Wampum

And what is her connection to Jack Abramoff?

Washingtonian magazine puts out an annual list of "100 Most Powerful Women" in Washington. On its 2001 list, along with Laura Bush, various Senators, Congresswomen, Cabinet Secretaries, non-profit heads and lobbyists, two women were listed under the subheading, "Social Powers": One was Cathy Fenton, White House social secretary. The second, Julie Finley, was described simply as "Republican hostess."

Washington Life, the magazine for the social elite inside the Beltway, publishes the "A List" each year. That list is even more exclusive, with fewer representatives from the Executive and offices on the Hill. Yet Mrs. William T. Finley, Jr. (Julie) is listed year after year.

The NYTimes in December, 2000 asked, "Who will be the hostess with the mostess in Bush II?"

There is also Julie Finley, who, because of her fund-raising skills and knack for bringing people together at her dinner parties, is often referred to as the Republican Pamela Harriman.

In August, 2005, Julie Finley was confirmed as the United States Ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). It was her first government appointment.

Ms. Finley's resume is equally impressive. Though she never graduated from Vassar, she went on to sit on the boards of dozens of political, social and charitable organizations. She co-chaired Bob Dole's1996 presidential finance committee, served many terms as National Committee Woman for the DC Republican Committee, and from 1997 until 2005, was co-chair of the RNC's fundraising arm, Team 100. She was a founding member of the Council for Republicans, founder and chair of the Republican Primary PAC, and founding member of, and heavy contributor to the the WISH List, a PAC for pro-choice women candidates in the Senate and House. She sat on the Library of Congress Trust Fund Board, and the Washington Opera Board.

Julie Finley was co-finance-chair of George W. Bush's Inaugural Committee, and contributed $100,000.

Finley has also been involved in a number of neo-con Bruce Jackson's "initiatives": She was a Founding Board Member on the U.S. Committee on NATO, Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Project on Transitional Democracies, and treasurer for the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq.

So why was such a powerful Republican mover and shaker on the "board of advisors" of an organization run out of a post office box? An organization known to even members of the Administration, as well as the Chief of Staff of the Republican Majority Leader, as covertly (and, according to false claims of 501(c)3 status, illegally) funded by big oil, gas, mining and tribal gaming interests? Finley, along with Gale Norton and Grover Norquist, are generally cited as CREA's "founders", so her involvement dates back to 1997.

Finley hosted numerous fundraising events for CREA, most at her posh Georgetown home. According to emails released by the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, Jack Abramoff attended two such events, one on March 6, 2001, and the second, joined by tribal clients, on September 24, 2001. Secretary Norton also attended both events, as did a number of Congressmen and staff, lobbyists and top representatives from various natural resource industries and interest groups, such as the National Mining Association, Occidental Oil and BP. Both events were paid for, at least in part, by contributions from Abramoff's six tribal clients.

Abramoff and Federici were very sensitive to potential media interest in Finley's part in CREA activities: In one instance documented in the released emails, on April 2, 2002, Abramoff informed Federici that the Wall Street Journal was sniffing around his tribal clients, ostensibly for a story on Indians becoming more active politically. Federici was concerned that the WSJ might contact Finley, and asked Abramoff if she should warn Finley about a potential contact. Abramoff didn't think it was necessary.

Most media accounts have treated CREA as a small, relatively unimportant organization, only significant because it has Abramoff's connections. However, with someone as powerful as Julie Finley actively involved, it seems clear that there is much more to CREA than meets the eye. Should the joint DoJ/IRS investigation into CREA, begun early in 2005, bear fruit, we soon might hear a great deal more. I suspect Ms. Finley is glad the Administration had the foresight to get her out of Washington last summer.