation by the Interior Department for Vice President Cheney regarding "NEP [National Energy Plan] Implementation at Interior"

* A slide presentation on "BLM Oil & Gas Permitting Performance Review"

* A briefing for Interior Secretary Gale Norton on "The Bureau of Land Management's role in Implementing the President's National Energy Policy"

* An email from Erick Kaarlela, head of BLM's National Energy Office, regarding "TSP [Time Sensitive Plans] -- Status" (NRDC Note: These are the RMP amendments accelerated by BLM to allow for increased energy development on public lands.)

* A briefing by Erick Kaarlela on "UT APDs [Applications for Permits to Drill]"

* Several emails from Erick Kaarlela discussing "Major Energy Projects -- Utah"

* A Memorandum from VA Stephens, White House staffer to James Cason, Interior Associate Deputy Secretary, regarding the 500 KV Transmission Line in Phoenix, AZ (NRDC Note: Stephens spearheaded the efforts of the White House Energy Project Streamlining Task Force to eliminate roadblocks from projects the industry wants approved.) (ed. note: Cason took over Griles position when he left Interior)

* A Memorandum from VA Stephens "Re: Federal Leasing in Sierra and Otero Counties, New Mexico"

* A Memorandum from VA Stephens "Re: Proposed Transfer of Inspection and Enforcement Authorities for Oil and Gas Activities to the States"

* A Briefing for Secretary Norton "Re: Energy Opportunities in Interior Department Programs"

* A Briefing for Secretary Norton "Re: CBM [Coalbed Methane Development] Permitting and NEPA Workload"

* A Memorandum on "Alaska Target Accomplishments"

* A Memorandum from Interior Deputy Secretary Griles, "Re: Streamlining Energy Project Review Processes"

* An email "Re: BLM's Energy Accomplishments and Attachment of Energy Accomplishments"

* A Briefing for Deputy Secretary Griles on "BLM Role in Implementing the NEP"

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Still missing from what has been released to NRDC are the records of Andrew Lundquist, the task force's executive director, and five other key Energy Department staff members who served the panel. U.S. District Judge Friedman granted a stay of this part of the order, pending the administration's expedited appeal to the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The Department of Justice filed that appeal on June 2. Judicial Watch v. U.S. Dept. of Energy (and consolidated cases) Nos. 04-5204, 04-5205, 04-5206. Briefing is scheduled to be completed this summer with oral argument likely in the fall.

Remember, Griles did not end up joining Abramoff due to the scandal. Instead, he formed Lunquist, Nethercutt and Griles, with many of his former oil, gas and mining clients.

I don't contend this is THE smoking gun, but it's the one which ties Abramoff to CREA to Norton and Bush's energy policy, including management of the Trust Fund and it's related Indian lands.

Update2: This (Link [pdf]) email from Abramoff to VanHoof confirms Griles was involved:

They seem to be pulling out all gaming issues from BIA and sending to the Secretary, which will be good for us, once the Dep Sec is in place (the fellow who we helped with the CREA project).

Dep Sec = Deputy Secretary of Interior = J. Steven Griles

Update3: I'm now wading through the second batch of exhibits released from the Senate Indian Affairs committee last November, and came upon a more complete list of the governmental attendees of the September, 2001, dinner party for CREA at Julie Finley's home.

Interior
Sec. Gale Norton
Dep. Sec. Steven Griles
Soliticor Bill Myers
Assist. Sec. Lynn Scarlett
Assist. Sec. Bennett Raley
Assist. Sec. Neal McCaleb
Nominee Kathleen Clarke (BLM)
Dir. of Cong. Affairs Dave Berhardt

The attending Congressmen's names were redacted.

Federici noted in a later email to Abramoff another attendee of interest, from Justice, not Interior: Assist. AG for Natural Resources Tom Sansonetti. Sansonetti's job? To oversee the Cobell v. Norton trust fund ligitation and a number of cases affecting trust responsibilities for the DoJ.

Update4: And here are the industry attendees:
Tom Altmeyer, Senior VP Gov. Affairs, National Mining Association
Jack Gerard, President, National Mining Association
Marc Himmelstein, President, National Environmental Strategies (Griles former lobbying firm)
Kip Howlett, Exec. Dir., Chlorine Chemistry Council
Jerry McPhee, VP Federal Relations, Occidential International Corporation

In addition to representatives from the Coushatta and Chitimacha tribes of Louisiana, Kevin Ring and Shawn Vassell, part of Abramoff's inner circle at Greenberg Traurig, were present.

Update5: Something I missed, as the info wasn't included in the Senate exhibits. Delay's Chief of Staff initially suggested to Abramoff that he use CREA, and moreover, that his tribal clients should contribute to CREA:

Staffers for Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas) helped Jack Abramoff's tribal clients gain access to Interior Secretary Gale Norton by suggesting they go through a Republican environmental organization that she had founded, the Associated Press reports.

Two DeLay aides traded e-mails soon after Norton was nominated by President Bush in December 2000. They talked about Abramoff's interest in contacting Norton and suggested that he go through the Council of Republicans for Environmental Advocacy.

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After receiving the info from the DeLay staffers, Abramoff told his tribal clients to donate to CREA. The Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana gave $150,000 in hopes of convincing Norton not to approve a casino for a rival tribe.