J. Steven Griles

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J. Steven Griles, (born December 13, 1947), was the Deputy Secretary for the U.S. Department of Interior from July 2001 to January 2005. He was also a Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Interior during the Reagan Administration.

In a Washington Post article dated August 28, 2005, Susan Schmidt reports on the alleged conflict of interest of the former Deputy Secretary with regard to Jack Abramoff:

The two former Abramoff associates, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they are under scrutiny in the investigation, said Abramoff told them in late 2003 that he was trying to arrange for his firm, Greenberg Traurig LLP, to hire J. Steven Griles, then deputy interior secretary. Federal investigators are interested in those discussions and in job negotiations Abramoff may have had with a second department official, according to sources.

Abramoff told associates that he believed Griles was "committed" to blocking an effort by the Gun Lake Indian tribe to build a casino near Grand Rapids, Mich., according to the content of e-mail messages reviewed by The Washington Post. Abramoff said the blocking would involve an environmental challenge to the project, a tactic also proposed by Michigan business leaders opposed to the casino. Abramoff fought the project because it would draw business from a casino operated by his clients, the Saginaw Chippewas.

Environmental concerns ended up delaying action on the Gun Lake casino. The project was cleared last May by the Interior Department.

Gun Lake was not the only casino that Abramoff tried to derail through his departmental contacts. The Post has reported on e-mails indicating the lobbyist enlisted Griles to stop a Louisiana tribe's proposed casino, which threatened another Abramoff client.

Griles, who left the Interior Department earlier this year to form a consulting firm, "said he never had anything to do with the Gun Lake casino issues," a spokeswoman at his company said. He did not comment on any job discussions with Abramoff. A spokesman for Abramoff also declined to comment. Greenberg Traurig, citing the ongoing investigation, had no comment on possible job talks with department officials. [1]

In March 2007, Griles plead guilty to obstruction of justice for lying in sworn testimony before the Senate_Committee_on_Indian_Affairs.

External links

The Case against J. Steven Griles, Deputy Secretary, U.S. Department of the Interior -- Background on Coal Bed Methane and the Powder River Basin Friends of the Earth.
Stevenson, Jason. Earth Shakers: The Counter-Enviro Power List: J. Steven Griles: Lobbyist Outside Online, May 2005.
Schmidt, Susan. Casino Bid Prompted High-Stakes Lobbying -- Probe Scrutinizes Efforts Against Tribe Washington Post, March 25, 2005.
Schmidt, Susan. Abramoff Cited Aid Of Interior Official -- Conflict-of-Interest Probe Is Underway Washington Post, August 28, 2005.
Hearn, Josephine. McCain puts ex-official on hot seat The Hill, November 1, 2005.
E-Mails Show Ex-Interior Official's Links to Lobbyist -- Evidence Suggests Abramoff and Griles Had Close Ties Washington Post, November 4, 2005.

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