IMPEACH BUSH

WASHINGTON - When Rep. Tom Feeney first told Congress about a 2003 golf junket he took with lobbyist Jack Abramoff, the Oviedo, Fla., Republican named a conservative think tank called the National Center for Public Policy Research as the trip's sponsor.

In the years since - and as recently as January - the think tank's directors said it played no role in the Scotland visit.

But congressional records show a direct link between the Washington-based policy group and a foundation identified by Senate investigators as Abramoff's personal "slush fund" that he used to evade taxes and lavish luxuries on his friends on Capitol Hill.

Financial statements show that the National Center for Public Policy Research gave $450,000 to Abramoff's Capital Athletic Foundation in 2002 and $250,000 in 2003.

The NCPPR was nothing more than a "front organization" for Abramoff, who was one of its officers until 2004, according to an October minority report from Democrats on the Senate Finance committee.

"Mr. Abramoff arranged for Members of Congress and others to travel extensively at the expense of clients, while funneling the money through NCPPR, which would then be named as sponsor of the trips on official disclosure forms," reads the report.

Amy Ridenour, president of NCPPR, could not be reached for comment this week after repeated attempts by the Orlando Sentinel. She previously told Congress that Abramoff deceived her about the money transfers.

The FBI has questioned Feeney about the 2003 Scotland trip, and the congressman has said he's been told he is not a target of the investigation. Feeney also has told the Sentinel that he was "duped and lied to" about who paid for the trip.

Abramoff pleaded guilty last year to corruption and fraud charges related to his representation of various Indian tribes. Those tribes, investigators say, provided Abramoff with the money he would later use to gain influence with members of Congress.

One way he did that, investigators said, was to convince tribal leaders and others to provide money to groups such as the National Center for Public Policy Research.

In 2005, Ridenour told Congress that Greenberg Traurig - Abramoff's former law firm - sent her center $1.5 million in 2003. Abramoff then gave Ridenour specific instructions to route the money to two organizations he ran, including $250,000 to the Capital Athletic Foundation.

Ridenour said she thought it would be used to help educate the public about benefits American Indian tribes could derive from running casinos.

Instead, Abramoff used the money to help finance other projects, including $150,000 to arrange a Scotland "fund-raiser" in 2003 - which is the trip that Feeney and seven others took.

Feeney has said he filed his travel-disclosure forms in good faith and was misled about the true sponsor of the trip.

Feeney's trip mirrors another overseas golfing excursion taken by former Rep. Bob Ney, an Ohio Republican who pleaded guilty last year to corruption charges tied to Abramoff.

That year, an Indian tribe from Mississippi gave $1 million to the National Center for Public Policy Research. Abramoff told Ridenour to send $450,000 of that money to the Capital Athletic Foundation.

For Abramoff, the center provided an easy way to shift funds among his interests. According to a 2002 e-mail sent to a colleague at Greenberg Traurig, Abramoff said the research center "can direct money at our discretion, anywhere if you know what I mean."

Later, when Ridenour asked Abramoff for a better description as to where the money was going, she wrote: "why don't you tell me very briefly what they really are doing, and I'll write back with a great-sounding phrase for each. I'll promise not to tell anyone about projects," according to Senate records.

The money transfers follow an Abramoff pattern of routing tribal donations through the Capital Athletic Foundation. Senate investigators estimate the tribes gave $3.66 million either directly or indirectly to the foundation.

The ties between Abramoff and Ridenour go back years - the two first met as College Republicans, according to the 2006 Senate Democrat report.

In 1997, Abramoff joined the center's board of directors, according to 2005 testimony from Ridenour. At the time, she said she thought he was "dedicated free-market conservative" and a "successful lobbyist."

NATIONAL CENTER FOR PUBLIC POLICY RESEARCH

The conservative think tank identifies itself as a communications and research foundation that supports a strong national defense and dedicates itself to free market solutions. But Senate investigators identify the group as a "front organization" for disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff who, they say, took money from the NCPPR and funneled it through his private Capital Athletic Foundation to lavish favors, such as junkets to Scotland, on members of Congress. NCPPR gave $700,000 to Abramoff's foundation in 2002 and 2003.

CAPITAL ATHLETIC FOUNDATION

Jack Abramoff's non-profit group supposedly existed to help young people, but investigators say it was little more than his personal "slush fund" that he used to squeeze favors from lawmakers, whom he treated to overseas trips and other gifts.